80 Proof Candy
Marshmallow, Pineapple, Raspberry, Cotton Candy, Blood Orange, Caramel, Watermelon, Raspberry, Peach, Iced Cake, Pink Lemonade …
What do all of these sweet treats have in common? If you guessed Vodka, you get the moonshine medal of honor. I was shocked an appalled when I saw the “new” flavors that spirits come in today.
Smirnoff Iced Cake- Pinnacle Cotton Candy Vodka
- Skyy Vodka Blood Orange Infusions
- Uv Pink Lemonade Vodka
- Pinnacle Cake Vodka
- Smirnoff Caramel Vodka
- Absolut Vodka Vanilla 80 Proof
- Smirnoff Vodka Watermelon Twist 70 Proof
- Smirnoff Vodka Raspberry Twist 70 Proof
- Smirnoff Vodka Raspberry Twist 70 Proof
- Absolut Vodka Peach 80 Proof
When I use to drink, back in the 1880’s, we had Whiskey. No fireball blend. No fancy names. It burned when you drank it down — which reminded you that you were drinking alcohol! I have to wonder how attractive these candy coated potions (poisons?) are to our kids. No more nasty burping from near beer, why not have your runner with the fake ID get you one of these easy to ingest date-rape-ready brews instead?
In Zen we are taught to question our own beliefs and to let go of the egoic mind’s rant about being right (rightous). And truth is, I get that Meditation-as-Medication can be misused the same as any drug and is often the new age seekers misguided attempt at escaping that which causes us pain. So I don’t want to sound like I condemn whatever spiritual ritual that one chooses to obtain a moment of bliss. As adults we get to make choices and I don’t want anyone taking away my choice when it comes to what I can put in (or take out of) my body. We all do whatever it is we need to do to get by.
And yet, as I read and re-read the candyman list of 21C imbibables, and I see my teen’s eyes grow wide as she thinks for a split second about how enticing they sound, I have to wonder where our Absolut responsibility lies. We are a nation of sugar-ification. Sucrose Zombies seeking our next fix. We over sweeten our coffee and amp up our soda pop because we have altered our body chemistry in such a way that we ourselves have become a genetically modified organism (GMO).
As a conscious nation, we have made choices along the way that were intended to protect ourselves from mass marketing propaganda of the corporate machine. It was Apr 1, 1970 that Nixon signed legislation to ban the ad of tobacco on TV and radio. But there is no ban on alcohol advertising despite an increase in pleas from doctors and other health organizations to do so. Largely due to the self regulating on behalf of the industry itself. But are we pushing the envelope when we offer up instant 80 proof candy?
Clearly I don’t have the answers. But I do have grown and almost grown children who are facing different challenges than I did back in the day. They have different standards and norms to assess and decide whether to uphold. I’ve shared with them the story of when I was 17 and leaving the house with a bottle of rum and a bottle of vodka and the keys to my mother’s little red gremlin, and my mother hollered out the front door after me … “What do you have in the bags?” When I showed her, she nodded her head and said “I thought you had a carton of cigarettes. Don’t smoke.” and she closed the door behind her.
Growing up in an alcoholic home, there were no role models for moderation. And maybe that’s where the sting is for me in the fly like a G6 culture campaign. We can barely define moderation let alone imbibe by it. Did you know that women who have as little as three alcoholic drinks per week have a 15% higher risk of breast cancer? That alarming number goes up 10% for each additional drink. But of course as an emeritus geek from the ivory towers of academia, I saw how our campuses changed over the last few decades. I know that my eldest rescue several students from eminent alcohol poisoning when she lived on campus.
Pauses. Looks around. Steps slowly down from my soap box.
As with anything, there are issues not answers, and OVER THINKING is as much of a pain filled vice as any other. Ahhh, what price would we each pay to dim the din of the mental noise even if only for one happy hour?
