2103 Bever Age

With talk from all kinds of circles that the way to shrink the obesity epidemic is to tax carbonated sweet drinks it's interesting to see other ways beverages affect our times. The Bever-Age as it were.

Like this brand of coffee I saw recently. It was called "Whirling Dervish." For some reason I was lead to conclude it had more than your average dose of caffeine. “We got your Charleston Waltz decaf coffee and your double caffeine Whirling Dervish.”

Then there was news that Starbucks is increasing its juice division. They recently opened a $70 million factory in Southern California to churn out 140,000 gallons of Evolution Fresh juice a week. Could this be a trend to healthier drinking? Brought on by the folks who invented the macchiato caramel mocha latte--a hot chocolate malt in a cup?

Good on them. Starbucks said it's seen a "huge revenue spike" from the brand and has recently opened standalone juice stores in Seattle and San Francisco. I wonder if they have a non-fat triple-caff extra foam guavaccino?

Then there's the other drink-related story I read. A drink that counters the effects of too much of another type of drink. Turns out Sprite cures the effects of a hangover better than any other soft drink. Yep. Scientists proved it. In double-blind taste tests, Sprite beat out all carbonated comers. The Uncola Wars circa 2013. Sprite beats 7-Up in curing a hangover. No word whether it only works when use it to chase a raw egg, a warm beer, and a Bloody Mary. 

Does create a tax conundrum though. I already paid my tax for the booze, should I also pay taxes on the carbonated drink that cures the hangover?

Can I just call it medicinal? 

America, ya gotta love it.