2008
Indian Drinks Nostalgia!
As always, this is just a start.
Appy:
For a long time, this was the “other” drink. I don’t think it had much of a fan following but we drank it once in a while, when we were in a mood for something like frooti but not quite. Is that the best way to put it?
Remember the rumor about Appy having pork in it? It is partly true. Most apple juice companies add some sort of animal-based enzyme to break down the apple’s cell wall and extract as much juice out of it as possible.
It does not say so in the ingredients list on the cover because the enzyme is broken down during the processing stage, and therefore does not have to be listed as an ingredient. But if you call the company and ask, they are usually required to tell you if they do or don’t. I haven’t asked, but some people obviously have. Try searching for “appy pork” on google.
The drink reminds me of summer and more specifically a picnic or a vacation with family.
Barcardi Rum:
Be, what you wanna be, taking things the way, they come,
Nothing is as nice as finding paradise and
Sippin' on Bacardi Rum.
I didn’t see myself ever having rum on the beach like those trendy bikini clad models in the ad, but it was such a fun song! It’s not the original obviously, but it represents Bacardi Rum to me. It’s also the first alcoholic drink I had in college. Does Channel [V] still have the Bacardi Blast show? It was that late night live entertainment show showcasing the hottest parties in town. It was fun watching random foreigners and very yuppy looking Indians swinging to some really groovy tunes.
Bajal
I used to drink this during my Summer and Christmas breaks every year in Manipal at a time when Coke and Pepsi were hard to get in smaller towns. It used to come in Cola, Orange and Lime flavors and was cheap enough that I was allowed to have one Bajal a day after I came back from the MIT swimming pool at 5 every evening.
Bisleri
The most popular bottled water brand in India, which became household name and synonymous with any spring or mineral bottled water in the country. At one point, it was an NRI-symbol, and the distinguishing factor between a resident and a foreign-returned indian, because they drank Bisleri even at home. Things have obviously changed now. When I visited India, I had no one walking behind me with a bisleri water bottle :-( To all Indians, it’s a must-buy when traveling by train. There’s always the obligatory discussion amongst passengers on how “even bisleri is not reliable” Still, we cling to it like our life depends on it.
Boost
Is NOT the secret of my energy. It may have been a healthier version of Bournvita, and may have even tasted the same, but that wasn’t enough to make me want to drink it. Brand loyalty came in the way. Boost is said to be the first HFD (whatever that means) to use celebrity endorsement to promote the energy benefit of malty drinks. Kapil Dev and Tendulkar on the screen saying "Boost is the secret of my energy... our energy" in my head is the grown up equivalent of "I'm a complan boy...and.. I'm a complan girl". I hear there are sweet shops in India selling Bosst barfis!
Bournvita
Yummy in powder form too! My brother was a Bournvita drinker and I alternated between cocoa and bournvita. I remember my grandmom making two glasses of bournvita every morning. She chilled one in the fridge for us to have in the evening and gave us the piping hot one in the morning. Those were good days. Sigh! They call it a chocolate drink, but it's more malty than chocolaty. I just learnt from wikipedia that Hritik Roshan attributed his superpowers to Bournvita in Koi Mil Gaya and it sequel Krish! I watched both films, but didn't know this until now. Intheresthing!
Brooke Bond Tea
Not my tea, but it’s THE tea brand in India. There’s Brooke Bond Taj Mahal with the famous tabla jugalbandhi ad in which Zakir Hussain plays the tabla with his dad and says “Wah! Taj, Wah!” in the end. Taj Mahal tea became synonymous with all tea bags in India. In fact, I don’t remember any other tea bag brand in the country. There’s Brooke Bond Red Label Tea for all the masala chai or adhrak tea drinkers and the 3 Roses tea, known for it’s perfect color, strength and aroma. Am I missing another one?
Bru Instant Coffee:
A strong instant coffee-chicory blend, perhaps closest to the authentic decoction coffee, but still not quite the same. I hear there is a Bru cappuccino endorsed by Karan Johar (!!!), which is supposed to be out of this world.
