From "Coffee in the Closet, Diet Coke on Tap/Customized drink stations are appearing all over the home, from the kitchen to the bedroom" (NYT).
The article begins with a profile of a TikTok "influencer," a mother of 10, who has "a five-gallon water dispenser for hot and cold filtered water; two coffee-making stations; a wine fridge in the master bedroom for bottled water, protein drinks and her husband’s Red Bulls; a hot cocoa and toppings bar... two countertop nugget ice makers; and... a glass-front, commercial beverage cooler that she bought on Facebook Marketplace when a local Subway franchise was renovating." She says the kids "like what they like, and they don’t like what they don’t like. So I try to keep some of everybody’s favorites."
I didn't notice any criticism of this trend. It seems designed to provoke readers to declare their kitchens outdated and to delve ever more intensely into the world of beverages. And ask Grok to bring you up to speed on Ayurvedic medicine so you're not left behind. I read a little about it and saw that water is important but I missed the part about diet soda.
ADDED: The NYT may call it the "customized drink station" and present it as something new, but in the Midwest, for a long time, we've had what you could call the "customized drink station" but is generally known as the "second fridge":
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51 comments:
Mrs. Bar likes her artisan sparkly fizzy waters. They take up half the fridge.
For one of the very few times in my life I am ahead of the trend. I’ve had a built-in Miele coffee maker in my kitchen wall for twenty years, a small wine cooler, a hot water dispenser, and an under-counter refrigerator in our master bath where my wife keeps bottled water and makeup. No Ayurvedic juice bar though.
…guilty of a Sodastream but only for fizzy water (that I sometimes mix with syrup for quinine/tonic water) and the wife likes a coffee drink and hates ‘bucks so there’s a morning bar off the bedroom for a disturbingly Italian espresso machine. The bar has a little fridge and doubles as a buffet station just off the screened porch. Vulgar, yes…
…oh do we have to count wine storage? Also guilty…
When I was little in the early to mid 50's my grandparents had their old timey ice box on the back porch as a backup to their small single door Frigidaire
Every other month or so Grandpa and I would take the Studebaker to the ice plant and get a block of for no reason other than nostalgia. And maybe so he could stop and have a couple of snorts at Sherwood's Package Store and Bar. And I think this posting by the professor puts paid to that particular remembrance.
The religion of imbibing and metabolic dysfunction.
I have a beer fridge in the garage. Does that count?
I have both a Mr. Coffee machine and a hot/cold tap in my kitchen sink, so I guess I'm fully onboard with this trend. I've even got a bottle of whiskey in the cupboard.
So this is just the male college roommates having a beer fridge as the table next to the chair they watched TV sports from writ large? Civilized for the socially aware spouse.
I did see a video of a ongoing kitchen renovation and suggested they consider the cabinet area just at the entrance for a beverage/snack station to keep the future kids out from underfoot while cooking was underway.
In the house we just sold we had our main fridge, the laundry room fridge, a beverage fridge in the kitchen, and a beverage fridge outside in the outdoor kitchen. For coffee we had our faithful percolator and an espresso machine, with a French press and a moka pot in the pantry for backup, until my purge of our worldly goods relegated those to Goodwill.
Now we live according to the beverage storage and preparation preferences of whoever owns the short-term rentals we're in. At present, we've got a kitchen fridge (counter depth unfortunately), a beverage fridge in the dining room, and a coffee maker that's a combination Keurig and drip. Oh, and there's a moka pot too.
In other news, either my phone or this site is messing with my comment box again, and my phone (for sure, because it's happening across the board) is rejecting my use of commas such that I have to go back and insert them where I fruitlessly told it to put them. So apologies in advance for typos and poor proofreading today.
Drinks are becoming a big deal. In my municipal area of about 5000 people; we have a Dutch Brother's Coffee and a Coca-cola Freestyle dispenser except much larger and needing employees to work it.
As for the home, we have a "refreshment area" upstairs and an outdoor kitchen besides our main floor kitchen. That gives us an extra wine refrigerator and an extra mini-fridge. We have yet to buy an extra icemaker, but we have discussed it. We also have Keurig's and a Bartesian. We also have a Sodastream built-in to the main refrigerator.
That said, almost all of that is because we like these sorts of appliances and hosting events. The reality is we keep a middle-drawer of the fridge full of bottled waters, and that's what we drink most of the time when at home. Most of my drinking is at morning breakfast, when I drink 4 to 5 cups of tea to start my day. I don't like coffee, and I drink about 2 alcohol beverages a month. I also never gone to the DutchBros or Swig.
I see the other Houstonian gets it.
As long as you don’t walk around with whatever the fuck you are drinking like some kind of sophisticated asshole, we’re fine.
Rich people problems. Sheesh. The final days of the Roman Republic weren't this decadent.
Maybe the person who denounced the Orthodox kids for their failure to be Serbian will show up again to take a whack at the Ayurvedic medicine.
The children should be drinking water (or milk). Don't even let them hear about other options. Don't get a big windowed refrigerator and stock it up with canned juices and sodas and "power drinks."
