Sunday, April 22, 2007

Did your hangout make the top 100?

Of all the gin joints in all the world, or at least in the country, which did the editors of Nightclub & Bar Magazine choose for this year's top 100?

Since we all know lots of people prefer not to drink alcoholic beverages but enjoy the clubby nightlife nonetheless, this list might very well contain some places that are perfect for that.

Nightclubs and bars from all over the U.S. were chosen based on a number of criteria, say the editors, "including annual revenues, marketing and advertising effectiveness, promotional expertise, uniqueness to market, food and beverage programs and much more. This list is not a ranking of just the most high-end, of-the-moment nightclubs. Instead, it is a dynamic mixture of clubs, neighborhood bars, sports bars, family-oriented venues and more that for one reason or another deserve notice."

The following bars and clubs, listed in alphabetical order, made the Editors' Choice Top 100 for 2007. The city designated for each is the city in which it is located, or, if the concept has multiple locations, the city of its first location.

230 Fifth - New York, NY
40 Watt - Athens, GA
8150 - Vail, CO.
The Abbey - Hollywood, CA
AJ's Seafood & Oyster Bar - Destin, FL.
Aria - Boston, MA
Avalon/Spider Club - Hollywood, CA.
Beach Bar at the W - San Diego, CA
B.E.D. - Miami, FL
Billy Bob's Texas - Fort Worth, TX
Blue Martini - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
the bosco - Ferndale, MI
Body English - Las Vegas, NV
Bombay Club - New Orleans, LA
Broken Spoke Saloon - Sturgis, SD
Brother's Bar & Grill - Lacross, WI
Butter - San Francisco, CA
Cabo Wabo - Lake Tahoe, NV
Casbah - Atlantic City, NJ
Cherry - Las Vegas, NV
Chilkoot Charlie's - Anchorage, AK
Coyote Cantina - Santa Fe, NM
Coyote Ugly - New York, NY
Crobar - Chicago, IL
The Crocodile Café - Seattle, WA
Diablo's Downtown Lounge - Eugene, OR
e4 - Scottsdale, AZ
Eight 75 - Biloxi, MS
El Gaucho - Seattle, WA
Elements the Lounge - Seabright, NJ
ESPN Zone - Baltimore, MD
Excalibur - Chicago, IL
Fadó Irish Pub - Atlanta, GA
Flatiron Lounge - New York, NY
The Flying Saucer - Memphis, TN
Fox Sports Grill - Scottsdale, AZ
Galapagos Art Space - Brooklyn, NY
ghostbar - Las Vegas, NV
Good Hurt - Los Angeles, CA
The Green Parrot - Key West, FL
The Greene Turtle - Ocean City, MD
Ground Zero Blues Club - Clarksdale, MS
The Helix - Washington, DC
House of Blues - New Orleans, LA
Iguana's Cantina - New York, NY
Ivan Kane's Forty Deuce - Hollywood, CA
JET - Las Vegas, NV
Kahunaville - Las Vegas, NV
Key Club - Hollywood, CA
Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop - New Orleans, LA
The Library Bar & Grill - Tempe, AZ
Light - Las Vegas, NV
Lotus - New York, NY
Louie's Backyard - South Padre Island, TX
Mango's Tropical Café - Miami, FL
Mantra - Milwaukee, WI
Marquee - New York, NY
McGillin's Olde Ale House - Philadelphia, PA
Mercy Wine Bar - Addison, TX
Midnight Rodeo - San Antonio, TX
Mie N Yu - Washington, DC
MIXX - Atlantic City, NJ
mur.mur - Atlantic City, NJ
The New Crown & Anchor - Providencetown, MA
The New Sheridan - Telluride, CO
Ocean Club - Honolulu, HI
Pangaea - Hollywood, FL
Pat O' Brien's - New Orleans, LA
Pavilion Bar & Café - Charleston, SC
Pin-Up Bowl - St. Louis, MO
Pink Elephant - New York, NY
The Playboy Club - Las Vegas, NV
Pure - Las Vegas, NV
Purple Moon - Flint, MI
Rockit Bar & Grill - Chicago, IL
Ruby Skye - San Francisco, CA
rumjungle - Las Vegas, NV
Sharkeez - Huntington Beach, CA
Sherlock's Baker Street Pub - Houston, TX
Sloppy Joe's - Key West, FL
Snatch/Suite - Miami, FL
Stingaree - San Diego, CA
Stubb's Bar-B-Q - Austin, TX
Studio 54 - Las Vegas, NV
Tabú Ultra Lounge - Las Vegas, NV
Tangerine - Las Vegas, NV
TAO - Las Vegas, NV
Therapy - New York, NY
Tini Bigs - Seattle, WA
Tipitina's - New Orleans, LA
Tongue & Groove - Atlanta, GA
Tryst - Las Vegas, NV
VICCI - Austin, TX
Vine Street Lounge - Hollywood, CA
The Viper Room - Los Angeles, CA
Walnut Room - Philadelphia, PA
Whiskey Blue - Los Angeles, CA
Worship - Atlantic City, NJ
Yard House - Long Beach, CA
Zinc Lounge - Manhattan Beach, CA

