Ah, bummer! I'm not sure the grass jelly sounds completely appealing to me personally, but I get the sentiment. When I was a kid we used to go to the "dog sale", which was really a giant swap meet, and we would always stop at this little hole in the wall gas station and get sarsparilla... although we never pronounced that first R. Does anyone? Anyway, I like it, and I do remember the frosty bottle that it came in and the big deal it was to get one.
The only way i can say sarsaparilla is by sounding like a wild west outlaw!
I don't mind the Hey Song version, but it is quite sweet and not really suitable for a bike ride. For me when i am biking/exercising the perfect drink is not too sweet, otherwise i get stomach cramps, but also not unsweetened, otherwise it feels like i am not replenishing the energy i just burned. This is why i really like sweet tea, because it's usually less sweet than soda and it also has the bitterness of the tea for balance. The grass jelly drinks hit the same spot. Of course if you go to a "serious" herbal tea/medicine shop in Taiwan and get a grass jelly tea it's usually unsweetened and quite bitter indeed - i've made that mistake before! In folk medicine people use it to cool off "inner heat", whatever that is, but it's definitely not the same thing as actual/outer heat!
I have now spent some time googling what grass jelly tea looks like. It actually looks pretty good, but I have this feeling based off what you are saying that it actually tastes nothing like what it looks like. I think I'd expect a thing like an iced coffee or iced latte and would get something totally different, and also with chewy cubes in. Hahah.
Do you like green tea if it is sweetened, or only black? I don't mind it normally, but recently I went to eat at a place and they didn't have black tea, which I prefer, so I got green tea. It was THE WORST. It was so bitter and gross- I really couldn't even drink it. I put some sugar in because that can camoflauge a lot of really bad, but it didn't even work. I tried drinking it really fast and that was fine until I stopped for air and on the exhale I felt like I had changed to a rotten fire breathing dragon. Barf. Now I'm going to be nervous about green tea. Haha.
I only like sweet tea, no matter the color! I always drink my coffee black and unsweetened, but with tea i really need sugar to make it palatable. Unsweetened tea tastes like a herbal medicine to me.
That seems like Commercial Progress at work,... kick out everything that is small, niche, interesting, unique, handmade, local/regional,... convince young people all that "stuff" is "old" and "unsanitary" and things that "only ignorant peasants" would like/do, and roll out the most streamlined, commercial, mediocre, double-packaged, chemically-supported, flown-in, name-brand, factory-fresh, wide-appeal replacements.
One of the things I used to talk about on our wee little indie radio station... was how we were commercial-free AND non-commercial... and the difference between those works. In English we've been led to believe that "commercial" means *commercials*... like, selling products. But "commercial" means more like "easy and profitable to sell" because it specifically describes things that are mass-appeal, wide/broad audience interest, lowest-common-denominator, and mass produced,.... literally made to be sold to the most people for the highest profit when it comes to a service/product. Commercial products are popular and cheap,
( ... )
Grass jelly! I like it too. Also bright colors all look lovely on you.
Did you ever do a post about your tattoos? I like how neck tattoos look on lots of people, but I'm always so curious whether it hurts like hell to have someone with a needle at your throat!
It certainly hurts to get a neck tattoo! But like most other tattoos you kinda get used to it after a while. I think how much a tattoo actually hurts depends a lot on how harsh the artist is. I've definitely had some rough artists that maybe i only noticed afterwards when i got keloid scars across the work. May be a stereotype, but it was always the biker/punk tattoo joints that i went to because "fuck yuppies" where i got badly hurt... whereas whenever i got one that i really wanted done right (e.g. the neck tattoo) i specifically went to high priced yuppie joints with no blasting heavy metal music and it felt more like cosmetic surgery than rebellion, which is fine by me...
Here is the US I feel like there is also a shift in tattoo where studios are shifting towards like a more spa or bodywork vibe and away from that punk rock / "get drunk and pick something off the wall" thing. Then again, it might just be because commercial rents are so high that it has become less accessible. Not sure...I know if I were to get a tattoo there are people in my community who work with a lot of GNC folks and thus seem to take a very respectful approach to the body, so that is what I would want. Also, I have a friend who is a talented artist but tells long boring stories, so I'd hate to have to sit there listening to him ramble for hours! I think that is another consideration!! 😂
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The only way i can say sarsaparilla is by sounding like a wild west outlaw!
