IRN-BRU – “Not A Source Of Iron. Scottish Soft Drink.”
The entire wikipedia write-up on IRN-BRU is fascinating, but here is the most vital statistic:
“Coca-Cola is the market leader for soft drinks in all countries of the world, except Scotland, where the locally produced Irn Bru is more popular, and Quebec, Canada, where Pepsi is the market leader.“
Allow me to leave the usual Quebec/Pepsi jokes aside for a moment, and address IRN-BRU, the “Scottish Soft Drink”. It is amazing to me that a “country” which doesn’t even have the benefits of, oh, self-determination can still muster up the nerve to declare an official “national” soft drink. Nevertheless, I appreciate the sense of oppositional brand loyalty that makes IRN-BRU so successful in Scotland. However, I find the stuff more or less unpalatable unless augmented by some quality gin. 50/50%.
But what does it taste like?
Huh?
Oh – well – I can’t even tell you what it is supposed to taste like. It’s one of those drinks that is just some indefinable flavor – not associated with any naturally-occurring food substance. It’s a kind of a cream soda with odd bubblegum/orange undertones.
In fact, I don’t suffer from synesthesia, but I have a difficult time distinguishing between the color of the drink and its flavor. That’s how unrelated it is.