Sherbet (Etymology: Turkish & Persian; Turkish serbet, from Persian & Urdu sharbat, from Arabic sharba drink) (British and American English) or Sherbert (Australian English and New Zealand English, also a variant used in American English) historically was a cool effervescent or iced fruit soft drink. The meaning, spelling and pronunciation has fractured between three English-speaking countries. It is usually spelled either sherbet or sherbert. In the US, the most common meaning of sherbet is a frozen dessert sorbet or a special kind of ice cream: see sherbet (U.S.). English language prevalence in the United States. ... Australian English (AuE) is the form of the English language used in Australia. ... New Zealand English (NZE) is the English spoken in New Zealand. ... English language prevalence in the United States. ... A soft drink is a drink that contains no alcohol. ... A bowl of mango sorbet Sorbet (or sorbetto, sorbeto) is a frozen dessert made from iced fruit puree and other ingredients. ... Missing image Ice cream is often served on a stick Boxes of ice cream are often found in stores in a display freezer. ... Sherbet (in American English) is a frozen dessert made from iced sweetened fruit juice or puree. ...

Sherbet in the United Kingdom is a kind of fizzy powder made from bicarbonate of soda, tartaric acid, sugar etc and usually cream soda or fruit flavoured. The acid-carbonate reaction occurs upon presence of moisture (juice/saliva). It used to be stirred into various beverages to make effervescing drinks, in a similar way to making lemonade from lemonade powders. Today, people usually buy carbonated drinks rather than making them at home. Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), or sodium hydrogen carbonate, also known as baking soda and bicarbonate of soda, is a soluble white anhydrous or crystalline compound, with a slight alkaline taste resembling that of sodium carbonate. ... Tartaric acid or H2C4H4O6 is a white crystalline organic acid. ... Magnification of typical sugar showing monoclinic hemihedral crystalline structure. ... 3 litre cream soda from Ireland Cream soda is a sweet carbonated soft drink. ... Fruit stall in Barcelona, Spain. ... A glass of American lemonade with ice cubes Lemonade is a soft drink that is made with lemons. ... Carbonated bubbles in a soda float to the surface. ...

Sherbet is now used to mean this powder sold as a sweet. In the United States, it would be somewhat comparable to the powder in Pixy Stix or Lik-M-Aid Fun Dip, though having the fizzy quality of Pop Rocks effervescing candy. Pixy Stix is a powdered candy packaged in a wrapper similar to that of a drinking straw. ... Strawberry flavored Pop Rocks Pop Rocks is a carbonated candy with ingredients including sugar, lactose (milk sugar), corn syrup, and flavoring. ...

Delivery Methods

Sherbet has a dual role in the modern sweet world, acting in both solo form and as a decorative agent on other sweets. The most common occurrences are detailed below, but this list is not exhaustive. Dimensions of sherbet include granularity, color, zing (acidity) and flavouring (normally a citrus fruit).

Sherbet Lemon

The Sherbet Lemon is a lemon-flavoured boiled sweet that has a sherbet centre. It is a popular sweet in the UK and other countries.

Paired with liquorice

Sherbet is often sold in a cardboard tube with a straw made from liquorice as a sherbet fountain. The powder is supposed to be sucked up the straw into the mouth, where it fizzes and dissolves on the tongue. However, this rarely works so people tend to tip the sherbet into their mouths and eat the liquorice separately. Binomial name Glycyrrhiza glabra L. Liquorice or licorice (see spelling differences) (pronounced IPA: licorish) is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra, from which a sweet flavour can be extracted. ...

When paired with liquorice, sherbet is typically left unflavoured in a white form and with a higher reactive agent so that it causes a fizzy foam to develop in the mouth.

Fruit flavoured with lollipop

Sherbet dips are also popular. They consist of a small packet of sherbet, sometimes called a 'Dip Dab' (or 'Dib Dab') with a lollipop sealed into the bag. Once the lollipop has been licked, it can be dipped into the sherbet and then sucked clean, alternatively it can simply be used to shovel the sherbet into the mouth. Another popular type of sherbet dip is the 'Double Dipper' where the packet is divided into three or four sections; one contains an edible stick which can be licked and then dipped into the other sections, each of which contains a different flavour of sherbet (for example strawberry, orange, cola).

Sherbet straws

Plastic straws filled purely with fruit flavoured sherbet. The most common lengths are 10cm and 50cm. The price of these straws range from 1p to £2.00 in the UK depending on size, make and flavour. Normally found in corner delis.

Flying Saucers

Small dimpled discs made from edible colored paper (rice paper), typically filled with white unflavoured sherbet (the same form as in Sherbet Fountains) Rice paper usually refers to paper made from parts of the rice plant, like rice straw or rice flour. ...

Decorator functions

Sherbet is incorporated into other sweets. For example it is used to give gum based sweets an interesting surface texture and zing (cola bottles, fruit strips).

Slang

Sherbet has been used in parts of both the UK and Australia as slang for an alcoholic drink, especially beer. This use is noted in a slang dictionary as early as 1890, and still appears in list of slang terms written today (especially lists of Australian slang). "We're heading to the pub for a few sherbets." - … pints of beer." Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ... Functional group of an alcohol molecule. ... A glass of beer and different beer bottles. ...

In the UK "Showbiz Sherbet" sometimes refers to cocaine, which is also consumed as a powder. Cocaine (or crack in its impure freebase form) is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. ...

In the 1990s, "sherbet" or "sherbet dab" began to be used as Cockney rhyming slang for a "taxi cab". Its use in this sense is probably restricted to London. "It's raining, let's get a sherbet" - "… take a taxi." Cockney rhyming slang (sometimes intitialized as CRS) is a form of English slang which originated in the East End of London. ... Taxicab, short forms taxi or cab, is a type of public transport for a single passenger, or small group of passengers, typically for a non-shared ride. ...

Popular culture

In the first Austin Powers movie, the main character hypnotizes a guard (played by Christian Slater) and orders him to get an orange sherbet. This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Christian Slater (born Christian Michael Leonard Hawkins on August 18, 1969 in New York City) is an American actor. ...

See also

• Swizzels Matlow - notable manufacturer of sherbet products

Swizzels Matlow is a UK-based traditional sweet manufacturer, who have achieved notability with brands such as Love Hearts, Parma Violets and Double Dip. ...

References

External links

• Of the Street Sale of Ginger-Beer, Sherbet, Lemonade,&C., from London Labour and the London Poor, Volume 1, Henry Mayhew, 1851; subsequent pages cover the costs and income of street sherbert sellers.