Iced coffee on top of the beverage trend
My mom thinks she was among the first to start the iced coffee trend around here, back in the ‘80s. She ordered it at a restaurant and the waitress said they didn’t have it. My mother had to convince her that if they had ice, and coffee, they could make her a batch.
Now The Food Channel lists it among the Top Ten Beverage Trends for 2011. By partnering with CultureWaves® ( www.culturewav.es ), the International Food Futurists®, and Mintel International ( www.mintel.com), The Food Channel has been able to identify the most significant beverage trends in dessert for 2011, from adding flavors to water, to new adult beverages, to drinking for enhanced nutritional benefits, The Food Channel reports. The year’s not over, so consider raising your glass to some of this:
The Food Channel Top Ten Dessert Trends in 2011
1. D.I.Y. Flavor— Many of us are taking flavor matters into our own hands.
2. Parental Discretion Advised— We’re still seeing lots of buzz around beverages and kids.
3. Iced Coffee Is Scalding Hot— Consumption of this cold caffeinated beverage has heated up.
4. For Medicinal Purposes Only— There’s certainly no shortage of ways to “drink to your health.”
5. Sipping Seasonally and Simply— In much the same way we’re eating local and choosing foods when they’re in season, we’re making a more conscious effort to drink that way, too.
6. Fast Food Beyond the Fizz—T here are changes happening here, too, with specialty drinks getting as much play as burgers and fries.
7. Craft Beers: The Buzz Is Back— While overall beer sales are flat these days, sales of craft brews are seeing double-digit increases.
8. Bourbon Booming —The retro revival of the classic cocktail has hip young consumers bellying up to the bar for whiskey.
9. Show Biz— While the food generally takes center stage in restaurant exhibitionism, beverages are being offered more starring roles.
10. Drinking Ourselves Thin—We want to enjoy our drinks without drinking in the extra calories.

Put the lime in the coconut
For zero calories, I – as the song goes – put the lime in the coconut and drank it all up. Thank you to R. W. Knudsen Family for giving me the opportunity to write that headline and giving everyone the chance to enjoy a lightly-flavored, fizzy drink on the go. It was a real treat with no guilt. Organic Lime and Organic Coconut are two new flavors in the Sparkling Essence line. They put the infused organic ingredients in the sparkling spring water and put it in cans, so all that’s left for you is to drink it. Makers say it fits in well on the MyPlate food guide, and with the other organic flavors of lemon, cucumber, blueberry and mint.

Sharpie love in the kitchen
Here I go again in praise of Sharpie. While the original permanent marker is a must-have for marking freezer items, try out a new creation in the pantry. Gel highlighters have a unique head for bright yellow, orange and other colors to squeeze out the perfect amount of bright color onto you boxes of packaged food so you can quickly note amounts, fiber content, etc. I love how the writing has the edges of a crayon, so you your work looks creative. Of course, they rock you office papers, and even magazine pages, too.
ddoiron@panews.com