# Worst Beverage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [March 14, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850 "2024-03-14T23:38:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/61 "2024-03-15T12:11:25Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > It has been many years now but I recall a Malort ad they’d hang around each bottle which said 49 out of 50 people who try Malort never try it again. So, that means 2% of people seem to like it (or are into the pain). And, since they are still in business, I guess someone must like it (in the Chicago metro area that’d be around 190,000 people). You may be one of those people. As I’ve told the story before, back in 2007, when I was dating my wife-to-be, I took her to Yakzie’s on Diversey for some good chicken wings (she’s from Buffalo) and to introduce her to Malort, as it was just starting its hipster revival and you had to know which bars stocked it. I just told her that she had to try it and it was a classic old man’s drink in Chicago. She downed the shot. I eagerly awaited her reaction. Nothing. “That’s not too bad!” I knew then she would be my wife. As I said above, I enjoy It unironically, and my father really likes it because it’s essentially exactly the same as _piołunówka_, a Polish drink of wormwood macerated in alcohol. One brand used to be available in the US until some time in the 90s, so Malort is the closest substitute. There are other very bitter-type macerations and liqueurs that he (and I) enjoy as well which don’t fit the average American taste preferences but is common in at least parts of Europe. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/62 "2024-03-15T12:22:16Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Kvass is disgusting. It’s a soda made from rye bread people. Pro tip: commas are important. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/63 "2024-03-15T12:23:21Z")
I would like to meet a rye bread person, seedless. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/64 "2024-03-15T12:34:30Z")
As I have said…I really dislike Malort but your (now) wife’s reaction would impress me too. (I’m not after your girl.) ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/65 "2024-03-15T12:47:07Z")
We once bought a bottle of Ng Ka Py, after reading about it in _East of Eden_. Steinbeck wrote that it tasted like rotten apples, but it didn’t even taste that good. It tasted like muddy water with decayed weeds mashed up in it, and we tossed it after one sip. [But the bottle was cute](https://imwine.us/brooklyn-liquor-delivery/ng-ka-py-750ml.html). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/66 "2024-03-15T14:18:10Z")
Using SodaStream people have apparently made Marmite and Vegemite sodas. I have no idea why. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/67 "2024-03-15T14:21:01Z")
Man, I have _got_ to try that! I do love my yeast spreads. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/68 "2024-03-15T14:24:21Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > Energy drinks are a close second. A raging first with me. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/69 "2024-03-15T14:26:03Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Using SodaStream people have apparently made Marmite and Vegemite sodas. I have no idea why. My WAG (read that again) is those with a SodaStream realized it was more than worthless (cost more to use than just buying soda) that they sought alternate uses to make it worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/70 "2024-03-15T14:44:07Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I had the pleasure of trying a beverage called [Beverly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_(drink)) when I visited Epcot Center back in 2000. Beverly was going to be my answer, but I couldn’t remember the name of it. I, too, tasted it at Epcot in Disney World. It was horribly bitter, and I have no doubt that the series of faces I made upon tasting it were highly amusing to any and all onlookers. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/71 "2024-03-15T14:45:31Z")
Shasta Chocolate Soda was the worst I ever had. Looking back they may have been going for a poor person’s egg cream. When I had an egg cream as an adult I wasn’t impressed, but at least I could finish it. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/72 "2024-03-15T14:47:24Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > When I had an egg cream as an adult I wasn’t impressed, but at least I could finish it From this time on, we can only meet as enemies. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/73 "2024-03-15T15:10:37Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I’ve encountered nothing yet that eclipses Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda in sheer awfulness. T’was my dad’s favorite! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/74 "2024-03-15T15:18:57Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > [@Telemark](#): > > > > Using SodaStream people have apparently made Marmite and Vegemite sodas. I have no idea why. > > My WAG (read that again) is those with a SodaStream realized it was more than worthless (cost more to use than just buying soda) that they sought alternate uses to make it worthwhile. - _That’s_ desperation. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/75 "2024-03-15T15:55:31Z")
Fernet is apparently very popular with chefs and their underlings. It’s not terrible. I like it more than Moxie or energy drinks. I have never tried Malort but enquired about it here after _The Economist_ made fun of it. > [@Malört And Other Weird Local Tipples](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/malort-and-other-weird-local-tipples/982174): > > I have never heard of Malört, a wormwood drink popular in Chicago (and now also sold in Ohio) until reading about it in The Economist, though it has been mentioned in passing here (as hard to explain to aliens, and when discussing bitters). Sounds like a possible cross between absinthe and sewage waste, but that might be unfair. But there are lots of local tipples, and often reason they stay local. Screech is rum too toxic for Jamaicans, foisted on visitors to beautiful Newfoundland in the C… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/76 "2024-03-15T15:56:08Z")
I’ve had many hideous alcoholic beverages. Malort was interesting but not horrible. I had a stout made from incredibly hot peppers that was difficult to consume and caused severe diarrhea for two days, but the taste was actually okay. I like sour beers. I’ve happily gotten drunk on beer so sour that some people who tried it would spit it out, then rinse their mouths with water. Maybe the worst beverage I’ve had was Angostura Bitters. Usually a couple of drops are added to a drink, but I’ve done shots of it (bitters shots are a thing). It’s fairly high in alcohol, but doing a second shot after downing your first is difficult. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/77 "2024-03-15T15:58:49Z")
For a short time [Coca Cola with coffee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_with_Coffee) was available in the US. I tried it once. Unbelievably horrible. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/78 "2024-03-15T16:01:03Z")
Pepsi Kona was sold too. I remember an ad featuring Tom Jones. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/79 "2024-03-15T16:02:24Z")
I’ve never tried Moxie, but I think its a great choice for a daughters name, as Penn Jillette has done. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850/80 "2024-03-15T16:24:28Z")
> [@Jihi](#): > > “This is just s\*\*\*\*\* watered down chocolate milk. I can get chocolate milk for a quarter at school. Why would I want to drink this s\*\*\* and it’s more expensive?” Preach it! 👏 👏 👏 > [@ParallelLines](#): > > Another drink that absolutely doesn’t work for me although others apparently love it is Yoo-Hoo. It tastes to me of everything being cheap and shoddy, with a chocolate that falls short of even the travesty that is the Nesquik Rabbit. I mean it’s just bad chocolate flavor even by the loose American standards of chocolate. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > [@Telemark](#): > > > > Using SodaStream people have apparently made Marmite and Vegemite sodas. I have no idea why. > > My WAG (read that again) is those with a SodaStream realized it was more than worthless (cost more to use than just buying soda) that they sought alternate uses to make it worthwhile. It’s not worthless but it ISN’T a savings if used as intended (with the company’s mixes and sky-high carbonation refills). It works fine if you want to use it to make custom sodas with homemade and higher quality ingredients (I have a Nuka-cola mix made from the Fallout Cookbook that is shockingly good) or just want to easily carbonate water (my wife’s preference). But yeah, even then I’d advise buying an after market addition to use alternate bottling - even at the refill prices the carbonation is overpriced and do NOT make the listed volume if used as directed (average 40L product from the 60L bottle). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-beverage/998850.md?page=5)