What tastes better when you...
...drink it thru a straw? Mmm...milkshakes, of course! Even ordinary chocolate milk just tastes better consumed thru a straw. Do you drink any unusual things with straws? As a kid, did you ever have one of those crazy straws? Bendy ones are kinda fun, too, especially when you are sick! Anyone try those cereal straws?
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25 Comments:
The cereal straws are pretty gross, JEP. They sort of get mushy and weird really quickly.
The candy ones for Slurpees are okay in a disgusting sort of way once in a while.
My favorite thing through a straw are the "bubbles" in bubble tea. There is something so satisfying when the bubble is just slightly too big to fit through the straw so you have to suck harder then all of a sudden it wings up the straw, attacking your mouth, delightfully glutinous and sweet.
Speaking of glutinous, I believe that bubble tea bubbles are "Q".
Here's an article on Q.
I like Q things a lot. Then Q things through a straw - woooo eeeee! Fabulous.
Karen Resta at 9:20AM on 01/15/08
I remember those "Choco-Straws" from the 60s. They were regular straws that had a block of chocolate sweetener in the middle and they were supposed to turn plain milk into chocolate by magic!! I never liked them, they never had enough chocolate flavor to suit me.
I had one of those clear hard plastic straws that was about 3 feet long if you stretched it out. It was all squiggly and watching the liguid pass through it was supposed to kepp you from getting bored. Oh yeah this was like 40 years ago!!
RichardCrystal at 9:45AM on 01/15/08
Karen, that link for "an article on Q" doesn't work; can you elaborate so I can at least do a Google search for it? You've piqued my curiosity!
Curlz at 9:52AM on 01/15/08
Contrariwise, there are some things that are enhanced by being taken without a straw. I'm really partial to a thin edge on a wine glass, for instance. But speaking of straws and speaking of wine, this episode occurred in a bar one night while I sat there:
Fellow comes up to the bar from the table where he and a date/wife were sitting. Says something to the bartender, bartender hands him a straw and guy goes back to the table. In a moment he returns. Says something to the bartender, bartender hands him one of those skinny plastic cocktail stirrers and the fellow goes back to the table.
Bartender turns to Mr. Meatloaf (whom he's known for years) and me, shaking his head. "You're not gonna believe this one. He asked for a straw. They're drinking beer and a chardonnay." We grin. "No, wait," he continues. "Then he comes back and asks for a wine straw. Turns out he was talking about a cocktail stirrer."
Shriek.........
lemons at 10:06AM on 01/15/08
There are some things I cannot imagine drinking without a straw. Shakes and root beer floats come to mind. I used to drink milk over ice with a straw as a child. Don't know why really...
My little girl likes the fruity flavored cereal straws. She does not drink milk thru them, but consumes them as a snack with a glass of moo to accompany. I'm sure they really are gross if you drink milk through them. But my girl treats them as a fruit flavored version of the pirouline cookies.
coffeefrappe at 10:45AM on 01/15/08
Richard - Didn't you try the strawberry straw? That tasted so much better than the chocolate. ;)
PerkyMac at 10:51AM on 01/15/08
Karen, that link for "an article on Q" doesn't work; can you elaborate so I can at least do a Google search for it? You've piqued my curiosity!
Curlz at 9:52AM on 01/15/08
Hmm. It's working on my computer but these things can be mysterious. If anyone knows why the link isn't showing for Curlz could you tell me what (if anything) the problem is if you have any ideas?
Anyway. To get to it, Curlz - go to Gastronomica. Click on Issues then go to the Spring 2006 Issue. The article is there, titled "Taste - Q" by Zoe Tribur.
It's marked as a download. Maybe that's why it's not showing up when linked?
Sad that it doesn't link directly. It is against all things Q and beautiful.
But we can manage. :)
Karen Resta at 10:52AM on 01/15/08
Perky..NOW you tell me!!!
RichardCrystal at 10:57AM on 01/15/08
Richard, to really understand how great they tasted, I'd have to compare it to the plastic we put on the B&W tv to make it color, blue sky, green grass and uhhhh......middle was yellow or red? That was as close to color tv as the strawberry milk was to strawberry ice cream. But, I liked it.....ha!
Wine straw!!!! I'm just stunned. And when was the last time you saw anyone drink beer with a straw? Get with it people. ;)
PerkyMac at 11:55AM on 01/15/08
Izzy is a big fan of the straw, especially for his smoothies and milkshakes. I do recall using silly straws of some such thing as a kid but now I am not a huge straw proponent.
