MAYrathon 2.0 Day 19 - Mc Col?

Not really sure what to expect with this one. This is Mc Col, a South Korean Barley Flavored Carbonated Drink. Huh? While I am a fan of beer, my experience with barley in general has not been good. I had one of those Malta Goya drinks once that seem to be popular in Latino cultures, and I thought it was just awful. Even more recently, I had some stupid marmite and wanted to chop off my tongue. So barley and I don't have the greatest track record, but I'm certainly up to the challenge, especially since this pop is pretty much my last name.

According to this guy, I'm sure to love it!

There's not a ton of info online about this soda, but it's apparently Korea's first barley soda, and is often used as an O'Doul's type non-alcoholic alternative to beer. It's described by some as crisp and refreshing while others refer to it as bitter, sour and...fuzzy? And everything I've read on it points to the fact that people love it...eventually. It's an acquired taste that you have to get used to I guess. The 1.5 liter bottle is massive and includes both Korean and English wording. For reasons unknown, their tagline seems to be - "Spark Up!" I don't know if that's just lost in translation or means something different in Korean, but I don't plan to roll this up in a dubester and smoke it outside the Walgreen's. I want to drink it. Ingredients are simply: water, fructose, sugar, carbon dioxide, citric acid, barley extract and natural lemon lime flavor.

Alright, I'm going to try and go for a swig of this massive bottle without cramping up or spilling it on my computer. The smell is none too pleasing. It's essentially dirt. I can smell a little barley, but it's overall just a dirty, rustic smell. Let's go in for a drink...it's...weird. The front end of the taste is Dr. Pepper while the aftertaste is barley, grains and lemons. It's a little like if someone dropped a dollop of marmite into a bottle of Dr. Pepper. Weird. I guess I don't hate it, but I don't think I'll ever look for it again. You get a passing grade, Mc Col, but just barley...I mean BARELY. AHAHAHAHA.