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“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
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Ah, Scotland’s other national drink (other than whisky).
How’d you get that pen?
What’s that a can of? It looks like a really nasty energy drink.
Scotland, the only place on earth where Coke is not the most popular soft drink!
I think you’re just trying to impress us with your use of fair trade sugar in your coffee. Next thing we know, Fr. Z will be hanging out with the “Occupy Fleet Street” crowd. :)
@APX,
It is a soft drink, NOT an energy drink. It is pronounced as if it were spelt “iron brew,” and it’s not half bad. And although my surname is (obviously) German, I am actually 1/4 French-Canadian (Bessette) and 3/4 German (Krüger, Töpfer and Schmidt) by ancestry. I am, to the best of my knowledge, Scottish only by marriage—my wife is about half Scots by ancestry (Alexander). The cap in my avatar-photo is called a Balmoral bonnet.
Yours, aye,
Keith Töpfer
Martial Artist / Keith,
Thanks for letting us know what that stuff is! Still looks icky, though….
So your French-Canadian ancestors are Bessettes, eh? Any relation to St. Andre Bessette of Montreal?
Yes, Father Z-where did you get that ‘House of Lords’ pen? Did you get to hear a debate in Parliament?
Irn Bru… it’s absolutely horrible. If you want a nice (but slightly weird) drink while in London, try Lucozade. Just don’t have it in the evening!!
I so have to get the import concession for the IrnBru for the Boise Idaho area. The can alone would sell the product.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSBBONwGavk
I loved Irn Bru as a kid, at least on those rare occasions when I could get it (usually at the Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville, Ontario). It tastes a little like Cream Soda.
Irn Bru beats Lucozade hands down.
You can buy it in Superstore in Canada too. At least you used to be able, though I have to confess I haven’t looked for it for a while. Great stuff, not for mixing though.
Irn Bru is orange-colored, IIRC, but it doesn’t taste like orange. I like it fine.
Of course, I’ll eat practically anything that doesn’t eat me, possibly because there’s some Scots in me. :)
Oh, here we go. Irn Bru history from the folks at Irn Bru USA.
@ Suburbanbanshee: “Of course, I’ll eat practically anything that doesn’t eat me, possibly because there’s some Scots in me. :)”
LOL! Including haggis and bubble-and-squeak? Yes, I’m afraid that rather saps the force from your recommendation. Of course, my background is Irish, and Ireland isn’t exactly touted for its cuisine.
It tastes better in the bottle.
Glad you’ve discovered it though.
Hey, our national drink! What’s your verdict?
I had haggis–once. Take all of a cow’s (or sheep’s) inner-organs that are untenable for a proper dinner plate, grind them together, bake them with other unnamable substances, and, viola! Haggis! Then, add a warm can of irnbru to wash it down, yum! Sounds almost as good as the blood pudding I had on Aran Island!
Trust me, being of Scottish ancestry myself, I’m not dissing on the country; but, for fine food, my gastric inclinations tend to the southern parts of Europe!
Irn-Bru is awesome.
Irn Bru was also very popular in Cape Breton. I’m more particular to Spruce Beer now that I live in Quebec.
Irn Bru was a treat when I was a child. My relatives would return from their homeland of CapeBreton, Nova Scotia with cases of it for all the families.
I love it!
I was at the Fergus Highland Games (Ontario) this summer and there it was – but it does taste way better in a bottle.
IRN BRU is great stuff. Used to go to Scotland for work. Can’t get it here unfortunately as far as I know. There was also an Irish Ale that I really like as well. It was called “Thomas Caffery’s Irish Ale.” Used to get that in the states. Can’t find it anymore.
Last time I was there, I finally had the Haggis. I was sitting with a group of guys at dinner. 4 Scots and 1 Englishman. It was the Englishman who talked me into it surprisingly enough !
Basically take Jimmy Dean’s pork sausage and burn it. And you have something that tastes similar to the Haggis I had. Although I am told there are many variations ……
Glacier Mint: Sounds like a deodorant, looks like a cough drop. What does it taste like?
Haggis ain’t bad, sames goes for black pudding…when they’re fresh. When sitting under a heat light at a cafeteria in the University of Nottingham, I didn’t like it too much!
Irn-Bru is pretty good.
But my absolute FAVORITE British soft drink is LILT. Father, if you haven’t had it, you MUST try it. It has an amazingly refreshing grapefruit taste, you’ll ALMOST think you’re in the Caribbean (or at least the Isles of Scilly!).
The advertising jingle used to be (in a broad Scots accent):
I’m very thirsty, you’re thirsty too
What’s the drink we all enjoy?
BARR’S IRN BRU
Nectar of the gods!
What is that line from Mike Myers?
“I think most of Scottish cuisine is based on a dare.”
Semper Fi!
‘Haggis’ and ‘bubble and squeak’
LOL! I didn’t have either on my trips to England (stayed away from food that might give me ‘the runs’), but I just love the names that the Brits give their native cuisine!
One of these days, Father, you will have to venture north of the border to try some Irn-Bru where it’s from, along with other delicacies like a sausage supper. Maybe the good people at http://www.unavocescotland.org could sort something out?
@Jack Regan,
You wrote:
I would beg to disagree, but then you know what they say, “de gustibus non disputandum est.”
Pax et bonum,
Keith Töpfer
@irishgirl,
I have no indication that I am related to St. André Bessette, but I haven’t dug into the genealogy to try to find out. I suppose it is not impossible, but my mother died in 2009 and I have no knowledge of the whereabouts of any cousins (the family name was Smith—from my maternal grandfather—so tracing them could be a major challenge). Although Mom was raised Catholic, she converted to Missouri Synod Lutheranism in 1942 when she married my father, and even when I was in RCIA, she clearly had no interest in returning to the Catholic Church.
I spent a month in hospital when I was, I guess shortly before I was a teenager, and a pal kept me supplied with gallons of Irn Bru. Years later, I found it for sale in a small market here in my midwestern outpost, and it was a nice treat to have. It’s a pleasant drink—kind of a bubble gum flavor.
It’s been years since I went back to the old country. Probably time to visit again.
I had Irn Bru maybe once or twice when I lived in the UK. It was actually one of the first things I remember buying in London. I hated it. Thought it tasted like a combination of cream soda, citrus, and mouthwash. NO IDEA why Scots are so fond of the stuff.