there's been a little bin of pretty, bright red nuts sitting next to the cash register every time i've gone...there's always a damp paper towel covering them, and i wondered if they were betel nuts, or what?
so i asked the guy at the counter this morning (i go there sometimes en route to work) and he said they were kola nuts, two for a dollar. he told me you wash them, and then chew them and swallow the juice while you chew for a while, and eventually spit out the pulp once the juice is gone. okay! "it's very bitter, though..." he told me. "just buy one!" and very caffeinated!
i bought two, figuring i knew people who would want to try them. put one in my mouth a few minutes ago, and chewed.
holy crap, it was gross. it tasted completely un-kola-like. like an extremely bitter, crunchy potato (that dirt taste x4). i chewed it and managed to swallow maybe three loads of kola juice before i had to spit it out. interestingly, the pretty red-purple inside seemed to have turned greyish.
fuckin horrible! i guess it's an acquired taste, like cigarettes or coffee. i vowed immediately to eschew kola nuts forever and gave away the other one.
but now, ten minutes after the spitout, i actually think i might try them again! it's like having a bad trip, or smoking your first cigarette, or having a nightmare--immediately during/after, you're like NEVER AGAIN, but the next day you're like THAT WAS SO COOL!
so i asked the guy at the counter this morning (i go there sometimes en route to work) and he said they were kola nuts, two for a dollar. he told me you wash them, and then chew them and swallow the juice while you chew for a while, and eventually spit out the pulp once the juice is gone. okay! "it's very bitter, though..." he told me. "just buy one!" and very caffeinated!
i bought two, figuring i knew people who would want to try them. put one in my mouth a few minutes ago, and chewed.
holy crap, it was gross. it tasted completely un-kola-like. like an extremely bitter, crunchy potato (that dirt taste x4). i chewed it and managed to swallow maybe three loads of kola juice before i had to spit it out. interestingly, the pretty red-purple inside seemed to have turned greyish.
fuckin horrible! i guess it's an acquired taste, like cigarettes or coffee. i vowed immediately to eschew kola nuts forever and gave away the other one.
but now, ten minutes after the spitout, i actually think i might try them again! it's like having a bad trip, or smoking your first cigarette, or having a nightmare--immediately during/after, you're like NEVER AGAIN, but the next day you're like THAT WAS SO COOL!
