Wednesday, September 10, 2014

'HOT POP' (Or, 'THE HOTTEST FISH IN THE SODA SEA')

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Don't feel bad, folks. Heck, even I sometimes forget that this is supposed to be a "product review" blog as well. I get so caught up in the Spirituality, the politics, and the S(s)pirituality of politics that I forget about the product reviews.

Well, today I have a product review for ya. It's about a certain soda pop, or soda ...or pop.

Once upon a time I had a hot friend. I mean, this girl was so H-O-T she was smokin'. And she was blonde, which was never really my type. But that only goes to illustrate how hot she was! In the past I have referred to her as "Ms. Venus", while me, I am Mr. Mars. Anyway, she was from the Midwest where they called soda pop "pop". I told her repeatedly that it was either "soda pop" or "soda", but NEVER just "pop". However, she insisted on calling it "pop" so I broke it off with her. ...There are other hot fish in the sea.
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[Ms. Venus hiding her hotness under a schoolgirl facade for a publicity photo. Somewhere I have a picture of her sipping champagne in the back of a limo on her birthday, looking like her super-hot self, but I can't find where it's stored.]
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I'm not much of a soda pop drinker. I doubt if I drink more than 10 cans of soda pop in a year (unless I'm mixing some 80-proof 'Cruzan' Black Strap Rum into RC cola). My favorite has always been Mountain Dew. But I stopped drinking Mountain Dew years ago for Spiritual and political reasons.

Just a few days ago, Brother Nappy handed me a bottle of pop soda and axed me what I thought of it. I took a sip of it and within seconds I felt the heat; pretty soon it seemed like there was a small fire in my mouth, and with the second sip I started sneezing. "You like it?" Nappy asked me. "YEAH!" I replied enthusiastically. Then he told me I could finish it.
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Nappy had taken his son to 'Lee Lee' the Asian market, and while there he purchased them each a bottle of GOYA Jamaican Style GINGER BEER. (It's not really "beer". It's advertised on the bottle as being "nonalcoholic", as if they're proud of that fact. Sheesh!) It's really a very spicy form of ginger ale. It turned out that Nappy's son didn't like it at all, so it got passed on to me. I LOVES IT! Soda with a "POP!"
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What you needs to know is that "spicy" is my favorite flavor. Thus, Mexican food (sans meat) is my #1 by far, followed by Italian. I dig everything hot and/or smokey. [Yeah, I spell "smoky" with an "e". Get over it.] Ramona's 'Chile Relleno' burritos; Kroger's 'Smoke Flavor String Cheese'; Arizona Gunslinger 'Habanero Stuffed Olives'; Jalapeno Jarlsberg Cheese Dip (with the original multigrain flavor Sun Chips); any brewing company's 'Smoked Porter' (the only Porter style beer I like) - I could happily survive on just these things.
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This is not to say there's no such thing as "too hot" in my book: I once bought a jar of habanero pepper paste in Topeka, Kansas. So damned hot I had to throw it out after ruining two big pots of vegetarian chili with the stuffs!

After awhile I got to wondering what in hell makes this GOYA Jamaican Style GINGER BEER hot? So I did what anyone smarter'n an Airheadzonan would do: I read the ingredients label.

Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup 55, Ginger Flavorings, Oil Of Ginger, Caramel Color, Capsicum, Citric Acid.

"Capsicum"... Ah-Ha!
You know what Capsicum is? Essentially, that is what makes Cayenne Peppers hot... and me sneeze. It'z good stuffs, peoples!
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The following comes from the book 'LEFT FOR DEAD' by Dick Quinn:

Cayenne (latin name: Capsicum annum) ... Cayenne, which takes its name from the Greek word meaning "to bite", was introduced to Europe by Christopher Columbus. Legend has it that Columbus discovered the pungent pepper growing on an island off French Guiana later called Devil's Island. ...

In 1981, I found the book 'CAPSICUM' by Dr. John Christopher. Christopher was a genius from Utah who discovered incredible things Cayenne can do and used it as the primary ingredient in his herbal formulations. ... On numerous occasions, Dr. Christopher actually stopped a heart attack in progress by giving the patient Cayenne in warm water. ... 

