It burns! It burns!
Today's beverage is Goya Jamaican Style Ginger Beer. I found this in a little grocery store that sells specialty items. I was curious about what it tasted like even though my encounters with Hansen's Ginger Beer and Reed's Ginger Brew will haunt me until my dying days.
When I opened it up, it smelled like dirt or freshly dug up roots. The taste? HOT!! It's really hot. Did I mention that it's hot? Well, it's hot. Very hot. Imagine if a tabasco sauce company decided to market a soft drink. And that soft drink also smelled, and tasted, a bit like dirt. When it first hit my mouth, the fumes(?) went into my sinuses. I immediately started coughing. I've coughed several times trying to finish this bottle. Sometimes I can feel it in my tear ducts.
The ingredients include oil of ginger, which I suspect to be the cause of my distress.
I don't understand this stuff at all. Soft drinks are supposed to be refreshing, not painful. Why would anyone crack open one of these on a hot day? Why would anyone crack open one of these ever? It's not as nauseous as the Hansen's Ginger Beer, nor is it putrid like Reed's Ginger Brew, but it's just not pleasant. It burns! But, hey, at least my sinuses are clear now.
Verdict? If you like really hot stuff, try it, otherwise avoid it. And on the up side, it only cost 61 cents.
I think I'm done with ginger beer and all types of "Jamaican style" ginger ales. I'm satisfied with regular old ginger ale.
