The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Cooking & Recipes => Topic started by: Big Frank on May 14, 2025, 09:42:54 AM
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Since there's already a "What's the last thing you ate or are currently eating?" thread, and I often post what I'm drinking in it, I figured I may as well start this thread. I'm craving iced tea. And lemonade too. But all I have is liquor , pop, and water. I'd like to know what the rest of you drink, too. For me it's just plan water until I'm sick of it and need a change.
I'm drinking Bourbon and Vernors zero sugar ginger ale. I already like bourbon and ginger ale, and I like Moscow Mules too. So when I saw this recipe for a KENTUCKY Mule, my interest was piqued. I need to buy some limes anyway so I can make Cuba Libres. And ginger beer instead of ginger ale. Maybe Q Mixers will be on sale. Their ginger beer is so strong it's almost impossible to drink straight, but it's a GREAT mixer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_and_Coke
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More bourbon, with Orange Cream Coca-Cola zero sugar. It's even better than drinking Orange Cream Coke straight, which is good. I had a regular Coke zero sugar and bourbon too. I'm mixing whiskey with every soft drink I have, but not water because that's too plain. I can fit 4 or 5 12-packs of pop side by side on one one shelf of my fridge, depending on whether I jam them together or leave room for air to circulate. I have 4 on the bottom shelf now.
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Cherry Pepsi is my go to.
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I think I tried a Cherry Pepsi once, but I'm not sure. I'm not a Pepsi drinker but have been thinking about trying Pilk, half Pepsi-half milk. I read online that it was really good. Apparently they made Pilk on an episode of Laverne & Shirley. Laverne tasted some they mixed up for a party and said it needs more Pepsi. Who knows? Maybe I'll like it and start drinking dirty sodas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_soda
I've been drinking a lot of water and sweet tea. I found another bottle of margarita mixer and added some to one glass of tea. It seemed like it was even sweeter and not tangy like I expected. I'm out of tequila, and when I finish my last few swallows of water, I'm going to mix some margarita mixer with vodka and see how it is. If I like it I'll probably finish the mixer tonight.
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Distilled water. Yep...that's right. Our youngest son bought us a tabletop water distiller. I scoffed at first...not anymore. No more chlorine or other harsh chemicals. I thought filtering was the cat's meow...but I was wrong.
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I'm drinking bottled water. Distilled water is better for you, but if it has some minerals added to it, it supposedly tastes much better.
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Having a sip of ice cold sweet tea right now.
Wednesday is usually my sweet tea day because I make 5 to 7 gallons for Wednesday evening supper at church....and of course I have to continuously sample for quality and such...especially if grilling too. ;D
I don't normally make it at home unless we have company for a meal. Sunday the sons were over frying fish so I made a batch so today I finished off what was left of the tea.
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I finished the last of my gallon of Milo's sweet tea last night, and made a gallon of instant 4C Zero Sugar Green Iced Tea with Honey. This is left from a 3-pack my friend Scott sent me a year or so ago. I keep forgetting about it or it would have been long gone. A package just showed up one day when he bought it for me because he liked it. I had some while my coffee was brewing. Then I put a whole tub of Mexican Hot Chocolate flavor cotton candy in my pot of coffee and have been drinking it all day. I'm down to my last half a cup. Then I'll switch back to tea. I finished my margarita mix with vodka a couple days ago. Not great, but better than mixing it with rum, I think. I should have mixed t with whiskey, like a whiskey sour. I have a bottle of simple syrup I could have used if it was too sour. I always think of things days too late. :(
https://www.4c.com/4c-product/light-green-iced-tea-mix/
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I cracked open a "half-gallon" of Bacardi Gold and mixed it with Orange Cream Coke Zero. It has a good molasses taste to it. And maybe it shouldn't.
Within the Caribbean, each island or production area has a unique style. For the most part, these styles can be grouped by the language traditionally spoken. Due to the overwhelming influence of Puerto Rican rum, most rum consumed in the United States is produced in the "Spanish-speaking" style.
