The last soda drink

At the rear of Feng-Shan Elementary School in Kaohsiung City one may spot the stall of an elderly grandma selling handmade soda drinks. She has been selling her unique assortment of traditional Taiwanese beverages for over thirty years. The flavor of grandma’s handmade soda is milder than most commercially bought beverages, but most agree that the natural sweet flavor of grandma’s soda is far superior to commercially bought alternatives.

The secret of grandma’s tasty handmade soda lies in her insistence on using a traditional slow cook method to make her brown-sugar syrup, and the addition of her secret ingredient. This ensures that each and every drink prepared by grandma for her customers retains the delicious traditional local flavor. Unfortunately, in this age of globalization that brandishes the banner of ‘out with the old, in with the new’ there has been an exponential rise in convenience stores and beverage outlets, forcing grandma’s traditional business into continual decline. Without sufficient capital to invest in opening a store, it seems likely that the heritage of traditional soda making is destined to fade into obscurity. Grandma’s soda business used to be thriving, but now, with only occasional passing business, she spends much of her time whiling away the hours listening to the radio. Should grandma decide to pack up her soda stand it will simply mean that yet another traditional Taiwanese flavor, another part of our heritage, is lost to future generations. This story hopes to rekindle old memories in people, to reconnect people with the wonderful tastes of their childhood and to urge them to visit traditional stalls. Without public support for traditional food vendors, many of whom are elderly people lacking the funds to open flashy new shops, our food heritage will surely be lost forever.

PeoPo 公民新聞

The last soda drink (by CJ eyes)
http://www.peopo.org/news/102589

(以下是中文對照)

照片

最後一口沙士 ( eyes )

一位賣手工汽¬水阿嬤，在高雄鳳山國小後門擺攤，已經三十年，阿嬤賣的都是手工飲料，其中也包括台灣手工沙士，味道甘醇，比起市售沙士味道雖然比較清淡，但是喝過之後卻像喝茶一樣，會有回甘的滋味。

手工沙士好喝的秘訣來自阿嬤的堅持，她使用的糖漿是用純正的黑糖慢慢熬煮而成，一杯杯加入獨門配方調製的飲料，有在地的古早味的堅持。不過這個讓顧客懷念的老味道，在時代的汰舊換新之下，慢慢被便利商店與飲料店取代，生意愈來愈清淡，汽水阿嬤也沒有足夠的資本買店面，傳承也面臨了問題。以前阿嬤的生意門庭若市，現在生意清淡，只能靠聽收音機打發時間，如果將來阿嬤的汽水攤收起來不作了，就又有一種屬於台灣的味道，可能要消失了。而本篇報導希望能帶領人們回想起品嘗古早美食的感動。除了多多光顧老攤子之外，也能盡所能幫助守護古早美食的人。這些人，往往是上了年紀的阿公阿嬤，沒有錢買店面¬，卻也沒有力氣，推著小攤子到處跑。台灣古早美食的傳承，需要你我，一同關注。

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