# What Do You Think Of Malta (Soft Drink) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [March 21, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184 "2010-03-21T00:06:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/1 "2010-03-21T00:06:11Z")
I always see the Spanish people in my neighborhood drinking this beverage, usally called [Malta (Goya)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta_(soft_drink)) (Goya being the brand name) It was on sale at the grocer yesterday 2 for $1.00 so I bought one. I thought it’d be like a non-alocholic beer. While I don’t like the taste, to me it tasted like water with a malt aftertaste, I didn’t hate it. I wouldn’t buy it again. So does anyone here like it? If so let’s hear about it ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/2 "2010-03-21T00:08:31Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I always see the Spanish people in my neighborhood drinking this beverage, usally called [Malta (Goya)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta_(soft_drink)) (Goya being the brand name) > > It was on sale at the grocer yesterday 2 for $1.00 so I bought one. I thought it’d be like a non-alocholic beer. While I don’t like the taste, to me it tasted like water with a malt aftertaste, I didn’t hate it. I wouldn’t buy it again. > > So does anyone here like it? If so let’s hear about it No, it’s not good. The versions I’ve had are cloying (I think I had Pony Malta, which also had a little oopsy moment when someone spiked a few batches with cocaine, whether as part of a smuggling attempt or what I forget). And I like malt flavor, whether it be in beer, malted milk, etc. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/3 "2010-03-21T01:28:55Z")
It’s the drink of the gods… And because I grew up loving it, now my favorite beers are dark beers. Good malta follows the same process as beer making up to the fermentation stage (I did a research paper about the malta industry when I was in junior high). Instead of being fermented, it goes straight to filtering and pasteurization. Malta Goya is not the best brand, but it is the one easiest to find around here. I’m biased towards Malta India. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/4 "2010-03-21T01:35:17Z")
Vile stuff. I grew up in a Hispanic neighborhood in New York, although I am not of Hispanic descent myself, and when I was a kid lots of my friends drank that stuff. Every little store in the neighborhood sold it. We’d go in, I’d buy a Coke or whatever, and my friends would buy malta. I never, despite continual exposure from an early age, developed a taste for it. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/5 "2010-03-21T03:06:16Z")
I drank it once, out of curiosity. I seem to remember it tasted like carbonated soy sauce with a half a cup of sugar thrown in. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/6 "2010-03-21T03:39:34Z")
It’s vile. ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/7 "2010-03-21T03:41:30Z")
Great for reducing for a bbq sauce base, but nauseating as a hot summer refresher. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/8 "2010-03-21T04:37:12Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > So does anyone here like it? If so let’s hear about it It’s nasty, vile, and quite disgusting. I can’t decide whether I hate Moxie more. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/9 "2010-03-21T08:34:09Z")
My dad’s side of the family is Puerto Rican. He and my uncles _love_ the stuff. I’ve tried to like it but there is just no way. I actually like the way it smells but the taste…yuck. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/10 "2010-03-21T09:10:44Z")
Wow, I haven’t thought about Malta in ages. We had this in Cameroon- it was popular with people who don’t drink. Most foreigners never really got a taste for it, but some people swore by it. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/11 "2010-03-21T14:00:40Z")
I’m not a fan. Maybe if it weren’t so sweet. I prefer beer. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/12 "2010-03-21T17:01:16Z")
When I was a kid, I loved to eat Grape-Nuts heavily sweetened with sugar. When I was finished with the cereal, I’d drink the sugar/cereal-dust sludge from the bottom of the bowl. That sludge is what Maltas taste like. I can take it, don’t think they’re gross, and have a couple of bottles of Malta India in the fridge, but they could stand to be much less sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/13 "2010-03-21T22:41:37Z")
I was reading online you should try drinking Malta with condensed milk. Has anyone tried that? ---
**Author:** ![ChadNFreude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@ChadNFreude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChadNFreude)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/14 "2014-03-29T22:22:31Z")
I think if you’re smart you’ll stay away from this stuff. The coloring is loaded with carcinogens. Malta is the worst offender according to this chart of tests. Check it out. ☹ > **[These 11 popular sodas tested positive for a potential carcinogen.](https://www.motherjones.com/food/2014/01/sodas-contain-caramel-colored-carcinogen-4-mei/)** > > A chemical used for caramel color could cause cancer—and it's very common in soft drinks, Consumer Reports finds. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/15 "2014-03-31T02:34:07Z")
> [@ChadNFreude](#): > > I think if you’re smart you’ll stay away from this stuff. The coloring is loaded with carcinogens. Malta is the worst offender according to this chart of tests. Check it out. ☹ > > [These 11 Popular Sodas Tested Positive for a Potential Carcinogen – Mother Jones](http://www.motherjones.com//blue-marble/2014/01/sodas-contain-caramel-colored-carcinogen-4-mei) I think if you’re that worried about minuscule quantities of of methylmidazole, you’ll stay away from cooked meat and fermented foods. No cause for concern here unless you’re chugging it by the keg. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/16 "2014-03-31T10:34:56Z")
Adore it. First drank it in St. John, US Virgin Islands, in 1980. Still do occasionally when visiting Honduras or other places with a Caribbean coastline. Good cold or room temperature. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/17 "2014-03-31T11:43:32Z")
I like to mix it with juice, apricot brandy and high-proof rum and drink it while listening to The Cranberries. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/18 "2014-03-31T11:57:46Z")
Malta yuck. ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Younkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8dc957/32.png) [@Ed\_Younkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Younkin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/19 "2015-06-17T02:34:18Z")
I found it in The late 80’s in PR. It was labeled there and in Florida through the next decade ( if you have psychotic conditions do not consume ) but not so now. It makes me sleep, gain weight and gives me full color very pleasant dreams. ---
**Author:** ![NuclearBombPop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@NuclearBombPop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NuclearBombPop)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184/20 "2015-06-17T08:11:05Z")
I tried Malta Goya (the only brand I’ve seen around here) once about two years ago because I had seen it in the Mexican foods section of my grocery store next to the Jarritos (a good brand of pop in various flavors.) I don’t plan on buying it again, though I might try a different brand if it were available. I really don’t know why it seemed so weird to me; I love Grape Nuts and malted milkshakes. > [@Ed\_Younkin](#): > > I found it in The late 80’s in PR. It was labeled there and in Florida through the next decade > ( if you have psychotic conditions do not consume ) but not so now. > It makes me sleep, gain weight and gives me full color very pleasant dreams. Are you sure you’re thinking of the sickly-sweet malt water stuff? Am I just being whooshed? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-malta-soft-drink/533184.md?page=2)