I remember Shasta Black Cherry, but only from 12oz. cans. and root beer. I still cannot love root beer. I will drink the occasional Dr. Pepper, but I just don't get root beer. I do feel like I'm missing out on something everyone else understands.
Mormons love soda/pop/whatever. I remember us thinking how awesome it was when they released 3L plastic bottles of black cherry shasta. I played a lot of video games, watched a lot of movies and sports while sharing one of those with family and friends. Makes me sick to even think about it now.
When my wife and I were on our honeymoon, we spent some time in Boston. One night, we went to a Red Sox game at Fenway. Before the game, we ate at an Indian Restaurant near the BU campus. It was early, so it was just us and a college age couple. We ordered their medium. It was hot AF. I remember telling my wife around the 7th inning that I could still feel the heat on my lips. The guy in other couple wanted hot. The waiter asked if he'd ever had Indian food. No, but he ate Mexican a lot. The waiter tried once again to talk him out of it. No, the guy insisted, he could handle it. He could not handle it. But to the kid's credit (well, he was a young man on a date, no way he was going to surrender) he tried. There was a waiter in the room with water. He would refill our glasses regularly. After a few minutes, he was just standing by their table. Of course, water doesn't help. The head waiter eventually brought out a fresh platter of naan, telling him it would actually help. Dude wolfed that naan like a hyena finishing off the remains of a wildebeest.
I’ve done this to myself, but I think it was when I ordered a Thai dish at a 2-3 out of 5. I must have failed to miss a full hot pepper somewhere in the dish.
Told this before....back in the day when I could handle a bit of heat Wifey was making a sandwich for me. She was adding some peppers that were home canned from Spain. She got a tiny bit of olive oil on her finger....when she licked it off her scream was heard for miles.
A few years after this event my wife and I were at an academic conference with a couple of our old professors and another prominent academic. We went out for thai food. And all the guys decided to be guys. Holy shit. I thought I was winning when I looked across the table and saw the founding editor of The Henry James Review and the author of a forthcoming Emily Dickinson biography with sweat pouring out of their respective foreheads. Then I realized I could only see that when I was squinting through my own sweat combined with my own tears.
The hottest food I ever ate was at a Korean place in Virginia. The dish was called "Angry Chicken," and signs on the wall showed a guy with flames shooting out of his mouth. My wife (who doesn't like spicy food so much) thought that was cute and decided to order it. The waitress warned her twice, and she was choking when she brought it to the table. I had a couple bites and my sweat flooded the table. Good times.
I've found Korean to be the hottest cuisine. When I was in Korea for a visit a Korean friend of my brother told me I must be Korean because of my tolerance of hot food. I find I can't eat hot food the way I used to. Don't know if it is age or I'm out of practice.
Never been a root beer fan, even when I was kid. But ginger beer? With a splash of lime, you say? And a hint of bitters? And a generous pour of Goslings? Now you're talking!
If you think surprise spice is bad to eat, wait until you put in contacts after touching some peppers. As bad as the pain was, the mucous coming out of my eyes was worse. No, that's wrong. The pain is worse. But still it's gross and worrying.
I used to go to the Wild Wing Cafe at the Reading, PA airport. They had Attempted Suicide and Suicide Wings. I couldn't handle them, even though I had a poster of hot sauces from around the world. Too bad that that place closed down.