Cadbury Cocoa
Cocoa dissolved in a glass of hot or cold milk with two spoons of sugar, and some more cocoa powder sprinkled on top is the most heavenly drink in the whole wide universe. Even as I write this, I can feel the bitter power and the sweet hot chocolate milk in my mouth. Yum! There were other hot chocolate drinks in India, names of which I don’t remember that were quite good. Still this one was the best and had a more chocolaty taste to it.
Campa cola
I don’t remember what campacola used to taste like, but, had to mention it because it was the leading soft drink brand for a long time until Pepsi and Coke made it to the Indian market in the 90s.
Canada Dry
Not the regular club sodas or the ginger ales we see here. The one in India is quite lemony. Very much like the green bottle drinks. I don't remember if this too came in the same green bottle.
Citra
Super cooler! :) I totally forgot about this green bottled drink until Chris commented on this post and reminded me about it. It didn't have a personality of it's own, and was just the "other" green bottled drink, competing or should I say dwarfed by Sprint and later 7'up. Catchy ad jingle though! This was later replaced by Sprite, owned by the same guys. Sprite did quite well, at least almost as well as 7'up.
Complan
The complete planned food! Perhaps the most expensive milk drinks in India that came in every imaginable flavor possible. I remember eating it more than drinking it, especially the vanilla, chocolate and mango flavors. I remember my mom trying to synchronize my brother’s Farex flavor with my Complan flavor because both came in an abundance of varieties. I’m told Complan also came in Chicken, Vegetable, Oats and Beef flavors, but I don’t remember seeing them in the store.
Continental Coffee
Milder than the other instant coffees and also my favorite.
Double Seven
Don’t remember this drink at all. I’m guessing it was much before my lifetime, but definitely talked about a lot.
Dukes
All I know is that it is always mentioned together with double seven, when people get nostalgic about drinks from their past.
Frooti
The first Indian drink that I know of that came in those paper boxes. We were all so fascinated by it. It’s a sweeter, more diluted version of Maaza, and I never quite liked the taste, but loved the idea of drinking in those paper cans. At a time when the other sodas in glass bottles were not convenient to carry and weren’t even sold so that the bottles could be discarded after use, Frooti was the only thing people could buy to take to picnics or when traveling by trains. I have a lot of summer-time memories associated with frooti. Nothing specific, just that I drank a lot of it during summer.
Gold Spot
Gold spot the zing thing, gold spot!
The first orange sodas in the market. It apparently had a better following in smaller towns and rural areas than in big cities. Again, Im not a great fan of orange soda, although I used to drink it every once in a while. I hear collecting gold spot caps were quite a craze at one time and were traded for Jungle Book stickers. The gold spot adds too were quite funky and focused on the “latest craze” of the generation.
Horlicks
Didn’t like it, but believed that it was good for me when I was sick. I know I am not alone. No matter what milk energy drink people drink in their regular life, they (almost unwillingly) shift to horlicks for the few days that they are sick. And if that was their branding strategy, it worked very well. In fact, I hear Horlicks guaranteed a good nights sleep too, if drunk just before bedtime. Of course, that’s not to say that there aren’t people who drink it on a regular basis, and as the company claims even “eat it”. Best part about the drink? The small horlicks lumps in the milk that don’t dissolve fully. I hear they sell horlicks disks in some places, I wonder if they taste like threptin biscuits. :D Also (from Wikipedia), The word Horlicks is now a
substitute for "bollocks".
Kingfisher Beer
A monopoly in the Indian beer market for a long time until Budweiser and Carlsberg penetrated the market a few years go. It is still Asia’s most successful beer. I never had it while I was living in India, but now I do sometimes when I go to an Indian restaurant. Perhaps the only lager I can think of that gets me drunk quickly, but it is an uninteresting drink, malty with bitter hops and a very strong skunky smell. Come to think of it, it is the only Indian beer have had (not counting India Pale Ale, which is not Indian) , but I am always fascinated with Indian beer names, Kalyani Black Label, Soumitree, Haywards, Royal Challenge, Castle… all lagers.
