How far is too far when it comes to flavouring soft drinks?

For the Japanese company Kimura Beverage, the line doesn’t exist.

The company is considered a bit of a pioneer in Japan for their experimentation with flavours that you normally wouldn’t find in drink form, like pickled plums, fish eggs and potato chips.

One might argue that these flavours should never have found their way into drink form, but here we are, and it doesn’t get better.

Oddity Central goes on to list curry cola, melon bread cola, and even eel cola.

Kimura Beverage has a portfolio of more than 100 soft drinks, many of which consist of unusual flavors. The company’s strategy is to produce as many flavors as possible, to appeal to a wider audience, and the weird flavors have their own part to play in this.

Kimura says many of its unusual flavors are bought by tourists as souvenirs, and that the drinks are sometimes hits in regions where the recipes they are based on are popular. For example, the company chose to market its spicy mentaiko drink in Fukuoka, where the salted and spiced fish eggs are very popular.

I know everyone has their own preferences, but some of these are way, way out there.

Try not to gag:

No, they’ve gone too far.

I’m all for experimentation and pioneering new things, but I prefer my mixers on the finely crafted, delicately balanced side of things.

I would say Grapefruit Tonic is about as adventurous as I want to be for the time being, and that box is ticked by Fitch & Leedes.

Their range of authentic mixers is made with quadruple-filtered water for ultimate purity, with the added bonus of not an eel in sight.

Having necked a few of the aforementioned Grapefruit Tonic, I can confirm it’s zesty, tastes great with gin or on its own (but go with gin, you’ve earned it), and you don’t have to fly to Japan to find it.

Moreover, it’s adventure that won’t leave you feeling like you just participated in an episode of Fear Factor.

Keep the eels where they belong –  in the water.

[source:odditycentral]