Friday, November 19, 2010

2010 11 19 - COK

Russians drink stuff other than Vodka - they also drink COK but that isn't COKE - in fact they don't drink Coke at all - rest assured Coke fiends - If you want a Coke here you can ask for a Coca-Cola - However I am pretty sure it will have Sugar in it rather than HFCS. If you want a Diet Coke - you are also out of luck - but you can get a Coca-Cola Light - I think this is a European thing - they also had Coca-Cola Light in Paris and London.

COK
oh, yes, back to COK - pronounced SOK. That is the Russian word for Juice. Russians are big Juice Drinkers. And they have many varieties - unlike America where we have Orange and everything else which is usually a blend of some Cranberry Apple and Grape with heaping amounts of Sugar.

COKE & COK (click to enlarge and if we are luck Billie Jo will translated what is written on the coke bottle - The Tropicana is Cherry juice)

Indeed here I am going through at least a bottle of Cherry Juice a week which I can get relatively cheap at the local supermarket (rather than a specialty shop like Trader Joe's). Cherry Juice is supposedly good for my tortured liver and it is good to be able to get it so easily here.

The Russians take their Juice very seriously. Many Cafes have fresh juices - and I mean Fresh Juices - the Apple Juice has pulp in it and actually taste like Apples.


Studio Kafe Lebedev Juices

Those are fresh Juices there - Mandarin on the <-left and the aforementioned Apple on the right->

And...

Fresh OJ Vending Machine (click to enlarge)
Check it out - A vending machine that actually squeezes real oranges. I will not confirm or deny that one of those buttons controls the amount of Vodka dispensed.


Canning
Billie Jo thinks this may have something to do with the long winters and the extensive use of the canning process. Yes, canning is a big deal here - you can get an endless variety of jarred veggies and fruits.

Pickling is also a big deal - Eating Pickles is part of the Vodka drinking process ergo the Pickle is an important part of the culture.

They do have a different variety of cucumber here - The Russian pickle is smaller and tastier then it's American or English cousins. I don't know if we are getting them fresher here or what but they are better.

Note - Eating Dried Fish is part of the Beer Drinking Process here - If there is enough support for the idea, I may experiment with this at some point - but presently the thought make me a bit quesy. I will have to ask my mom - I think they may eat dried fish in Thailand.

Branding
Day off for me while Billie Jo was working so I snuck out for a bit - was going to split a six pack with some Russian dude but he insisted I have some dried fish with him.

Anyways spotted a couple of baseball caps in my travels an LA Dodgers cap by the E-Centre and A stinkin Yankees knit cap in my local supermarket.

New York Yankees 6
Los Angeles Dodgers 2
Boston Celtics 1
Elliot Sadler 1
Atlanta Braves 1
Chicago Bulls 1
NHL 1
U of Michigan 1
Solchi 2014 1

2 comments:

Jo said...

I believe they still have Coca-Cola Light in Paris and London. You may want to add that they had it when you were there.

You spelled "Cherry" wrong under the pic.

Jo said...

The coke label has something about winning prizes at New Year's. I can't see the entire label to get all the details.