Kissan Squash
Really like Kissan squash drinks. Especially the orange, lemon barley and lemon squash flavors. I am told the lemon barley squash drink is only for people with certain urinary problems. It still tasted good, bah!
Limca
Lime and Lemony Limca. Limca Limca!
Never liked the taste of limca. It has a very sharp, bitter aftertaste. As far as I am concerned it is the worst drink in the market, although I know a few loyal drinkers. I am told it's a huge hit with foreigners. May be because there is no limca equivalent in other countries. The closest that comes to it is Fresca, a better version if you ask me, sweeter and less fizzy. I read on Wikipedia that Limca has a slightly gingery taste to it, but I don’t remember it being gingery at all. But, despite the bad taste I sometimes drink Limca to assert loyalty to my country! :-) Limca also publishes the Limca Book of Records, which is the Guiness equivalent in India.
Lipton’s green label tea:
One of my favorite Indian Darjeeling teas that I grew up drinking. The long leaf blend is the finest I have seen in India and has a very distinct sweet aroma and a delicate taste that’s best relished with no milk or as little milk and sugar as possible. I know some people who have it with honey and lemon even, which is not too bad if you ask me.
Maaza
Taaza mango, maaza mango. Except fresh mango juice, this is the best mango drink I have had, hands down. Love it. Still buy it in the Indian store in the US.
Miranda
My mom’s favorite soda. Coicidentally, she calls my brothers house Miranda now because it is a combination of my brother and sister-in-laws names. Miranda took over gold spot’s popularity and was a sweeter and fizzier version. I didn't really care for the drink so much, except when I asn't in a mood for something as aerated as coke or 7'up even.
Mountain Dew
Do the Dew! Catering to young adventurous adults into extreme sports, this is the only drink I can think of that comes in a green bottle, but is not completely transparent. It's a semi-opaque cool green-yellow aerated lemon-lime drink. It comes in a ton of weird flavors in the US, and even have an online game on their website called Dewmocracy where poeple get to vote the next flavor of Mountain Dew, but in India there's just one Dew, their classic and their best.
Rasna
I love you Rasna! :-) The first thing that comes to mind is that very famous “Rasna hairstyle”, which became a huge craze thanks to that little cubby girl in the ad holding a glass of orange rasna. The drink was a little too sweet for my liking, but much to my annoyance, it was a favorite birthday parties for a long long time.
Soma juice
I remember a trip to Kakinada with my granddad in the car, when I slept on his lap all through the 6 hour journey, only getting up to have Soma Juice, whenever the car stopped for a break.
Sprint
I used to be fascinated by sprint’s green bottles. Always thought of it as a grown-ups drink, cos it was my dads favorite. So whenever I drank it, I felt grown up, like I was drinking something out of my league. Even as I think of it, I can feel that same emotion, that same sense of accomplishment that I felt back then while drinking a bottle of Sprint.
Sprite
It's not just the name that's similar, the taste, the look, the feel of it all is just like Sprint. The only things I can think of other than the cola drinks that are so similar are the eclair chocolates, one by cadbury and one by some random company.
7’up
Funny how all the green bottled drinks lined up under each other. Was it intentional? Nah! 7'up completely took over sprint's green-bottle monopoly with the help of a frizzy haired dude called Fido Dido. The Fido Dido stickers and wristbands became such a craze that we all obsessively collected those bottle caps and bartered some with friends to get our hands on them. Eventually, the spunky dude made it to lunch boxes and school bags, but luckily his hairstyle didn’t catch on.
Thums Up
Taste the thunder :-) My favorite cola drink, and very distinct from the other colas owing to the stronger, fizzier, and less sweet taste with a nutty flavor. Back in the days, when Coca Cola and Pepsi were still unheard of in India, the drink overshadowed a lot of it’s contemporaries like Campa cola, Double seven and Dukes. Interestingly, it was marketed as a manly drink, and was deliberately packaged in chafed up bottles. But THIS woman will drink it like nobodys business. :-) I almost certainly have a couple stocked in my fridge always. It’s best had with rum.