This article is just what you would expect from the NYT.
My children are in their 30s. They'll drink whatever they damn well please.
We have an RO unit under the sink that gives us our drinking water, and the fridge too, for ice and water. I ran a line to the laundry room for a second fridge, but we never ended up getting one. There's a wine cooler that holds my seltzer waters, no sodas, and a small fridge on the back porch that handles any overflow from the kitchen. Seltzer waters are my salvation when I'm working outside in the heat. Yesterday I chugged down 4 of them, wrestling beams, plus a protein shake.
My 3 year-old granddaughter calls seltzer waters 'spicy water', and she, like Joe Pera, cracks me up.
For me it’s just Tang and Zarex, or I drink nothing at all.
I find this whole thing really peculiar. I wonder if the Althouse commenters are representative of the population at large, a bit wealthier I imagine, but not wildly. My house in Ireland is even more minimal than my house here. There I have an electric kettle in the kitchen for when I need hot water, and I don't feel even a little inconvenienced by it.
Agree with Althouse - but I'd add fresh no-sugar added OJ or Grapefruit juice along with water and milk.
As a kid - I guzzled OJ. I was never over-weight or fat.
My mother didn't allow sweets in the house. So it was a counter balance. Plus - no scurvy.
Old and Slow- Americans are addicted to gadgets and frills.
If I ever became independently wealthy I wouldn't tell anyone. . . . but there would be signs.
Namely, a beer tap and soda fountain in the kitchen.
Do people actually add sugar to Orange juice?
Why would you add more sugar to sugar water?
There is little relevant metabolic difference between orange juice and coke or pepsi.
Selling point used to be: Just like home made.
Now it’s: Just like store bought.
Old and slow said...
I find this whole thing really peculiar. I wonder if the Althouse commenters are representative of the population at large, a bit wealthier I imagine, but not wildly. My house in Ireland is even more minimal than my house here. There I have an electric kettle in the kitchen for when I need hot water, and I don't feel even a little inconvenienced by it.
I understand your feelings.
I am keeping my kids out of the juice trap. People think the sugar water you get out of fruit is healthy for some reason.
My wife has an asian style water boiler and the kids mostly drink tea and water. I see some goat milk in the fridge. I don't know what kombucha is for but I think it is a fermented drink.
I have noticed that the social media video short game has become permeated and infiltrated by influencers who are partnering with corporate sponsors to sing the praises of their gigas and gadgets. Most of them are shapely women wearing full body leotards and they always have to shake jiggle and dance when they talk flicking their air back and forth. I guess the message is if you want to be a vacuous airhead like the influencer you need to start purchasing products and services from large corporations. The democratization of Mad Men is not very artful but apparently effective
Back in the dark ages before we knew that carbs were poison and that fruit juice was just as bad or worse than Coca-Cola, I would always water down our orange juice to 1/3 juice 2/3 water. We did this in part because back in the day a juice Glass was teeny tiny. As if our parents and grandparents generation knew that the sugar water was a treat and not a staple
Coke used to come in 8 oz bottles when I was a kid
Kombucha is fermented sweet tea where the yeast and bacteria consumes almost all of the sugar and converts it into short chain fatty acids which are the specialty chemicals required by each and every cell in your body in order to run and tip Top condition.
Coffee and juice "stations" are understandable at the office, but using the term in the home seems a bit alienating. It's more common to just say "coffee machine," "juice machine," or "second fridge."
Achilles - There are all sorts of juice products with added sugar. (Sunny D /etc..) You'd probably want to blame Winston Churchill, The Jews, or Ron DeSantis. History's greatest Monsters - or at least that's what Tucker and MTG told me.
wow - fruit has sugar in it? who knew?
Screw the anti- fruit people. Fruit is healthy in moderation.
Never seen a fat person who got that way eating fruit.
And a Happy 83rd birthday to America’s 👏Worst 👏Living 👏President.
Eva Marie said...
Selling point used to be: Just like home made.
Now it’s: Just like store bought.
When I was growing apples and pears fruit juice grew out of a need to do something with the cull fruit that wouldn't sell on store shelves. Basically everything that had holes punched in it or bruises or frost damage.
Fruit juice is just another "innovation" that monetized cull fruit.
Howard said...
Back in the dark ages before we knew that carbs were poison and that fruit juice was just as bad or worse than Coca-Cola, I would always water down our orange juice to 1/3 juice 2/3 water. We did this in part because back in the day a juice Glass was teeny tiny. As if our parents and grandparents generation knew that the sugar water was a treat and not a staple
Gatorade cut with water is good if you are actually exercising. Their 0 sugar mix used the worst kind of sweeteners so the sugar stuff was actually better.
For those who haven't really learned about his yet your body generally carries 5 grams of sugar in your blood which is regulated by your liver. If you are drinking much more than 10 grams of sugar in an hour you are going to have the same issues as if you drank soda.
