Kol-ahh!

Kola Tonic, which I see in the fine print on the label is produced in Salt River, South Africa. So much for reducing the carbon footprint. Doesn't anybody make this stuff around here?

I experienced an ah-hah! moment recently, while telling our cocktail-loving friend, Wes, about picking up a bottle of kola tonic in an Indian market. Andy and I had been on the lookout for it to make the Filmographer cocktail. Wes said yeah, you can get it at the drug store in tiny bottles (this one is much larger) and told us that when he was a young sprout his mum doled it out as a remedy for tummy troubles, poured over ice chips.

When I was a kid, carbonated drinks were not allowed in the house except when someone was sick, and then Coca-Cola was brought in for its tummy-easing, restorative powers. I loved the taste of it dearly, so much that it was worth being sick just to get to drink Coke.

While I don't drink it often now, I still crave the taste of this beverage in particular, for its aggressive, attitudinous flavor (to me its rival, which begins with P, tastes like another p-word!). At one point I was so passionate about its flavor that I kept one ice tray dedicated to cubes of frozen Coke. That way, when I poured myself a glass, I could use those instead of ice, so as not to dilute its flavor and potency.

That's a bit much, and I don't do it anymore. But there are times when it makes verrry good sense to me...