The most commonly sold drinks vary from hot beverages, to soft drinks (from your Westinghouse fridge), to alcohol and the list even includes water. Bottled water is a popular drink to buy even though you can easy get it from the tap. It is likely the popularity of bottled water has increased due to the convenience as well as the taste. Tap water usually tastes of chlorine and other contaminants although this can be removed by a water filter or water purifier.

Coffee

Coffee is one of the most commonly sold drinks and people who are coffee lovers know exactly how they like to have it. Coffee is made from coffee beans which are ground up and when added to hot water makes the drink of coffee. As well as instant coffee that most people drink at home, coffee can be served in many different ways. It can have milk added to it or flavour, it can be drunk extra strong or with frothy milk, and coffee even varies from country to country. There are different types of beans which can produce coffee with a different aroma and taste.

Coca Cola

Coca Cola is one of the most popular drinks in the world and easily one of the most commonly sold. Interestingly it came into existence by mistake. A man named John Pemberton was trying to make a headache tonic, which he created at home and then sold at a pharmacy a few blocks from his home. A customer bought some of the syrup, which was supposed to be mixed with water, but the person dispensing the syrup accidentally mixed it with soda water instead. The customer proclaimed that it was delicious and Coca Cola was born.

Beer

Beer is the third most popular drink in the world and the top four producers and consumers of it are the Czech Republic, Ireland, Germany and Australia. Throughout the world almost one hundred and forty eight billion litres of it is produced in a year. Beer makes up a large portion of the drinks sold in liquor shops and is served in pubs on tap. Different countries have their own unique blends of beer and the taste can vary quite significantly. There is also light beer, which has a lower alcohol content, beer with a lower carbohydrates and even beer with added flavour.

Water

Bottled water has become one of the most commonly sold drinks. Often people purchase bottled water when they are travelling to countries where the water is not fit to drink, while some people buy water in bottles simply because they believe it to be better for them than tap water. Water from the tap can have contaminants and chlorine in it and bottled water does taste better. You can solve this problem by having a water filter installed on your tap.

Tea

Tea was first discovered by the Chinese and was used for medicinal purposes as well as drunk for pleasure. It wasn't until the trade route to the Far East was established that tea came to Europe. It is a popular beverage in Britain as well as many other parts of the world. It comes in many different flavours, popular varieties being English breakfast and Earl Grey. You can also buy herbal teas and green tea, which has enormous health benefits. Remember to keep all of those cups clean in your Bosch dishwasher!

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A friend of mine sent me these iced coffee recipes. If you like them, you should check out Cathy's website, The Frazzled Homemaker, as well as her Keurig B40 review. I haven't had a chance to try either one yet, but it's definitely going to happen. Here we go:

A Low Fat Iced Coffee

This recipe only has 84 calories per serving. Cathy drinks this when she's tying to lose weight but still wants her iced coffee.

• 1 cup low fat chocolate milk
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules or 1/4 cup strong black coffee
• 1 cup ice cubes (about 9)
• 2 tablespoons fat free whipped topping

1. Add milk, coffee or coffee granules & ice cubes to blender.
2. Blend on high until mixture is smooth and frothy.
3. Fill up 2 glasses with the coffee mixture and top with 1 tablespoon whipped cream.

Very Rich Iced Coffee

Cathy sometimes serves this when I'm entertaining and her guests always rave about it.

• Caramel Topping (the kind used for ice cream sundaes)
• Chocolate Fudge Topping (also used on ice cream)
• 1 cup Cool Strong Coffee
• Milk, if desired
• Icecubes
• Whipped Cream
• Shaved Chocolate or Cocoa Powder, if desired

1. In a blender, mix a heaping tablespoon each of the ice cream toppings, the cool coffee and ice cubes to fill the blender 3/4 full.
2. You can add a little milk too, if desired.
3. Blend until it has the consistency of a slushy.
4. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with cocoa powder or shaved chocolate, if desired.

My Pre-Consumption Recipe Review

I have to say that both recipes appear to be delicious, with the second one being devilishly so and guaranteed to add a pound or two to my waistline if I don't do something to work it off. Of course, the true test comes when I get a chance to actually make the drinks. I probably won't comment on the outcome and I probably don't have to.

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Unless you stop and have a think about it, you have probably never realized that your hotel mini bar is an abomination for your health. For those who are regularly traveling and working, this is a very serous issue, especially when you consider that is their option normally 5 days out of every week. Here is an obvious look at those items in most hotels and other paid accommodation, in a hope that something will be done about it.

Hotel mini bars can be a real trap for anyone staying in a hotel or other paid accommodation. Some hotels are starting to think about our health, but most of them, and most of us, are thinking about our indulgence. Let’s look at some of the common items you will find in a hotel mini bar or fridge, and how you should deal with them. You might have to spend more time in the gym, or actually go there for a change! For those of us who are working and traveling a lot of the time, it is a serious issue. It is not like you have as much control over what you are really eating when you are living in hotel rooms and eating in all those restaurants.