English-speaking areas are known for darker rums with a fuller taste that retains a greater amount of the underlying molasses flavor. Rums from the Bahamas, Antigua, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Belize, Bermuda, Saint Kitts, the Demerara region of Guyana, and Jamaica are typical of this style. A version called "Rude Rum" or "John Crow Batty" is served in some places and it is reportedly much stronger in alcohol content being listed as one of the 10 strongest drinks in the world, while it might also contain other intoxicants. The term, denoting homemade, strong rum, appears in New Zealand since at least the early 19th century. Jamaican rum was granted geographical indication protection in 2016.
French-speaking areas are best known for their agricultural rums (rhum agricole). These rums, being produced exclusively from sugar cane juice, retain a greater amount of the original flavor of the sugar cane and are generally more expensive than molasses-based rums. Rums from Haiti, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Mauritius are typical of this style.
Areas that had been formerly part of the Spanish Empire traditionally produce añejo rums with a fairly smooth taste. Rums from Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela are typical of this style. Rum from the U.S. Virgin Islands is also of this style. The Canary Islands produces a honey-based rum known as ron miel de Canarias which carries a protected geographical designation.
Bacardi is Cuban rum. The iconic BACARDÍ bat logo came about when Doña Amalia, the wife of our founder Don Facundo, spotted a colony of fruit bats in the rafters of the first BACARDÍ distillery in Santiago de Cuba. Symbolizing good health, family unity and good fortune, she knew the bat was the right choice to symbolize BACARDÍ.
The bat has remained synonymous with our rum ever since. Gracing every bottle and guiding the Bacardí family’s long-term involvement with bat research, education and conservation.
Our love for the bat and nature continues to this day. At Casa BACARDÍ in Puerto Rico, we’ve been working hard to ensure that local wildlife has somewhere to live and thrive. So, we put together a wildlife team of 11 volunteer employees who have helped us create and manage a series of pollinator gardens around the distillery.
Spanning 38,535 square feet, the pollinator gardens are part of a Wildlife at Work program that has been certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), since 2013. It serves as a year-round food source to monarch butterflies, honey bees, native bees, and seven species of bats: the Antillean fruit bat, minor red bat, red fruit bat, and Mexican free-tailed bat! In turn, the butterflies, bees and bats play their own role in helping our native trees, flowers and plants grow. Everything coexists in harmony. You could say, just like a BACARDÍ rum cocktail. Where each ingredient is as important as the other in creating the perfect balance.
And that's not all. Lubee Bat Conservancy is a nonprofit organization in Gainesville, Florida. The organization was founded in 1989 by Luis F. Bacardi as a center for the research, conservation, and breeding of endangered animals; it later narrowed its focus solely to bats, particularly megabats.
Lubee Bat Conservancy is an Association of Zoos and Aquariums-certified institution.
Lubee Bat Conservancy has its roots in an organization founded in 1989, the Lubee Foundation, Inc. The Lubee Foundation was created by Luis F. Bacardi of the Bacardi spirits company.[3] The name "Lubee" was derived from the name of "Luis Bacardi".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubee_Bat_Conservancy
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I drank a lot of Bacardi in my early 20's before switching to bourbon.
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I drank a lot of Bacardi in my early 20's before switching to bourbon.
Red label & coke.
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Bourbon and Dr Pepper Zero.
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I had an Orange Creamsicle shake with whipped cream on top with today's meal. When it ran out I poured an Orange Cream Coke Zero in the cup. I just finished that and will have some ice cold green tea with honey before I switch back to water.
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Unsweetened almond "milk" ::)
Black cherry flavored water.
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Fresca
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After guzzling London Dry Gin and Mountain Dew Zero Sugar Monday, I've been drinking a lot of water the rest of the week. Alcohol still doesn't sound especially good, so I bought 24 bottles of Starbucks Frappuccinos to break up the monotony. Ice cold green tea sounds good, so I'll have some of that.
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Walmart keey-lime sparkling water.
Ugh, still 80 here, no breeze and no AC...
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Red label & coke.
In the past. I haven't had a drink in over 3 decades now.
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Half and half sweet tea and lemonade, poured in a glass and not even stirred. Delicious.
I have a quart or so of Polish 100% Rye Vodka in the fridge, with old dried out licorice sticks cut into pieces marinating in. I take it out and shake it occasionally if I think of it. The licorice changed the color of the vodka the same day I put it in, but doesn't seem to be dissolving. I plan on taking it up north for my 4th of July trip. My friend likes vodka, but not licorice. His wife likes licorice as much as I do, but never drinks vodka AFAIK. I think she'll do a shot of black vodka. If not, I have a whole quart to myself.
