76. NON-STIMULATING BEVERAGES are those which contain neither stimulant
nor alcohol. They are the ones usually depended on to carry nutrition
into the body and to provide the necessary refreshment. In this class of
beverages come the various cereal beverages, fruit drinks, soft drinks,
and milk-and-egg drinks. With the exception of the cereal beverages,
these drinks are of a very refreshing nature, for they are served as
cold as possible and they contain materials that make them very pleasing
to the taste. Most of them can be prepared in the home at much less cost
than they can be purchased commercially prepared or at soda fountains;
so it is well for the housewife to be familiar with their nature and
their preparation.
77. CEREAL BEVERAGES, as the name implies, are made from cereals. Of
these, the _cereal coffees_ are perhaps the most common. They contain
nothing that is harmful, and are slightly beneficial in that they assist
in giving the body some of the necessary liquid. However, they have
absolutely no food value and are therefore of no importance in the diet
except to take the place of stimulating beverages that are likely to
injure those who drink them. They are made of cereals to which sugar or
molasses is added, and the whole is then baked until the cereals brown
and the sugar caramelizes, the combination producing a flavor much like
that of coffee. Plain roasted wheat or bran can be used very well as a
substitute in the making of these beverages. In the parts of the country
where rye is extensively grown, it is roasted in the oven until it is an
even brown in color. It is then used almost exclusively by some persons
to make _rye coffee_, a beverage that closely resembles coffee
in flavor.
78. The _instantaneous cereal beverages_ are made by drawing all the
flavor possible out of the material by means of water. The water is then
evaporated and the hard substance that remains is ground until it is
almost a powder. When water is added again, this substance becomes
soluble instantly. _Instantaneous_ coffee is prepared in the same way.
The way in which to use these beverages depends, of course, on the kind
selected, but no difficulty will be experienced in their preparation,
for explicit directions are always found in or on all packages
containing them.
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