Trifter

Many countries have their own specialty drinks that taste really bad to the rest of us, but are very popular with the locals. This is a part of their own special cultural identity. Here are six of these that could certainly be called an “acquired taste”.

Baby Mice Wine from China: This is a rice wine with baby mice and is said to be good for asthma but you must swallow a mouse with the drink to get the full effect.

Seagull Wine which is made by the Eskimoes: This is simply made by putting a dead seagull in water, sealing it in a bottle and leaving it in the sun to ferment. Tasty!

Cynar from Italy: This is a liquer made from artichokes. It has been described as being a vile smelling and worse tasting mix of burned artichokes and alcohol. It is brown like the water you get when you soak a burned vegetable pan in water and it smells even worse. Have you ever boiled a pan of potatoes dry? Well, this smells three times as bad. However, someone out there must like it.

Urine: That’s right, plain and simple pee from cows. This is a popular drink among the native people in Kenya. Somehow I don’t see this becoming commercially viable in Europe and US.

Vine Snake Whiskey from Thailand: This drink certainly looks lethal with that coiled up snake in the bottle. This whiskey is flavored with Asian Vine Snake which is said to be only mildly venomous, but it still looks quite threatening in that bottle.

Blood and Milk Cocktail: This is a Masai ceremonial drink made from cows milk and blood and served warm. It is enjoyed by the Masai People of Tanzania, Africa. The people in the photo look very happy with it, but most of us would be slightly queasy at the idea. Yuk!