Food and Food Culture

SO like a lapsang souchong? I enjoy that from time to time.

My go to tea is white tea, with jasmine tea pearls, cold brewed over night. Brings out a lot of the subtler flavours.

IHOP is doing another special menu for the movie IF (2024):

These two catch my interest:

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on May 6th 2024 at 11:56:10 AM

A lot of those look way too sweet.

A lot of these are just the same dish in different serving suggestions.

That’s why my eye was drawn to the more savory dishes. I’d probably get the pancakes as a side.

Keep in mind, this is a promotional menu for a family movie, meaning it’s gonna be tailored towards kids.

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on May 6th 2024 at 12:07:20 PM

Speaking of tea, I've been primarily drinking a blend of cold-brewed chrysanthemum flowers and sencha. Really lends to a mildly sweet and floral, yet earthy flavor to it. I've also started drinking hand-whisked matcha every morning for the health benefits.

Panera phasing out the controversial caffeinated lemonade that was blamed for at least two deaths.

So, the Charged Lemonade from Panera is going bye-bye. For anyone first hearing about this, late last year, two people with health conditions died after consuming the beverage. The caffeine content found in a large 30 oz serving cup with no ice is about 390 mg of caffeine, and the FDA has a recommendation of 400 mg of caffeine daily limit for safe consumption in healthy adults. The drinks were available for free self-served refills like other drinks. If you're caught unaware, even a single refill could put you close to twice the daily safe limit for caffeine consumption.

This is why I would rather just stick to one can of Ghost or C4 a day. 200 mg of Caffeine. Monster Zero Sugar too, due to being around 150 MG. Funny, Most cans of Red Bull don't even reach 200.

Fun Fact, Bang energy actually had to file for bankrupcy and restructure because their drinks were accused of having far too much caffeine per can, apparently 500 MG, despite the aforementioned limit being 400 MG a day. They're back down to 350, still a bit high, but much better then before.

Over 1000 Mg at once is capable of inducing heart failure due to an overdose, which is probably what happened with Panera's Caffeinated lemonade.

Edited by Demongodofchaos2 on May 9th 2024 at 10:57:33 AM

Both of the deaths involved preexisting conditions if I recall correctly (and a third person was also seriously injured by consuming it) but Panera also just, did not convey the caffeine content properly. A friend of the student from the first incident noted that she was usually careful about what she consumed and likely was unaware of any caffeine in the product.

Panera in general's always been an odd duck, for all their lighter options they also have food that's insanely caloric. They don't necessarily purport themselves as healthier, but they lean into a cafe-homecooking aesthetic that makes it easy to think that's the kind of restaurant they are. I feel like the Charged Lemonade is emblematic of that, with servings having more caffeine than energy drinks yet presenting itself as "just" caffeinated lemonade.

390 MG of caffeine in one? Jesus.

I'm happy I stick to coffee and tea for my caffeine. And sometimes Coke Zero.

Edited by SilentColossus on May 9th 2024 at 8:29:14 AM

I rarely even have any caffeine, I imagine even a small cup of that lemonade may mess me up.

High Calorie also doesn't mean fattening, either. Athletes and people on more active jobs ( I do grocery store work, so I'm on my feet for at least 5 hours a day for 3 a week) need more to sustain more active life styles and aren't going to get fat, at least not to the same degree as people doing Sedentary jobs.

Its when your relatively inactive and when your calories come from excess sugars that weight gain gets really bad (Not fat or protein, though over eating any type of calorie isn't good if you're super inactive, obviously.)

With a beverage that caffeinated, it would have been more prudent to sell it as individualized servings behind the counter with proper warning labels. Even a regular size cup of that lemonade (20 oz) would have 260 mg of caffeine, which is more than most energy drinks. Even if you dilute the thing with ice, a quarter cup of ice will only bring it down to just below 200, which is in line with a lot of energy drinks. Now put it next to the soft drinks, waters, and teas with the expectation that you will be getting refills to make it worth your while, and that's just asking for trouble. If I were to see caffeinated lemonade at a drink fountain where I'm allowed free refills, I'd be under the expectation that it's more like a standard cola or maybe at worst a strong coffee, not an energy drink, especially when it's easily accessible to kids.

People who go to insane highs on caffeine scare me. My limit is like, two cans of coke in a day, which is about 40mg of caffeine. That's the point where I start feeling bad.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on May 9th 2024 at 3:09:45 AM

I go as far as coffee. Once I go energy drinks though, I start crashing like bad.

In my late teens/early to mid 20s I mainline energy drinks as a chronic insomniac/sous chef/perpetually tired guy.

Then after my first battle with cancer and my heart problems and genetic disorders being revealed I am under strict strict orders to limit my caffeine. This is what times back to my last post about tea. If I am only allow one cup a day I am gonna make damn sure it is the tastiest damn cup I can make

I can drink a lot of coffee, but I start to feel it after about three, at least if I drink them too quickly.

Tea never gives me any issues, though.

I’m gradually trying… and failing… to cut back myself. Like switching from soda to tea.

I really wanna try a chicken parmasian from Olive Garden… but it’s $20! So expensive!

Honestly, inflation has gotten to the point where that price point doesn’t even seem that off the curve to me.

New Binging with Babish is up. Here he makes the Duck Cake from Bluey.

EDIT: Turns out that was three months old.

Here’s a more recent one, though. The Renaissance Wrap from Shrek 2:

And you know what? The Chicken Parm Pizza and the Cake Shake from Anything with Alvin:

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on May 18th 2024 at 11:31:03 AM