Saturday, September 14, 2019

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A Trinidadian/Tobagonian Soft Drink

     Today I'll be crossing the Atlantic Ocean from last week's post, to the nation of Trinidad and Tobago, which is a group of islands off the coast of Venezuela.  This is another find from the So It Is African Market, out of Stratford, NJ.  And the drink itself is Solo's Apple J.
     Unfortunately, the Solo website wasn't working properly for me when I found it--most of its images were blocked.  (Don't know if it's my computer at fault, or the website's, or both.)  So about all I could get was Solo's other drinks, of which there are 17.  There are many other fruit flavors, such as mango, pear, orange, and banana, along with American soft drinks which they are licensed to produce, such as Royal Crown Cola and Upper 10 (RC's answer to 7UP/Sprite).  But Solo's flagship brand is their Red Sorrel flavor, commonly knows as a Red.  "A rati and a Red Solo," is evidently a common expression in Trinidad and Tobago, referring to the street food meal of a flatbread wrap of chicken, goat, duck, beef, or seafood mixed with potato, chickpeas, and a curry sauce, washed down with the Solo Red  Sorrel drink.
     However, I was able to get a more comprehensive company history from another, unofficial online source.  Serjad Makmadeen was born in Trinidad in 1910, to a father from India, and a mother from Martinique.  By the 1930's Makmadeen was able to buy a soft drink plant, assisted by his wife, Khairoin.  They created their soft drinks at home, and sold them door to door, reusing old beer bottles.  Alas, during World War II, beer bottles were difficult to acquire.  But, a soda company in Montreal was going out of business, so they offered to sell Makmadeen their bottles, which were stamped with the Canadian company's name, "Solo."  Since it would have cost a lot to change the bottles, Makmadeen decided to just name his company "Solo" as well.  (Okay, this isn't the greatest origin story, but it's more compelling then how Han Solo got his surname!  Yeah, I went there, Disney!)  Makmadeen changed his name to Joseph Charles to increase the changes of getting British funding.  Solo was officially founded in 1949.

Solo Apple J drink:  Came in a 10 ounce (296 milliliter) can.  Color was yellowish.  Drink was 22% apple juice, and the rest was water, sugar, and ascorbic acid (for the Vitamin C).  The can said it was carbonated, but I didn't really taste much of a fizzy bite.  (Maybe it was lightly carbonated?  Or a bit flat?  There wasn't a date for me to tell if it was old.)  It tasted like regular apple juice.  Or okay, but not great.  Apple juice isn't my favorite fruit juice/flavor, so there's that.  So, all in all, if you really enjoy apple juice/flavoring, you'll probably think the Solo Apple J is at least solid.

     As is my usual pattern I'll flesh this out a little by including some fun facts about Trinidad and Tobago.  First off, this is the only country in the world whose capital, Port of Spain, is named after another country.  Also, there are only three natural asphalt deposits in the world, and Trinidad has the largest one--Pitch Lake, which spans 100 acres, is 250 feet deep, and has 10,000,000 tons of asphalt.  The world's largest brain coral--10 feet by 16 feet--is off the coast of Tobago.  Tobago also boasts the world's oldest protected forest reserve--the Main Ridge Forest Reserve, designated on April 13, 1776.  Finally, there are many famous people who are from Trinidad and Tobago, or at least have some Trinidadian/Tobagonian heritage.  From the NBA there's Hall of Famer center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Roy Hibbert.  (Abdul-Jabbar is also known for his writing, and movie projects.)  Staying with sports, Lauryn Williams is one of only 5 people to ever win medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics, as she won a gold for the 4X100 relay in the 2012 Summer Games, a silver in the 100 Meters in the 2004 Summer Games, and a silver in the Two Women Bobsleigh in the 2014 Winter Games, while competing for the U.S.  Famous Trinidadian/Tobagonian musicians include Billy Ocean, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B.  As for cinema, there's director Sam Mendes, known for "American Beauty" (1999, for which he won the Best Director Oscar), "Road to Perdition" (2002), and "Skyfall" (2012).  Actress Naomi Harris is arguably most noted for roles in "28 Days Later" (2002), "Skyfall" (2012), and "Moonlight" (2016).  Actor Winston Duke is probably best known for roles in "Black Panther" (2018), "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018), "Avengers: Endgame" (2019), and "Us" (2019).  Austin Stoker is somewhat more obscure, but fans of older sci-fi/horror movies may recall him for acting in "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" (1973), "Abby" (1974), "Assault on Precinct 13" (1976), and the upcoming "3 from Hell" (2019).  Finally, noted civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael (aka Kwame Ture) was born, and spent part of his life in Trinidad as well.






















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