Dr Pepper’s sweet, unique flavor has helped it gain a devoted following over the years. Here are 10 facts about the fizzy favorite.

Number 10. Its inspiration comes from a scent. Creator Charles Alderton wanted to make a beverage that tasted like a soda fountain smelled. He played around with formulas until he came upon one that was truly magnificent.

Number 9. There used to be a period after doctor. It was included until the 1950s. That’s when the logo and font were changed, and company high ups decided that keeping the punctuation would only cause confusion.

Number 8. It’s been around the longest. It was created in 1885, making it the most enduring major soda brand in America.

Number 7. The company doesn’t take kindly to name-calling. Many years ago David Letterman likened Dr Pepper to ‘liquid manure’ during a show. The soda makers complained and CBS vowed to never air the episode again.

Number 6. Many have tried to copy Dr Pepper. Few, however, have succeeded. The Coca-Cola Company launched Mr. PiBB, and later added a new version, Pibb Extra. We know how that’s been working out. Other attempted dupes include beverages called Dr. Dazzle, Dr. Perky, Dr. Extreme, and just plain Doctor.

Number 5. You can drink it hot. Heating up the soda destroys the bubbles and thickens it, so it’s kind of like drinking a hot cider. A Hot Dr Pepper, however, will give you a nice, caffeinated boost while it warms your insides.

Number 4. While first created in 1885, it took nearly 19 years before the drink took off at the 1904 World’s Fair Exposition.

Number 3. It might be Dr Pepper time! Check your clock, because the daylight hours of 10, 2, and 4 were once declared the ideal moments for a Dr Pepper pick-me-up. The company launched the campaign based on early 20th century research that identified those times as when a person’s blood sugar is lowest.

Number 2. McDonalds kicked Pibb Xtra to the curb for it. In 2009 the fast food chain replaced the Coca-Cola version of Dr Pepper with the real thing.

Number 1. It features 23 flavors. What they actually are has not been disclosed to the general public. Sometime in the 1930s a rumor started that one of them is prune juice. Finally, in 2000, the company assured all drinkers that the beverage was prune juice free. What do you love most about Dr Pepper?

source: geobeats

Dr Pepper vocabulary. Can you match the words from the article with their definitions?

Key: 1-b, 2-g, 3-j, 4-h, 5-d, 6-a, 7-c, 8-i, 9-e, 10-f

Number 10. There’s one that’s made with meteorites. The people at Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware have a brew infused with crushed lunar meteorites. To get their hands on the stuff, they partnered with ILC Dover, a company that makes space suits and has an in with NASA.

Number 9. It’s good for your hair. To get the conditioning and cleansing benefits, the beer must be applied directly to the tresses, so going out and throwing back a few won’t help with split ends

Number 8. Beer can be made from facial hair. A brewer in Oregon used yeast he harvested from his own beard to whip up a batch.

Number 7. Ancient Egyptians were paid with it. At least the ones working on the pyramids, anyway. Evidence has been found suggesting they were compensated with loaves of bread and a serving of beer.

Number 6. Beer and marijuana are related. Hops, used to flavour beer, and cannabis hail from the same plant family. The answer to your question, by the way, is yes. People have attempted to make beer from pot.

Number 5. In Prague, it’s cheaper than water. There, a bottle of water can cost more than double what a pint of beer does.

Number 4. Beer is good for you. It’s one of the few consumables that contains bone-benefitting silicon. A beer a day can also keep kidney stones away.

Number 3. 51 million cases of beer are sold on Super Bowl Sunday. Well, people have to wash down the billion chicken wings eaten on that weekend with something.

Number 2. There was a beer with a 55% alcohol content. It was called ‘The End of History’ and holds the Guinness record as the world’s strongest. It’s sold out now, but ran about 800 dollars a bottle. 11 hundred if you wanted it packaged with a taxidermied squirrel. Normal beer is about 4 and a half percent.

Number 1. They make home brew at the White House. President Obama got the ball rolling a while ago when he bought a kit.

source: Geobeats

when it comes to– ami a … illeti
versatile – változatos
infused with – ízesített
to get one’s hands on – megkaparintani
to have an in with – protekciója, befolyása van
tresses – hajfürtök
to throw back a few – legurítani egy párat
split ends – töredezett haj
yeast – élesztő
to whip up – összedob valamit
evidence – bizonyíték
hop – komló
to hail from – származik valahonnan
pot – fű (szleng: marihuána)
consumable – fogyasztási cikk
bone-benefitting – csont
kidney stone –  vesekő
a case of – egy rekesznyi
the Super Bowl – az amerikai futball bajnokság döntője
to be sold out – elfogyott, nem kapható
taxidermied – kitömött (állat)
squirrel – mókus
home brew – házisör
to get the ball rolling – beindít valamit
kit – készlet, felszerelés

Mimosa

This one’s a brunch classic. Increase (to increase = megemelni, növelni) the flavour by using a 1:5 ratio (ratio = arány) of freshly-squeezed (freshly-squeezed = frissen facsart) orange juice to Champagne. Then add a splash (splash = spriccelésnyi, fröccsenet) of triple sec.