Appy:
For a long time, this was the “other” drink. I don’t think it had much of a fan following but we drank it once in a while, when we were in a mood for something like frooti but not quite. Is that the best way to put it?
Remember the rumor about Appy having pork in it? It is partly true. Most apple juice companies add some sort of animal-based enzyme to break down the apple’s cell wall and extract as much juice out of it as possible.
It does not say so in the ingredients list on the cover because the enzyme is broken down during the processing stage, and therefore does not have to be listed as an ingredient. But if you call the company and ask, they are usually required to tell you if they do or don’t. I haven’t asked, but some people obviously have. Try searching for “appy pork” on google.
The drink reminds me of summer and more specifically a picnic or a vacation with family.
Barcardi Rum:
Be, what you wanna be, taking things the way, they come,
Nothing is as nice as finding paradise and
Sippin' on Bacardi Rum.
I didn’t see myself ever having rum on the beach like those trendy bikini clad models in the ad, but it was such a fun song! It’s not the original obviously, but it represents Bacardi Rum to me. It’s also the first alcoholic drink I had in college. Does Channel [V] still have the Bacardi Blast show? It was that late night live entertainment show showcasing the hottest parties in town. It was fun watching random foreigners and very yuppy looking Indians swinging to some really groovy tunes.
Bajal
I used to drink this during my Summer and Christmas breaks every year in Manipal at a time when Coke and Pepsi were hard to get in smaller towns. It used to come in Cola, Orange and Lime flavors and was cheap enough that I was allowed to have one Bajal a day after I came back from the MIT swimming pool at 5 every evening.
Bisleri
The most popular bottled water brand in India, which became household name and synonymous with any spring or mineral bottled water in the country. At one point, it was an NRI-symbol, and the distinguishing factor between a resident and a foreign-returned indian, because they drank Bisleri even at home. Things have obviously changed now. When I visited India, I had no one walking behind me with a bisleri water bottle :-( To all Indians, it’s a must-buy when traveling by train. There’s always the obligatory discussion amongst passengers on how “even bisleri is not reliable” Still, we cling to it like our life depends on it.
Boost
Is NOT the secret of my energy. It may have been a healthier version of Bournvita, and may have even tasted the same, but that wasn’t enough to make me want to drink it. Brand loyalty came in the way. Boost is said to be the first HFD (whatever that means) to use celebrity endorsement to promote the energy benefit of malty drinks. Kapil Dev and Tendulkar on the screen saying "Boost is the secret of my energy... our energy" in my head is the grown up equivalent of "I'm a complan boy...and.. I'm a complan girl". I hear there are sweet shops in India selling Bosst barfis!
Bournvita
Yummy in powder form too! My brother was a Bournvita drinker and I alternated between cocoa and bournvita. I remember my grandmom making two glasses of bournvita every morning. She chilled one in the fridge for us to have in the evening and gave us the piping hot one in the morning. Those were good days. Sigh! They call it a chocolate drink, but it's more malty than chocolaty. I just learnt from wikipedia that Hritik Roshan attributed his superpowers to Bournvita in Koi Mil Gaya and it sequel Krish! I watched both films, but didn't know this until now. Intheresthing!
Brooke Bond Tea
Not my tea, but it’s THE tea brand in India. There’s Brooke Bond Taj Mahal with the famous tabla jugalbandhi ad in which Zakir Hussain plays the tabla with his dad and says “Wah! Taj, Wah!” in the end. Taj Mahal tea became synonymous with all tea bags in India. In fact, I don’t remember any other tea bag brand in the country. There’s Brooke Bond Red Label Tea for all the masala chai or adhrak tea drinkers and the 3 Roses tea, known for it’s perfect color, strength and aroma. Am I missing another one?
Bru Instant Coffee:
A strong instant coffee-chicory blend, perhaps closest to the authentic decoction coffee, but still not quite the same. I hear there is a Bru cappuccino endorsed by Karan Johar (!!!), which is supposed to be out of this world.
