I grabbed this drink at a 7-11 in Beijing for about 7 RMB (about $1 USD). It's sour and tastes like sour apple even thought it's supposed to be plum flavor. I guess it's supposed to be some sort of plum wine, but with 4% alcohol it's more like a bad wine cooler. It's carbonated, weak, and overall not very tasty.

I first heard about Mary Jane's Soda online, as a part of the relaxing drinks trend, obviously using the name to relate it's properties to something like a weed soda, even though it contains no marijuana. It's made by The Relaxing Company, which also makes a relaxing tea. Both drinks contain kava extract as the active ingredient. Click "read more" for the full review.

Mary Jane's Soda tastes like a weak cola. it's got a little bit of carbonation, and is sweet like a typical brown soda. As for unique flavors, it tastes a little bit herbal or flowery, maybe similar to china cola or thums up. Based on taste alone, it's a respectable soda but nothing special.

I first drank one at 8:30pm, didn't feel much in the way of relaxation. Drank another at 9:30, and still didn't feel anything, or didn't think so. Since two was the limit on the bottle, I figured it would be enough to feel some kind of effect, so I waited a while. I read online that the effects sometimes take half an hour to take effect, which is why I waited so long in between bottles. If there was any effect after the 2nd bottle, it was indistinguishable from what could have been a placebo effect or me just being a little tired. At 11:00 I went for a third bottle in the name of science. After the third, I could feel some slight tingling sensation, and a very tiny bit of a "heavy arms" feeling, but only when I stayed perfectly still. It was so slight that if I moved or walked around, the feeling was completely gone. I can't honestly say that it felt relaxing at all though, but then again, I wasn't particularly stressed out to begin with either. After going to bed at around 1:00, I had trouble sleeping, but I can't attribute that to the drink either - it could easily just be my overactive mind. I can only safely say that Mary Jane's Soda didn't help me sleep better than usual.

There is one factor that may have interrupted the experiment - I ate a big bowl of noodles for dinner before drinking the soda. The website says to try it on an empty stomach. So, experiment two will be to drink it faster without any food beforehand to see if I can achieve some sort of significant relaxing effect.

Update: I decided to go all the way to test if there was any sort of effect whatsoever, so I drank the remaining bottles (don't try this at home), which was about 6 and I can conclusively say that it doesn't have any significant relaxing effect. If you are looking for a drink that does have noticeable relaxing effects, try Kava Kwik.

I came across this weird drink in Park City Utah, while on a snowboarding trip. Among all the other regular beer choices, there was this bizarre combination of clamato and Bud (plus a Bud Light version). For anyone who doesn't know, clamato=clam+tomato, clamato is a pretty weird drink in and of itself: tomato juice mixed with clam broth and spices.

See what it looks like after the jump!

I expected this clamato beer to be red, like a bloody mary, but it's actually pink and fizzy. It smells like a strange combination of beer, pizza, and fruit punch - not exaclty the most appetizing scent. How can I describe the flavor? The first thing it made me think of was Doritos, or some kind of chips & salsa. It doesn't seem like it should be a drink. It's thick and a little salty. This is definitely one of the weirdest beer mixes I have ever tried, I was really surprised to see it in the store in the first place, and the taste lived up to my every expectation. I honestly can't say I enjoy it, but I've heard from other people that it is good in the morning, and great for hangovers. I'm not sure how much of it I can actually drink, let alone finish off a 24 oz. can of the stuff.

I didn't know it at the time, but Chelada turns out to be a modern rendition of Michelada, a popular Mexican drink made with beer, tomato juice, lime juice, and spices. I recommend trying it in a nice Mexican restaurant rather than going with Chelada.

"Spring Water Infused With Fulvic Acid"

Ok, this is a strange drink by design. It's basically just black water. I saw it at a grocery store in New York that leans toward the healthy side of things. At first I thought it was just a black bottle, but after taking a look, I realized that it was actually black water in a clear bottle.

When I was checking out, the cashier said, "Oh that stuff's nasty!" When I asked why, what does it taste like, she responded "It's nasty: it's black!" No help there, but a funny reaction. I'm not sure that blk. appeals to the average person.

So, the color might fool you into thinking you're drinking flat coke, but it smells and tastes like nothing - or like water. It's just black water.

