20 replies to this topic

[StephanieL]

I thought there was a thread on this but I can't find it. At a dinner last night, I tried Thums Up, an Indian cola created in the 1970s and eventually bought by Coca-Cola. When I had my first sip, my immediate thought was "This tastes like India"; I've since read that it contains betel nut.

What other non-US sodas do you like? Alternatively, what seem very "iconic"; i.e., seem to be a distillation of their country? (Some of the Italian bitters drinks come to mind.)

[yvonne johnson]

Peter Spanton's are supposed to be good.

Will Self swears by them, , but I've not seen them in NY.

I quite like Gus's ginger ale.

[Slapsie Maxie]

I thought there was a thread on this but I can't find it. At a dinner last night, I tried Thums Up, an Indian cola created in the 1970s and eventually bought by Coca-Cola. When I had my first sip, my immediate thought was "This tastes like India"; I've since read that it contains betel nut.

That sounds like "Thums Up" It and Limca (a lemonade like drink) were created when India had very strict import laws in the 1970's I think I recall drinking them a lot when I was visiting as a kid and learning how to drink them without letting the grubby bottles touch your lips. They are available in the US now in many Indian stores. My local place in Culver City has them.

Now I am in the US I miss Dandelion & Burdock. It was a Temperance movement drink (as were so many soft drinks)and was first created up in Lancashire. Some families like Mawson's are making it again to the original recipes, but I have not seen it here, yet although I can get Fenteman's D&B at Ye Olde king's Head in Santa Monica.

Slapsie

[prasantrin]

I like Ting and similarly, Grace's Grapefruit soda. They're similar, but Grace's is a little sharper. Both are from Jamaica, I think. Or somewhere in the Caribbean.

I always thought Gus's was American, no?

[splinky]

i used to like tizer, but the color is sort of off putting

[Daniel]

Sorry to bring alcohol into the thread but, there is also a beverage of an international nature, Guarana Antarctica.. perhaps I should have posted this in the Lindsey Lohan thread... As in addition to Billy Joel, The Long Island Iced Tea has been responsible for many a stupid tattoo. <br><br>The LIT with Guarana Antarctica replacing sour mix and Coke.

[Daniel]

end of the story is:

we found dr. pepper in the pantry.. topped the drink with pepper and the drink was not horrible..

[Stone]

I remember in India drinking a lemon soda called Limca. The rumor was that Limca came from England, where it was banned because it had a carcinogen. Someone sold the recipe to an Indian company which started producing it.

[Wilfrid]

Big Ting fan over here. My old supplier stopped carrying it. It's matter of looking in the back of refrigerators in any old deli. Thums Up sounds intriguing.

Anyone here able to drink Malta Goya? Remind me of the malt extract I was forcefed as a toddler. Not keen.

I don't remember Limca.

[prasantrin]

My mother loves Jumex guanabana nectar, but I don't know if it's carbonated.

There are a bunch of Japanese beverages I love (Coca Cola's yuzu drink, Gokuri grapefruit beverage), but again, not carbonated.

[StephanieL]

I like both Ting and Guarana as well. I try to get them when I have Jamaican and Brazilian food, respectively. I also find Ribena and the San Pellegrino sodas (e.g., limonata) refreshing.

[Rail Paul]

Big Ting fan over here. My old supplier stopped carrying it. It's matter of looking in the back of refrigerators in any old deli. Thums Up sounds intriguing.

Anyone here able to drink Malta Goya? Remind me of the malt extract I was forcefed as a toddler. Not keen.

I don't remember Limca.

I've seen the Malta Goya beverage in a number of Hispanic stores in Passaic NJ. Our local market carries it from time to time. Along with Orangina.

St. Eve's in Ho-Ho-Kus NJ offers a wonderful, home made root beer soda. They also create lemonades, etc from real lemons, roots, etc. Their root beer float is wonderful. Exactly the right thing for a hot summer afternoon.

[Sneakeater]

(Useless post)

They serve Thumbs Up and Limca in this pop-up Bombay street food place at the Festival Theater in the South Bank of London.

(Instead, I had a really delicious and refreshing Gola [ices] called a Kala Khatta.)

[Suzanne F]

I like both Ting and Guarana as well. I try to get them when I have Jamaican and Brazilian food, respectively. I also find Ribena and the San Pellegrino sodas (e.g., limonata) refreshing.

There's something about the San Pellegrino limonata that I don't like. But there's another limonata sold at Buon Italia in Chelsea Market that I just love. It's still too sweet, but it's got lots of lemon juice and (iirc) no lemon oil, which always puts me off. I'm not sure of the name--if it even has a name on the can other than Limonata--but you might try some next time you're there.

[fentona]

I remember the first (and only) time I tried cola champagne. It tasted like neither...