In which our intrepid blogger tries to recapture a taste of his youth

The Girl came home from Jungle Jim's this Sunday announcing that she had a surprise for me.

After letting me throw down a couple of guesses (tiramisu, Homewheats, The Good Salsa), she gave up and pulled out a six pack of 8oz cans of Big Red.

That's right, Big Frickin' Red.

America's #1 red soda - and the #6 best-selling carbonated soft drink in all of America...it's Big Red, boys, or it's nothing.

I remember growing up in Southern Indiana - right across the river from Louisville - and loving whenever Dad would stop by the store and pick up a 2L of Big Red and a box of ice cream (he's still a Kroger brand guy) and make Big Red floats for days. The grossness of the pink-colored, milky dredges left at the bottom of the glass where your long teaspoon wouldn't quite reach.

It was like heaven in a glass.

Or at least that's how I remember it.

And The Girl gave me a chance to relive. She's good to me that way.

I remember Big Red being a regional delicacy, available only in Southern Indiana and obviously named after our homestate Hoosiers - the Cream and Crimson in all our heart. But it turns out that our regional treasure wasn't our at all, hailing originally from Texas and until the late 70's being available...

exclusively in Central and South Texas and around Louisville, Kentucky...according to Texas Monthly

How weird is that, only in South/Central Texas and Louisville, KY? And what a fortuitous stroke of luck that I was able to grow up in one of the two hotbeds of Big Redness.

So - sadly without the vanilla ice cream of my youth - I checked out the new design of the can - the first such container I'd seen in probably a decade and the first time I'd ever sampled Big Red from anything but a glass or a 2L bottle. They'd gone with a spring theme and put tulips around the top edge of the can. Kinda cute, really.

And then I snapped open the pop top and took a deep draught of just the smell of the nectar.

Oh, sweet gooey sweetness. Swwet saccharine sweetness of a hundred bubble gum suckers. Pink sweetness and cotton candy sweetness.

A quality nose is always appreciated on any fine vintage.

And then the first sip.

Too sweet...

ick...

blech...

bubble gum?

seriously? It tastes like bubble gum?

I thought this was supposed to be cream soda? Vanilla, yes...gum, no.

What the hell did I ever see in this thing?

It's like licking a million bubble gum suckers all at once.

Oh, god...

Anybody who wants to share in the joys of this unique treat - sans ice cream, which might actually be tolerable, I dunno - stop by my classroom anytime tomorrow as I'll have five cans that are fair game to any and/or all.

And if anybody has a tongue scraper, I'd be much appreciative.

And yet, after that experience, I'm still tempted to try their Big Peach and the Big Red Vanilla Float.