About 95% of all heart attacks occur in the coronary artery that has become narrow because of cholesterol and plaque. When you are stressed ... your artery contracts, making the narrowed section even smaller. That's when a blood clot can come along and block your artery completely, shutting off the blood to your heart and causing a heart attack. Cayenne dissolves the clot, opens the artery and stimulates the heart, stopping the heart attack. ... Unlike caffeine, Cayenne is good for you. It is nature's most powerful stimulant. ...

Another safe way to clean the arteries is with Lecithin. Experts say the choline in Lecithin liquifies cholesterol and dissolves deposits. Nutritionists recommend taking three rounded tablespoons of Lecithin granules at one time every day for 12 days, with light exercise about two hours after you take it. It's called the 12-Day Flush. They recommend a tablespoon or two a day as a maintenance dose. ... Lecithin granules are more potent than capsules.

After she suffered a stroke, I once had my Ma do the 12-Day Flush, and apparently it worked incredibly well. (More details in the book review linked toward the bottom of this blog bit.) Back to the excerpts:

I consider Dr. John Christopher the patron saint of Cayenne, the herb that's most important to my health. Had Christopher not lived, I would not be alive today, because I would never have heard of Cayenne or what it can do. He told the lady by the lake and she told me.

Since Cayenne detoxifies the liver and other organs, it can cause the "burning dumps" for up to 3 days, though some people don't have them at all. Your kidneys, liver and other organs may contain very powerful, caustic poisons they have filtered out of your blood. Now you can get rid of them. ... People who don't usually eat hot spicy food should build a tolerance slowly. ...

'Power Caps' are my favorite, my mean old junkyard dog. They have more of my 100,000 heat unit blend of African and Indian Cayenne ... They also have Hawthorn for my heart and Ginger to give me a lift and put the fire out.

Dick Quinn is correct about Ginger helping to put out the fire of Cayenne. For instance, I sometimes take the Solaray brand of "Extra Hot" 'COOL CAYENNE'. These are 100,000 heat-unit capsules, but they're blended with Ginger Root to keep the hot Cayenne cool in the stomach, and I have never had any problem with them. But then, like I said, I'm pretty much a spicy food junkie, so I certainly have a higher tolerance than would the average Joe or Joan Blow.

Hmmm... This makes me wonder how hot the GOYA Jamaican Style GINGER BEER might be if instead of being a Ginger Beer it was, oh, say, Cola or Root Beer. Double-Hmmm... I wonder what the GOYA GINGER BEER would be like with a Solaray 100,000 heat-unit 'COOL CAYENNE' capsule dissolved in it. I think I'm off to experiment. ...People probably die experimenting with stuffs like this. Oh well, at least I'll die a "hottie".

GOYA Jamaican Style GINGER BEER and 'LEFT FOR DEAD' by Dick Quinn, I recommend both.

Book Review and Reader Comments:
http://tinyurl.com/lajtbb5
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'GOYA' GINGER BEER IN MY BEER CUP. IS THAT EVEN LEGAL?
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.

26 comments:

  1. You're absolutely right, it is a great companion post. As a matter of fact, I was going to recommend some of the same reading material to those who have commented.

    I'm also a big fan of cayenne (and anything else HOT), unfortunately until the damage done to my stomach lining by my auto immune disease is healed, I'm off the 'hot stuff' and just about anything else good.

    Did you know that cayenne is also good to help stop severe bleeding? It works.

    I've had and really like Jamaican Ginger Beer, never had the brand your recommending though. I will definitely have to check it out, once it's back on my menu.

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    1. FAE ~
      Yep, I DID know that Cayenne helps stop bleeding. In fact, I think Dick Quinn even mentions that somewhere in his book (which I've read two or three times, but not for a while now).

