A Syrupy Personality?

Might I carry you back briefly 40 years, when two of my most favorite things in the world were drinks? One was an all-year-'round favorite, coffee milk (the RI state drink), made by generously glopping a spoonful or two of Eclipse coffee syrup--think Hershey's syrup, only coffee-flavored--in a glass of milk). More summery was a liberal application of Eclipse lemon-lime syrup to a glass of cold water to make a sweet-sour citrus concoction.

Coffee syrup still exists back in the "Ocean State," although the big brick Eclipse plant on Route 2 has long since gone to dust like the Cranston Drive-in it was next to and Autocrat Coffee makes both Autocrat and Eclipse brands. But the fruit-flavored syrups disappeared before I was even out of junior high school.

Luckily there was a replacement: a brand called Zarex (with a zebra mascot) came out of nowhere and filled the field for a time. Then it too was gone.

Now, granted, if you wanted a fruit-flavored drink there were always the powdered alternatives--Kool-Aid, Wyler's, and the immensely watered-down Crystal Light. A nice strong lemon-lime can be made with the Kool-Aid packet if the sugar is cut down a quarter and if that two quarts of water is shorted about a quarter of a cup. However, the rub is that you must make that almost two quarts and have the container sitting in the fridge, vying for space. If you don't drink much of anything else, no problem. However, when it contends with three gallons of milk, some orange juice, and an ice-water bottle, there tends to be a bit of a bottleneck [pun intended]. And face it, sometimes you just lose taste for it for a while, so the container sits in the fridge gathering black gunk around the container mouth and looking sorrier and sorrier. The syrup bottle may cost more, but you can have the drink whenever you wish and not overcrowd the fridge with a jug you may or may not use.

So imagine my surprise when, after a fruitless [pun also intended] search for syrups for years, we came upon last Sunday, in of all places Big Lots the closeout store, bottles of flavored syrup from a DaVinci Gourmet company. Which has a website.

Which has both lemon and lime syrups among a horde of others including kiwi, amaretto, watermelon, coffee, gingerbread, and 40 other flavors. So now I'm cogitating on ordering a bottle of the lime.

Incidentally, davincigourmet.com has a cute little "Flavorscope" gadget that "analyzes" your personality if you plug in your favorite drink mixed with your favorite syrup. Unfortuately they do not have "milk" in the drink category so my personality analysis has gone off a bit sideways. I tried it first with cappucino flavored with coffee:

You are a well-balanced person, and move easily between groups of friends, work, and family. Your advice and guidance are valued, and your ability to keep a level head is an inspiration to many, including a few secret admirers.

You are thoughtful and thorough, and can be counted on to always come through in a pinch. You take great satisfaction in a job well done.

Hm. Maybe the second paragraph...providing the job is interesting enough. But "well-balanced" and "a level head." Hmn. We're talking about my mother here, not me.

Since it has a milk base, I tried hot chocolate flavored with coffee syrup instead:

You like to sail on calm waters, and have the good sense to stay out of the way of approaching storms, whether in the workplace or family life. You have great inner strength, and value the simple joys in life.

You are thoughtful and thorough, and can be counted on to always come through in a pinch. You take great satisfaction in a job well done.

Okay, much closer. But I wish they had a nice straight glass of milk to judge from. The chocolate does muddy the waters... :-)

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 12:48:00 PM

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