I'm not sure what fulvic acid is, so I looked it up: Fulvic acid is also known as Humic acid. Aside from turning water black, it seems to have some other uses too. Humic and Fulvic acids are commonly used as a soil supplement in agriculture (great) and sometimes as a nutritional supplement (It's apoly-electrolyte. I have no idea what that means).

The ingredients are: "Filtered spring water with the blk. proprietary blend of fulvic acid trace mineral complex."

The side of the bottle says: "Naturally black, blk. is a refreshing natural spring water infused with Fulvic Acid. Our organic proprietary formula, with a high pH of 9.0+, helps to balance the human body's pH levels. blk. contains over 77 trace minerals and electrolytes, which are an essential part of health & wellness: FRESH WATER TASTE. MAXIMUM BENEFITS. ENJOY THE DARK SIDE OF WATER."

We had just arrived in Jaisalmer not more than 20 minutes before noticing the “Gov’t Authorised Bhang Shop” sign in a tiny, tin-walled shack leaning up against the base of the old castle walls. The street smelled heavily of urine, as do many Indian streets, and hustlers abound, offering us leather goods and bracelets. A man wearing sunglasses coolly stirred a pot of green butter, or more likely “Ghee”, a clarified butter more commonly found in Indian foods. It was green from the cannabis he had been cooking into it.

Bhang is a preparation from the leaves and flowers (buds) of cannabis, traditionally harvested and prepared in Lassi form or smoked during the celebration of Holi and Vaisakhi.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we agreed. Let’s at least get a hotel room before imbibing something which may do nothing or do everything to our minds. So we did, in an old palace room in a crumbling building within the yellow walls of the so-called “golden city” of the Rajasthan region of Western India.

Stumbling down the narrow city streets, winding down to the base, avoiding cow feces and loud scooters and small motorcycles, we arrived once again at the “Gov’t Authorised Bhang Shop”. This time, our friend was sitting inside, looking out, smiling coolly and calmly at people passing by outside.

“I’ve been running this shop for 20 years”, he said, “Anthony Bourdain came here. Look, we have a DVD. Look at the photo of me and Anthony Bourdain”. He showed us a yellowed photograph and beat up DVD case, while the Anthony Bourdain Bhang Lassi special played on loop on the small TV inside his shack.

He had menus sitting around the cushions and plastic chairs inside his shack. There was a hookah in the middle, as well as a variety of bongs, pipes, and other smoking paraphernalia for sale inside his shop. The menu had a listing of Lassi drinks, an Indian yogurt drink sometimes sweetened and sometimes salted, and occasionally fruit flavored. These were all also mixed with his liquid Bhang concoction.

A few old men wandered up to his shop, handed him a few bills of Indian Rupees, and walked away with small bags of cannabis. He also offered cookies and baked goods, and there was a strong likelihood he had been snacking on these throughout the day.

We ordered two Banana Lassis, and ordered them strong. He asked us if we had experience with things like this and we confidently lied in the affirmative.

The Bhang Lassi tasted like a banana milkshake. It was greenish, had a slight cannabis-like odor to it, and a slight cannabis-like taste to it. It was quite refreshing, cold, and served in small metal cups. It was only a few ounces, probably 6 ounces or so, and we sipped on them for the next few minutes quietly, chatting occasionally about the shop, his baked offerings, and India.

It only took about twenty minutes, walking back up the windy streets to the hotel, for the drinks to begin to settle in. We passed by a merchant we had met before, and chatted with him for a few minutes which seemed like hours. He nodded, didn’t say a whole lot, and laughed and patted us on the backs.  We seemed to keep repeating ourselves, and the effects of the Bhang was definitely setting in slowly. After wandering in a blissful spaciousness along the warm windy streets, we made it back up to the crumbling yet vastly spacious room with bars and no glass for windows and a cool breeze flowing over the warm stone wall outside. The only thing I could think of at that point was to grab my iPod and headphones.

My friend realized he had forgotten his headphones in his car back down at the base of the castle, which was of course in our minds entirely unacceptable, and after moaning a bit, grabbed his keys and walked down to his car.

After that my memory was somewhat jeopardized. I have a vague memory of staring outside the windows, watching the sun go down slowly and relaxing to chillout music, like Thievery Corporation and Zero 7. This went on for a while, my thoughts carried myself back home, back to my relationships, my friends, my family, and things which had been on and off my mind while traveling around India.