• Tea and Coffee. Tea is always good for you. It is about the amount of sugar you put in it. You can drink hot tea, and it will cool your body. Tea must be one of the best drinks for our bodies. Green tea is also very good if you can get used to the bitter taste. The key to drinking green tea is not to let it stand for too long, in which case it will actually taste much sweeter. The same cannot be said about coffee. Considering the coffee in your room is instant, there is not too much concern. The reality is, it is nothing like the real coffee you get in a coffee shop. Moderation is the key. Thankfully, some hotels have begun to offer green coffee, coffees that are better for our health and work much in the way teas do for us.
• Chocolate. Always somewhere in the hotel room when you arrive. Unfortunately, most of the chocolate that gets dished up to us is full of sugar. If you are someone who really enjoys chocolate, it is worth spending the money on quality chocolate that is not loaded with sugar, and some amount each day will actually be very good for you. Most of the time in hotels, this will not be the case. Read the ingredients.
• Drinks. Again, we will find the mini bar loaded with fizzy drinks. How on earth did our world get to the state where we think we need all those fizzy drinks and all that sugar? All they will do is make you feel thirsty, want more, and give you a sugar rush. A sugar rush means you will have a lot of energy for a short time, and then you will feel tired. Over years of consuming this way, you can expect to get age-onset diabetes – something that many of us are getting and is a very serious issue.
• Alcohol. Here we go again, if this drug was introduced today, it would be illegal. Only consume what you should, around 2 glasses maximum per day, and it will be good for your health. Unfortunately, this is not the case and has a lot to do with the obesity in our modern societies – which is an epidemic, I must add!

What we can say about hotel mini bars is simple – there is not much good in there for you. Obesity has become a norm and is something you should think about. Get into the habit of advising your hotel of what you need before you arrive. As someone working and travelling, you will need to put in some serious effort.

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Actually, "closet coffee drinker" probably isn't correct. My son, Jon, isn't hiding and drinking coffee. I just didn't find out, until very recently, that he's a regular coffee drinker although he rarely drinks it at home.

Fast Food Coffee

I noticed Jon drinking a cup of coffee in his bedroom a few days ago and I started asking questions. It's not that he was doing anything wrong; it's just that I never saw him drinking coffee. He usually drinks water, bottled tea, bottled soda, or fruit juice. I asked him how much coffee he drank on a regular basis and I was surprised that he drank one or more cups per day.

Jon doesn't give himself enough time to have a cup of coffee in the morning, after he showers and eats breakfast. I haven't figured out why he doesn't have coffee with his breakfast, but there may be more to it than meets the eye.

After he dresses in his school uniform (he's pursuing a nursing degree here in the Philippines) and heads out, he rides a jeepney with a classmate to the main gate of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and then has to wait for a shuttle bus to take him to the college at Cubi Point.

He and his classmate each get a cup of coffee at one of the fast food places while they're waiting on the shuttle. His classmate is a neighborhood girl he's fond of (but not his girlfriend) and I suspect he treasures the time spent with her over a cup of coffee in the morning.

Regular and Irregular

Jon only drinks coffee in the morning. He never drinks coffee when I'm drinking it a night. He also doesn't drink coffee on the days in which he has no classes to attend. The fact that I saw him drinking coffee in his bedroom should make me out to be a liar, but he was up early in order to attend duty in another province and he hadn't had enough sleep. This was something irregular in his regular schedule.

My wife doesn't drink coffee every day either and she has no place she needs to be on a regular basis. I guess I'm the only REAL regular (drinking two or more cups every day) coffee drinker in the family.

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For years, doctors have been telling people to reduce their consumption of drinks containing high levels of caffeine, picking on coffee as the number one source. While over-indulgence in things that contain caffeine can have adverse effects on your health, how much is too much is open to interpretation.

What is caffeine?

Caffeine is an alkaloid that acts as a stimulant and a mild diuretic. Caffeine is called guaranine when found in guarana, mateine when found in mate, and theine when found in tea; all of these names are synonyms for the same chemical compound.

Caffeine has the effect of temporarily warding off drowsiness and restoring alertness. Humans have been consuming plants containing caffeine since the beginning of time — it occurs naturally in many plants besides coffee and tea, even though coffee and tea get the most publicity for it.

Caffeine is added to soft drinks, especially cola-type soft drinks. I won't go into detail about it since I could spend a day on that topic alone.

Despite the negativity surrounding caffeine, caffeine continues to play a vital role in the health of people all around the world. Again, it's a topic all in itself and I won't go into detail here.

Antioxidants and Flavonoids

Both coffee and tea are high in antioxidants. An antioxidant is a molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals, which start chain reactions that damage cells.

Flavonoids are known as antioxidants, but they have other significant properties that I can't explain without writing a textbook or plagiarizing someone else. Green tea is higher in flavonoids than other teas, and the amount of flavonoids in coffee is questionable depending on what kind of coffee we're dealing with.

Health Benefits

Antioxidants have been proven to have anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-cancer properties. Only a small amount of flavonoids are required, as antioxidants, to show immediate health benefits.

It makes sense to include coffee and tea, if you don't dislike the taste, as part of your diet. It's not known if caffeine-free versions are as effective as those containing caffeine, but it's worth trying if you're on a caffeine-restrictive diet.

Green tea has been called the green tea fat burner recently because of what it does to your metabolism and the anti-fat and anti-carcinogenic effects it has on your system.

Personally, I've been drinking coffee and tea as long as I can remember. I don't have trouble sleeping, a common side-effect of ingesting too much caffeine, and it doesn't cause me to be jittery. Other than old injuries, I have no health concerns. I'll soon be 48-years old and I feel great. You can call me a coffee and tea poster child, if you wish, and it won't offend me at all.

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