Cadbury Cocoa
Cocoa dissolved in a glass of hot or cold milk with two spoons of sugar, and some more cocoa powder sprinkled on top is the most heavenly drink in the whole wide universe. Even as I write this, I can feel the bitter power and the sweet hot chocolate milk in my mouth. Yum! There were other hot chocolate drinks in India, names of which I don’t remember that were quite good. Still this one was the best and had a more chocolaty taste to it.
Campa cola
I don’t remember what campacola used to taste like, but, had to mention it because it was the leading soft drink brand for a long time until Pepsi and Coke made it to the Indian market in the 90s.
Canada Dry
Not the regular club sodas or the ginger ales we see here. The one in India is quite lemony. Very much like the green bottle drinks. I don't remember if this too came in the same green bottle.
Citra
Super cooler! :) I totally forgot about this green bottled drink until Chris commented on this post and reminded me about it. It didn't have a personality of it's own, and was just the "other" green bottled drink, competing or should I say dwarfed by Sprint and later 7'up. Catchy ad jingle though! This was later replaced by Sprite, owned by the same guys. Sprite did quite well, at least almost as well as 7'up.
Complan
The complete planned food! Perhaps the most expensive milk drinks in India that came in every imaginable flavor possible. I remember eating it more than drinking it, especially the vanilla, chocolate and mango flavors. I remember my mom trying to synchronize my brother’s Farex flavor with my Complan flavor because both came in an abundance of varieties. I’m told Complan also came in Chicken, Vegetable, Oats and Beef flavors, but I don’t remember seeing them in the store.
Continental Coffee
Milder than the other instant coffees and also my favorite.
Double Seven
Don’t remember this drink at all. I’m guessing it was much before my lifetime, but definitely talked about a lot.
Dukes
All I know is that it is always mentioned together with double seven, when people get nostalgic about drinks from their past.
Frooti
The first Indian drink that I know of that came in those paper boxes. We were all so fascinated by it. It’s a sweeter, more diluted version of Maaza, and I never quite liked the taste, but loved the idea of drinking in those paper cans. At a time when the other sodas in glass bottles were not convenient to carry and weren’t even sold so that the bottles could be discarded after use, Frooti was the only thing people could buy to take to picnics or when traveling by trains. I have a lot of summer-time memories associated with frooti. Nothing specific, just that I drank a lot of it during summer.
Gold Spot
Gold spot the zing thing, gold spot!
The first orange sodas in the market. It apparently had a better following in smaller towns and rural areas than in big cities. Again, Im not a great fan of orange soda, although I used to drink it every once in a while. I hear collecting gold spot caps were quite a craze at one time and were traded for Jungle Book stickers. The gold spot adds too were quite funky and focused on the “latest craze” of the generation.
Horlicks
Didn’t like it, but believed that it was good for me when I was sick. I know I am not alone. No matter what milk energy drink people drink in their regular life, they (almost unwillingly) shift to horlicks for the few days that they are sick. And if that was their branding strategy, it worked very well. In fact, I hear Horlicks guaranteed a good nights sleep too, if drunk just before bedtime. Of course, that’s not to say that there aren’t people who drink it on a regular basis, and as the company claims even “eat it”. Best part about the drink? The small horlicks lumps in the milk that don’t dissolve fully. I hear they sell horlicks disks in some places, I wonder if they taste like threptin biscuits. :D Also (from Wikipedia), The word Horlicks is now a
substitute for "bollocks".
The term was used in July 2003 by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw ("a complete Horlicks"[1]) to describe irregularities in the preparation and provenance of a dossier regarding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Kingfisher Beer
A monopoly in the Indian beer market for a long time until Budweiser and Carlsberg penetrated the market a few years go. It is still Asia’s most successful beer. I never had it while I was living in India, but now I do sometimes when I go to an Indian restaurant. Perhaps the only lager I can think of that gets me drunk quickly, but it is an uninteresting drink, malty with bitter hops and a very strong skunky smell. Come to think of it, it is the only Indian beer have had (not counting India Pale Ale, which is not Indian) , but I am always fascinated with Indian beer names, Kalyani Black Label, Soumitree, Haywards, Royal Challenge, Castle… all lagers.
