Posts with tag beverages

Last fall Coca-Cola released a new low-calorie energy drink called Enviga. At the time, Enviga drew gads of attention for its lofty claim that the beverage could actually burn calories.

Of course, after further scrutiny, it became apparent that for Enviga's calorie-burning properties to take hold, you'd actually have to drink multiple cans of the green tea soda. To drink several cans of Enviga basically meant you had to replace the calories you wanted to burn in the first place. Go figure.

Bunk calorie-burning claims aside, I confess that I dig this drink (a lot). So far, I've downed four cans of the sparkling berry flavor this week alone. Now as someone who never drinks soda much less soda containing the dubious sweetener Aspartame, which Enviga contains, this is something of a big deal. Obviously, I'm going to have to give it up sometime soon, but until then, it's bottoms up for the non-calorie-burning-calorie-burner imbibe.

I hemmed, and I hawed. I peered at the little laminated cards typed in a retro font. Hmm... "milk chocolate, allspice, and dried fruit"? Or maybe "complex ... notes of lemon peel ... orchid aroma." Do I want a sweet finish? Or would I rather something full of body, and herbal? And what the heck do orchids taste like?

Turns out, I love the way orchids taste. And the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe is now tops on my list. No longer do I roll my eyes when a customer quibbles between Latin American and Indonesian beans: I know that anything from the Sidamo region is sweet, light, complex, a delightful drink for summer, and the coffee from Guatemala has a cinnamony richness that's perfect for a rainy fall day.

Pooh-poohing chardonnay and preferring zinfandel over syrah is so late 90s. Today's hip imbibers are tasting coffee, not wine, and discovering a whole new palate. Tropical fruits. Jasmine. Apricot. Dark cherries. Lemongrass. Chocolate, toffee, spice of every sort. Coffee that tastes like strawberries? Until you've discovered the many notes of a truly great café, please put your "Gourmet" badge back on the rack. Coffee is the new tasting ... what's in your cup?