The thought of all of those plastic tubes littering our environment saddens me a bit so I have been seeking a source of paper straws. So far I have only encountered an industrial supply company which requires that I purchase an enormous quantity of them.
izzy's mama at 12:12PM on 01/15/08
When I was younger I drank Coke through a Red Vine. Yum. Makes it like Cherry Coke. But the Red Vine disintegrates quickly!
I prefer drinking soda through a straw. I like the bubble tea too! I don't like drinking water through a straw.
misseditor at 1:07PM on 01/15/08
Perky...Beer through a straw? Hon, I'm still getting over the plastic on the B&W TV screen! I suppose you remember Winky-Dink too????
RichardCrystal at 2:57PM on 01/15/08
I drink most beverages through a straw, even hot tea (I know I'm wierd). Bubble tea and drinks with ice make sense to me because the ice doesn't hit you in the face. As for the hot tea, I really don't know why.?
KtMc24 at 4:03PM on 01/15/08
When I eat out at burger joints I use a staw with my soda but my milkshakes/ malts I sip an any style frapp drink at starbucks I use a straw I love the green tea frapps..
rabbitriddle at 4:58PM on 01/15/08
Karen---I don't know what "bubble tea" is---can you explain?
coffeefrappe--it has been so long since I've had a rootbeer float---I agree & you've made me have a craving for one even tho' it is 15 degrees here!
JEP at 4:58PM on 01/15/08
Bartender turns to Mr. Meatloaf (whom he's known for years) and me, shaking his head. "You're not gonna believe this one. He asked for a straw. They're drinking beer and a chardonnay." We grin. "No, wait," he continues. "Then he comes back and asks for a wine straw. Turns out he was talking about a cocktail stirrer."
Shriek.........
lemons at 10:06AM on 01/15/08
I hope he gave them a maraschino cherry with that. :)
............................................
JEP, here is a link that describes bubble tea . It was a craze several years ago in the larger cities - but it can be found now at some independent coffee shops listed in the "smoothie" section. The only place we have it here is at a new-ish Thai restaurant where it is the simpler variety - just chilled lightened Thai tea with plain black tapioca bubbles.
Never met a kid who didn't love it.
My kids loved it so much I had to figure out how to make it at home or hand over my bank account to the Thai place. :)
Karen Resta at 6:45PM on 01/15/08
Thanks Karen---actually, I'd kinda like to try bubble tea:)
JEP at 6:59PM on 01/15/08
Karen Resta and Curlz:
"QQ" or "kew kew", it roughly means "chewy" in the way those tapioca balls or mochi might be in the Taiwanese dialect. Its virtually become synonymous with bubble tea tapioca...
Since bubble tea is a Taiwanese invention, you'll see "QQ" in the names of teashops and or in the names of particular brands of tapioca.
If you add a "Q" and "bubble tea" to your google search, you'll come up with a lot more relevant hits (omit the "bubble tea" radical in your search and you'll come up with the popular Chinese IM service by the same name instead).
fuuchan at 7:57PM on 01/15/08
Bubble tea straws work wonderfully for spitballs.
I'd love to find the tapioca for bubble tea. I've seen big white pearls, but they're not the same.
KarynMC at 9:34PM on 01/15/08
I really enjoy strawberry milkshakes through a straw!
watchforbears at 10:22PM on 01/15/08
iced tea.
cocktails.
lexophile at 10:30PM on 01/15/08
Have you checked your Asian market for them, Karyn?
With their growing popularity, its possible they might be stocked as a regular item now...
fuuchan at 12:47AM on 01/16/08
fuuchan, thanks for the search idea on Q. :)
Karyn, I ordered my tapioca pearls online. I tried the regular kind, which were fine - then tried the "instant" kind which are supposed to be faster-cooking, and was disappointed. So apparently bubbles should be placed in the "slow foods" arena of thought. :)
Karen Resta at 6:43AM on 01/16/08
Vodka...nah..vodka tastes good any way ;)
jcrisco at 1:48PM on 01/16/08
I'm going to have to second you on the milkshakes! Same goes for smoothies...they're just too thick to risk accidentally pouring them down your shirt :)
Hillary
Chew on ThaT
Chew on That at 6:07PM on 01/17/08