‘Beverages’ Archives
Bars
Bars Different from a French café or bar/tabac or an English pub, bars, even for the everyday visitor, are more of a retreat from the public sphere than an extension of it. Generally the whole family does not go to the local bar. Bars in America are often refuges, especially for smokers and drinkers, who are almost entirely pathologized. [...]
Green Tea
Green Tea A beverage brewed from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis tea plant. Green tea contains chemicals called POLYPHENOLS that researchers believe inhibit the uncontrolled growth that characterizes CANCER cells, especially those of cancers of the GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM and the prostate. One polyphenol in particular, epigallocatechin [...]
Soda
Soda Names vary regionally (“pop” in New England. “soft drinks” or “cola” in the South), as do local favorites. Yet, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and related non-alcoholic carbonated beverages have built global empires, as emblematic of contemporary America as tea in Japan or wine in France. Over a century strong cultural associations have been [...]
Coffee
Coffee In mass media and everyday life, coffee has been part of the background of American life. Generally prepared in a weaker form than European expresso, this drink (with or without sugar and cream) can be consumed by the cupful during the work day at social gatherings (as in the earnest conversations of television soap operas) and with [...]
History of Alcohol Consumption in America
History of Alcohol Consumption in America During colonial times Americans became hearty drinkers, consuming considerable rum and hard apple cider. They also drank a lesser amount of low alcohol beer that housewives brewed. Colonists brought a cultural predisposition to drink from Europe. Europeans had been using beer and wine for thousands of [...]
Sake
Sake Sake, fermented rice beer native to Japan and usually consumed hot or warm. Sake, sometimes spelled saki, is often referred to as rice wine because of its high alcoholic content. The brewing process, which is many centuries old, lasts about six weeks and starts with the mixing. Related Video: Sake
Gin
Gin Gin, alcoholic liquor, distilled from grain, and deriving its flavor principally from an infusion of juniper berries. The name is an abbreviation of the word geneva, a corruption of either the French genièvre or the Dutch junever, both meaning “juniper.” The two principal kinds of gin are the American or English variety, usually [...]
The World Favorite Cup
The World’s Favorite Cup Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. Many people think it has a great taste and a wonderful smell. Coffee also contains caffeine, which is a stimulant—that is, a substance that increases the body’s activity. Coffee grows as a bush with sweet-smelling flowers and fleshy fruit called “coffee [...]
Rum
Rum Rum, alcoholic beverage produced by the distillation of various fermented cane sugar products. The most common mixtures used in making rum consist of molasses and water or sugar and water. Another type of rum is made by fermenting a mixture of the scum formed when the raw juice of the sugarcane is heated with molasses, water, and [...]
Brandy
Brandy Brandy, alcoholic beverage produced by the distillation of grape wine and matured by aging in wooden casks. When freshly distilled, the brandy is clear and colorless and will remain so if kept in glass containers. Placed in wooden casks, the spirits dissolve a coloring matter from the wood and acquire a light brownish tint, which dealers [...]
