Obscure food and bevs

[paralleljalebi]

I've been looking around grocery stores trying to find really oddball stuff. Some more out-there flavours, cool packaging. Trying to merge art and food together in my mind, making the experience of grocery shopping less of a chore and akin to a trip to an art gallery where you can take the works home and chow down.

[paralleljalebi]

Image.jpeg (906.04 KiB) Viewed 26 times

In Bellingham, WA over New Year's weekend, we went to an olive oil/cheese tasting room. The experience was lovely and they had a little section in the back with pastas, beers, hot sauces, and sodas. I picked up a bottle of Baladin's "Mela Zen" and it seemed so interesting to me. An 'Old World' packaging that made me instantly reminiscent of global-village-coffeehouse (GVC) looks from the 1990s. It had a unique flavour, similar to ginger ale, but more citric.

Ever since I've been trying to find out where to get more. Elephants Delicatessen doesn't have any at their NW 22nd location, haven't found any at the Orenco or Slabtown New Seasons, and I won't bother with any of the big-boy stores like Safeway. I was out on SE Division, the "Div" if I might start calling it, and while waiting for the westbound bus I walked around an upscale grocer on the corner. A little shop that was playing Caroline Polachek when I walked in. They had an assortment of everything in its most upscale, niche packaging. The cold bev fridge had two flavours of Baladin sodas. I asked the cashier if he knew where to find more of these, and he didn't, but he did say he made a shirley temple out of it before. Anyway, this one isn't as good as Mela Zen, but I relish in the packaging and the relief of finding these niche Italian sodas somewhere else in America.

[wallflowermolly]

birch beer is a scrumptious beverage - its a new england classic. most people ik either love it or hate it …. i loveee it !! i recomend

[paralleljalebi]

birch beer is a scrumptious beverage - its a new england classic. most people ik either love it or hate it …. i loveee it !! i recomend

looking into this on Wikipedia, id definitely try it as an ice cream float. root beer grew on me recently. welcome to the forum by the way!