saint arnold

I had about 1 hour of free time for the entire 36 hours I was in Austin. Despite it being 103F when I had a chance to walk around outside, I was able to take a stroll around downtown Austin and find myself a local Texas Root Beer.

Saint Arnold Brewing Company, billed as Texas' Oldest Craft Brewery and hailing from Houston makes a darn flavorful root beer. Or, as they say on the bottle cap, "Yummy Root Beer".  How can you not like a bottle cap that describes its contents as "yummy"?!

This bottle cap is cool not only because of the "yummy" factor.  It also has the full state of Texas on there. And with everything being bigger in Texas (and Texas being a pretty big state to begin with), the fact that they got the whole state on there with room to spare, frankly, is impressive.

The funniest part about tasting Saint Arnold was sharing with my coworker who, being from another country, was not entirely familiar with root beer.  He tasted it and immediately had the most sour look on his face.  He described it as a "wintergreen" taste and for the rest of the trip made a point to chide me every time I tried a new soda or beverage.  Alas, not everyone has an interest in new and unusual drinks!

Another state checked off the list. I'm still looking for map apps... any ideas?

dr pepper

Last week I had to travel for work. I went to Austin and Los Angeles. But working didn't keep me from my quest to find new and awesome bottle caps.

While I was in Austin, I managed to pop into a convenience store to check out the beverage situation.  And boy was I in for a treat.

Dr. Pepper is bottled just a few hours outside of Austin, and the so-called "weird city" has the privilege of not only having Dr Pepper made near by, but they also have original Dr. Pepper (made with real sugar --- not corn syrup).  And what did I find in the deli? A Dublin Dr Pepper! Hurray!

This was the one bottle that I didn't drink on the road -- I knew that Michael would want to taste it as well. Carefully wrapped in my clothes (and a plastic bag), the Dr Pepper traveled home with me for a delicious taste test right here in NYC.

The bottle cap is standard Dr Pepper fare. Nothing to really write home about. But the fact that its on a bottle made with real sugar makes it special in my eyes!