I gave up sodas last year. I was having a Diet Pepsi pretty much everyday (they were free at my office). Not that big of a deal, but not all that necessary, either. It wasn’t that hard to give them up. You just stop buying them at the grocery, order iced tea or stick with water, and bring your water bottle to the movies.
But right about now is when it starts to get rough, I mean, when does a root beer float sound better — November or July? So I’m realistic, and I let myself have an exception now and then. No sodas is a rule, until it’s not, because heck yeah, we’re having root beer floats this summer. And I’ll be raising a cream soda butterbeer to commemorate the last Harry Potter film.
So I’ve got to tell you about Brasilena – an espresso soda from Italy that may be my new summer exception. It’s an espresso soda in the same vein as S. Pellegrino’s Limonata or Aranciata. It’s espresso and sugar cut with mineral water (it does have caramel coloring, so if you’ve heard about that study…). It’s sweet, but not cloying and would make a damn good float, which they have at Tasty n Sons in Portland (and you know how I feel about that place!). It won’t replace a good iced coffee for me this summer, but it’s worth checking out if you’ve got a good Italian market in your neighborhood.