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I think this is awesome. I don't really know why, but it's cool. I don't like Red Bull, but if they actually took someone's religious ideals seriously (even if for the sake of profits), I'm impressed.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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It hasn't always been kosher? They sell it in the cafeterias here, and the cafeterias are all kosher... Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Rivka - I like Red Bull best out of all the super-energy-caffine drinks.
The taste is - well, unique. I can't really compare it to anything. Not unpleasant, but not the most yummy thing in the world either.
However, if you need some caffine induced awakeness in a hurry, I have found it very effective. If you're not into the whole caffine buzz, I wouldn't bother with it.
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Raia, there are MANY things that are available in a kosher version in Israel but not elsewhere.
Either that, or I am just way behind the times.
PC, since it sounds like Red Bull has always been made of vegetarian stuff, getting kosher supervision was fairly simple, I'd guess. But yeah, it is cool -- even if I never taste it.
Hmmm, I like caffeine, imogen -- but I prefer my coffee/soda to taste not-icky. I may try it, though.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I think Red Bull is disgusting, myself. I admit it's been a number of years since I tried it, but to me, it tasted vaguely of medicine.
When I want an energy drink--a rare event, these days--I go for Whoop Ass. It actually tastes good, and we used that "open up a can of whoop ass" line so much back in high school that it made me happy to see someone actually invent and then can the stuff. Heaven knows where the line came from or why we thought it was so amusing, but there you have it.
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I'm not accustomed to caffeine, and one coke can throw me for a loop. Still, for some reason, I once drank two red bulls during a finals week art critique that we had all stayed up all night working on.
The results were... less than optimal.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Red Bull tastes like a puree of vitamins and smarties candy, mixed in carbonated water. I found it rather foul, but made the mistake of claiming a four-pack of it on Labor Day Weekend. My dad had bought it to stay awake during the last Phish concert, but didn't get to go.
I started one can, and proceeded to hand it to my mom saying, "Drink this, it's awful!" She drank a bit and handed it to her partner, while saying, "Here, Vince, try this, it's afwul!" He drank some and agreed. "Drink this, it's awful" he says to me.
The other three cans I gave to a friend of mine who uses it as a chaser for Vodka. Posts: 903 | Registered: May 2003
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I find Red Bull as a 'sexy' thing to drink in Irish bars; as I am underage.
I don't care whether someone put a stamp of kosherism on it. It has no pork/ham/bacon/other? It's fine.
Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004
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People often mix red bull with alcohol and it is really bad news. The combo of alcohol and caffiene makes you feel less drunk then you really are making you much more likely to get alcohol poisoning or drive thinking you are sober enough when you aren't. It is also a problem with say a rum and coke or something, but Red Bull has so much more caffiene that it is a lot more dangerous.
A little of topic I know, but reading the thread brought it to mind.
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
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So, what exactly is involved in making something kosher? Does a rabbi have to personally bless each can of Red Bull that goes through an assembly line or is it just that, after the ingredients of something is inspected and determined to have no tref (or however you call it) stuff in it, it's then o.k. to consume?
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Proof that "kosher" does not necessarily mean "good."
Dagonee P.S., I've never heard a Jewish person claim that it does, but I've met plenty of others who seem to think that. Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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No blessing (by a rabbi or anyone else) is involved. The ingredients are confirmed to be kosher, and periodic spot-checks (or a permanent person there to check, for things like meat, which have more potential problems) ensure that no substitutions (including accidental ones) are made.
posted
I like Red Bull, but it has to be really cold, preferably with ice in it. Never drink it warm, flat, or from the can. From the bottle is ok. It tastes best with crushed ice and sliced strawberries in it, from a tall glass through a straw.
... Not that I drink it on a regular basis or anything.
Posts: 1431 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I REALLY do not want to think about what ingredient in Red Bull could make it non-Kosher. *eek!* Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Cochineal insects have been used for dye for centuries. It is actually thanks to them that many latin american nations were able to survive economically and become independent.
If a few bugs in your juice bother you (and they're totally organic), you probably don't want to eat processed foods at all, because many food-grade ingredients are far, far worse.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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quote:he sign in the window of the kosher Chinese restaurant looks forlorn. Hand-lettered and slightly faded from the strong winter sun, it is a plea to customers to remain steadfast against a powerful invader.
