Soft Drinks

Starbucks Testing Handcrafted Root Beer

Once focused on, well, coffee, Starbucks has evolved into a one-stop beverage empire. Its latest offering may be handcrafted sodas: lemon ale, spiced root beer and ginger ale. Starbucks Melody, an unofficial Starbucks info site, reports that the company is testing the items, which are naturally br ... More >>

Positively Delicious OC: In Organic We Trust

Grand Central Art Center

Mountain Dew Online Naming Contest Was A Bad, Bad Idea

It sounded like good plan. To promote its new Mountain Dew drink, Villa Fresh Italian Kitchen launched an online contest that encouraged fans to come up with a name for the green-apple-flavored concoction. The name with the most votes would win. Now enter the world's greatest masterminds: Inter ... More >>

Dana Point Lobster Fest

Doheny State Beach

Taco Bell Introduces New Breakfast Drink: Mountain Dew Orange Juice

Mixologists of the world, this has got to hurt. The newest concoction from those outside-the-bun thinkers at Taco Bell HQ is a breakfast drink called Mountain Dew A.M. As described on the sign, posted on Reddit, the beverage is a "mixology of Mtn Dew and OJ." It's only served until 11 a.m.--after th ... More >>

"Soda" Vs. "Pop": A Map

They seem to be just like us. They laugh at the same jokes. They like the same music. They, too, extol the virtues of bacon.  But then when they refer to a soft drink, you instantly know: They ain't from around here. I'm talking about folks from other states who call soda "pop," or even we ... More >>

On the Line: Lisa Fontanesi of Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, Part One

​The Jamie Oliver Food Revolution has been parked at the Santa Ana offices of Latino Health Access this month, working with schools and families of central Santa Ana to fight the obesity epidemic spreading across the nation. The Food Revolution truck moves from city to city and faces the challenge ... More >>

Hang Up Now, Please

[Hey, You!] You want some service? Let’s talk . . .

The Joy of Tea

Bowers Museum

Where to Find Dublin Dr. Pepper in Orange County

ProfessorSalt.comThe last bottles of Dublin Dr Pepper in Orange County?​Those of you from Texas have probably heard the news from the folks back home: Dublin Dr. Pepper is dead. The bottling company in the small town of Dublin, Texas which has made a cane-sugar version of the original Dr. Pepp ... More >>

Portola Coffee Lab Is OC's Temple of Caffeine

[Hole In the Wall] This Costa Mesa coffeehouse can convert anyone into the cult of coffee

Top 10 Video Games Based on Eating

​Food: It's one of the most important basic needs of human life. Human beings and just about every living being on Earth can live without any luxury, but cannot survive without food. We celebrate food. We spend large amounts of money on food. We explore diverse cultures through the food people eat ... More >>

Soda Jerks (Emphasis on the Jerk): The Next Cupcake/Donuts/Pie?

Flickr user Mark Crawley​Looks like we now know what's the next food trend hipsters out here will bring back from the dead or, conversely, hijack from the lower classes: sodas! It's no longer enough to merely stock regional brands ala Mello Yello and Cheerwine: now, you have to concoct your own se ... More >>

Karl Lagerfeld Gives Diet Coke Bottles a Makeover

​That classic silver can is so last season, darlin'.Fashion virtuoso Karl Lagerfeld, who reportedly only drinks Pepsi Black, has given Diet Coke bottles a makeover as part of a campaign called "Love It Light." Who knew they'd look so fab in stripes?

Diet Coke Now Outselling Pepsi--Are the Cola Wars Finally Over?

Flickr user joyosity​AdAge is reporting (via the subscriber-only Beverage Digest) that "a historic shift for the beverage industry" has occurred: Diet Coke is now outselling longtime second-place holder Pepsi. Last year, Coca-Cola's junior product sold 9.9 percent of all sodas in the United States ... More >>

Using Coupons Smartly for Super Bowl Sunday

Anne Marie Panoringan​ >I used to consider just shopping at Costco and Target saving money. I was wrong. So very wrong. Thanks to The Krazy Coupon Lady for showing me the light.Anyway, if you're trying not to dash to the grocery store at the last minute, here's a deal for you. Pull the Sund ... More >>

It Isn't What You Think It Is: Egg Cream

Dave Lieberman​The pride of New York's soda fountains, the egg cream, contains neither egg nor cream (despite what a woefully uninformed cook at Jerry's Famous Deli in Westwood tried to tell me 10 years ago).It is a chocolate-milk soda, and it is one of the most addicting drinks in the world.You t ... More >>

The Temper Trap

The Fox Theater

Gettin' Made: Cool as a Cucumber Soda

Last week while eating at L.A.'s Mac and Cheeza restaurant, I had the good fortune to try this cucumber-flavored soda: Mr. Q. Cumber soda by LisaBeebe on Flickr​ Lemme tell ya--while the macaroni and cheese I had for lunch was really good, this soda was amazing. To quote an old Outkast dit ... More >>

Tenth Annual Dana Point Harbor Boat Show: $1 Friday

Dana Point Harbor

Pink Elephant at Tantalum

Jessica Ford​Sure, your parents always told you not to swallow your bubble gum because it would live in your stomach for the next 20-something years, but Tantalum in Long Beach has some bubble gum that breaks all the rules your parents gave you--and you'll like it.

