When we head out for drinks, we’re all guilty of playing it safe when it comes to our flavours of choice. From our favourite beer to the classic cola mixer, there’s no shame in opting for a tried-and-true drink. But venturing outside of our comfort zones could uncover a new and exquisite all-time favourite. In this article, we deliver the most unusual drink flavours of all time, ranging across alcoholic and non-alcoholic offerings.
Electricity vodka
What does electricity taste like? In what either sounds like a deep, philosophical question or an insane musing, Wyborowa has courageously presented a safe method to find out – Oddka Electricity. Wyborowa states that this bottle of booze tastes like, well, electricity, but Difford’s Guide has attempted to explain the flavour in earthly terms.
According to the taste review, the vodka (and, presumably, electricity) tastes like “very sweet boiled sweets and green grape” followed by “cracked black pepper spice”. Meanwhile, a reviewer over at I Prefer Booze Hound summed up their thoughts with: “it tastes like…blue.”
Celery soda
From tasting lightning in the sky to digging up vegetables in the ground, we’re moving from electricity vodka to celery soda.
Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray is all but impossible to find outside of the US, but across the pond, it is a beloved choice of beverage for many. According to Vice, the drink is also nicknamed “Jewish Champagne” due to its prevalence in Jewish delis, and with its sweet flavour, it’s easy to see why it would be paired with a good deli sandwich. This crisp and sweet fizzy drink is “slightly herbaceous”, which it no doubt owes to the unique inclusion of celery seeds in its recipe.
Rose Lemonade
We’re sticking with nature for the time being but shifting from green to pink. If celery soda doesn’t quite tempt you, we’re sure that the poetic-sounding Rose Lemonade will. Fentimans’ botanically brewed Rose Lemonade is flavoured with pure Otto rose oil from Rose Valley in Bulgaria.
With 4.4 out of 5 stars on Amazon.co.uk, the unusual addition of rose into a classic summer treat has gone down as a new favourite drink for many. The floral, sweet taste is a hit with many reviewers, and several note that it’s the perfect “grown-up drink” for the increasing number of people choosing to go low-or-no-alcohol these days.
Beefdrinker Teriyaki Beef Jerky Soda
Instead of pairing a fine red wine with your beef steak, why not pair it with…more beef? Yes, for those of us with a truly carnivorous streak, you can now have a meaty flavoured fizzy drink to go along with your mixed grill order – say hello to Beefdrinker’s Teriyaki Beef Jerky Soda. According to SodaPopOnline, the bottled beverage smells like soy sauce and is “surprisingly sweet” alongside its “authentic Teriyaki spices”.
Grass Soda
Could this be the perfect chaser for your beef-flavoured beverage? Or should we be mixing mocktail recipes with the previous entry and this grassy delight?
This peculiar offering has, rather more strangely, had rave reviews on Amazon. Several customers noted that it does indeed smell like freshly cut grass when opened. As for the flavour, one grass connoisseur commented, “I once ate grass as a kid (don’t judge, we all did), and this didn’t taste like grass.”
The Sourtoe Cocktail
We’re not sure how much flavour a frozen and preserved human toe adds to a drink, and we’re also not sure that we want to find out. But for those that do fancy dipping their…toes…into a truly unusual drink, Dawson City serves up the Sourtoe Cocktail.
According to Atlas Obscura, the toe-curling trend started when rum runner and miner Louie Liken suffered frostbite and had his toe amputated in the 1920s, opting to keep the severed toe preserved in a jar of alcohol. When the toe was found much later in 1973, it was brought to the Sourdough Saloon as a challenge: who could finish their drinks with a human toe floating in it?
The original toe was, however, lost in a freak champagne accident – it was swallowed – but the bar has managed to find more than ten donors in the years since.
You can still order the Sourtoe Cocktail to this day, so long as you follow two rules: one, if you swallow the toe, you pay a hefty fine of $2,500. Two, “You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow – but the lips have gotta touch the toe.”
There truly is a flavour for everyone, from subtle rose notes perfect for the summer to likely fungal bouquets of toe-infused chasers. Which one would you order?