Taste Of The Caribbean: Cola Couronne, Haiti’s #1 Soft Drink

On Visit in Haiti.  See our Drinks

The soda dates all the way back to 1924, and everyone here seems to love it. Literally everyone I asked confirmed that Couronne is the #1 soda in Haiti. There was no second place brand; no honorable mention mentioned. In Haiti, it seems, it’s Cola Couronne or nothing… and that’s not really such a bad thing.

Electric-orange in color, Couronne bears a sweetly-carbonated aroma that takes me right back to my childhood in St. Croix when my parents would buy us cases of Fanta in assorted flavors. They always came in tall glass bottles, which we took great care in returning to our local gas station.

In Haiti, you’ll almost always find Cola Couronne in tall glass bottles as well. My friend Jonathan, who used to work in the Coca-Cola plant where they make Couronne, explained to me that there is no aluminum in Haiti.  READ MORE

Coffee around the World

Coffee trees produce their best beans when grown at high altitudes in a tropical climate where there is rich soil.  Such conditions are found around the world in locations along the Equatorial zone, between latitudes 25 degrees North and 30 degrees South.

Besides location, other factors affect the quality and flavor of coffee. These include the variety of the plant, the chemistry of the soil in which it is grown, the weather, particularly the amount of rainfall and sunshine, and the precise altitude at which the coffee grows. Such variables — combined with the way the cherries are processed after being picked — contribute to the distinctions between coffees from countries, growing regions and plantations worldwide. The combination of factors is so complex, that even from a single plantation one finds variation in quality and taste.

Coffee is grown in more than 50 countries around the world. Here are just a few:

North America & The Caribbean

• Hawaii – http://multiculturalcookingnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2253:hawaii-kona-coffee&Itemid=5
• Mexico –  Try spiking with Mezcal, pair dark chocolate too.
• Puerto Rico

Central America

• Guatemala – http://multiculturalcookingnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2255:about-guatemala’s-coffee
• Costa Rica
• Honduras- If you typically don’t drink coffee black, this this is the coffee to change that.

South America

• Colombia
  
• Brazil

African & Middle East

• Kenya
• Ivory Coast
• Ethiopia

Asia

• Indonesia 
• Vietnam

Jello Freedom Pops

What You Need   1-1/3 cups	boiling water, divided
1 pkg.	(3 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin
1 pkg.	(3 oz.) JELL-O Berry Blue Flavor Gelatin
1 pkg.	(3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
	2 Cups of cold milk

ADD 2/3 cup boiling water to each flavor gelatin mix in separate small bowls; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Pour each flavor gelatin into separate 8×4-inch loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.

UNMOLD gelatins; cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Beat pudding mix and milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Add gelatin cubes; stir gently.

SPOON into 8 (5-oz.) paper cups. Insert wooden popstick into center of each. Freeze 4 hours or until firm. Peel off cups before serving.

SUBSTITUTESubstitute 2 cups softened vanilla ice cream for the prepared pudding.

 

NOTEPlace any leftovers in airtight container; freeze up to 1 month.

 

SUBSTITUTESubstitute JELL-O White Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding for the Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding.