Weird Eats

Weird Drinks Roundup III

With all the zillions of energy drinks flooding the market these days, it was probably a foregone conclusion that someone would come out with an organic variety. That someone is the Organic Beverage Company. They make Syzmo, which is available in Original and Prickly Pear flavors. Check their Web site here and a review from BevNET here.

A little while back, Chow featured an article called Art of the Shock-tail. It deals with what you might call - for lack of better terminology - meat cocktails. Oh dear.

If you're looking for a beverage without so much meat in it, perhaps cucumber Pepsi will do the trick. Actually, you may have already missed Pepsi Ice Cucumber, which was a limited edition flavor that was apparently only available in Japan this summer. But if you really need to get your hands on some I'm sure there must be a way. More at CBS News.

Hendrix Liquid Experience & Earnhardt Candy

If you've been keeping track of Jimi Hendrix's "career" since 1970, you'll know that he's put out quite a few albums, even though this was the year he left us for rock and roll heaven.

Now, some 37 years after his passing, the influential guitarist has lent his name to an energy drink, of all things. Voodoo Vibe is the first in a planned line of beverages known as the Jimi Hendrix Liquid Experience. Clever. According to the Web site, "This new energy drink is a tribute to Jimi's legacy." Umm...

Those tireless tasters at BevNET recently reviewed Voodoo Vibe. For more on their verdict, look here.

Speaking of lending, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is now lending his name to a line of candy bars. They're called Dale Jr.'s Big Mo' and are available in creamy caramel and peanut butter flavors. More at the Web site, including a sweepstakes.

Marilyn Manson's Absinthe

Marilyn Manson, the Alice Cooper for a generation who missed Alice's heyday, is teaming up with Swiss distillery, Matter-Luginbuehl, to create a branded line of absinthe. The name - Mansinthe. Production began in August, with a run of 6,000 bottles. Manson has lent his artistic talents to the venture by designing Mansinthe's label.

If you're in the United States and you'd like a taste, you'll have to come up with some creative way of getting your hands on a bottle. Absinthe is apparently still a no-no in this part of the world, where you can still smoke cigarettes until your lungs are a cinder.

More details in this AFP article.

More about absinthe here and here.

Antimatter Energy Drink & Space2O Water

If beverages with a futuristic bent are your kind of thing, then Microgravity Enterprises has just the ticket. Antimatter Energy Drink is said to have been "produced from ingredients that have been flown in space." From snooping around at their Web site I wasn't able to discern exactly what this means, but you can have a look for yourself, right here.

Microgravity Enterprises also offers Space2O purified water, which is billed as "the world's first Space Water." What this all means is that it "is produced from a rigorous multi-step purification process that adds spaceflown electrolytes to enhance flavor and taste." So there. More info here.

Boxed Water & Flavored Tap Water

It's downright trendy these days to wax rhapsodic and self-righteous about the joys of tap water while bashing the evil minions of the bottled water industry - or something like that.

Yeah, whatever. I've never been a big fan of the bottled stuff. But I'm also not ready to guzzle straight from the tap. I use a Brita filter in hopes of filtering out whatever nasties might be present. If there are none then there's nothing lost or gained.

If you're also into a filtration type of solution, but you find plain old water a little bland, you might want to go with PuR Flavored Options, which allow you to filter and flavor your tap water at the same time. None for me, thanks. I'll stick to flavoring my water with tea.

If, on the other hand, you're hankering for a big box of "pure Norwegian arctic spring water," check out the Glacia IceBox. Whatever else you might say about these guys, you've gotta admit that they know how to churn out the purple prose on their Web site.

Pizza Beer & Cheese Perfume

Pizza beer? Well, maybe. Cheese perfume? Hmmm.

Mamma Mia Pizzabeer is the creation of Chicago-area brewers, Tom and Athena Seefurth. It's not quite as weird as it sounds, but is merely a beer that's brewed with tomato, oregano, basil, garlic and whatnot. For more information, check out the Web site or this profile from the Courier News.

Milk Days & Sipahh Straws

If you were planning to organize a three-day festival to sing the praises of milk, you should be aware that it's already been done. Not that that should necessarily stop you.

Harvard Milk Days is held annually in Harvard, Illinois. This year it'll be going on from June 1-3, so be sure to make your arrangements now. The organizers call it "the longest running festival in the state of Illinois," in case you were wondering.

FDA Buzzing Over Cocaine Energy Drink

(Update)
Cocaine Energy Drink is being taken off the market, at least for now, and the manufacturer has posted an R.I.P. notice at their Web site. Plans are to put the product back on shelves again under a new name. Which seems a bit odd, since it seems that the gimmicky name was the point of the whole venture.

(Original Post)
If I were producing and marketing a product called Cocaine Energy Drink I probably wouldn't be too surprised if the FDA eventually took notice and came calling. Which is what they've done.

The Associated Press reports that Redux Beverages, the Las Vegas firm that makes the drink, has been contacted by the FDA and told to cease and desist making some rather colorful claims for the product. Failure to do so will presumably result in a whopping big rap on the knuckles.

Check out the manufacturer's Web site here.

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Cooking With Dr. Pepper & More

Who knew that such a thing was even possible? Surely not me. But apparently you can cook with Dr. Pepper, if this article from Texas Cooking is any indication.

Still not convinced? Check out Cooking with Dr. Pepper and 7Up, an actual bonafide cookbook that was published some years back. If you absolutely have to have one, there are a few used copies up for grabs at Amazon.

Unrest In French Wine Industry

If you imagined that the wine industry was an entity that's quite well-heeled and genteel, you might be a bit shocked at the news coming out of France these days. Beverage Daily recently reported that "militant winemakers" have attacked several supermarkets in the southern part of the country, setting off explosions and starting fires.

The group claiming responsibility for the actions is known as Comité d'Action Viticole (CAV). They've been around now for about a century. Some describe them as a resistance movement protesting price cuts by supermarkets and wine merchants. Others will undoubtedly have less flattering things to say about them.

Read the full report here.

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