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Friday, April 20, 2007

Jones Soda goes for cane in the can


Soft drinks have been on the receiving end of heavy criticism of late for the use of high-fructose corn syrups.

That type of sweetener, says many good nutrition advocates, is far less healthy than sugar, and may be a major culprit in diabetes, obesity and tooth decay.

The Jones Soda Co., which has made its reputation for goofy flavors such as turkey-and-gravy, fufu berry and blue bubblegum, is taking the criticism seriously and has launched a line of 12-ounce canned sodas sweetened with pure cane sugar, the first nationally distributed brand to do so.

Until the early 1980s, soft drinks were sweetened with sugar in the form of an invert liquid sugar, according to the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida. Then sugar prices went up and soft-drink manufacturers began using high-fructose corn syrup, which had been newly formulated for beverages.

"We have always felt cane sugar is a better sweetener," said Peter van Stolk, chief executive officer and president of the Seattle soda manufacturer. "It has a cleaner taste. Sugar has a nicer mouth feel. It is not thick. ... We have switched everything over. There is nothing we make in Jones Soda that has high-fructose corn syrup except our energy drink, and we're switching that in the third quarter."

The cans will be offered in 12-packs with prices averaging $3.99 to $4.29, about the same prices as four-packs of the bottled versions.

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Monday, April 16, 2007

Mmm, that's aloe vera

Now, aloe vera is for more than sunburn ointment.

Waterchef USA has unveiled PurAloe, a line of drinks in Aloe Vera, Cranberry, Passion Fruit and Pomegranate flavors and in an Aloe Vera sugar-free version made with Splenda.

Each 20-ounce bottle contains a high percentage of organic aloe vera and pulp, with natural anti-microbials, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, enzymes and amino acids.

The product, made in Brooklyn, NY, retails for $2.99.

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Saturday, April 14, 2007

Brazilian yerba mate drink heads north

Guayakí is pulling out all the stops to let North American consumers know about its new beverages.

The Brazilian company has launched a trio of new organic yerba mate fusions it calls Pure Endurance, Pure Passion and Pure Mind.

Says the company: "These innovative functional drinks celebrate the South American rainforest tradition of handcrafting health-enhancing infusions of yerba mate (mah-tay) and medicinal herbs. They offer a boost of nutrition and sustained energy from the yerba mate, and well-being benefits from several powerful herbs that have been revered for centuries by ancient cultures. Each fusion is ... blended with organic fruit juices and other organic ingredients ... ."

To get the message across, Guayaki has even put videos on YouTube to push the brand name.

Yerba mate has been used for centuries in South America in herbal medicines, particularly in Peru. It has a complex blend of stimulants and nutrients its users say enhances the efficacy of other herbs and helps assimilate them into the body.

It is a plant belonging to the holly family. Its dried leaves and twigs are steeped in hot water rather than in boiling water like black tea or coffee.

The new products are sold in 16-ounce bottles for a suggested retail price of $1.99. They are available at natural foods stores, supermarkets, cafes and gyms throughout North America.

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Beverage David in hunt for a Goliath

Consumers often are understandably apathetic about who owns the companies that make what they drink.

Here's one instance, however, when it might end up making a difference in some products.

Cadbury Schweppes PLC recently announced it wants to divest itself of its beverage operations, valued at nore than $15 billion, a decision that has spawned endless speculation about who might want to buy that portion of the company.

The Cott Corp., headquartered in Toronto, is the latest and perhaps most viable suitor. The company has confirmed it is in talks with Cadbury Schweppes. If Cott takes over the C-S beverage division, it could become a viable rival to industry leaders Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. Cott currently makes private-label soft drinks for such retailers as Wal-Mart.

"Cott ... is exploring the potential benefits of participating in possible industry consolidation," Cott said in a statement.

Cadbury Schweppes, which wants to concentrate on its candy operations, makes such drink products as DrPepper, 7Up, Sunkist, A&W and Canada Dry. Cott makes its own brand of beverages, as well as Royal Crown (RC) soft drinks and more than 200 different soft drinks, waters, energy drinks and the like under various retailers' names.

