Happy Potion

Truth be told, I have a lot of insights I'd like to share at the moment but I am quickly running out of time. Instead of a lengthy discourse, I'd just like to share a concept called Happy Potion.

See, there do exist, in this heather world, certain fluid mixtures that, for some unknown reason, give an inexplicable feeling of happiness and contentment the moment the drink slides down one's throat. It is not all about the taste, but also involves the scent and even the after-taste.

C2, a local iced/green tea product by the Universal Robina Corporation, was one drink I was, at first, doubtful of. After all, I have sampled several powdered iced tea mixes that, to me, one company's lemon iced tea tastes pretty much the same as the next one's. They claimed to give a cool and clean feeling, hence, the name. Initially, they released four flavors: green tea, lemon, peach and apple. While it is true that their lemon iced tea tasted as I suspected, their peach-flavored green tea got me hooked.

Somewhere in the year 2006, they released four new flavors: strawberry, lychee, kiwi and forest fruits. I don't think I'd like to taste anything lychee anytime soon. Their strawberry-flavored green tea was just as alright as my beloved peach. Their kiwi and forest fruits flavors, however, made a loyal consumer out of me.

Kiwi-flavored green tea had this peculiar scent that breezes through my nostrils as the drink sloshes down my throat. It has an indescribably lingering after-taste. Forest fruits, on the other hand, had an overpoweringly sweet scent and after-taste. It is best imbibed cool, but not cold, since much of the flavor is lost on freezing taste buds. Drinking any of these two flavors brought a smile out of me, sometimes in unlikely places, earning me a few strange looks from onlooking people.

The only possible downside I can see is that the two flavors are, well, strong, as a matter of fact, stronger than peach. They have this irritating feel at the back of the throat not quite different from that left behind by an oversweet drink. For me, however, it is best described as the pinching feel left behind by a strong orange juice. The price, however, is quite affordable to a lot of middle-class pedestrians, with the small bottle ranging from PhP18.00 to PhP22.00

A pizza company, Shakeys, has recently released here in our country their newest offering for the summer. With the ordinary name Fruit Coolers, the menu described it as "A mix of fresh fruit syrup and mint, mixed with soda that gives a cool and refreshing feeling. Enjoy it in green apple and watermelon flavors." I must admit, the "cool and refreshing" clichè and the oxymoron "fresh fruit syrup" had me in doubt. However, one sip of the watermelon flavor is all it took to turn me into a believer, gloria hallelujah!

The fruity taste of watermelon was a bit shocking at first, abruptly biting the tip and the sides of your tongue. After a few moments, the coolness of soda water will wash over you and the scent of mint will relax you as you exhale. Again, a waiter and a waitress gave me funny looks; I then realized that I had yet another of those Happy Potion smiles plastered on my face.

The price can be a bit high for some pedestrians, like students, for example, but I do think the PhP54.00 I've spent on a glass is quite worth the exhilarating experience.

I'd like to conclude this time, not with a stanza of poetry, but with a few words straight from my heart. Somewhere in this heathen world, there is a Happy Potion meant for you. Go out, search for it and, when you finally find it, keep the experience in your memory. Remember that there once was a time a drink made you smile. Lastly, remember to drink it again sometime in the future.

No, seriously, I'm fresh out of poetry.