The Soda Situation - Succulent Drinks w/o the Sweets?

Ticron asks: "Like most of you, my job and lifestyle revolves around drinking lots and lots of caffeine - usually in the form of soda. I've been trying to cut back on my sugar intake lately, and am interested in what some of you drink that isn't loaded down with the sweet stuff. Diet drinks have little to no flavor, and fruit punches have almost (sometimes more!) sugar than sodas themselves. Is there anything out there that maintains the convenience of a canned drink, but without all the sugar?"

In Britain,

[loqi]

you buy product shillings by the pound.

Re:Splenda - not NutraSweet(tm)

[jon787]

Diet Coke with Splenda has all the sickening sweetness of regular Pepsi.

There I fixed it for ya

Tea

[ajs318]

Get yourself a kettle {NB, this will need a supply of about 10 amps; and if you're outside the UK, it will have to be earthed [if you're in the UK then it already is earthed]}, a filter jug, a china mug {with parallel sides or a temporary narrowing just below the mouth}, a steel teaspoon with the stiffest shank you can find, some teabags and some full-cream milk {not skimmed, not semi skimmed, it must be blue top for the authentic taste}. The milk must be as close as possible to 0 degrees and as far as possible from its expiry date.

Pour one litre of filtered water in the kettle. This will make up to three cups of tea {a standard mug holds 250ml but you should never empty the kettle completely}. Start the kettle boiling.

Whilst the kettle is heating up {use the formula: time in seconds = ([100 - T] * 4.17 * V) / P, where V = volume of water in litres, P = power of heating element in kW and T = initial temperature of water}, place a teabag and a stiff-shanked teaspoon in a china mug. This should ideally have a wide base, then a constriction before belling out; this shape works to minimise evaporative cooling losses and hence maintain OST {optimum sipping temperature} as long as possible. Failing that, a traditional, parallel-sided mug can be used.

The very instant the kettle boils, pour about 200ml. of boiling water, as close as possible to 100 degrees, over the teabag. Leave alone for 15 seconds, then begin mashing the hell out of the teabag with the spoon. Keep going until the tea stops getting any darker. Finally, crush the teabag hard between the bowl of the spoon and the wall of the mug to remove as much liquid as possible, and hike it out. It's biodegradable and can be composted.

Replace the spoon in the mug {it's acting as a heatsink} and add about 50ml of ice-cold milk to the tea. Stir immediately. Remove spoon and sip gently. Feel sensation as though you are receiving kind words and a hug on a tropical beach with crystal-clear water and silver sands and everything is generally all right with the world or better.

NB: Add more cold water to the kettle as soon as possible after boiling. This will cool it down, so slowing the rate of heat loss and minimising TTNM {time to next mashing}. Don't keep the filter jug in the fridge, you're already paying to heat it, you don't want to pay to cool it so you can heat it more.

Temporary girlfriend?

[kunwon1]

When I was in the service, we just called them hookers ;)