Keeping Our Strength Up

In just a week of COVID-19 quarantine, I am learning a lot in just a short amount of time.

Grocery shopping is a very weird/awful experience these days.

Providing education for our kids is intense. There are many peaks and valleys. Teachers are special people.

Daily exercise is helping keep the stress at bay, even if it is just 20 minutes of yoga or a short walk outside.

The booze intake definitely shifted from a two-drink minimum to a two-drink maximum. I’m too damn tired at the end of the night for a third.

I’m keeping my spirits intake minimal. Rapid dehydration is something I am not looking for at the moment, so it is one whisk(e)y at the most for me.

Tea is awesome. It lets me relax, perks me up in the afternoon, and offers a ton of flavors and aromas (hopefully keeping me healthy in the process). I know I should be drinking more water, but water is boring.

Yeah…it can’t be all booze all the time, and that’s OK. Instead, I’ll share some of the tea I have been drinking to help keep my strength up, just in case pestilence strikes. By the way, am I some health expert? Not a chance, but I do enjoy these.

Twinings Support White Hibiscus: very fragrant, gentle, and soothing with a touch of lime on the finish. It’s what I need in the morning after the coffee blitz is over.

Bigelow Stress Free: a blend of rose petals and mint that is perfect for the moments`where homeschooling cranky children or reading about people flushing paper towels down their toilets during a pandemic makes you want to pull your hair out.

Newman’s Own Organic Black Tea: straightforward, tasty black tea that has a clean finish. We needed to get a box in bulk for the 2:00pm pick-me-up to help power through the afternoon.

Celestial Seasonings Peach Passion: peaches were a fruit I used to motor through as a toddler, and I love the flavor to this day. The combination of peach and passionfruit in this herbal tea blend is my go-to in the afternoon before I start getting dinner together.

Harney & Sons Ginger Tea: the first time we tried this, The Greatest Wife In The World and I realized this is the perfect tea to have on standby when illness arrives in unwelcome fashion. There are chunks of ginger and lemon zest that will get me back on track, if/when that day comes.

World Cup of Beverages: Kick It Off In Style

NOTE: In this series, I am investigating drinking culture in dozens of countries, making a few recommendations along the way mostly for products you can get in the United States. But I will make mention of others that, should you encounter them overseas, you may want to give them a shot. There is no political judgments being made here, but I am drawing from the history and culture of the respective nations in to present material in the most meaningful way possible. If you find anything I write to be in error, please reach out to me and make me smarter on the subject.

On Thursday, June 14th of 2018, the greatest world sporting event begins at 11:00am Eastern Time, and it has become one of my personal favorites. I speak, of course, of the FIFA World Cup.

While the Super Bowl and Wrestlemania are just dandy spectacles here in America, nothing gives you the opportunity to get to know the world from the comfort of your own living room (or computer desk if you are working). Now since the games start as early as 6:00am ET and end as late as 5:00pm ET, I understand day drinking may not be an option. However, don't let that stop you from enjoying a drink from any of the 32 countries represented at some point during the 32-day festivities. So today I start with Russia and Saudi Arabia as they will get things kicked off tomorrow.

Boris Egorov of Russia Beyond does a solid job of giving you a timeline on the myths that come with drinking in Russia, but also points out some major issues and the steps being taken to curtail heavy drinking (which has been a stigma associated with Russian drinking culture for a long time). Vodka wasn't even an original product of the Russians, and it wasn't until the 1990s fall of the Soviet Union that led to rampant unregulated alcohol production and consumption. A lot of cheap garbage was being made available for sale. Alcoholism is a problem in Russia (acknowledged in Egorov's article), but there is a movement from alcohol producers to reconnect with history of traditional lower alcohol lagers, as well as experiment with craft brewing. And certainly, vodka will be made too. The Zyr brand has done very well since its introduction in 2003. I will be honest...I have never been a huge vodka drinker. However, on a warm day when you decide to spike some lemonade, there's nothing more satisfying. Zyr has nice texture, little fire, and a clean finish. The price tag takes you to the $30 mark, but it delivers. Looking to shave a few dollars off? There's always my old dependable Stolichnaya (about $20), which definitely begs to go into a cocktail; the blueberry vodka is outstanding in lemonade with a few fresh blueberries dropped into the glass.