Such a takeover would alter the way such brands are marketed, and perhaps even change the packaging and contents with which consumers now are familiar.

Cott, much smaller than the C-S entity at an estimated $1 billion, is getting at least some short-term benefit from its announcement. The price of its shares rose a quick 25% Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange to $18.44 after it confirmed it has taken part in "exploratory discussions."

Cott has been in a cost-cutting mode since Brent Willis took over as chief executive officer last summer.

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Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Water continues flooding the market

Store shelves and vending machines may be chock full of all sorts of colorful liquids, but water is doing just fine, thank you.

Sales of bottled (canned, pouched, etc.) water in 2006 increased 9.5% over the previous year, according to statistics just released by the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), in conjunction with Beverage Marketing Corp. (BMC).

"The latest upward trend was reflected in 2006 when total bottled water volume exceeded 8.25 billion gallons, a 9.5% increase over 2005, and the 2006 bottled water per capita consumption level of 27.6 gallons increased by over two gallons, from 25.4 gallons per capita the previous year," said the IBWA in a press release.

"Additionally, the wholesale dollar sales for bottled water exceeded $10.8 billion in 2006, an 8.5% increase over the $10 billion in 2005. These statistics demonstrate continued consumer demand and appreciation for the convenience and good taste of bottled water brands consumed on-the-go, during exercise, at restaurants or meetings, and at home or the office."

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Sunday, April 08, 2007

Snapple adds reds to its colorful teas

Snapple certainly can't be accused of neglecting bright colors when it comes to its tea line.

The Cadbury Schweppes Americas company has added Snapple Red Teas to its White Tea and Green Tea lines. All are naturally caffeine-free and contain antioxidants and vitamin C.

The new product is made from the Rooibos plant, found only in South Africa, It's described by Snapple as "an herbal tea that is sweeter and fruitier than black or green tea. Rooibos, which is Afrikaans for red bush, develops its signature red color during the fermentation process, when the leaves of the plant oxidize."

Snapple Red Teas are available in Acai Mixed Berry, Peach Pomegranate and Mandarin Tangerine. A 17.5-ounce bottle retails for $1.39.

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Friday, April 06, 2007

Waiter, there's a hair in my ... sorry, it's The Donald

Not content with having his face and name plastered over buildings worldwide and having his own brand of vodka even though he doesn't drink alcohol, entrepreneur supreme Donald Trump is entering the iced tea market.

Drinks Americas, the five-year-old company that owns, markets and distributes beverages associated with high-profile celebrities, is working up a non-alcoholic iced tea for him to be launched this summer.

In addition to alcoholic drinks such as Willie Nelson's Old Whisky River Bourbon, Drinks Americas also created and markets such other non-alcoholic beverages as Paul Newman's Own Lightly Sparkling Fruit Juice Drinks.

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Monday, April 02, 2007

Letters: Is there a kosher Coke?

Dear Mr. Dowd:

I noticed your soft drink section and thought I'd pose a question. Does Coke make a kosher version with sugar instead of corn syrup for Passover?

-- John D., Albany, NY

Dear John:

Yes, the Coca-Cola company has been making a kosher version of its soft drink since about 1935, thanks to the late Rabbi Tobias Geffen who was dean of the Southern Jewish Orthodoxy. You can get the whole story from the American Jewish Historical Society here.

Since Geffen was often asked which foods and beverages were kosher, particularly at Passover, he began compiling his own list. Since Atlanta-based Coke is a true Southern beverage, he checked with the manufacturing giant and found out its No. 1 seller was not kosher. Perhaps you'd have a new market if it were, he suggested.

Although the recipe for Coke is a closely-held secret, the company did share it with the rabbi on condition he keep it a secret. He did so, but noticed two problem areas. Coke contains glycerin, unkosher because it is made from beef tallow, and trace amouints of alcohol that come from the grain products used to sweeten Coke. Anything derived from grain is not kosher. The sweetner for kosher Coke is now made from vegetable glycerin.

Now, as to finding kosher Coke, you're on your own. Check around, though, since it is supposed to be available nationally.

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Sunday, April 01, 2007

Soft drink freebies for summer


Forget the recent reports on soft drinks' contributions to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. It's summer!

The Magic Springs amusement park in Hot Springs, AR, has announced that visitors will be able to drink all the soft drinks they want at the park for free this summer.

As a nod to good health, they'll also be offered free sunscreen creams and free use of riding tubes in the Crystal Falls waterpark.

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