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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