      Also, Cayenne will NOT damage your stomach lining (although it may feel like it's doing that to some people who are unaccustomed to it). However, if your stomach lining is ALREADY damaged, perhaps Cayenne would not be good for it. ...Then again, maybe it would help it heal. (Don't listen to me. I'm not REALLY a doctor - I just play on on this blog:-)

      I just woke up to visit the little boy's room (yeah, I haven't wet my bed in over 2 years now - Ma would be so proud o' me!) and I briefly tawt about deleting that last comment I left at your house; I tawt maybe that Cruzan-for-a-Bruzan attitude was a shade too sarcastically snarky.

      But then I heard this sexy voice in my mind (100,000 heat-units hotter'n Ms. Venus EVER sounded) say, "Don't you even THINK about it, Filbert!"

      So I backed off.

      Goin' back to bed now.

      But you and 6-B can expect E's before I go back to hell (aka "work").

      ~ D-FensDogg
      'Loyal American Underground'

      Delete
    2. Glad you backed off. I would have been disappointed had you deleted your comment.

      Delete
  2. I like spicy foods too, especially Thai food, but when I ordered one of my usual dishes one time, it was so hot my eyes were watering. I kept drinking water, but man! It was hot. I went to the rest room to stick my head under the faucet, (just kidding) and while I was gone, the owner came to the table and apologized to my husband. (Who'd ordered something mild.) They'd gotten a fresh batch of peppers in, and assumed their heat was the same as usual. It wasn't. And the cook used the normal amount of peppers in the recipe, so everyone ordering "spicy dishes" was complaining. But, by golly, I finished it! (for lunch the next day...)

    Anyhow, guess what? The official announcement won't be made until tomorrow, but I'm gonna be away, so I'll tell you now. Your comment about your mom won you a copy of "Old Broads Waxing Poetic!" I'll need your mailing address, so we can get it to you. There's an "email me" badge in the sidebar of my blog. (Congratulations! I hope you enjoy our work.)

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    1. SUSAN!
      Ha! That is OUTSTANDING! Thanks so much for the book. (Was it a random drawing? Or did the quality of my comment play a part in me winning a book? NO! STOP! Don't tell me... just in case it's not what I want to hear. I'm just going to assume that I won a book because my comment was A-list... or at least A-(minus)-list.)

      Oh, yeah, I forgot about Thai food, but I love that too, naturally. Of course, being a vegetarian, my menu choices are pretty limited, but I can always find stuffs on a Thai menu to order, and I loves dat HEAT!

      Come to think of it, I'll leave you one mo' remark regarding me Ma:

      Some years ago, when my Ma was still alive (she "moved on up a little higher" in July of 2005), I had just written and posted a review of a book about baseball (remember how much my Ma loved baseball, right?), and I thought the review was so damned good that I decided right then and there that I AM A WRITER. Even if I never wrote a sentence that sold, I WAS a writer in my own estimation.

      I was in such a good mood that I went and got my Ma and took her to her favorite local restaurant which served... (yep, you guessed it) ...Thai food.

      When I think of that restaurant, it always reminds me of my Ma, sitting at the table across from me, and me 'splainin' to her what I wrote in that baseball book review that had me on Cloud 9 at the time. (Also naturally, my Ma was mentioned in that review. Me write about baseball without mentioning me Ma? FUHGEDDABOUDIT!)

      Thanks again, SUSAN, so much! I'm sure I will love the book. And now I'm on my way to yer blog to send ya an E with me addy. (You just made my day... and, heck, it's only 12:32 in the P.M.)

      First, I want to thank the Academy for this award. ..."I haven't had an orthodox career and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. ... And I can't deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you LIKE ME! Thank you!"

      ~ D-FensDogg
      'Loyal American Underground'

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  3. I like stuff hot, and would be interested in the habanero paste you tossed (although last year I cut up three habaneros and put them in a stir fry-I finished it, but it was painful...and again the next day if'n ya know what I mean.)

    But I suspected the benefits of capsicum long before I read about them...and I like foods with a little kick.

    They sometimes stock that Goya brand (not sure about that flavor) here in the office, but I only drink diet soda.

    On the East coast, it was never "pop" or "soda pop"

    Just "soda."

    Actually "coke" was also acceptable-if someone said I'm going to get a coke, you didn't hold it against them if they came back with a Mountain Dew.

