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Starry Night Cooler - LeNell It All

Posted Jul 14th 2009 3:00PM by LeNell Smothers
Filed under: Cocktails, Spirits

Starry Night Cooler. Photo: LeNell Smothers.

Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she's been called many things -- most recently, the proprietress of LeNell's liquor store. She's owned her own whiskey label called Red Hook Rye and been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.

Absinthe has been blamed for a lot of rowdy behavior, but I don't think any French folks could blame it for the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. Absinthe actually had its peak in France in the late 1800s, but the trend lasted into the early 1900s. Although it originated in Switzerland, most production during the heyday of the Green Fairy took place in southern France.

The idea for Van Gogh's magnum opus, "Starry Night," is also said to have originated in southern France. Although it was created a full 100 years after the Bastille showdown, I figured I'd celebrate le quatorze juillet with a tribute to beautiful night skies (black currant syrup), a bit of revolution (gin) and a touch of madness (absinthe). I call this my Starry Night Cooler. Oh, yeah, and to beat off the summer heat, I threw in some seltzer and a bit of family-recipe lemonade.

The recipe for LeNell's Starry Night Cooler is after the jump.

Continue reading Starry Night Cooler - LeNell It All

Ribena ri-busted

Posted Mar 28th 2007 9:31AM by Nick Vagnoni
Filed under: Juice, Business, Newspapers, New Zealand, Europe

Two 14-year-old New Zealand girls made the news recently when their school science project revealed that Ribena, the popular black currant drink, did not have the high levels of vitamin C it claimed to. According to a story published yesterday in The Guardian, the girls were testing a variety of beverages, expecting to find that the less expensive ones had less vitamin C, when they discovered the opposite. Their results were picked up by a local news show and then eventually a national watchdog group. Today, The Guardian reported that GlaxoSmithKline, the drink's producer, is being fined almost $160,000 for misleading ads, which stated "the black currants in Ribena contain four times the vitamin C of oranges." A GSK press release says that that fact is true "on a weight for weight basis," but also admits that it could be misleading. There's also some discrepancy about the differing vitamin C levels in the concentrate versus the diluted product. On a personal note, I was a Ribena drinker for a while. I think it's tasty stuff. I don't think I ever believed it was good for me, however.

CurrantC Black Currant Nectar

Posted Mar 20th 2007 6:06PM by Jonathan M. Forester
Filed under: Juice, Fruit, Raves & Reviews, New Products, America

CurrantC All Natural Black Currant Nectar is a relatively new juice product made by The Currant Company that has my taste buds jumping with glee. I tried it for the first time a few days ago and was really impressed. This intensely flavored juice is so full of taste that it is rightly called a nectar. As a matter of fact the term Nectar of the Gods comes immediately to mind when I drink this juice. The fresh flavor of black currants is so strong, tart and tangy, with just the right sweetness, that it really makes you want to jump up and start dancing. This has become my new favorite juice for those times when I want a treat and a quick pick me up. If you want to know where you can buy CurrantC click here.

Did you know that for almost 100 hundred years it was illegal to grow Black Currants here in the US? In the early 1900's it was found that a plant disease called White Pine Blister Rust was passed back and forth between Black Currants and White Pine trees, and so in 1911 growing currants was banned. The federal ban was shifted to individual states in 1966. Finally in 2003, after much lobbying in NY State the ban was lifted here after it was shown that disease resistant black currants could be planted.

In the NY Hudson Valley Region there are now several farms growing black currants. It is also being grown in other parts of New York, Connecticut, Vermont, and on the West Coast in Oregon. There are still several states where the ban is in effect including Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

Continue reading CurrantC Black Currant Nectar

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Starry Night Cooler - LeNell It All

Ribena ri-busted

CurrantC Black Currant Nectar

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