Didn’t want to hijack the absinthe rant down in the Pit, so I thought I’d throw this out here.
I read elucidator’s description of how foul his absinthe tea was, and it brought back memories of the worst stuff I’ve ever ingested. I’m not going to insist it’s worse than the absinthe tea, but I’m willing to bet if elucidator tried this stuff, he’d at least have to think for a minute: quinine
Way back in '89, I went on a caving expedition in southern Costa Rica. Because malaria exists down there, we were all advised to take quinine. I went to the doctor and got a prescription for the generic stuff, the dosage of which was one tablet per week for three weeks prior to departure, while in country, and for ten weeks after that.
Don’t ever get the generic stuff. Pay extra for a brand name that is COATED.
After my first tablet, all the remaining ones went like this: I’d pour myself a 12 ounce glass of Pepsi, THROW THE TABLET DOWN MY THROAT and chug the Pepsi. OK, so Pepsi may be a little wimpy, but I’m addicted to the stuff. But the taste of the quinine was horrible beyond belief. Pure essense of distilled bitterness. I’ve read that the human tongue can detect quinine in lower concentrations than any other natural substance. I can believe it.
Towards the end of the post travel period, the tablets began to chip. The next to last week, when I tossed in the tablet, it shattered and the dust and grit went all over my mouth. I thought my tongue was going to turn black and fall out . Arrrgggggghhhhh.
That stuff was really, really vile.