SCIENCE! Flat Steelhead Spicy Draft

Given my lackluster response to the Steelhead Spicy Draft (which, again, still requires a re-taste at the source to eliminate possibility of flattening during transport), I still have a not-insignificant amount of it languishing in the fridge. Also, given that it was somewhat flat-feeling to begin with, you can imagine that the extended stay in the fridge didn’t exactly improve that situation. So I did what any responsible root beer swilling adult would have done under those circumstances.

I dropped a Fizzie in it.

The Pooj is pretty sure this is a bad idea.

Before we go any further, I should amend the post title since this isn’t strictly SCIENCE! with a capital SCIENCE! It’s more pseudo-SCIENCE, much like alchemy or marine biology. Semantics aside though, here’s the Fizzie in action:

Plop plop, fizz fizz.

You can see the Fizzie mid-fizz(ie) on the left, and the finished product at right – clearly it succeeds in adding some carbonated life to the flat Steelhead Spicy Draft. Curiously enough, it also seems to alter the color of the original beverage, which is fairly dark on its own. The fizzing process itself seems less smooth than last I activated the bubbling beast, with carbonation fizzing forth from the tablet in relatively regular but distinct spurts. Perhaps this is a normal tablet reaction upon contact with an already saturated solution, but that’s hard to prove one way or the other. It also leaves an oil-slick-type sheen on the top of the beverage, which I don’t recall happening in simple water-based Fizzie. Maybe the sheen was there before, too, but there just wasn’t enough contrast in the clearer fluid than there is now in the darker base – who knows?

Regardless, it’s bad. Very bad. It still smells like root beer, but given how strong the Steelhead Spicy Draft was before, that’s not altogether surprising. The scent is diluted slightly compared to that of the base material, but not nearly as dramatically as the taste is overpowered by the Fizzie. As sharp as the Spicy Draft once was, the Fizzie flavor completely takes over, and I get a thick, tart, and cloying result. Drawing comparisons is difficult, since I’ve never tasted anything like this before (and hopefully won’t ever again…).

Needless to reiterate, this stuff is pretty gross. It leaves a heavy, sour taste in my mouth and makes my teeth feel squeaky. Don’t say I never took one for the team, and definitely don’t try this at home.

Carry on then, carry on.