The Weekend Assignment is posted each Friday at Outpost Mâvarin; a roundup of responses goes up the following Thursday, so if you’d like to join in, you’ve still got some time. Karen says: Don’t worry if you don’t get your entry in by the end of the weekend. It’s called the Weekend Assignment because John Scalzi originally designed it to give folks something to write on weekends, but times have changed since then. Now the meme is launched on Thursday nights / Friday mornings, just a little later than Scalzi used to post it, and you have a whole week to respond. Still, I for one am grateful if you don’t all wait until the last minute!
Weekend Assignment #221: What do you like to drink? Do you prefer Coke, or Pepsi, or neither? Do you start your days at Starbucks, or end your days with a nice cup of herbal tea? Are you a connoisseur of beer, or do you like to keep a pitcher of lemonade on hand? Do you carry a bottle of water around, and refill it as you go? Tell us about your favorites!
Extra Credit: Have you ever invented your own drink sensation?
A few months ago, “10 Favorite Drinks” was a Ten on Tuesday topic, so I may be repeating myself a little here.
I am a huge water drinker, one of the annoying people rarely seen without a bottle of water in hand. That doesn’t mean I drink “bottled water,” though; I’ll buy a six-pack of bottles periodically, but I have a tap-water filter attachment on my kitchen faucet and I refill and re-use the bottles from there. I probably re-use the bottles too often, if you worry about leaching plastic, but I’ve decided not to think too much about that.
Due to water restrictions, many Southern California restaurants have begun serving water only on request; I almost always request it. One thing that I appreciated on our recent vacation was the fact that there are still places where they automatically bring out the water pitcher when they seat you in a restaurant.
I have to have coffee at some time before noon, otherwise I’ll find myself with a headache later in the day. (Who are you calling a caffeine addict?) I brew a blend of regular and flavored decaf at home, and adjust it with flavored creamer and sweetener. I’ll treat myself to a Starbucks latte once or twice a week, if I get the chance.
Despite having spent 10 years of my life in Florida, I don’t like orange juice. My preferred morning drink is pineapple juice, and it can be hard to find in restaurants (especially those that don’t have access to a bar) – that’s one of my least favorite things about vacations, oddly enough, but it’s also one more reason to plan that trip to Hawaii one day…
At any time of day other than the morning, I find few things more refreshing than lemonade, unless it’s a combination lemonade/iced tea. If there’s no lemonade around, I’ll just take the iced tea, usually “unsweet” (as we say back in Tennessee). Both of these are year-round beverage choices for me, no matter what the weather – then again, weather doesn’t really affect much in Southern California anyway.
I don’t drink much alcohol, either, other than the occasional wine with dinner – and that depends who I’m having dinner with, since my husband doesn’t drink it at all.
I almost never drink soda, either, even diet varieties. I wasn’t brought up with it, and I don’t like the carbonation – I find it sharp, and just the opposite of refreshing. If I’m truly desperate for a cold drink, I may take a Diet Coke if there’s no chilled water or other non-carbonated option, but I rarely finish it, and once it flattens a bit, I find it just too sweet. However, my husband’s carbonated-beverage consumption compensates for mine. His preferred caffeine-delivery source is always a Coke, at any time of day (but he’ll settle for a Pepsi if he has to), and he has a fondness for micro-brewed root beer (Virgil’s, available at Trader Joe’s).
So, what are you drinking? If you’ve answered the question in your own Weekend Assignment, feel free to leave a link!
Hi Florinda – I just announced my July Book Blowout – hope you’ll stop by and sign up
http://www.clareswindlehurst.com/bookreviews/2008/06/25/challenge-july-book-blowout/
Is unsweet tea, just tea without sugar? Or isn’t a certain kind of tea? Just curious.
Around here we get water without asking, but there was the great water crisis of the late 70’s, early 80’s where they stopped. It was annoying.
I try to drink a lot of water too, but I haven’t been doing as well as I should. Dr. Pepper has been my thing lately.
Mrs S – I’ll sign up as soon as I can get my list together :-)!
Mike – Yeah, it’s just iced tea without sugar.
I always want a glass of water in addition to whatever else I’m drinking in a restaurant, so it is annoying to have to ask for it.
I used to like those old Dr Pepper commercials, but I was never a huge fan of the soda :-).
I am a water drinker too. Since giving up soda, I tend to order lemonade when I go out to restaurants more often than not. I especially love strawberry lemonade if it’s done right. I drink hot tea now and then–decaffeinated always–but it’s more something I drink when I am not feeling well than just because. I do like orange juice and cranberry juice and will alternate between the two in the mornings.
Literary Feline – I like the occasional strawberry lemonade too. I’ve tried other flavored lemonades, but strawberry seems to work best – besides iced tea, that is :-).
I’ll drink hot tea when I’m sick too, and sometimes I’ll have it instead of dessert, but only when it’s cold outside.
“Unsweet tea.” Heh – now I know the term that goes with “sweet tea!” At the St. Michael’s coffee hour I always have “unsweet” iced tea mixed with lemonade – not at strong or sharp as the lemonade, not as boring as the tea. At least one parishioner told me the combo is called an “Arnie Palmer.”
Karen – That particular combination is one of my favorites, and your description of it is why. You actually can order it from the beverage menu at some restaurants out here, where it is in fact called an “Arnold Palmer.” I guess he was the first person who popularized the drink, maybe?
I agree! Water from the tap is better than the bottled water stuff and much cheaper. In fact, a friend who had a bone marrow replacement said her doctor told her not to drink bottled water because it was too pure. You need some of the minerals in tap water to make strong bones — I’m not so sure what he would say about the fluoride and other additives they tend to put in!
Kiva – I know it’s kind of controversial, but the town I lived in as a child has fluoridated water – and I have very good teeth :-). But I’ll drink almost any water as long as it’s clear and doesn’t have an “off” taste.