It's December, the official month of drinking. (There is the argument that Rocktober is the official month, but come on!)

I bought a bottle of Campari and a six-pack San Pellegrino Aranciata yesterday. Aranciata is the regular orange flavor of San Pellegrino, and is a (poor) substitute for Chinotto. I had a bottle of Chinotto in NYC, but can't find it where I'm living. Does anyone know of a source in Duluth? Italian Village? I'll be in town a few days around Christmas, and I'm going to need some ...

If you haven't had Chinotto ("sour orange"), it looks like cola and tastes like kumquat + root beer + cough syrup. It is the bomb. With the bitter citrus of Campari ... untouchable. Like bizarro Ruby Red grapefruit juice for grown-ups. Something like that.

As long as I'm mentioning weird sodas: I saw a two-liter bottle of Rock & Rye-flavored soda in a convenience store in Ironwood one time. I'm still kicking myself for not buying some. Rock & Rye liquor is whiskey, flavored with rock candy (or so my Mr. Boston book says), so I have no idea what a Rock & Rye soda would be. Jarrito has Sangria flavored drinks, so maybe something like that.

If you can find Boylan's Cane Cola, hit that up. It has bourbon vanilla in it, so it tastes (to me) like a non-alcoholic whiskey-Coke. That's a good thing.