tonight in a random old-fashioned deli in long beach, i found club lemon soda, which promised (and ended up delivering) "real lemon bits". the briticism "bits" made sense when i saw it was produced by Britvic Ireland, Ltd. i've never seen this soda here, nor did i in england, where i enjoyed coca-cola's lilt (pineapple/grapefruit flavor) among other citrus brands.
club lemon basically tastes like a fizzy version of homemade lemonade. it is the finest lemon soft drink i have ever consumed. not without reason does wikipedia deem it "so popular a drink with Irish people that it is one of the most sought after products by Irish expatriates".
i hope very much to find and try club orange, club rock shandy (an irish term for an orange/lemon mix), club apple, and club pomegranate & cranberry. the soda does have the most calories of any i've seen (255 per 500mL bottle), and it cost $2.00 (though it might have just been an expensive deli). but if your waist and wallet can afford it, i heartily recommend this irish product.
As someone who generally spends or at least has spent more time in Ireland than England, I can attest to the deliciousness of all Clubs, especially the rock shandy. They used to sell it at Brent's in Amagansett, but alas all the lovely Irish child workers are gone to get their foreign money and experience elsewhere.
ReplyDeletemore from wikipedia, note the origin of the name, makes me wonder about "club soda" more generally:
ReplyDeleteClub Orange was the very first orange fruit juice to come on the market [citation needed]. It was invented by Oliver Grace in 1901, but has been refined since to its present state. The name Club Orange comes from the Co. Kildare Gentlemans Club, who commissioned C&C to make an orange flavoured drink, but was later shortened to "Club".