booze with an "X"

I seem to have this pattern of hating most alcoholic drinks, until i've been to their country of origin/specialization. I couldn't stand beer, until i went to Germany and realized that there *is* good beer. I thought Scotch tasted like petroleum distillates, until i went to Scotland and found that there is good Scotch. I came back from Ireland with a Irish Coffee fetish, and Spain and France convinced me that wine with dinner is a good thing. A department store in Tokyo fed me some Sake that had me floating to the ceiling, when i always hated sake.

So i wouldn't have been surprised if i came back from Mexico with a new found love of Tequila, which i also didn't like.

Well, indeed i will drink tequila based drinks now. But the real surprise hooch of this trip is a traditional Mayan concoction called Xtabentun. Surprising because it has a strong anise component, and i *dont* like anise. Or at least i didn't. Xtabentun is a green herbal liquor, somewhat like Chartreuse (which i also don't like), but sweeter and with anise. And it's yummy, even though i'm sure i would have hated it a month ago.