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I just had a milkshake. I put the last of my German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream in a glass, and stirred in as much as I could fit of my last bottle of Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino. And I just cracked open another bottle of water.
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A glass of lemonade with London dry gin. I wanted to try lemonade with vodka, but all my vodka has licorice in it.
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Strawberry-Banana Body Armor drink.
Was at the beach last week and drank a lot of bottled water and Gatorade. 8)
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Lemon flavor Propel
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Water all day, but it's time to mix up some whiskey or rum, or both, with Coke or whatever, and have a couple drinks. I have free HBO this week so I'm going to watch another movie before bed, with some alkyhaul to help me relax.
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Monster Guava drink.
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Lime Perrier.
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Lime Perrier.
That's okay, as long you aren't buying Evian. Evian spelled backward is naive, and that's what you are if you buy it. ;) Evian is $2.69 for 1 liter at Kroger, and for $1 more I can get 12 liters of water, 24 bottles of purified water for $3.69. That's what I'm drinking now, but from a 40-pack, 20 liters. As much as I drink some days, I couldn't afford to only drink nothing but Evian or Perrier or and other fancy water. But another flavor would be good too.
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Lemonade and water. Had an Ultra Peach Monster earlier.
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I poured my last bit of bourbon in a glass, about half as much as I would normally mix with a soft drink. Next, I rinsed the bottle with a cup of lemonade and poured it in the glass. Then I scooped up some cocktail cherries and syrup that was so cold it was like paste, and stirred that in. It's kind of a very weak whiskey sour, and it's red from all the cherry/elderberry syrup.
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My first can of Mtn Dew zero sugar Baja Blast. It's supposed to be Tropical Lime flavor, which should go better with gin than regular Mtn Dew. I'll have to try it some time.
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I just had a Gin Mule. It's like a Moscow Mule made with gin instead of vodka and it's delicious. I wondered if it was going to taste like juniper and be weird, but it really doesn't. It has enough ginger beer flavor to taste great.
New Holland Brewing Company is an American independent craft brewing and distilling company headquartered in Holland, Michigan. It also owns and operates brewpub-style restaurants and spirits-tasting rooms located across West Michigan. The company's craft-style beer brands Dragon's Milk, Tangerine Space Machine, and spirits brands Dragon's Milk Origin, Beer Barrel Bourbon among others, are distributed throughout the United States and exported to Canada, Europe and Asia.
After the sale of Bell's to Kirin, New Holland Brewing Company became the largest craft brewery in the state of Michigan. Their online store sells lots of stuff including bar-ware, and drink-ware like this Bavarian-style 1L mug. I bought my drinks at Meijer, but the Walmart 1.8 miles down the road from me carries some of their products, so I'll have to check it out. If I drank beer I would be interested in their seasonal beers, like Cabin Fever that's only available in winter. I think it's a very fitting name for a Michigan winter brew.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Holland_Brewing_Company
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I'm drinking Stok cappuccino creamed cold brew coffee. I love cold brew coffee. I usually drink it black or slightly sweet, not fully sweetened. A cup of cold brew typically has twice the caffeine of a shot of espresso, and a cup of brewed coffee is halfway between them. If you want more caffeine you can drink multiple shots of espresso, drink cold brew, or drink robusta coffee which has about twice as much caffeine as arabica coffee but tastes so bad most good brands of coffee say 100% arabica on the label. No matter what you choose, nothing beats the smooth mellow taste of cold brew. Stok also makes decaf which should have the same smooth taste as there regular cold brew without the caffeine. I'll find out in a couple days. Most iced coffee is just brewed coffee on ice, which is okay if you like that kind of thing. One gal I knew in the army drank her coffee over ice all the time, decades before I heard of Starbucks or iced coffee with cream.