    Unless you asked them for a Coke and they brought you back a Mountain Dew.

    LC

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    1. LC ~
      Loved da comment.

      That habanero pepper paste I mentioned... man, that was OFF-THE-FRIGGIN'-CHARTS HOT!

      You know me, I'm from Los Angeles where HOT LATIN & MESSICAN STUFFS IS the culture. So when I bought a small jar of Habanero Paste in... TOPEKA-WHITE-BREAD-KANSAS, I thought it would be a joke to a guy like me. Mang, I thought I could crap bigger Habanero Pepper Paste than that! (Yeah, 6-B, you know what put that sentence in my mind.)

      DOH!!!

      To this day I can't figger that one out. Not kidding... in the first pot of chili I made back in Prescott, Airheadzona, with that Topeka, Kansas, Habanero Pepper Paste, I used maybe two teaspoon's worth of the paste.

      It turned my mouth into Hiroshima!!!
      I had to toss the entire pot (and it was a HUGE pot) of chili into the trash.

      So, a couple weeks later, I tried it again. This time I used about half a teaspoon of Habanero Pepper Paste in that same huge pot of chili.

      SAME-FRIGGIN'-RESULT! (And remember, I'd been eating hot Angeleno food my entire life - even eating jalapeno peppers raw - no mixer, no chaser! I mean, SERIOUSLY, no one I knew ate food as hot as I could and ordinarily did.)

      I still don't know what the "F" was up with that white bread, Midwest Habanero Pepper Paste, but it damn-sure wasn't wimpy. Maybe it sat in that store, in that same jar for 10 years and had become an atomic bomb in the process, but all I can tell you is that was the hottest magma my mouth ever endured... for 10 seconds.

      When I threw out the second huge pot of chili, I threw out the little jar of Topeka Habanero Pepper Paste with it.

      Honestly? I don't think you would have dug it any more than I did. I would have rather had my tongue cut out than eat another bite of that chili!

      I really like the regional-speak that we seem to have lost since the advent of national television (and MTV played a big part in this).

      On the West Coast it was either Soda Pop or Soda. Ms. Venus illustrated the fact that in the Midwest it was always called Pop. (I believe it was also called Pop in the Deep South, because The Andy Griffith Show episodes frequently made mention of going down to the "filling station" (NOT gas station) for "a bottle of pop".

      And now you're telling me that in the East it was "just Soda". Cool!

      I miss that stuffs... those days when you could travel across the country and find what seemed to be at least four different types of culture. Now, everything has been homogenized, pasteurized, homosexualized, and bisexualized.

      As the musical genius Brian Wilson sang:
      "I JUST WASN'T MADE FOR THESE TIMES".

      ~ D-FensDogg
      'Loyal American Underground'

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    2. I don't know why I felt compelled to reply to this comment, but I just figured I'd throw this out there after L.C.'s mention of drinking diet soda only - I still can't figure out whether the hell diet soda is healthier than regular soda.

      I rarely drink soda, but back when I did, I used to drink diet soda as a way of maintaining my healthy diet. Then I read about a year ago a bunch of news articles came out saying that diet sodas are actually worse for you than regular sodas. Basically, all of the chemicals in it have been said to make one's waistline bigger than if they just drank regular soda, since our bodies don't understand how to properly break these chemicals down the same way we break down sugar.

      But then you have regular soda, which is full of high fructose corn syrup, an ingredient more and more people are barking about being terrible for you. (Ever seen a video on how that stuff is made? It's disgusting. I refuse to eat anything with that junk in it, and will drink it very, very rarely)

      Long story short, I still have no idea which is truly the lesser of two evils, and this, more than anything, is why I very rarely drink soda. I mean, I love the taste - if I could, I'd drink one every day. But since I love my body more, I just play it safe and avoid regular AND diet altogether. Because I just don't know what to believe anymore, other than "all soda is trying to kill me."

