If you were like me as of a few hours ago, you don't know what either word in the subject of this post means. If you read the rest of this post, you will become more like me again, because you will find out.

I was introduced to these words when I was browsing the soda aisle in the grocery store for cheap two liter bottles of soda. I don't like buying two liter bottles of soda, because they are scientifically engineered to go flat well before they are finished, no matter how fast you try to drink them. On the other hand, for 68 to 89 cents a bottle, they are cheaper than most 20 oz. bottles and cheaper, in fact, than some 12 oz. cans, depending on where you get them. Furthermore, there are some flavors of soda, such as Adirondack's Bubble Gum flavor (http://www.adirondackbeverages.com/), that simply are not available in other sizes.

So I was browsing the soda aisle, and my eyes fell upon a small area on the shelf for Barrilitos brand sodas. I had not heard of Barrilitos before, and from a brief inspection of the labels, I learned they were manufactured in Mexico and imported. This surprised me, because way up in New Hampshire, Mexico has almost no cultural impact.

There were four flavors. One was tropical punch, which I ended up buying because the Adirondack brand of same (my favorite) was gone. One was an ordinary flavor I don't recall. The other two were Tamarind and Sangria.

Well, I was curious.

I debated buying a bottle of each, but I ended up leaving the Sangria behind. Leen wondered if it was a flavor based on an alcoholic drink, and I knew I wouldn't like that. So I put that one back, but I figure I can always get one another time, and maybe I will. After a search on the Internet, I learned that Leen was right. It's a red wine punch made from red wine and fruit juice (usually orange juice, it seems) and carbonated water.

I did buy the Tamarind, let it sit in the refrigerator a while, and poured myself a glass when it was cold. I took a sip. I brought it down for Leen to try a sip. I tried a second sip. Then we dumped the glass and the rest of the bottle down the sink.

It would seem wasteful for someone who is trying to be economical with his cash to throw food away. But, honestly, not having to drink the rest was the best 68 cents I ever spent.

I suspect, though, that it's a taste one can acquire. If I had grown up with it, I can imagine I'd like it. It's a complex taste, hitting the tongue differently than it sits on it, and going down differently than either. I suppose it's a fruity taste, but I don't know how to describe it. A search for tamarind on the Internet yields various pages in which people try to describe the flavor. One compared it to miso. Another compared it to a cross between kiwi fruit and pole beans. Yet another called it something between apple, peach, and iced tea. And still another mentioned apple, figs, and citrus. They all sound about right, while still not quite capturing it. Webster's calls it a "cooling, laxative drink." One writer of a web site journal said it was two out of the three -- not "cooling" at all. After reading that, I was somewhat thankful I only had two sips.

Here's what tamarinds look like: http://www.wegmans.com/kitchen/ingredients/produce/fruit/images/tamarind.jpg. And here is everything you didn't want to know about them: http://www.civil.soton.ac.uk/icuc/cd_icuc_ber_tamarind/tamarind/index.htm. Mexico is a major producer of these fruits, which explains why a Mexican soda has it as a flavor. Thailand and India are also major producers, and it turns out that tamarinds are frequent ingredients in Thai and Indian food.

Next up: Pepsi Blue. I haven't heard one person speak well of it, and that made me all the more curious.