Kir Royale

The fancy (elegáns, előkelő) cousin to the made-with-white-wine (made-with-white-wine = fehér borral készült) Kir, the Kir Royale consists of (to consist of = áll valamiből) a dash of (dash of = fröccsenésnyi)  creme de cassis (currant syrup = feketeribizli likőr), topped off (topped off = feltöltött) with Champagne.

Bellini

Invented (to invent = kitalál, feltalál) at Harry’s Bar in Venice, the Bellini is best when made with ripe (ripe = érett) peaches. If peaches aren’t in season, try creme de peche (peach syrup = őszibarack likőr). Use a 1:4 ratio of syrup to prosecco.

Black Velvet

This is an easy and strangely (strangely = frucsán) delicious drink with a 4:1 ratio of Champagne to black Irish stout (stout = erős barna sör).

Death in the Afternoon

Traditionally (traditionally = hagyomány szerint) made from absinthe, a spirit now illegal in the United States, in a 0.5:5 ratio to Champagne, you can probably substitute (to substitute = helyettesít) pastis or another anise-flavored (anise = ánizs) liqueur.

Poinsettia

For a holiday brunch, make Poinsettias: a 1:4 ratio of triple sec to Champagne, with a splash of cranberry juice (cranberry juice = áfonyalé) added for color.

Nelson’s Blood

Named for the British Admiral George Nelson, this makes a great, if slightly (slightl = enyhén) morbidly-named, party drink. The recipe calls for (to call for = valamiért kiált, valamit kér/igényel) a 5:1 ratio of Champagne to tawny (tawny = vörösesbarna) Port.

Brazil
A trip to this South American country would not be complete without sipping a sweet caipirinha. “It is a tropical drink, very fresh and can be made of several fruits like lemon, orange, watermelon, peach and others,” said Natalia Polidoro, a student in São Paulo.

The key ingredient is cachaça, Brazil’s national spirit, distilled from sugarcane juice. Unlike rum, which is made from molasses, cachaça is made from fresh, fermented sugarcane juice. The spirit is unmatched in popularity in its home country – hundreds of Portuguese synonyms exist for the liquor, from uísque brasileiro (Brazilian whiskey) to água-benta (holy water).

Sweden
A uniquely Swedish invention, punsch is a liqueur made from an imported southeastern Asian liquor called arrack. As Swedish resident Lucas Lundström explained, the Swedish East India Company started importing arrack in 1733. The resulting liqueur was “a smashing success in high society”, he said.

At 20% to 30% alcohol, the liquor has a “spicy, sweet” flavour and is usually served on ice. But in winter, the drink should be heated to 40C and makes an ideal complement to Swedish pea soup, Lundstrom said.

United States
Alex Pak of Santa Clara, California, considered a number of libations – including the martini and famous Southern sweet tea (iced tea loaded with sugar) – before settling on the root beer float as one drink every visitor should try. Getting its name from the sassafras tree root originally responsible for its unique flavour, root beer was an exclusively North American beverage until recently. Though sassafras itself is no longer used due to health concerns, its distinct flavour has been replicated today with a mix of spices, other roots and artificial flavours.

With unique versions now produced in every US state, root beer gets special treatment with the addition of a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream. The resulting root beer float was made famous at the roadside restaurant chain A&W, where the treat is still served in a frosted mug.

Canada
When visiting French Canada, try Sortilège, a brand of whiskey made with maple syrup, advised Anna Demers, who lives outside of Ottawa. “We always had some kind of alcohol with maple syrup but now it [is] commercially produced,” she said. A sweeter liqueur called Coureur des Bois is also now available, and Demers said it’s more popular among women.

She also vouched for the liquid sap fresh from the maple tree that the native population first introduced to French settlers. “It’s very healthy to drink in its original form,” she said. The sap tends to be only 1% to 2% sugar and has a more subtle maple flavour than the boiled-down syrup.

source: BBC

How many calories are in YOUR favourite drink? Study reveals most of us have no idea

For many of us, there’s nothing better at the end of the day than that nice cold lager or soothing glass of wine. But would you have that second or third glass if you knew how many calories you were knocking back? New research has revealed the vast majority of us have no idea – and are unwittingly drinking ourselves fatter in the process. 

The survey of 2,000 adults was carried out for the Royal Society for Public Health. It found that three-quarters of the public did not know – or wrongly guessed – the calories in a large glass of wine.

Nine out of 10 had no idea what a pint of lager contained. This is despite the fact that adults who drink get approximately 10 per cent of their calories from alcohol. As a result, two out of three people said they want calorie labels on alcohol.

Alcoholic beverages are currently not recognised as food and are therefore exempted, under existing European legislation, from normal food labelling. Around 56 calories are contained in a unit of alcohol, which is a small glass of low-strength wine. The recommended daily calorie intake for adults is approximately 2,500 calories for men and 2,000 for women.

In a bid to highlight how many calories popular drinks contain, the RSPH has released a food comparison table. It reveals that a pint of lager, which contains an average of 180 calories, is roughly equivalent to a small slice of chocolate cake. A large 250ml glass of white wine is the same as four fish fingers, while an alcopop equates to a slice of pizza. A pina colada, on the other hand, packs away the same number of calories as a Big Mac.

source: Daily Mail

Match the words with the synonyms.

answers: 1-d 2-e 3-a 4-c 5-b

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