OC Restaurant Week Recommendations

​OC Restaurant Week starts next week (Feb. 28-March 6) and there are a bevy of restaurants and menu choices to go through. If you asked me where I would go and what I would try, here's what I'd say (in alphabetical order):

Dueling Dishes: Real Sugar Soda vs. HFCS Soda

Dave Lieberman​As we posted at the end of last year, PepsiCo bottlers are making limited-edition "Throwback" versions of Pepsi and Mountain Dew. These are made the old-fashioned way, with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). While OC is no stranger to sugar soda (a lot, but not all, o ... More >>

Albino Crow presents the Commotions as the B-52’s

Alex's Bar

New Study: Nearly Half of Fast Food Soda Fountains Contaminated With Fecal Bacteria

The Upstairs Room @ flickr.com CC BY-NC-SA 2.0​Not that I need to raise more alarms about food safety. We already have mercury in our sushi, unsafe airport food, and E-coli outbreaks which happen too often. We could go on for hours on the subject. But this one news item? Well, it's disturbin ... More >>

Noon Year's Eve

Discovery Center

Real-Sugar Pepsi and Mountain Dew To Hit Store Shelves

bevreview.com​Jason Arango at the Daily Fork posted yesterday about Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback, versions of the popular soft drinks that are made with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup, sold in the usual plastic bottles with retro labels.Not to be outdone, the Dr Pepper Sna ... More >>

Wacky Snacks: Milkis

Edwin Goei​Name: Milkis Origin: Korea Found at: H-Mart, Irvine Cost: $2.99 for a six-pack Tax CRV Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Corn Syrup, Sugar, Skimmed Milk Powder, Artificial Flavor, Citric Acid, Phosphoric Acid, Natural Food Color, Vitamin-C, Vitamin-A, Vitamin-D, Contains M ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Vegan Friendly Gel-Glow Shots

Grace Le​ In the ultimate clash between classy and trashy, we present to you the Vegan Friendly Gel-Glow Shot. No longer must you pass up a drink because its ingredients infringe upon animal rights. This animal-free recipe allows herbivores to join in and get eff-ed up along with everyone else! Bu ... More >>

Five Great International Sodas

Obvious observation of the year: it's hot. Go to these place we haven't discussed in years, all fine eateries, and cool down with their native sodas:​PUPUSERIA SAN SIVAR: The hole-in-the-strip-mall takes special care with their pupusas, which have a crispy yet malleable crust encasing thick, stick ... More >>

[Hole in the Wall] Wadiya, OC's First Sri Lankan Restaurant

FDA Wags Finger at Diet Coke's Vitamin Claims

The FDA has issues with Coca Cola's new Diet Coke Plus.  It sent the company a letter earlier this month about the drink, which Coke purports to have a "refreshing taste...AND several essential nutrients" with "each 8 fl. oz. serving of Diet Coke Plus provid(ing) 15% of your RDI ... More >>

Tomorrow: OCRA Mixer at Manhattan Super Club

Tomorrow, the newly formed Orange County Restaurant Association will have it's first mixer at the Manhattan Supper Club in Orange. Admission is $20 for OCRA members and $30 for non-members. Admission fee covers appetizers, soft drinks and one specialty cocktail. Guest receive a 15% discount on foo ... More >>

Fast Food Reviews: New Mountain Dew Flavors

As you can see, I'm not fundamentalist in my definition of fast food. All mass-produced snack product is fair game, as perhaps could be noted by the fact that the first one I did involved the Dave & Busters menu. On a late night beer run, I espied a display at the 7-11 with three new kinds of Mount ... More >>

Because You're Ugly: Rock the Runway

The Art Institute is seriously starting to become my favorite place to visit in Santa Ana - every time I'm there for some event or other I wonder why my USC education couldn't have had the kind of cool events these folks seem to put on on a regular basis. Rock the Runway, this past Saturday, was a f ... More >>

Caffeine 'n' Cartoons

So what's up with the dude on this coffee package? The label says "high octane," but he looks like he's just kinda chill. Maybe the motorcycle drank the coffee instead. I don't even like coffee much, but Starbucks keeps sending me stuff in the mail, like a $5 gift card recently -- II guess the make ... More >>

Get Your Rocks Off

As a frequenter of the AMC 30 at the Block every Thursday night when they show all the new releases, I've also become a fan of Cafe Tu Tu Tango, the most adjacent restaurant, and bar that seems to stay open the latest. It was only last week, however, that I realized they don't serve my usual bevera ... More >>

The Return of the Drive-In

The Star-Vu delivers the biggest screen for your buck

All Coked Up

Vanilla Coke is back! You might not have realized that it went away, of course, especially if you eat regularly at Rubio's, the only major food chain to keep it on its soda fountains. But yeah, they replaced it with Black Cherry Vanilla a while back, which was decent but not as tasty. Now plain Van ... More >>

An Ode to Cheerwine

The last of the Outlaw Sodas

Saras Mercado

Brand X

Emop!

Flee

Weirdpolitick at the OC Fair

Success Through Snacking

A Weekly program of glop, gunk and raising Iqs in county schools

Trout Season

The Edwards Crown Affair

True Grit, With a Side of Pie

My Lawn

Selling Out

Its a witness and a hoot