"Please patronize the real jewels of the community. The heimische owned groceries and restaurants," the sign reads. Above it, inside a thin circle is the word Jewel. A diagonal line runs through it, the international symbol of opposition.
Jewel is a well-established supermarket chain that caused no heartache and invited no wrath until a couple of months ago, when it suddenly bought a huge billboard on Chicago's North Side to announce the opening of a gleaming kosher food department at a nearby store.
To Jewel and its parent Albertsons, the move was a straightforward play for customers and profits.
To the family-owned kosher shops along Devon Avenue and in nearby Skokie, it was a threat and an affront.
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Annie, while I'd agree that there are many food-processing ingredients that are at least as nasty as crushed bugs (bleach, anyone? have a maraschino cherry), the bugs make it non-kosher.
Dags, as far as your article goes, I expect that after Jewel's kosher department is established and stops having the standard "brand new! save! save! save!" promotions, the kosher markets will be cheaper overall -- IF they survive until then.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I tried it for the first time recently when I ran out of Coke. It did not taste nearly as bad as I thought it would... not bad at all, but not good either. Personally I think it was made to be mixed with alcohol. I am still scared of all the alternative energy drinks, and the "sugar-free" version of Red Bull.
Great for those twelve-hour night shifts as well!
<edit>Capitalization can be very important.</edit>
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rivka, It is my understanding that for food to be Kosher it must be prepared in a Kosher kitchen. Is the same thing true for processed foods? Does the manufacturer need to certify that no non-kosher products are processed on the equipment, that kosher cleaning supplies are used, that milk and meat products are not used on same process line, and so on?
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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I have heard that when travelling on a plane where meals are served, you should ask for the kosher alternative because it is better than the regular meal. Any truth to this?
Posts: 281 | Registered: Aug 2004
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I have heard this too--same goes for vegetarian and diatetic meals. The idea is that fewer people eat them, so they are less mass-produced.
There's something to that: Disney has many fantastic restaurants, and the worst fast food in the world. Almost every fast food restaurant in a park is carp. The exceptions? The places that sell odd food, not hamburgers. El Pirata y El Perico in Adventureland, which sells pseudo-Mexican food, is the best fast food in the Magic Kingdom. In MGM, it's the Commissary, which sells pseudo-latin food and oriental food. In Epcot, it's The Land, with its assortment of cheeses and fruits (although it's not as good as it used to be), and the health food place at The Wonders of Life. Basically, when Ma and Pa Kettle come down from Nebraska, they want burgers or pizza. As a result, Disney makes millions and millions of burgers and individual pizzas a day, none of them very good.
I imagine something like that applies to airplane food.
And yet, I haven't had the guts to try it yet, out of fear that I simply won't like the alternative airline food. Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote: Ah, I understand, Rivka. I thought we were just saying that bugs are icky.
*grin* Well, they are. But that wasn't my point. (I think bleaching cherries may be ickier, and I still eat maraschinos.)
quote: rivka, It is my understanding that for food to be Kosher it must be prepared in a Kosher kitchen. Is the same thing true for processed foods? Does the manufacturer need to certify that no non-kosher products are processed on the equipment, that kosher cleaning supplies are used, that milk and meat products are not used on same process line, and so on?
Yep. Except it's not actually the manufacturer that does the certifying -- it's the agency (or individual rabbi) doing the supervision. And cleaning products are not usually an issue, since they are inedible.
quote: I have heard that when traveling on a plane where meals are served, you should ask for the kosher alternative because it is better than the regular meal. Any truth to this?
Not generally. But then, many people are of the mistaken understanding that kosher food is better -- or healthier -- than non-kosher food. Except in a purely spiritual sense (and even then, only for those who are required to keep it), this is not true.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote: I have heard this too--same goes for vegetarian and dietetic meals. The idea is that fewer people eat them, so they are less mass-produced.
The trouble with this theory is that while kosher meals are not mass-produced by the airline, they certainly are mass-produced.
*laugh* In fact, the best kosher airline food I've had was on El-Al, where ALL the meals are kosher. Most kosher airlines meals are frozen and stored for use, then thawed and heated on the airplane. That means no fresh fruit, no salad . . . it's not bad, but it ain't gourmet fare.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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