Vox Hunt: Drink Up

Show us a beverage you absolutely can't stand the taste of.

This is the infamous Beverly aperitif marketed by Coca Cola in Italy. Apparently, this stuff is popular enough to have been around for a long time. Why, I will never know.

The first second after you take a sip is faintly chemical, but not bad. Then, it hits you. And I really mean HITS you. I don't know how they manage to hide the bitter, sour, cough-syruplike taste for that brief split second, but that fact manages to make what comes afterward even harder to swallow. Quite literally. I gagged a bit.

Americans are quite used to sweet beverages, and perhaps someone might counter my dislike of Beverly with the possibility that our sweetened tastebuds have lent me a certain bias. But this isn't just a bit sour or kind of bitter, it's extremely potent and bitter.

I took this picture at Disney World last year at the Club Cool combination Coke memorabilia store and drink shop, where you can sample some of Coke's offerings from around the world for free. Many of the ones on tap, such as that Fanta Kolita you see there on the left, were quite good. I think my favorite was Israel's Kinley Lemon. My mother, who was on the trip with me, actually thought the Beverly wasn't so bad at first. She even took a second and third sip!  I don't know what expression my face wore, but I'm sure it was one questioning her sanity.

Beverly is so infamous that it's often used as part of a prank on those new to it by those in the know. There are pictures and videos on the internet of people trying it for the first time. My aunt told my cousin that it was her favorite, and my cousin fell for it, as many others have before. Apparently two guys at Dinsye World chugged 25 cups of the stuff in honor of Epcot's 25th anniversary. And then, there is the video of some kids who bet their friend he couldn't drink 10 cups of Beverly in 7 minutes.

I also can't stand vodka, but Beverly is much more fun to write about.