As for beers, availability will be irregular from state to state. However, the Baltika Brewries portfolio, which is part of Carlsberg, has a lot of interesting-looking beers. Sadly, I have not had the chance to sample any yet, but please let me know if you do!

Now, with Saudi Arabia we are at the other end of the drinking spectrum. Production and sale of alcohol is illegal. Bringing alcohol into Saudi Arabia is a huge no-no. You won't be drinking the locally homebrewed beverage known as sidique, a refermented beer with flavorings sometimes added to it, here in the United States...it can't be sold. Expat compounds may have some brands like Jack Daniel's and other global brands around in those bars, but you can't drink in public spaces. What do you do?

This is SOOOOO good. How's that for a professional review? Oh, right...I'm not a tea professional. Image credit: English Tea Store

Well...since the Saudi team is playing at 11:00am on a Thursday, and emulating sidique will take some effort (you will need several weeks), perhaps a cup of coffee or tea will do you just fine. Tea in particular is an offer of hospitality in Saudi Arabia and in the Arabic community in general. You can get your hands on chamomile, mint, cinnamon, or straight-up black tea rather easily. If you are looking for something that tastes great and is a change from what you find in the supermarket, I can't say enough about the quality of the Harney & Sons offering. Adding milk to a strong tea makes for an authentic Arabic style (and cuts back on the bitterness of a black tea). So yeah...you can drink in Saudi Arabia, but 99% of it is going to be alcohol-free. It's good to give the liver some time off.

And there you have it! You can get World Cup festivities started the right way. Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon, blueberry vodka lemonade at cocktail hour. There's something for everyone I hope you enjoy the games, as well as exploring a new drink or two.

Drinking Through Disney: Club Cool Edition

Today's Drinking Through Disney taps the brakes on the eating and drinking blitz through the parks and the hotels. Don't get me wrong...I love all that Disney World has to offer when it comes to food and beverage, but you have to come up for air every now and then. Additionally, if you are racing through the parks trying to hit all the rides you can in the searing Florida sunshine, chances are high that you are getting worn out.

One of the best ways to help chill yourself down while you are at Epcot is to stop into Club Cool, a soda shop featuring soft drinks from around the world. Anytime we went from Future World to the World Showcase and vice-versa, we brought the kids here to recharge the batteries.

Club Cool has multiple stations of eight different drinks to try; the selection changes every so often, but here is what the taps looked like when we visited last month:

The sodas on display feature a wide range of styles, sweet and fruity to bitter yet refreshing. Starting at the left, the Beverly is an Italian clear bitter soda that will get your appetite going before you start eating through World Showcase OR help you digest everything you just ate at World Showcase. It's a wake-up call for your system that has the most medicinal impact of the eight sodas. This was one of my favorites.

Fanta is a well-known worldwide brand of soda, and both Greece and Thailand were represented. If you are trying to scale back on the caffeine, the pineapple Fanta is a great choice; it certainly has a sweet taste, but it is very lively. Thailand's tropical melon soda has a similar sweetness/fruitiness profile of the Greek version, but with a more exotic flavor.

Japan's VegitaBeta is actually more of a juice than a soda, but the bright orange elixir was very flavorful. It has a combination of apricot, passionfruit, and carrots that acted as a restorative for me as it was not overly sweet and the fruit/vegetable combination tasted great together. Another favorite of mine.

South Africa was represented with Bibo, which was released within the last 20 years. There are many flavors of juices produced by this brand, but the one being dispensed on our trip was tasting like very sweet strawberries. Next is Zimbabwe's Sparberry, which is a raspberry cream soda. It has a deep red color that smells very fruity with vanilla tones.

The last two represented South America. Inca Kola is a fruity-earthy Peruvian soda that has a candylike sweetness. The Guarana Kuat is based on Guarana berries in Brazil, which turns into a maple syrup/caramel flavor that doesn't finish sweet...it finishes clean and dry with a tropical fruit flavor.

So remember this...a trip the Disney is a marathon, not a sprint. Take a break at Club Cool for a few moments before pushing through to your next FastPass or dinner reservation.