Juice

This morning I was invited over for breakfast with friends.  I was in charge of bringing over some juice.  When I went to the market, I decided against the usual flavors - orange, apple, grape, pineapple, or grapefruit juice.  I didn't even get multivitamin juice which is my favorite.  

As I was looking at the shelves I decided to mix things up a bit.  I went with apricot juice, strawberry juice, peach juice, pear juice and sour cherry juice.  I'm still reluctant to try the banana juice because I just can't imagine how exactly they juice a banana.

I've noticed that many Czechs mix juice with water.  Some have told me it is because the juice is too strong if you drink it without water.  I think it's really because they've always drunk it with water so they don't know what juice is really supposed to taste like.  Friends have told me that back in the days of communism, you had to make things last as long as possible which is why people put in just enough juice to flavor up the tap water.

Another popular thing over here is flavored syrup.  You mix a small bit with some water and you have a fruit flavored beverage.  The syrup isn't bad but given a choice I'll stick to real juice.