Let’s talk just a moment about temperature in Rio. It’s winter right now, so average temperature during the day is ranging between mid 70’s and lower 80’s. It’s hot. During the day, in the sun, it is hot. Now this is much lower than the average temperatures during the summer, for sure, but still, I’m sweating. All this to say, that Rio is the city that first made me appreciate a cool shower, because the idea of a hot shower when you are sweating this much is truly unappealing. However, these folks in Rio have figured out how to refrigerate liquids in a way that puts the United States to shame. I am not kidding, so though, I don’t want a hot shower while here, I also do not have the constitution to handle a purely cold shower in Rio. Now all of the bathrooms we’ve ever stayed in, and we are usually in high rise building built some time between the 50’s and 80’s, have little windows in the shower that open up to an odd little corridor between the apartments. It’s the only ventilation for the shower, so you keep the window open. And yes, you can hear folks in other apartments in their shower while you shower. I have been serenaded many times by enthusiastic shower singers while in Brazil. Showering in another country is always an adventure, because it’s not always obvious which knobs do what, and in this case, it took me a little while to figure out which knob was for hot water and which was for cold. As I stated earlier in this post, the folks in Rio have figured out how to refrigerate liquid to temperatures far below the normal range most folks are accustomed to, and a blast from the purely cold tap will just about stop your heart! This is the joyful experience the folks in the building with me experienced when I showered for the first time in our lovely little apartment, and as that blast of arctic water hit my back and rear end, instead of a lovely song, whomever happened to also be showering was treated to a loud, sharp, “Holy Sweet Jesus!” I do believe my heart also stopped, for just a moment.
Now all of this to say, that this magic with refrigeration extends beyond water in Rio, and I’m here to tell you that this place serves the coldest beer I have had EVER, ANYWHERE. It is kind of amazing. Their standard house beer, called Choppe, is really a non descript little beer. Not too strong, no kick of an after taste, mild, maybe just a little bit citrusy, BUT it is fantastic because it is so dang COLD! And it doesn’t matter where you get it – a restaurant, bar, or out on the beach, this beer is so cold it would instantly freeze the taste buds of a polar bear! I love it. It is one of the most refreshing things you can drink around here, and I’m not a huge beer fan. So there you have it, if you want the coldest beer in town, you need to come to Rio. Enjoy!
RoamingLibrarian 