Today's trivia: Cappuccino got its name from being the color of the hooded robes worn by friars and nuns of the Capuchin order. And capuchin monkeys are named after the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, who wear brown robes with large hoods. When Portuguese explorers reached the Americas in the 15th century, they found small monkeys whose coloring resembled these friars, especially when in their robes with hoods down, and named them capuchins. Now you know the rest of the story. ;)
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I still start my day with a cherry pepsi, my only pop of the day. I've joined the cirkul cult and enjoy flavored water for the rest of the day, right now that is honeycrisp apple because I need flavor in my water...
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Lemonade all week and Yuengling draft with my meal (can't drink FL water).
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I drank a little tequilla when I was in Florida. The daughter's well water tasted pretty ok, as far as that plain stuff goes.
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Triple Melon Lemonade. It has natural watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew flavors, plus real lemon pulp. Earlier today I had an Island Wave Lemonade with lemons, bananas, mangoes, oranges, pineapple and passion fruit. These 2 pints of lemonade a 2 Hershey Banana Pudding ice cream bars cost me about $9.50. That's ridiculous.
https://drinkcalypso.com/flavors/
https://drinkcalypso.com/mixology/
https://hersheyicecream.com/banana-pudding-bar/
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Sprinter Vodka Soda - Made with real fruit juice, premium vodka, sparkling water, and obviously no added sugar, Sprinter Variety Pack delivers vibrant and fruit-forward flavors in Grapefruit, Lime, Peach, and Black Cherry. I had a Peach and a Lime. Time for bed. Will try the others later. Cool and refreshing, but could use a little sugar. May mix a Lime with a Cayman Jack Margarita, and a Peach with a Jack Daniels Southern Peach, since those are sweeter than they need to be.
https://drinksprinter.com/
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A Caribe Mule. Like a Moscow Mule, but quite different. ;)
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I mixed a Mike's Hard black cherry with a Sprinter black cherry vodka soda. The Mike's is so sweet my friend's wife gives the 3 that are in a variety 12-pack to her mother-in-law-or me, and the Sprinter has no sugar at all, so it worked out okay.
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A Mexican Mule. Instead of vodka, ginger beer, and lime, it has jalapeno lime liqueur & tequila with natural flavors.
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OG green Gatorade.....112° heat index on mowing day.
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Lemon-lime Gatorade Zero. If it looks like diluted original Prestone you know it's the good stuff. It's only 61 degrees now. I can probably turn off the A/C and let the house settle at whatever temperature it gets to.
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I had a Strawberry Rhubarb & A Zest Of Lime gin cocktail. It was really tangy. Now I'm having a Tangerine, Lemon & A Hint Of Mint gin cocktail. I didn't know it had mint in it, and wasn't prepared for the herbal taste. It tastes more to me like like Italian herbs or fennel seed, not mint. Strange but not bad. If I see the Vodka variety pack I'll get that too. I'm most interested in the Apricot & A Touch Of Ginger vodka cocktail. I know from previous experience that ginger goes well with peaches, and what is an apricot but a different kind of peach?
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Nitro cold brew coffee. Nitrogen-infused cold brew coffee. Made with organic coffee and water. Nothing else.
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I just had a Vosa Long Drink, the Michigan Long Drink. Kind of like a Finnish Long drink but better. Inspired by the beauty and energy of a Michigan summer, the Michigan Long Drink by VOSA is crafted for those perfect days by the lake, on the boat, or around the campfire. Light, refreshing, and incredibly smooth, it delivers exceptional taste with only 100 calories - 5% ABV, making it the ultimate companion for endless summer adventures. Whether you're watching the sunset over the water or celebrating life's joyful moments with friends, this drink captures the essence of Michigan - pure, crisp, and unforgettable. Made with made with 6x distilled Michigan vodka for exceptional purity - infused with sparkling water, real fruit juice, and natural flavors. Only 100 calories, with no added sugar.
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Organic oolong tea with sugar. I dunked some cinnamon apple donut sticks in it. They have a nasty chemical taste that I first noticed when I was drinking water with them yesterday. I'm going to scrub my cup out with Soft Scrub cleanser in the bathroom sink. It was the last clean coffee cup I had and I reused it so many times it's brown inside instead of white. The outside is still black with gold details, so it doesn't need cleanser. I really need to get my aching back under the kitchen sink and fix it. My neck already hurts from thinking about it. :(
Oolong is a traditional semi-oxidized Chinese tea, not fully oxidized like black tea. It's in between green tea and black.