I don't mind the Hey Song version, but it is quite sweet and not really suitable for a bike ride. For me when i am biking/exercising the perfect drink is not too sweet, otherwise i get stomach cramps, but also not unsweetened, otherwise it feels like i am not replenishing the energy i just burned. This is why i really like sweet tea, because it's usually less sweet than soda and it also has the bitterness of the tea for balance. The grass jelly drinks hit the same spot. Of course if you go to a "serious" herbal tea/medicine shop in Taiwan and get a grass jelly tea it's usually unsweetened and quite bitter indeed - i've made that mistake before! In folk medicine people use it to cool off "inner heat", whatever that is, but it's definitely not the same thing as actual/outer heat!
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I have now spent some time googling what grass jelly tea looks like. It actually looks pretty good, but I have this feeling based off what you are saying that it actually tastes nothing like what it looks like. I think I'd expect a thing like an iced coffee or iced latte and would get something totally different, and also with chewy cubes in. Hahah.
Do you like green tea if it is sweetened, or only black? I don't mind it normally, but recently I went to eat at a place and they didn't have black tea, which I prefer, so I got green tea. It was THE WORST. It was so bitter and gross- I really couldn't even drink it. I put some sugar in because that can camoflauge a lot of really bad, but it didn't even work. I tried drinking it really fast and that was fine until I stopped for air and on the exhale I felt like I had changed to a rotten fire breathing dragon. Barf. Now I'm going to be nervous about green tea. Haha.
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I only like sweet tea, no matter the color! I always drink my coffee black and unsweetened, but with tea i really need sugar to make it palatable. Unsweetened tea tastes like a herbal medicine to me.
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I loved this post. It really is the little things that we like best that disappear.
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That seems like Commercial Progress at work,... kick out everything that is small, niche, interesting, unique, handmade, local/regional,... convince young people all that "stuff" is "old" and "unsanitary" and things that "only ignorant peasants" would like/do, and roll out the most streamlined, commercial, mediocre, double-packaged, chemically-supported, flown-in, name-brand, factory-fresh, wide-appeal replacements.
One of the things I used to talk about on our wee little indie radio station... was how we were commercial-free AND non-commercial... and the difference between those works. In English we've been led to believe that "commercial" means *commercials*... like, selling products. But "commercial" means more like "easy and profitable to sell" because it specifically describes things that are mass-appeal, wide/broad audience interest, lowest-common-denominator, and mass produced,.... literally made to be sold to the most people for the highest profit when it comes to a service/product. Commercial products are popular and cheap, ( ... )
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Grass jelly! I like it too. Also bright colors all look lovely on you.
Did you ever do a post about your tattoos? I like how neck tattoos look on lots of people, but I'm always so curious whether it hurts like hell to have someone with a needle at your throat!
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It certainly hurts to get a neck tattoo! But like most other tattoos you kinda get used to it after a while. I think how much a tattoo actually hurts depends a lot on how harsh the artist is. I've definitely had some rough artists that maybe i only noticed afterwards when i got keloid scars across the work. May be a stereotype, but it was always the biker/punk tattoo joints that i went to because "fuck yuppies" where i got badly hurt... whereas whenever i got one that i really wanted done right (e.g. the neck tattoo) i specifically went to high priced yuppie joints with no blasting heavy metal music and it felt more like cosmetic surgery than rebellion, which is fine by me...
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Fascinating!
Here is the US I feel like there is also a shift in tattoo where studios are shifting towards like a more spa or bodywork vibe and away from that punk rock / "get drunk and pick something off the wall" thing. Then again, it might just be because commercial rents are so high that it has become less accessible. Not sure...I know if I were to get a tattoo there are people in my community who work with a lot of GNC folks and thus seem to take a very respectful approach to the body, so that is what I would want. Also, I have a friend who is a talented artist but tells long boring stories, so I'd hate to have to sit there listening to him ramble for hours! I think that is another consideration!! 😂
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