Get a glass, a nice wide glass or a tall glass. Throw in a few ice cubes. Open a bottle of Banks DIH’s I-CEE’s Cream Soda and pour it into the glass, letting the drink cascade over the ice. Fill the glass with drink just shy of three-quarters. Now take your favourite brand of full cream evaporated milk (Nestle’s Carnation if you have) and pour some thick creamy milk into the glass. Watch admiringly, with a smile on your face, as the milk filters down into the glass and mixes with the drink. Take a spoon, a drink stirrer or your index finger if you like and swirl the ice that is now floating at the top of the glass to mix the soda and the milk. If you used your finger, suck it and then put the glass to your mouth, tilt your head back, close your eyes if you like, and take a long drink. Be warned, you might want to have it all in one go. If you had it all in one go, that is you finished the glass of drink, you might find yourself staring at the empty glass with a broad smile on your face, feeling happy in the moment. If you managed to control yourself and still have some drink in the glass, you might look at the glass, give it a shake and with a smile on your face, down the rest of it. Happy. It is such a wonderfully sweet taste of home, and for some of us, one that is filled with nostalgia.
Cream Soda and milk was one of my late, beloved mom’s favourite drinks. It was my late, beloved Aunt Betty’s favourite drink too. And I guess I learned to love the combo because they did, and we always had it as a treat. I know it seems like such an everyday thing, but growing up, water was the beverage mostly consumed during the week, it was only on the weekends that we had sweet drinks – homemade or bought sodas. Hence it being a treat. One of most cherished memories of having Cream Soda and milk was as a young child, not yet a teenager. It was during the August holidays and Auntie Betty took me to a matinee show (1 o’clock). As she held my hand and we walked back home, in one of the avenues, the afternoon sun still high in the sky; the place hot. She told me that when we got home, she would make Cream Soda and milk and we would have it with Tennis Roll and cheese. Happy at this news, my hand firmly in hers, I swung our arms back and forth.
I do not know the origin of this combination of Cream Soda and milk, or who came up with the idea; it matters not. All I want to say is a huge, big thank you. Actually, I think that all of Guyana would want to thank you for this outstanding taste of home.
Now what makes this Cream Soda and milk particularly Guyanese is the Cream Soda. And for me, there is only one Cream Soda, Banks’ I-CEE. Since I moved to Barbados over 20 years ago, I have been trying, really trying to get my ‘fix’ of Cream Soda and milk. I’ve tried Frutee, Busta, Solo and Chubby’s Cream Soda beverages but none of them make the grade to be mixed with milk to make that sweet creamy combination. Believe me, I have tried. Each time, apart from the Cream Soda tasting different and very perfume-y, when mixed with the milk, the drink would curdle! No joke. I found myself having to drink the drink with a stirrer in the glass so that I would stir and quickly down some of the drink. Even mixed with the milk, the drink was bland. I have since checked the ingredients listed on the bottles, they are essentially the same but the formula for each is obviously different. Makes sense though, it is for that reason that there is Pepsi and Coke right? There is a certain degree of acidity in the Cream Soda of the brands I mentioned that does not facilitate the drink mixing with milk. Let me hasten to add, that I think those brands of Cream Soda(s) on their own are fine; just not mixed with milk.
Let’s talk milk for the Cream Soda and milk mix. There is only one type of milk to use – full fat/full cream evaporated milk. It is about the cream. I’ve tried the combo with fresh cow’s milk, milk reconstituted from full cream milk powder, and Ultra Heat Treatment milk – (UHT milk in cartons at room temperature; they are also stored at room temperature until opened). None of these milks gave the taste and flavour of the taste of home except with full cream evaporated milk.
We find ourselves in trying times, uncertain times; it is also a time to remind ourselves of the simple pleasures of life, such as an ice-cold class of Cream Soda and milk. I had some the other day along with homemade Tennis Roll and cheese. With each sip and bite, I was transported back home, to Guyana.
Cynthia
