Ting is the Thing

Okay, I don't like grapefruit. At least that's what I'll tell you. I always liked Wink though. Maybe I didn't realise it was grapefruit? I don't know. I do know I quite enjoyed it when I was younger. I can't recall when I first had it, but I think I can recall when I last had it. Maybe not...

Sometime in 2004 it disappeared from the grocery stores...then it reappeared as CPlus wink Twist. It was "reformulated" and not as good. Not sure what they changed but it just wasn't the same. These days wink Twist seems to have gone the way of the Dodo. There is an ongoing thread on chowhound about it though...

In the meantime I had noticed Ting on grocery shelves. It was usually in the aisle with IRN BRU and Peardrax and such. I was suspicious. "Grapefruit, eh? I won't like that." So it stayed on the shelf. I did try Sorrel Fizz once. Kind of like bitters and soda. Come to think of it, I haven't seen it on the shelf since then...Speaking of disappearing acts: Ting was always there not being purchased by us and then one day at Superstore it was on the discount rack. Usually this is a sign of either impending new packaging or a limited release that no longer has a home on the shelf but most often its just a sign of being to close to the sell by date. I got three bottles of Angostura bitters thanks to the discount rack once. Shortly before the "worldwide shortage." But I digress...

Ting was on discount but I resisited. I still figured I wouldn't like it. Life went on. Then it mysteriously never reappeared on the shelf. I think this was when I really took notice of the lack of Sorrel Fizz and Peardrax. IRN BRU had returned. Returned in a new package no less!

So, no grapefruit soda. Oh well. I didn't like that anyway. And then. And then? This. Check it out, I'll wait here. While on vacation in Vancouver we had grapefruit for breakfast one day. That's right "we". Not just Cutes, the both of us. I actually enjoyed it. I sometimes couldn't even go near grapefruit in the grocery store because I would find the smell off-putting but these grapefruit at a market smelled good. They tasted good too. Yum.

We came back home and went back to our regular habits. The fact that I liked Wink but claimed to not like grapefruit was mentioned once or twice but mostly grapefruit were off the radar. Then I started reading cocktail blogs..... (links to various articles mentioning Hemingway to follow at a later date).

"Grapefruit you say? Hmm, I don't know about that." I said to myself. "Ting and rum? I'd try that, I think." And so the search for Ting began. A protracted search. An intermittent search really. Not at Superstore, I already knew that. Not At Sobeys. Not at Price Chopper. Not at No Frills. Not at Metro. Was it still for sale? Had it befallen the same fate as Wink? Would it require searching through obscure variety stores? The kind of places one finds Mr Brown or Pop Shoppe. I didn't know.

On a whim I went to Loblaws (actually Loblaw greatfood, but who's counting).Found it! Ting, Pink Ting and Peardrax too! I'm still unsure about the Peardrax. I bought Ting and ginger beer. Ting=delicious. That's right. The grapefruit hater loves Ting. You should try it too. I wonder what it's like with rum, or gin, or...