Kissan Squash
Really like Kissan squash drinks. Especially the orange, lemon barley and lemon squash flavors. I am told the lemon barley squash drink is only for people with certain urinary problems. It still tasted good, bah!
Limca
Lime and Lemony Limca. Limca Limca!
Never liked the taste of limca. It has a very sharp, bitter aftertaste. As far as I am concerned it is the worst drink in the market, although I know a few loyal drinkers. I am told it's a huge hit with foreigners. May be because there is no limca equivalent in other countries. The closest that comes to it is Fresca, a better version if you ask me, sweeter and less fizzy. I read on Wikipedia that Limca has a slightly gingery taste to it, but I don’t remember it being gingery at all. But, despite the bad taste I sometimes drink Limca to assert loyalty to my country! :-) Limca also publishes the Limca Book of Records, which is the Guiness equivalent in India.
Lipton’s green label tea:
One of my favorite Indian Darjeeling teas that I grew up drinking. The long leaf blend is the finest I have seen in India and has a very distinct sweet aroma and a delicate taste that’s best relished with no milk or as little milk and sugar as possible. I know some people who have it with honey and lemon even, which is not too bad if you ask me.
Maaza
Taaza mango, maaza mango. Except fresh mango juice, this is the best mango drink I have had, hands down. Love it. Still buy it in the Indian store in the US.
Miranda
My mom’s favorite soda. Coicidentally, she calls my brothers house Miranda now because it is a combination of my brother and sister-in-laws names. Miranda took over gold spot’s popularity and was a sweeter and fizzier version. I didn't really care for the drink so much, except when I asn't in a mood for something as aerated as coke or 7'up even.
Mountain Dew
Do the Dew! Catering to young adventurous adults into extreme sports, this is the only drink I can think of that comes in a green bottle, but is not completely transparent. It's a semi-opaque cool green-yellow aerated lemon-lime drink. It comes in a ton of weird flavors in the US, and even have an online game on their website called Dewmocracy where poeple get to vote the next flavor of Mountain Dew, but in India there's just one Dew, their classic and their best.
Rasna
I love you Rasna! :-) The first thing that comes to mind is that very famous “Rasna hairstyle”, which became a huge craze thanks to that little cubby girl in the ad holding a glass of orange rasna. The drink was a little too sweet for my liking, but much to my annoyance, it was a favorite birthday parties for a long long time.
Soma juice
I remember a trip to Kakinada with my granddad in the car, when I slept on his lap all through the 6 hour journey, only getting up to have Soma Juice, whenever the car stopped for a break.
Sprint
I used to be fascinated by sprint’s green bottles. Always thought of it as a grown-ups drink, cos it was my dads favorite. So whenever I drank it, I felt grown up, like I was drinking something out of my league. Even as I think of it, I can feel that same emotion, that same sense of accomplishment that I felt back then while drinking a bottle of Sprint.
Sprite
It's not just the name that's similar, the taste, the look, the feel of it all is just like Sprint. The only things I can think of other than the cola drinks that are so similar are the eclair chocolates, one by cadbury and one by some random company.
7’up
Funny how all the green bottled drinks lined up under each other. Was it intentional? Nah! 7'up completely took over sprint's green-bottle monopoly with the help of a frizzy haired dude called Fido Dido. The Fido Dido stickers and wristbands became such a craze that we all obsessively collected those bottle caps and bartered some with friends to get our hands on them. Eventually, the spunky dude made it to lunch boxes and school bags, but luckily his hairstyle didn’t catch on.
Thums Up
Taste the thunder :-) My favorite cola drink, and very distinct from the other colas owing to the stronger, fizzier, and less sweet taste with a nutty flavor. Back in the days, when Coca Cola and Pepsi were still unheard of in India, the drink overshadowed a lot of it’s contemporaries like Campa cola, Double seven and Dukes. Interestingly, it was marketed as a manly drink, and was deliberately packaged in chafed up bottles. But THIS woman will drink it like nobodys business. :-) I almost certainly have a couple stocked in my fridge always. It’s best had with rum.
