Oz Drinks

Wet stuff that usually comes with, between or instead of food. Keeps the sunburnt country from getting too thirsty.

Being the generally hot place that Oz is, drink is considered very important. By far the most important of the drinks is beer. Australia has numerous beers to it's name, there are some national "beers" such as Tooheys and Carlton, and then there are the state beers; Victoria Bitter (VB) and so on.

Beer is considered an important part of Oz culture. In the sporting field, cricketers lead the charge with their reputation of getting blind drunk on Sydney - London flights. Tennis players also have a somewhat legendary status as winning championship matches inebriated. Drinking is also a spectator sport, and again the cricket wins. Cricket fans usually have a lot of spare time on their hands, and so put their hands around beers to keep them occupied and conversational. Beer is also considered the top of the BBQ food pyramid, as it doesn't take time to cook or utensils to consume. Pubs are also popular meeting places, the first building to be built in any town is the pub, so that all the locals have somewhere to go. The constant quest for "a coldie" has lead to ground breaking discoveries like the fact that the boot of a Kingswood, lined with a tarpaulin, makes an excellent and spacious esky.

Other popular Aussie drinkables are things like fizzy drinks (always Coca Cola) and wines. Australian wines are becoming increasingly good and popular nationally and globally, no doubt aided by the recently released research showing that a glass of red is actually good for you.

Fizzy drinks are the standard sort (Coke, Fanta, etc), available in various brands and sizes (375ml - 3L). We Aussies are unfrotunate enough to have been recently introduced to Dr Pepper (canned cough medicine) and are still wanting the likes of Cherry Coke, Caffine free, diet, artificially sweetened Coke and the likes.

Juices also go down well. Along with the standard apple and orange, we get delights like mango and guava juices. Also popular here is cordial, condensed juice type stuff which, when reconstituted, tastes like coloured water and is thus best consumed straight (sugar hit).