I Try It So You Don’t Have To: Basil Seed Drink

This is one of those items that, when I saw it on the shelf, made me ask myself  “Why is this a thing?” I picked up the can and looked over the ingredients list, and it did not alleviate my confusion. Basil seeds and artificial cream soda flavoring just don’t go well together in my head.

But that odd combination made it a perfect candidate for an “I Try It” article, so I brought it home.

I popped the can and took a whiff. It didn’t smell like anything but “sweet”, which was not encouraging. I poured it into a glass and the appearance led me to this little game. You tell me which is which basil seed drink and which is frogs’ eggs.

Pretty tough to tell, isn’t it? Not an appetizing comparison. I hoped it would taste better than it looked.

I took a sip and the texture killed it immediately: thick and viscous with slimy tapioca-like lumps. I like tapioca, but this is nasty. The artificial flavoring was prominent and the seeds themselves were slimy, plump nuggets of terrible. I took another swallow and that was all I could handle. I tried to bite down on the seeds but they were so slippery and small that I couldn’t even bite through them. Even with all that effort I still never tasted anything like basil.

I did a bit of digging after my tasting and basil seeds are reputed to have many health benefits. Considering every recipe, regardless of sweetness, calls for soaking the seeds in order to “swell” them, I think I will find my health benefits elsewhere.

Basil seed drink gets a “you don’t have to” from me.