      This is also why I justify drinking beer so much. Because not only does beer not contain any of that junk (unless you're a Coors or Bud fan - look it up, they actually contain high fructose corn syrup... as if I needed another reason to hate that swill). But because beer also helps prevent muscle atrophy.

      http://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living/0926/beer-helps-prevent-muscle-deterioration-in-mice.aspx

      No wonder my arms still look so studly! That's just plain science, gents. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to get in a good workout and chase it with a beer. To my health!

      ~6B

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    3. 6-B ~
      I read long ago that diet soda is horrible for the human body due to the saccharine and other pseudo-sugar chemicals they use. And that, yes, even despite the refined sugar, regular soda pop is not quite as bad for ya.

      It didn't really impact my life much at all though because A) I have never consumed a lot of soda pop, and B) I have always disliked the taste of EVERY diet soda pop I've ever tried. It really does taste artificial and "chemical-y" to me.

      So on those rare times when I DO down a soda pop (usually because it's free, it's cold, and I'm thirsty) I ALWAYS choose "regular" when it's available.

      I've always liked Mountain Dew and Dr Pepper - colas not as much (too bland). This GOYA Ginger Beer is good stuffs but mainly because of the Capsicum in it. Without that I'd say, "Eh... it's just a ginger ale".

      No, I have no idea how high fructose corn syrup is made. I'd always heard it's bad for the body but I wouldn't have imagined the process of making it would be "disgusting". Do I wanna learn that? Hmmm... Maybe not.

      Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to drink my 242 beers and chase it with a beer. To my health!

      Worked all night on a long, long overdue E rEply. Almost finished with it. Hopefully I can get it completed and sent in the next hour before I go to bed.

      ~ D-FensDogg
      'Loyal American Underground'

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  4. Nothing random about it. You won based on your comment.

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    1. WOO-HOO!
      Ya see? Ya see? I TOLD YA I was a writer!

      ~ D-FensDogg
      'Loyal American Underwriters Association 'N' Shit Like Dat'

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  5. I'm from Chicago, so I'm a "pop" person. On my first date with my husband he raved about the sweet 'n" sour soup, so I decided to order it too. Not realizing how spicy it would be, I began choking after a few spoonfuls. Surprisingly, he still asked me out again. Congrats on winning our Old Broads contest! Your ma sounds like she was an amazing woman! I wish my mom had gone after my brother like that when he was on crutches!

    Julie

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    1. JULIE ~
      Hey, THANKS!

      Yeah, there ya go, Chicago - Midwest - "Pop" definitely seems to be a Midwest term. (Ms. Venus was from Ohio.)

      I guess they should have called that 'Sweet 'N' Sour 'N' Spicy Soup'. Nice alliteration there, too. Pretty funny first impression to make, eh? Cause a big scene by choking in the restaurant. Well, it was a memorable date though.

      Too bad you didn't know my Ma, as she probably would have chased your Brother with his crutch for ya.
      :-)

      ~ D-FensDogg
      'Loyal American Underground'

      Delete
  6. LEE ~
    You have Clamato juice when you could have had a V-8?

    Funny, I'm not really a fan of Tabasco. It's OK, but there are other hot sauces I like better. It's a little too "vinegar-y" for my taste. Although I DO like the green jalapeno Tabasco, just not the red.

    Have you ever tried Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce? I like that one pretty well. I sometimes put it on hard-boiled eggs.

    What I REALLY like on hard-boiled eggs though is Wish-Bone Guacamole Ranch dressing. I've always been absolutely wild about avocado, so I thought I'd like this on salads. I put it on ONE salad and didn't care for it at all. The bottle just sat there in my refrigerator for awhile, and then one day, on a whim, I put some of it on a hard-boiled egg and REALLY liked that combination. I've been buying that salad dressing strictly for hard-boiled eggs ever since.

    GOYA is the only Ginger Beer I think I've ever had. Reading some customer comments about Ginger Beer online it struck me that GOYA might be the only one (or one of only a couple) that has the "little fiery kick" to it, due to the Capsicum in the ingredients. I got the impression that this wasn't ordinarily something found in most Ginger Beers. So, you might really dig the GOYA brand since you do love hot spicy food.

