bavaria, kazouza

Living in a neighborhood that is predominantly Muslim, I run into a nice variety of non-alcoholic beverages from the Middle East (see Laziza, etc). A recently discovered malt is Bavaria, found at a new restaurant around the corner from me. At first, we mistook Bavaria for an actual beer, but upon realizing the error of our ways, we found one that was apple flavored (always a good choice for these malt beverages -- stay away from the Malta Goya!) and went on our merry way.

An interesting side note: there seem to be two schools of malt beverages that I've come across: those like Malta Goya that are dark and molasses-y in flavor/color, and those like Bavaria -- lighter, fruity beverages. Both claim to be malts but one tastes like sipping liquid mashed-up cracker mixed with dirt, and one tastes like nonalcoholic wine coolers. It will be one of my projects to figure out who on earth drinks the first kind.

Another newly discovered carbonated fruit drink is Kazouza, which has nine flavors to choose from (well, only two in my case). I tried the strawberry melon, which tasted like a strawberry kiwi drink. It was incredibly sweet, and came in a lovely bottle. Thumbs up!

Kazouza's bottle cap is fun - it has some bubbles on it, and also the numbers 1941 which is explained nicely here.  It's a Lebanese-based drink, adding to the many countries that I've found in just a few square blocks.  I guess when you can't drink beer or wine, you have to come up with some other interesting beverages to keep you occupied. I'm glad that I have the ability and proximity to all of these cool stores to try them all.