Today I am sick with a cold so naturally my mind turns to more daily living topics such as drinks. Drinks here are not like the US. Soda (Coke, Pepsi, and Sprite) is available but it shares shelf space with a variety of juice drinks ranging from 10% to 100% juice. If you are lucky there are also street vendors who will squeeze oranges or pomegranates into delicious beverages while you wait. It is very common to see pitchers of fresh squeezed lemonade offered in restaurants and, based on my three samples, its quality is impeccable. I have yet to encounter anything made from frozen concentrate. Alongside the juices is the herbal drinks made from the same company. They come in three flavors: lemon verbena, sage and lemon grass, and spearmint. To make them the company boils the herbs in hot water, creating an infusion, which is then added to a lemonade base. They are delicious—especially the mint.
Mint infusions are also common in tea drinking. When a business meeting has tea and coffee in the conference room there is always a small bowl of accessories on offer. There is the expected sugar and 3% milk (real milk, not creamer), but there are also slices of lemon and sprigs of spearmint. It is common to take a lemon slice and a sprig of mint alongside a tea bag and pour hot water over the whole concoction. Once the tea has been drunk, it is also possible to pour more hot water on the mint and drink the infusion as a final digestive. In the fine restaurants, mint tea is provided by putting mint leaves in the hot water that the patron can then pour out on to the tea bag. I find it to be one of the best drinks I’ve had, but then two of my three favorite flavors are lemon and mint.
Coffee is available at Intel Haifa in the same way that soda is available in Intel Folsom. It is ubiquitous. Espresso is the water cooler drink of choice and the most popular form is cappuccino. Each floor in IDC-9 has at least one coffee drink maker that will steam the milk and grind the beans at the push of a button. Near the machine is a small refrigerator stocked full of milk since it is common to have to reload the milk steaming vessel before noon most days. I have limited myself to only two cappuccinos per day in an attempt to control my caffeine addiction. It is tough during the weekends when I no longer have access to those wonderful machines.
Alcoholic beverages are also less common in Haifa than in Folsom. There is beer but it is not cheap. Our favorite pizza restaurant serves beer from Italy with a very mild flavor but it is a far cry from the German hefeweizens that I have loved in Europe. I have heard that Goldstar is pretty good but I have yet to try it.
Wine is also not cheap and it is not commonly drunk at restaurants. Coming from a wine state, California, my palate has been spoiled on Napa Cabs and Amador Zins, but I have yet to taste a fine red wine in Israel. I have heard that the Carmel region is good wine country so I’ll leave my opinions open to future experiences. With so many tasty beverages to choose from, I don’t miss it too much.
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