    It's not really what I would call "hot", at least not in a habanero pepper kind of way. But it does warm the mouth up as you consume a full 12 ounces of it. That there's a little "kick" to it is obvious after just a single sip, however.

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  7. I really liked Sriracha when I first tried it and then I got kind of burned out on it. It's been several years since I had it so maybe I'm due to try it again.

    Don't know about the hard-boiled eggs. I'm not much on them, but my wife loves them. I often fix her hard-boiled eggs for breakfast, but she likes them plain. She's not much of a sauce person. She loves bland food. Not me--I need flavor with spicy flavors preferred.

    Lee
    A Faraway View

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  8. >>... I really liked Sriracha when I first tried it and then I got kind of burned out on it.

    Yeah, the same thing happened to me, but now I'm back to it again.

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  9. I'm sitting here kicking myself. You see, I had to hang my head in shame and give my wife a very rare "dammit, you were right."

    A few months back we were in the Mexican grocery store and saw this, and the wife said, "Huh, this looks interesting. Ginger beer." Neither of us noticed the Jamaican part, and without giving it much thought I said, "Eh, it's just ginger beer. You probably wouldn't like it."

    Had I known it was hot and contained capsicum, well, I would have told her to grab it on the spot! We live for hot food, and nothing is ever too hot. I make my salsa with habaneros, and I always order the hottest I can at the local Thai joint. My inner stomach lining, if it still exists, is probably a rotted black pit. But it's so good.

    So after reading this post I sent the link to the wife, along with a "dammit, you were right." We'll have to grab one of these next time we're at the Mexi-mart so I can have something spicy to wash down all that pride I've been swallowing.

    "I remember once in August 1983
    I was wrong, and I could be wrong again."

    ~6B-Wrong

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    1. 6-B ~
      I'm sure your stomach lining is just fine. That hot stuffs is actually good for it (even if it sometimes feels like it's burning a hole through).

      Only a couple times have I encountered what I considered "too hot". This GOYA Ginger Beer might be considered hot to many people, but neither of us would label it that way. You'll just think: Ah, it's a got a nice warm kick to it.

      Last night I really did empty one of my 100,000 heat-unit 'Cool Cayenne' capsules into a glass of this Goya Ginger Beer. The cayenne didn't really dissolve in it - mostly just floated on the top. So I thought: Hokey-Smoke! This is probably going to hurt some going down.

      But it didn't at all. In fact, the Ginger Beer didn't seem any warmer than it does without the 'Cool Cayenne' in it. I guess all that ginger really chilled it out. My lips felt like they were burning a bit and then they went numb but otherwise I wouldn't have even known I'd emptied a capsule of hot cayenne into the drink. Hmmm... Life is so full of unexpected surprises.

      Sometimes when I eat something REALLY hot it will make me hiccup. Like these 'Arizona Gunslinger' Habanero-stuffed Olives... If I pop one in my mouth with a bite of ANYTHING else, they don't phase me. But if I eat one olive all at once, by itself, I'll sometimes get to hiccuping. But that don't kill me. It just makes me stronger.

      I thought maybe you were quoting me there, so I Googled it. Took me to some site where I couldn't even find the quote.

      Then I remembered that what I usually say goes more like this:
      "I was sure I would be wrong about something someday, but I didn't think it would happen THIS soon in my life."

      ~ D-FensDogg
      'Loyal American Underground'

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    2. I went to the Mexi-mart yesterday, and the Asian mart (grocery shopping day) and regret to say I didn't see it anywhere. May be a while before I get to try it.

      I actually prefer that it's just a touch of hot - as I mentioned before, I don't like when something is unbearably hot just to be gimmicky, like that awful chili beer I once had that was just basically a Corona soaked in fiery jalapeno juice. That one gave me heat hiccups like mad, just before it became the sinkerator special.

      I'll help you with that quote - my favorite musician said it in a great, great song. "Sure Don't Feel Like Love."

      ~6B-Wrong-Once

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    3. Nappy and I occasionally joke about those doofus guys, who when talking about hot, spicy food say things like, "Oh, it can't be hot enough for ME! Gimme the hottest you got!"

