Posted by:
Brother Of Jerry
(
)
Date: July 29, 2020 06:40PM
Last week pollythinks started a thread on candied orange peel. See here:
https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,2323430,2323430#msg-2323430It actually sounds pretty good, and most of the 4 cups of sugar is discarded after boiling the orange peel into submission, so it is not as big a sugar hit as the ingredient list sounds like. I may even give it a try. Will probably add some whole cloves to the boil.
Still, it reminded me of how sugar-addicted Mormon culture seems to be. Mo culture is even heavy on emotional sweetness: Disney-addiction, Hale Center Theater in SL, specializing in "family friendly" live theater, RS lessons. Even hearing the lugubrious speech pattern at General Conference made me feel like I was swimming in honey. Or motor oil.
But real live sugar is major thing with Mormons. There have been threads here in the past few years about the soft drink chains popping up in Utah, just as the rest of the country is decreasing consumption of sugared soft drinks. I thought I'd check and see how the Utah soda wars are going.
They are still going gang-busters, or were until the pandemic. Most are headquartered in Utah County, though the first one just has three stores only in SL County for now. The main players are: Thirst Drinks, Sodalicious, Swig, Fiiz, and Sip-N.
Here's a link covering places that sell soft drinks as a major or sole part of their product line in Utah, if you want to read up on some of the above comp[anies:
https://www.ksl.com/article/46536884/best-places-in-utah-to-get-a-drink--of-sodaThey don't just sell soda, most of them also sell cinnamon rolls and the like, so they are selling sugar, using either water or flour as a carrier. the main product is sugar. Big servings of sugar. And I listed five separate chains along the Wasatch Front, which is not a particularly large population center. Oy vey.
They are not just selling a sugar high. They are also selling the chance to be a little bit risqué. OK, risqué by Mo standards.
You can order your drink "dirty" (a shot of half and half added) or add various flavor shots. Oooh, that means you can sound like those people at Starbucks who reel off 9 ingredients for their morning cup of coffee, plus just saying "dirty" is a thrill for a Mormon.
Not only that, but some of the chains have suggestive names for their drinks. Flaming Ginger. Second Base, Your Mom. What She's Having. All the thrill of ordering in a bar, but without the guilt of demon rum, and only half a gazillion calories a 24 oz cup.
https://www.businessinsider.com/crazy-drinks-from-utahs-dirty-soda-wars-2015-12Somehow, I don't expect these chains to have much success outside the Wasatch Front. The rest of the world is becoming more health conscious. And like the thrill of Disney, the thrill of ordering a "Your Mom, dirty" kind of fades after junior high, unless you are Mormon, and trapped in eternal adolescence.
Come to think of it, eternal adolescence could explain a lot of Mormon culture. Looking at you, BYU.