Tasted Ting Recently?

The name Ting is the Jamaican dialect for “thing”.

I remember growing up in Jamaica with Desnoes and Geddes (D&G) the main brewer and beverage producer. D&G’s flagship product was Red Strip Beer and they were designated the Jamaican bottler for Pepsi Cola, Heineken, Mackeson and other renown brands. I liked the D&G beverages with my favourite by a narrow margin being Cream Soda.

Ting, a Grapefruit Crush soft drink, was launched by D&G in 1976. Made locally with Jamaican sourced grapefruit, Ting was soon being exported to more than 20 other countries, beginning with Barbados. Ting and Old Jamaica Ginger Beer, another naturally based beverage, were successfully introduced to the United Kingdom in 1988. By 1999 D&G sold its soda pop plant to the Pepsi Cola (Jamaica) Bottling Company to concentrate on its brewing business. Ting sales soared over the next two year.

Ting is a carbonated grapefruit beverage popular in the Caribbean. Flavoured with Caribbean grapefruit juice concentrate, it is both tart and sweet. Ting contains a small amount of sediment consisting of grapefruit juice pulp. Grapefruit has a juiciness that rivals the ever popular orange and sparkles with many of the same health promoting benefits. Although available throughout the year, grapefruits are in season and at their best from winter through early spring. Grapefruit is an excellent source of vitamin C, a vitamin that helps to support the immune system.

Grapefruits usually range in diameter from four to six inches and include varieties that have seeds or are seedless and that are pink or white. The wonderful flavour of a grapefruit is like paradise as is expressed by its Latin name, Citrus paradisi.

Tasted a Ting recently? Why not take a trip down memory lane, as I did, and treat yourself to a cool Ting. It is great with spicy food.

Never tasted a Ting? Then time for a little adventure. Buy and give it a try.

To buy view: Ting