The problem is the constant release of insulin and resulting insulin resistance. Insulin is meant to be a defense mechanism for when you found a tree with fermented apples once a year and got drunk. Your Pancreas was never meant to be in constant use.
...for when you found a tree with fermented apples once a year and got drunk...
...uh...perhaps there's a map to such trees somewhere?
I'm opposed to turning bedrooms into mini-kitchens.
You're too lazy to walk to the kitchen?
what Americans need is a kitchen in every bathroom. Now that saves time.
Water filtration under a specified sink is also a wonderful luxury. I have an R.O. and love it. Although I must remember to take mineral supplements.
I do not need anything that would aid my drinking of red-bull or soda. yick.
Howard said...
Kombucha is fermented sweet tea where the yeast and bacteria consumes almost all of the sugar and converts it into short chain fatty acids which are the specialty chemicals required by each and every cell in your body in order to run and tip Top condition.
The stuff I saw in the fridge says Kombucha, but it is from the store. I am dubious.
My wife used to keep a culture in jars. She named it "Scoby." It would grow and they would split it and give it to friends and they would name theirs.
They had trouble keeping the results of their efforts consistent. They would feed it strawberries most of the time. The taste changes depending on how long you leave the fruit in there and how much you give it.
I really don't think they make the stuff you buy in the stores by going through this process. It seems impossible at scale to have a consistent product.
Those old glass returnable 8 oz Coke bottles used to have the location of the bottling plant molded into the bottom. It was fun as a kid to look for Coke bottle DX.
rehajm said...
...for when you found a tree with fermented apples once a year and got drunk...
...uh...perhaps there's a map to such trees somewhere?
Any fruit tree later in their fruiting cycle.
We had elderberry bushes in our yard and we would watch the birds get drunk. It was a lot harder on birds than other animals I imagine.
Rich People Problems.
It does seem like the homemade kombucha is way way more bioactive than the stuff they sell at the stores where they have to limit the alcohol content to less than 0.5% because Lindsay Lohan tested positive for alcohol when she was on probation
Fruit is different from fruit juice because fiber. Whole fruit and fiber ferments in the gut to create glucose switches used directly by your cells. Unfermented sugar has to be processed through your liver to be turned into glucose and it creates triglycerides in the process.
i'm diabetic (because i got SUPER FAT, and my liver got tired)
i rigorously count my carbs (And take metformin)..
between the two my A1C is now about 5 (yea!)
a neighbor mentioned this summer, that they were just diagnosed diabetic; and he CLAIMED that his doctor told him:
"drink ALL the juices you want! Fruit Sugar is FINE!!!"
i spent the rest of the visit trying to figure out, which was it?
a) his doctor was a COMPLETE Idiot?
b) was the neighbor a COMPLETE Idiot? that couldn't even hear what his doctor was saying?
my guess is that is was "b",
but Who knows? maybe his doctor was an idiot too?
anyway, the world is full of unhealthy idiots
Wince@821am--
I walk around with my insulated, lidded tumbler (for ice-water) and insulated, lidded coffee cup (for black coffee, straight) all the time. It's almost a trademark, but not intended, or I think taken, as a sign of sophistication.
(Given that they have the logos of my alma maters, I'm pretty sure about that.)
My beverage indulgence is cold lowfat milk, to accompany breakfast, and something sweet before bed . . .
We get our ice from plastic ice-trays, since the ice-maker broke down about 2018 or so, and recently replaced the chilled-water line after some difficulty finding the proper filter. Our refrigerator has lasted much longer than we have any right to expect, so as long as it freezes and cools we don't worry much about the extras.
Hydration is overrated.
tcrosse said...
Those old glass returnable 8 oz Coke bottles..
here's a fun thought experiment!
in the olden days, soda was a treat, and came in 8 oz bottles..
then, around 1970 it was 10 oz bottles..
THEN, in the early 70's, it started being 16 oz bottles..
NOW it's a 20 oz bottle (or, a SUPER SIZED big gulp).
at the same time, McDs went from
a paper envelope of fries* and a hamburger (or, MAYBE a cheesburger)
THEN to a large fries** and Big Mac
NOW to a NEW larger large fries***
at the same time, colas went from 150 cal size to 380 cals
AT THE SAME TIME, that sizes were doubling and trippling people got FATTER AND FATTER.. i wonder WHY?
WHY would people doubling (and trippling) their caloric input gain weight? it just makes you wonder WHY?
paper envelope of fries* now only availible on Kids Menu (230cal)
large fries** now the new "medium" fries (320 cal)
new larger large fries*** (480)
Ah, the Editor's Quandary. "There's coffee stations...."
Plural subject is paired with singular verb in casual speech.
Should we publish correcting to "There're?" Should we go a step further, remove the onerous apostrophe, and publish "There are?" But either choice alters the speaker's actually words.
Is it best to most faithfully reproduce in print what the speaker actually said? Most likely that was something like "Thurs."
Just three words from Rachel Wharton at the NYT and I am stumped. Flummoxed. Done in with NYT for today.
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