Mastic Water + Pomegranate
the finest room odoriser, distilled into a drink.
what exactly is mastic, you ask? it’s resin, produced by a range of trees from Greece’s Chios island, the flavour of which is meant to be bitter at first, then eventually turn into something not unlike pine or cedar. however, wikipedia only makes reference to the flavour profile of a chewable product derived from the resin. will this carry across to the drink at hand?
taste profile: as soon as you crack open then can, you get an overwhelming waft of artificial flavours. these are meant to be the pomegranate, though i am already going in with a good dose of caution. to its defence, the smell is ever so slightly pungent, not unlike the vapours of a real pomegranate.
the first mouthful proves to be shocking: to subvert all of my expectations, the drink is not sweet at all. instead, a taste best characterised as “resiny” hits the very front of my tongue, going on a short, bitter, and fizzy trip throughout my mouth. the bitterness of it is strong enough to make an impression on the back of my throat too. indeed, it evolves from an odoriser-like flavour profile, to something akin to fir or cedar - just as described on wikipedia. it’s complex, it evolves, but it reminds me of something you’d hang on the rear-view mirror of your car and forget about for a few months. at the very end of the gustatory experience, i got some pomegranate, but it tastes artificial, so much so that it leaves behind the same ol’ stickiness i keep going on about in practically all of my articles.
rating: possibly another one-hit-wonder: i’ll have tried it once, thought about it, then promptly moved on. who is this made for? mastic enthusiasts? i’d say this is a novelty drink. 6/10.
health impact: no sugar. no sweeteners either. just mastic oil. i may look into making a “healthiness scale” of sorts in the future. for now, this drink gets an appropriately vague “good” score.
background: at the time of writing, masticwaterplus.com did not work. the facebook page is up and running, but has not seen any new posts since may 2022. we do get a bit of closure on what this product is supposed to be (automatically translated from Greek for your convenience): “Available at: GALAXY super market chain, JUMBO department stores and eshops.” i got this from Jumbo, while shopping for household consumables.
