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Re: Beverages

Postby WWordsworth » Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:12 am

Last week Sainsbury's had Bristol Cream at £11 for a bottle.
And £10 for a litre :?

I have sampled the free bit and will save the bit I bought for Christmas.

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Re: Beverages

Postby scullion » Wed Dec 16, 2020 1:40 am

Wic wrote: When I was a child I used to drink cocoa, with a spoonful of cocoa powder and sugar mixed to a paste with a little bit of milk and then hot water stirred in.

interesting - that's how my dad taught me to make it but i learned, from the father of a friend, in devon, to put the boiling water onto the cocoa (and sugar) to 'cook' it then add the milk - which is how i've made it since - cos it's quicker.

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Re: Beverages

Postby Earthmaiden » Wed Dec 16, 2020 10:56 am

I may be wrong but I think cocoa may have been more readily available than coffee after the war. It seemed quite popular at communal meetings and things right into the 60s. My mother always had it at coffee time and in the evening and people I knew who didn't use caffeine (for religious reasons) drank it as a main drink. To make it with all milk was a huge treat, usually it was just cocoa and sugar slaked with water with hot water added and then the amount of cold milk one might use in tea (top of the milk if possible!). It always seemed very nice. The people who had it as a main hot drink didn't even bother slaking it, they just poured hot water straight onto the cocoa and sugar. It never seemed so nice done that way. I think we may have used milk to slake.
I've been wondering why it went out of vogue. Possibly the creamier instant chocolate drinks and marketing of the 'mellow' types of coffee in the early 70s.

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Re: Beverages

Postby Stokey Sue » Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:58 am

never been offered cocoa at any kind of meeting or gathering, except on a Brownie's holiday

By the time I started going to youth clubs etc the standard seemed to be a vile instant coffee, that was favoured over tea as it didn't need a tea pot. One reason I don't put milk in coffee is that it came with powdered milk

Cadbury's really pushed Drinking Chocolate, as opposed to plain cocoa, in the 60s, remember "the drink that's as warm as mink"?

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Re: Beverages

Postby Earthmaiden » Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:45 pm

Yes, the big difference was that it was made with all milk - considered extravagant by many!

Re the cocoa - think village halls Dad's Army style! Cocoa was an alternative to the tea urn sometimes.

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Re: Beverages

Postby Busybee » Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:53 pm

I’m going to ask a very stupid question..........I don’t think I’ve ever had cocoa, and shy away from hot chocolate because being diabetic I just assume it’s full of sugar. Does cocoa have sugar in it? I’m just wondering if I should try it, obviously I wouldn’t add any extra sugar, but does it come with sugar in it anyway?

BB

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Re: Beverages

Postby Earthmaiden » Wed Dec 16, 2020 1:19 pm

It shouldn't BB if it is called cocoa and not drinking chocolate. Obviously it would be wise to check the label!

To make the drink we mostly recognise you would need sweetness to make it palatable but maybe you are allowed certain sweeteners? As you've seen from this thread, some prefer a less sweet/milky drink and you could experiment with other flavours.

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Re: Beverages

Postby Pepper Pig » Wed Dec 16, 2020 1:52 pm

Can you still get Bournvita?

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Re: Beverages

Postby Wic » Wed Dec 16, 2020 3:55 pm

Bournvita! Another blast from the past. They used to try to get me to drink it, and Horlicks, when I was a child because I was a scrawny little thing. However, as they made it with milk it was a complete anathema to me.

I liked cocoa though, as there was hardly any milk in it. We used the same cocoa that is used for cooking BB. It isn’t sweet at all. It’s also quite strong, I can’t drink drinking chocolate, it tastes too insipid to me now, even though it’s made in the same way as the cocoa, with hardly any milk.

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Re: Beverages

Postby KeenCook2 » Wed Dec 16, 2020 4:37 pm

Often the only drinkable flavour from a lot of those hot drinks machines where you used to hold the empty cup under and press the flavour you wanted was the hot chocolate. There was definitely one at one of my workplaces.
I also have a feeling I remember getting through quite a bit when it was free in hospital waiting rooms and we were waiting with one or other of the boys!

And what were those sachets called that were really low on calories? Options?? They came in a box of 10?
I'm sure I remember keeping those at work tool

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Re: Beverages

Postby Hickybank » Wed Dec 16, 2020 5:26 pm

Pepper Pig wrote:Can you still get Bournvita?

