the duck-rabbit

When I arrived home earlier this week, there was a package full of bottle caps waiting for me. Ryan, a faithful reader, had sent me quite the collection. A few bottle caps really stood out, and one in particular caught my eye -- I just had to write about it this week!

The Duck-Rabbit is a microbrewery out of North Carolina with a very cool logo. They've been around since 2004, and specialize in dark beer. It looks like as of right now they are only distributed in North Carolina, so if anyone is traveling there and feels like bringing me back a brew or two, go right ahead! I'd probably like the Milk Stout the best. I'll be right here, blogging about bottle caps.

The Duck-Rabbit also reminds me of Duck! Rabbit! the book, the classic Looney Tunes cartoon on Duck Season/Wabbit Season (see below), and The Duck & Bunny: A Snuggery from when Michael lived in Providence for a year. The Duck & Bunny was an adorable tea shop that had cupcakes, crepes, and other delicious nibbly things. It was not far from Michael's apartment, and we often walked by, and dropped in to work and read in the afternoon on a Saturday.

Readers: how many other duck/rabbit hybrids can you think of? Why do ducks and bunnies make such great companions?

And thank you Ryan, for the awesome haul.  Keep on drinking 'em, and I'll keep on writing about them!

palma louca

As I am sure you have noticed, and has even been discussed on this blog, I am not afraid to pick up an abandoned bottle cap off the ground and bring it home to have a second life in my collection and, potentially, on this blog.

Such was the case last week when I was walking home from work. My office is about a 10-15 minute walk from the subway in the West Village, and I often walk down a street that is lined with restaurants. The restaurants always seem to be changing. But there are a few standbys -- a great pizza place, an awesome sandwich shop that has amazing coffee, and a Korean place that I believe is partially-owned by Quentin Tarantino.

There is also a Brazilian restaurant that I pass on a fairly regular basis, but have never been inside. In its previous incarnation, it was a neat little brunch spot, and I went there a few times with friends. But for some reason, the Brazilian place isn't enticing me like it should (and it should -- I've now been to South America a few times!). Anyway, I was walking home from work, and near the Brazilian restaurant, in a freshly wood-chipped tree box on the sidewalk, I saw a blue bottle cap glinting in the evening sunlight. Palma Louca was looking back up at me, waiting to be taken home.

Did the Palma Louca bottle cap come from said Brazilian restaurant? I don't know. But if I were a betting woman, I'd say probably. According to their website, Palma Louca is a beer for the Brazilian style of fun. Which I assume means Carnival.. and well, some other weird stuff -- if you care to explore the website. I really don't know what else to say.

All in all, I'm just excited that I found a totally random, not as beat up as it could have been bottle cap in the West Village. Between this and Croatia, I really am spanning the world.

route 66 soda & bottling

One of the best by-products of this blog are the surprises I get in the mail.  Recently, I received a very exciting bottle cap that I hadn't encountered before.

Route 66 looks like it makes fantastic sodas. Root beer, cream soda... black cherry! I've gotta get my hands on some of this.

This bottle cap is fantastic. It has the iconic Route 66 logo (which I have driven on!) and even says "From Chicago to L.A." I've even eaten at some Old Route 66 Landmarks -- the Ariston Cafe, Ted Drewes. I almost went to a movie in a working drive-in on Route 66 (but didn't, because the movie advertised was not the movie being shown. We didn't really want to see Hot Rod.)  Michael is, conveniently, from a town that is on Route 66, so I am luckily very familiar with the St. Louis to Springfield stretch of road.  So, this bottle cap has a special place in my heart, no matter what!

Someday, I will do the Chicago-to-L.A. drive of Route 66 and I will collect bottle caps along the way. And maybe I'll even drink a Route 66 Root Beer on the road. They can't pull me over for that.

jamnica

I don't think I ever thought that I would be writing about Croatian mineral water and Hurricanes in the same blog post, but life is funny that way, isn't it?

Jamnica (warning, this website is in Croatian). The mineral water of hurricanes. I bet the Croats never thought they would get that distinction!

When Michael and I were on our way home on Friday night from a lovely evening in Brooklyn -- literary walking tour, BBQ, red velvet cake, and the last subway ride for a few days due to the impending Hurricane Irene -- we weren't sure what would be open on Saturday & Sunday, so we ducked into a local deli to grab a few extra drinks before the storm. Originally, we were both just going to grab some Boylan's -- but I had a hunch that we might find something extra special in the back of the store, just because of the circumstances. Lo and behold: Croatian mineral water. How do I find these things?!

