Thoughts and happenings from a life on Malta

The no confidence vote in parliament might have been defeated earlier today but what this is what I found in my letter box when I got home:

I have been enjoying this drink ever since I was a child. Way back then I also appreciated its angular shaped bottle, so distinct from other soft drink bottles and even more so when compared to the bland PET containers of today. I remember the pleasure and sense of pride I felt when I discovered it in a supermarket on the outskirts of Nicosia, Cyprus, in the 80s.  At the time I was attending an international youth camp organised by the Leo Club and I couldn’t help but point it out to the fellow participants who were shopping with me; it goes without saying that I bought a few Kinnies to share with them too. Thirty years on and I’m still recommending the product, this time to my classes of mixed nationality students who come here for a few weeks, even months, to improve their English language skills. I don’t do it because I have a lucrative promotional contract with the bottlers, Farsons, but primarily because it satisfies my taste buds. Secondly, it’s a local product which I believe deserves more international recognition.

One of the ingredients which goes into the making of Kinnie is bitter oranges, although the label simply states “oranges”. Now I don’t know about you but I got thinking – just how many bitter oranges are actually used in a 1.5 litre bottle? Hence my email enquiry to the company yesterday, asking them exactly that. Once their reply comes in, I’ll attach the information to this post.