I still recall the first time I ever tried a "mixed beverage." Mind you, I'm not referring to alcoholic beverages; I'm talking about the juice drinks that are blended from two (or more) different juices.

I was 4, maybe 5 years of age. My Dad had poured two glasses, and gave one to me. This particular juice was Strawberry-Banana-Orange juice. I took a sip, and liked it a lot. Dad asked me what I thought of the flavor, and while my mind was thinking "Wow, this is such a splendid melody of flavors blended together, tantalizing my taste buds with their alternating sweetness and tartness!", my child mouth managed to verbalize something to the effect of "It's Good."

Then, my Dad said "Try this. When you take your next sip, think of the taste of a Banana. If you think of 'Banana', you'll taste 'Banana'."

So I took my next sip, and concentrated intently on the Banana flavor. I'll be damned! I was now drinking Banana juice! Granted, the other flavors were still there, but much less prominent, as if they were dulled into the background while Banana became the dominant flavor.

I was astounded. I then took another sip, concentrating solely on the Strawberry flavor, and it morphed into Strawberry juice. The same for the orange. By this point, I was smiling at my new discovery, but I had finished the glass of juice. I promptly asked for more so I could try some more experiments.

I tried grepping out two out of the three flavors with limited success, but the real fun was taking a large gulp, and alternating flavor thoughts as the juice passed from the front to the back of my mouth, and down my throat. I had discovered how to make this juice into a strobe-effect of flavor, and I was laughing with pure delight.

To this day, if I find myself drinking a juice-mix, I'll divide up the flavors in my mind. It's a lot more interesting than just blindly drinking it.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.