Still available but hellishly expensive at around £10 or more for 500g, I think Milo took over from it.
I remember the TV ad, "Sleep sweeter Bournvita"

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Re: Beverages

Postby Earthmaiden » Wed Dec 16, 2020 6:31 pm

I still keep a jar of Options in the cupboard. I don't drink it often but sometimes it just hits the spot.
Our work coffee machine used to do 'mocha' which was half coffee and half chocolate - it was lovely!! It was quite sad when they abolished machines and went to mugs and kettles.

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Re: Beverages

Postby KeenCook2 » Wed Dec 16, 2020 6:39 pm

Earthmaiden wrote:I still keep a jar of Options in the cupboard. I don't drink it often but sometimes it just hits the spot.
Our work coffee machine used to do 'mocha' which was half coffee and half chocolate - it was lovely!! It was quite sad when they abolished machines and went to mugs and kettles.



Oooh, I might check that out! Good to know it still exists!

Like the sound of your "mocha". I don't think any of the ones I had at work were quite that spohisticated! I do think some of them had soup, though :vomit

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Re: Beverages

Postby Earthmaiden » Wed Dec 16, 2020 6:44 pm

The machine literally stopped at half a cup of hot chocolate and switched to coffee for the rest! It's surprising it was so nice really

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Re: Beverages

Postby scullion » Thu Dec 17, 2020 2:13 am

when i don't fancy coffee or cocoa/chocolate i drink carob, made from the powder in the same way as cocoa but without sugar - it's sweet enough for me.
some powders can be a bit unpleasant but if you find a good one it has a sort of fruity mix of coffee, cocoa, tea sort of flavour.
we have a friend in portugal who mills the beans from his tree. it's quite course and works great in an aeropress (the resulting disc looks like reconstituted cork!) - and is a really lovely flavour.

strangely enough the cats like it too - i found one drinking from a mug of it while still warm and the night before last the other licked out the insoluble dregs in the bottom of the mug.
it reminds me of the smell of the goats 'milkers mix' food - which always smelled lovely.

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Re: Beverages

Postby karadekoolaid » Fri Dec 18, 2020 4:30 am

I recently picked up a book on Mexican food (in English) published in 1950! Curiously enough, a lot of the recipes look very authentic - and here´s one for something called Champurrado, which is basically a drink which goes back to the Aztecs:
110 gms "Masa Harina" flour ( that´s the corn/maize flour which has been treated with (chemical)lime)
1.2 lts water
2 tbsps dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
30 gms dark, 70% plus cacao/chocolate
1 tsp powdered cinnamon

Blend the corn meal with about 200 mls water, then sieve it into a bowl and stir in the rest of the water. Bring to a boil . Lower the temperature to "low" and add the rest of the ingredients little by little, until they dissolve. Stir the mixture until it becomes creamy.
How odd it hasn´t got any chiles in it... 8-) 8-)

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Re: Beverages

Postby Earthmaiden » Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:42 am

I shouldn't be surprised but am interested in the thickening agent which makes perfect sense.

Sounds delicious even without the chilli!

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Re: Beverages

Postby scullion » Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:52 am

it sounds like a variant of chocolate a la taza.

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Re: Beverages

Postby Earthmaiden » Fri Dec 18, 2020 12:06 pm

I had never heard of Chocolate a la Taza until you mentioned it recently. I realise now that I knew what it was but not what it was called.

I am going to try it using the leftover chocolate mentioned on another thread. Looked at this recipe and was a bit confused for a few moments at the suggestion that sweetbreads might be dipped in it :? :lol:.

https://thethingswellmake.com/chocolate ... chocolate/

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Re: Beverages

Postby scullion » Fri Dec 18, 2020 5:54 pm

definitely have a go at making churros to go with it, too - they are really good, and easy to make.
if you have a wide star nozzle for an icing bag you don't need a biscuit 'syringe'.
you squeeze the batter mix straight into hot fat, then dust with vanilla sugar (if you have any).

the higher cocoa solid chocolate you use for the c. a la taza the better it is for you...

the recipe i use to make our solid shampoo and my eye make-up remover (micellar water) comes from that site. she seems very thorough with her research.

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