At this point, the drink began to hit full force, about one hour in.

My friend came bursting back in the room, laughing hysterically, and I couldn’t resist and had to laugh too. We laughed, until we couldn’t breathe anymore, slamming our faces into the pillows, falling off our beds, blissfully freaking out in a soaring existence with our headphones on and music bringing a smooth yet grooving tempo to our lives.

We lay in our beds, staring at the Rajasthani artwork with elephants, kings, and camels painted on the walls of our ancient room. The sun setting outside cast a warm golden glow into the room, with a light breeze coming in through the barred glassless windows. Occasionally we would move, lift our arms, walk our legs up above our heads, stretch and shiver as the Bhang brought a heavy tingling sensation throughout our limbs and a light lofty relaxation to our cerebral selves.

After about three or four hours, I cannot remember if we fell asleep or not, but reality started to set back in. It was dark now, we were starving, yet still covered in a dense psychological haze. We agreed we should stand up, as shaky as our rubber limbs were and as unstable as our balance was, to find food while we still could.

After that, a glorious and lavish Indian feast followed atop the roof of one of the castle pillars, as well as a few Kingfisher beers, and the quiet desert in the distance like a dark ocean we were still floating gently in.

This is a guest post by Matt Boynton: This is a guest post by Matt Boynton: Matt is a world traveler and vagabonder financing his operations remotely through writing. He is in constant pursuit of new business ideas and beverages.

Photos © Matt Boynton: Don't Be Trashy, Recycle Bhang Shop

Kava kava is traditionally drank out of half of a coconut shell in Fiji and is also consumed in other Pacific nations. It's known for it's relaxing effects.

The first time I heard about kava, it was from one of my friends who bought some in powdered form online. He said it was supposed to have a relaxing effect. Long story short, he and my other friend decided to mix it into a protein shake and chug it.  I'm not sure what the reasoning was for this method, but I was a bit reluctant to try kava after they both got sick from it.

I wanted to wait to visit Vanuatu  and drink it in the traditional way, but I'll leave that for another post. Curiosity has gotten the best of me and I decided to order some kava online instead.

By the advice of my aforementioned friend, I didn't buy the same kava he did - I tried one that seemed a bit easier to prepare, called Kava Kwik from http://www.realkava.com/instant-kava.html . It turns out that this was a great move.

A week or so later, the Kava Kwik arrived in the mail. It comes in a powder in a small pouch which contains about 20 servings. The instructions say to use one teaspoon with two cups of water. I just estimated, adding a semi-heaping teaspoon. In retrospect, I may have added too much because it didn't dissolve completely the first time.

It's sortof a putrid green color, and smells really earthy, kind of like a bale of hay. Weird reference, but that's the closest thing I can think of.  When mixed with water, the taste is actually very mild. It tastes like grass, nothing really special or offensive about the taste, but not delicious either. It's a little bit tanniny and dry.

I could drink it straight, but I've heard that it's much more enjoyable with a fruit juice added in. Lemonade seemed like a good mix, so I added that in after a few tasting sips. At this point, it's a pint glass with about half water, half lemonade, and a teaspoon of instant Kava Kwik. The lemonade doesn't totally mask the grassy taste since it's diluted, but it does make it much more enjoyable.

After a few sips, the tip of my tongue and roof of my mouth in the front have a slight numbing sensation. After a few more sips and about 10 minutes, I feel the same sensation in the back of my throat. It's strange but not too unpleasant. From reading about it, I found that this is normal and to be expected when drinking kava.

Even though the instant Kava dissolves quickly, it also settles quickly, so you have to keep stirring it every few minutes.  I think this is just related to the fact that I put too much of the powder in.

8:52 - I've drank about 1/5th of the glass so far. It's making my tongue a little numb, but that's about it. It says that it could take 20 minutes to take effect, so I'm drinking it slowly.

9:10 - By now I've drank half of it and am feeling a bit more of a tired feeling in my face. The taste isn't bad, but I'm going to fill it up again with lemonade to dull the grassiness some more and give it some more flavor. mmm thats better

9:30 - about a third down after filling it back up with lemonade. I am feeling relaxed, legs feeling a bit tingly, and having a little difficulty focusing because I'm zoning out a little bit.