It turns out this mineral water is kind of narsty, and I really just would have preferred a Boylan's seltzer. The bottle cap is red writing on white. Nothing fancy. And no mention of Croatia anywhere. What gives?! But it makes for a great "last drink" story here on the blog.

Ultimately, my neighborhood made it out of what became Tropical Storm Irene (when it made landfall in NYC) relatively unscathed. There were some downed limbs, some flooding near the East River. But compared to Queens Blackout of 2006 -- where I went without power for a week, for no apparent reason --  Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene really just felt like a nasty rainstorm and an excuse to watch a lot of movies and eat potato chips and some pop tarts. Michael and I also managed to clean our refrigerator and under the sink in the kitchen, so all in all, a rather productive weekend.

tesalia springs co.

According to Wikipedia, Machachi is located in Ecuador. That's basically all you get.

What you don't learn is that Machachi, in Ecuador, also has a spring water bottling company called The Tesalia Springs Co (which, strangely on their website, is also called The Thessaly Springs Co. Did something get lost in translation?)

Tesalia Springs Co--AKA Machichi Ecuador bottle cap with a cool polar bear on it--was found in a very dark and dingy deli in Corona. This is a revelation for me as a bottle cap collector. It meets the requirements: Name of company: check. Cool animal: check. Place where it's from: check! Does it matter that their website isn't in English? NO!

Hop on a subway and go a few stops and there is a whole new world. The woman behind the counter spoke absolutely no English. The water tasted like agua con gas. Nothing special. Yet. Imported, Ecuadorian Spring Water can be had in NYC for less than $2. Brilliant.

The only question is: why is there a polar bear on the bottle cap? The last I checked, polar bears didn't live in Ecuador.

sidral aga

I have written about Sidral Mundet before, but I don't believe I've touched upon the apple soda Sidral Aga. Except for their bottle caps, they're pretty interchangeable. Although, it does beg the question: which would hold up better in a taste test? I have my work cut out for me, if I'm ever able to find both Sidrals again.

Sidral Aga was procured during out recent sojourn to Corona, and when the weird Mexican sodas abounded, Michael and I took the call. We were double-fisting our way down 106th St in Queens with wacky, oddly-colored drinks in our hands. Sidral Aga, as mentioned before, is an apple soda, and tastes like every other apple soda I've ever had.

The bottle cap is up there -- we have the green background, huge red apple, and Sidral in flowing letters and AGA in bold, purple letters. If you didn't know you were getting an apple soda via that bottle cap, well, you just don't get it, do you?!

The more I think about it, the more I think I need an Aga vs. Mundet taste test. Who's in? It would also, of course, feature a head-to-head comparison of the bottle caps. Bonus post? I think so.

p.s. Check out the Sidral Aga website: it has a curiously amazing song playing upon entry to the English site. Pop/techno/muzak thing going on with some awesome synthesizers. What that has to do apple soda and Mexico, I really couldn't tell you.

inca kola

Michael and I took a trip to Corona and Flushing, Queens recently. Despite just being a subway ride away, it took a while for us to actually make the trip happen. In NYC, things, you know, get in the way.

Despite us putting it off for longer than expected, it certainly reaped some benefits in the bottle cap collecting area.

As I've mentioned before on this blog, NYC is an excellent place to explore sodas and beers from different countries, and Corona really provided some excellent fodder for the blog, which my faithful readers will be reaping the benefits of for the next few posts. Be prepared!

The primary goal of Corona was visiting the Louis Armstrong House, a home-turned-museum of the famed jazz musician Louis Armstrong*. On our short walk from the subway to his home, Michael and I found numerous delis, restaurants, and markets to duck into, finding bottle caps all along the way.

At one point, I was hungry, and admittedly a little grumpy. We stopped in a pizza place, and what did we find? The oddly-colored, bubblegum-tasting beverage Inca Kola. Found in my neighborhood only in plastic bottles, this random pizza place had it in glass with requisite bottle cap. Michael and I, having a special fondness for this South American beverage (owned by Coca-Cola, no less), jumped on having one while sharing our slice of pizza intended to tide us over until dinner in Flushing.

This is not a special bottle cap. In fact, it's quite bland in comparison to its sticky-sweet soda counterpart. But throughout our munching on our slice, Michael marveled that it had taken this long for us to actually find an Inca Kola in bottle cap form. Happily, we can now add it to the collection.

* Did you know that when you call the Louis Armstrong House you're calling Louis Armstrong's original home phone number? I find that so cool.