      Then you watch the tears flowing down from their red eyes at the barbeque as they make contrived "he-man" noises like "Whoo-Ya!" to try to disguise the pain they're in.

      Since men no longer need to go out and kill dinosaurs for dinner they need to find other (artificial, superficial) ways to try to express their xtreme-manhood.

      Me, I do dig hot spicy food, but there IS such a thing as "too hot" in my book. When I'm eating something that is SO HOT it has no flavor you can discern due to the heat, THAT is too damn hot!

      I like good flavors too, and I eat for enjoyment, not just heat. If something scores 100,000 on the 'Heat Unit' scale, but scores zero in the 'Tastes Good' department, I have zero interest in it.

      I'm not one of those guys who will drink a beer from the bottle rather than a beer mug just to show how "working-class tough" I am. "Yeah, I want a glass, barkeep! Do I look like some uncivilized schmo to you?"

      Hmmm... I looked up Art Garfunkel but still couldn't find any reference to that song lyric.
      ;-)

      So, who's that conscience sticking on the sole of my shoe? Oh, wait! Those are diamonds on the soles of my shoes. I must have been born at the right time in Puerto Rico under African Skies.

      ~ D-FensDogg
      'Loyal American Underground'

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  10. Hello Stephen. One of the Old Broads here stopping by to tell you congratulations on winning the contest!

    I'm also from the Midwest and say "pop." Although, I sometimes say "soda" too. I'm not a big fan of hot and spicy food, but I have heard of the health benefits of cayenne.

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    1. DAISY ~
      Thanks for stopping by with congratulations!

      Where's the "MAE"? Every Daisy I ever heard of was a DAISY MAE.

      Well, if you're a tough old broad, I guess you can go by any darn name you damn well please, eh?

      So, you're a Midwesterner who sometimes calls it "soda" too, huh? It's pretty clear right away that you just don't follow rules 'n' regulations well at all.

      Most rebels are welcome here at F-FFF. Around these parts, we just don't think like "them other people do". Some people say we're wrong, but we just say "We're different" - while we're reloading.
      :-)

      ~ D-FensDogg
      'Loyal American Underground'

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  11. Congratulations on winning re: the OLD BROAD-fest! I actually made my own ginger ale this past year. My daughter had a stomach upset. Folks recommended ginger ale and I realized commercial ginger ale had NO ginger in it. So I brewed my own, with ginger syrup and seltzer. She hated it. I loved it. She got better anyway, and I drank the results. Spicy. Lovely. A little tinge of cayenne would blend beautifully. Congrats again. From an old broad who is not really that old...

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    1. LIZA ~
      Hey, thank you!

      And, heck, "young broads" are good too.

      That's interesting about there not really being any ginger in today's commercial ginger ale. But why am I not surprised?

      When I was a little kid, my Ma used to give me ginger ale (or 'Bubble Up') when my stomach was upset and I couldn't keep anything else down. And it always helped... and always stayed down.

      Of course, it was so long ago that I was a kid that there probably WAS some real ginger in the ginger ale then.

      Thanks again!

      ~ D-FensDogg
      'Loyal American Underground'

      Delete
  12. As you know, I love hot stuffs also. I have an assortment - constantly changing - of hot sauces.

    I have never had a Goya, but always was an occasional fan of ginger ale. Never tried "ginger beer." My favorite as a kid was Vernor's, which most of my friends hated because it was so "hot." It was incredibly bubbly and dry-hot flavored. Probably not as hot as Goya, though!

    I used to drink it a few times a week until finally the liquor store (the only place in our small town to carry it) finally stopped. I just looked it up, and apparently it has changed for the worse.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernors

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    Replies
    1. SHEBOYGANBOY SIX ~
      I remember liking Vernor's when I was a kid. I thought it had a spicier, more pronounced ginger flavor than the other ginger ales.

      And because of that extra ginger "snap" it did have a bit of bite. But, yes, even as I recall its flavor from when I was a kid (though apparently it's changed), this Goya Ginger Beer is definitely "hotter". You'd probably like it quite a bit, I think.

      ~ D-FensDogg
      'Loyal American Underground'

      Delete

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