10:30 - I've been drinking it leisurely and feel a little bit relaxed, a little tingly in my legs from time to time. It's noticeable but subtle. As I finish the glass, I have to stir it more and more because the powder settles quickly. Since I drank one glass over 2 hours, I presume the effects are less than if I drank it all at once.

From my experience, the affects are just mild relaxation and perhaps some tiredness. It's probably best if you drink kava with friends as you're winding down for the night, not before you go out or need to do anything. While you do remain clearheaded, I find that I had a hard time focusing on tasks for an extended amount of time. Mostly because I just wanted to hang out and talk.

One thing is for sure though: if you want to feel the real effects of kava kava, definitely go with a real kava drink rather than something which claims to contain "kava extract" such as Mary Jane's soda. Kava Kwik has a much more significant effect than most of those "relaxing drinks." If you're drinking it for the taste though, kava powder might not be your thing and you should try something more commercial.

Dong Dong Ju is one of the greatest traditional alcoholic drinks of Korea. It's served in a bowl with a ladle, and drunk out of a bowl. It's thick like a soup, almost the texture of yogurt, and served cold. The first sip was extremely sour, with a slight flavor of rice wine. But it's actually pretty smooth. It goes down much easier than soju or makgeolli. It is a little sour, even after you get used to it, but there is no aftertaste.  It is alcohol, but even after drinking the whole bowl among two people, I can't feel any effects. It's definitely not as strong as the other Korean rice wines.

This drink is a specialty of a town in northern China called Cheng De (承德） where I tried it for the first time. The drink has since gained a lot of popularity throughout China. The name of this almond drink is 杏仁露 which literally means "almond nectar." The taste is nutty, sweet, and a little dry but refreshing, and has a milky consistency.

This almond drink is very simple - just water, sugar, and almond. Overall it's a good drink with a unique flavor. It's best when very cold.

If you're in the US and follow pop culture, you'll know that Charlie Sheen has tiger blood coursing through his veins. This is more than mere mortals can handle, but now we can get a taste of what it's like. Thanks to Harco Labs for harnessing the power of tiger blood for the average man in a convenient IV drip bag for easy transfusion.

Seriously though, according to the package, here are some rules to live by after drinking this tiger blood drink:

• 100% Passion
• Take more drugs than anyone could survive
• Bang 7 gram rocks
• Dying's for fools
• Party epically
• Expose people to magic, and then forget about them tomorrow
• Period. The end.

Talk about setting high expectations.  (I, and the drink makers, don't recommend doing drugs or banging any size rocks by the way). The drink in the pouch actually looks like the color and consistency of blood, which is pretty cool. But enough admiring the package - time to taste this tiger blood energy drink. I have two options, as the instructions on the back of the pouch explain:

First Option - Microwave:

1. Pour blood energy potion into a microwave safe container.
2. Microwave on high for 14 seconds or until 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Pour into a goblet. Enjoy.

This is clearly the correct way to drink tiger blood. I followed the instructions exactly. It is actually a pretty thick drink, like a melted cherry popsicle. And the taste is very artificial cherry. I wasn't sure if it would be good warm, but it's surprisingly not too bad. The meek (who probably shouldn't be drinking tiger blood anyway) can try the other method of preparation.

Option Two - From the Pouch:

1. Twist off cap, while holding upright.
2. Tip pouch into mouth.
3. Taste the sweet nectar of life.

The thickness of it is much more noticeable when it's cold, and I actually think it tastes better warm. As far as the energy drink factor, it's no spike shooter, but there's definitely an immediate energy boost, probably stronger than Redbull. If you're the kind of person who drinks energy drinks for the nutritional content, you might be happy to know that this is a "liquid iron, amino acid, and enzyme supplement" just like real blood.

If you're drinking tiger blood all day and get tired of just winning, be bi-winning like Charlie Sheen and get some Adonis DNA too.

I've never heard of chocolate tea before seeing this bottle in a local deli in New York, but since Rob says it's "really good," I  figured it was worth a taste. It actually tastes good, but not much like tea. The chocolate tea is weird because it has the consistency of iced tea, but has a full chocolate flavor. As you would expect, it's sweet  in the way that a chocolate-flavored drink should be. If you see this in a store and you like chocolate, since even though the name sounds weird, it doesn't taste much like tea at all.

It also has an interesting feel-good self-help mantra on the side in case you're feeling motivational when you drink it.