Last weekend I dug through my freezer and was reminded that I still had the bottom of a bottle of spiced rum.  Enough for a drink, perhaps two.  What I lacked was anything to drink with the rum.  I googled a solution to my problem and in roughly twelve minutes I was at my nearest convenient store in search of my mixer du jour, ginger ale.  What I found alongside, was far greater.  

First a little history with my relationship with ginger.  I like it.  But when I was pregnant and suffering from all day “morning” sickness it was suggested that I try ginger candy to alleviate my nausea.  To this day I associate the taste of sweet natural ginger with losing an otherwise lovely dinner in a roadside bathroom in the state of New Mexico, another post altogether.  So if I decide to partake of ginger ale, it is always the less authentic version one can find under the name brand Canadian Dry.  Real ginger ale, ginger candy, etc. is not my favorite.

So there I was at the C-Store staring at the only ginger ale option they provided:  Reed’s All Natural Jamaican Ginger Ale.  I hesitated.  Maybe my taste buds have forgotten, I thought.  Better look for another option to go with rum, I thought as I peered through the glass doors for something else with which Sailor Jerry would play nicely.  I came upon two drinks I had not seen in over a decade.  They make Surge again!  Is that Crystal Pepsi?!  Without even contemplating my no caffeine after noon rule I grabbed both drinks and instantly my thoughts went one place.  Blog.  

I do this all the time, sometimes many times per day.  I have written dozens of unpublished blogs since I last posted here but none of them seemed right.  But soda, this was good.  I then grabbed the ginger ale and because I was feeling thirsty at that moment I rounded out my order with a can of Sanpellegrino.  I paid for my drinks and drove home.

First Crystal Pepsi.  AKA the soda that came out in my early teens.  I confuse Crystal Pepsi and Pepsi Blue (another short lived 90’s cola), because I don’t usually drink Pepsi.  Of course I tried both of these sodas when they debuted in the decade of grunge, but I really didn’t remember them.  But…after tasting Crystal Pepsi I remembered it in the same way Robin Williams remembered he was Peter Pan in Hook.   It took some effort, but I did recall the taste.  I wasn’t as thrilled about my reunion with this soda as he was with tinkerbell, but you get my point.  It took a few sips.  Crystal Pepsi tastes to me, like Pepsi, but different and yet totally them same.  Another fun fact about Crystal Pepsi:  It has a great commercial from the Super Bowl including a song by Van Halen.

Moving along…

Sanpellegrino is great.  It’s orange juice soda.  I wanted some while I was driving home so I bought some.  You didn’t come here to read a review on this beverage.

Surge.  *sigh*

I have a love/hate relationship with Surge.  I would have likely been a huge fan, but I was still nursing my wounds from the discontinuation of OK Soda when Surge broke out into the market.  I didn’t want Surge,  I didn’t ask for it.  I didn’t contact Coca-Cola headquarters specifically asking for the re-release of Surge.  I did this with OK Soda.   So while I would have loved Surge if I still had my Gen-X soda of choice, I scoffed at its release as a pseudo  alternative beverage that could never bee as wonderful as my beloved.  However, I took a few sips this evening.  It’s not bad.  I imagine they mixed Mello Yello, Minute Maid Orange and Sprite in order to create this drink.  Sorry I gave you no play in ’97 Surge.  I am still holding out for an OK Soda re-release.  1-800-I-FEEL-OK.

Finally, Ginger Ale.  Reed’s Ginger Ale is tasty.  After adding a shot of rum I did in fact forget about my New Mexico episode and I might even try it again at some point.  However it is coming on the warmer season and spiced rum doesn’t seem like the spirit of choice in the heat.

So, cheers to overcoming my fear of ginger.  Cheers to remembering sodas from the 1990’s.  And cheers to The Pilver which is nearly ten years young.