Tastes Like…?

Green Shower Sparkling Water! Let’s see, this will taste like…what ARE those artfully clustered things at the top of the label? At first I thought PINECONES. I check what might be the Japanese description below. The kanji reads, “fragrant charcoal sour water.” Oops, my bad, charcoal + sour = carbonated, who knew. This does not help me know what to expect when I pour myself a tall one.

Okay, when in doubt, read the fine print on the back. Aha, they’re hops. Yes, the kind they make beer from. Beer flavored water! I uncap it and take a sniff. Huh. Pine-y. Take a swig. Pine-y and mint-y. Green Shower, I don’t really know what I expected, but I am disappoint.

Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.