"Nectar" news and stories

A New Orleans soda that got its start in a pharmacy more than a century ago has wound its way back to the quasi-health food category.

Vitamin Cold Rush, a spin-off of the venerable Nectar Soda label, premieres this week at a Tiger Express convenience store in Baton Rouge. The low-sugar frozen drink is flavored with the same vanilla-almond extract combo L.I. Lyons peddled in his New Orleans pharmacy back in 1866.

"We wanted to make it as healthy as we could," Nectar Soda owner Susan Dunham says. "We're trying to go in a healthy direction."

Although Nectar Soda originated in a pharmacy, it was never used medicinally. The syrup, which became well-known in New Orleans after the K&B chain started stocking it at their lunch counters, was added to soda, cream or ice cream, "depending on how much money you had," Dunham explains. The familiar nectar flavor nearly vanished from the city's foodscape in the 1970s, when K&B closed most of its soda fountains.

This past July fourth, I celebrated Independence Day with family by concocting a drink inspired by an Italian Bellini. In a large champagne flute, I poured peach nectar and champagne. The combination created a heavenly delicate flavor and a wonderfully creamy textured drink. I used a wooden skewer to mix the peach nectar that beautifully settled towards the bottom of the glass.

Not only did the combination taste great, but aesthetically, it looked marvelous. The champagne sat on top of the peach nectar and assumed a light pink color. On the bottom of the flute, the nectar appeared bright red. I nearly hesitated to mix the two layers fearing that I'd lose the beauty of this cocktail masterpiece. Although I put the peach nectar in the flute first, you can do it in the reverse order. The pink colored layers would just be reversed. Next time you're entertaining, I highly suggest you make this drink.

As much as I love champagne, I think it was the gorgeous peach nectar that made this drink sublime. This artisanal nectar is produced by Emmanuelle Baillard in the village of Merceuil, in the region of Burgundy in France. Each bottle consists of 54 percent peach pulp. The rest is water and sugar. I highly recommend Baillard's various nectars.

What are some interesting cocktails you've tried recently?

Looking for a seasonal cocktail that doesn't involved dry ice and a punchbowl? Then you might want to check out this concoction of honey, port wine and pomegranate juice that mixologist Christina Cunningham conjured up for Nectar, a restaurant right outside of Philadelphia. Just be warned, this isn't one that you can whip up at the spur of the moment, it requires a week for the fruit to marinate in the wine. The recipe is after the jump.

Via Daily Candy
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If you check out the labels on natural food products, you'll see agave syrup listed as an ingredient more and more often. Agave syrup - sometimes called agave nectar - is a natural sweetener that is marketed as a healthy alternative to processed sugars, as well as an alternative to honey, corn syrup and similar liquid sweeteners. The syrup is made from blue agave, a type of succulent, cactus-like plant that is also used in the production of tequila. The thick liquid comes in light and dark forms, the latter being unfiltered, and tastes similar to honey.

So what makes this syrup "healthier" than other sweeteners? It has a very low Glycemic Index (GI) value, so although it is noticeably sweeter than sugar, it doesn't cause the same type of "sugar rush" that other sweets do. Table sugar has a GI value of 68, on a scale from 1 to 100, while honey comes in at 55. Agave syrup has a value of around 15.

Agave syrup can be used in baked goods, with a reduction in the amount of liquid in the recipe to account for its presence. Starting with a recipe that already calls for honey and substituting it in is a good way to start, but as a general rule, you'll will need to spend some time playing around with your favorite recipes to get them to work, especially if you want to substitute it into a recipe that calls for crystallized sugars. The syrup will dissolve easily in liquids and is a good choice for sweetening iced tea or lemonade.