Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray

Note: the name doesn't make it perfectly clear, so let me do so: this is a "celery soda with other natural flavors". I believe that qualifies for Weird Soda status.

I have found that BevMo has an interesting, if not truly unusual, selection of sodas. Many of the major independent brands can be found there, and occasionally something more exotic. Dr. Brown's is a pretty common item where weird sodas are sold, but I personally had never heard of celery flavored soda before (much to learn I have). So let's pop it open.

Where and when: purchased 3/4/09 at BevMo, Oceanside, CA
Scent: slight anise, sweet, with a tangy note which seems to be getting stronger as I smell it.
Color: pale gold, very much like ginger ale.
Taste: Sweet, mildly tart, and it does taste a bit like celery.
Comment from the Lead Assistant WSR Taster: "It's kind of good and kind of bad. I told you it would taste like this!"
Not long ago, I decided I would try to make my own fruit syrup for an Italian soda. I took some kiwis, skinned them, mashed them up, and boiled them with sugar water (all according to a recipe I found). I discovered two things:
1. Boiling kiwis smell almost exactly like artichoke, which is not a good thing.
2. The resultant syrup tastes a lot like artichoke, which is also bad
3. The gelatinous green ex-kiwi goop left in the saucepan afterwards tastes mostly like kiwi, a little like artichoke, and makes an absolutely splendid spread for toast.

This tastes rather a lot like the kiwi goop left in the pan.

Quaff rating: 2.5. It's nice in a way, and could be pretty refreshing. Unusual.
Cough rating: 3. The sweet is pretty syrupy, and the vegetable taste could be weird.

BONUS NOTE: The afterburp flavor is a bit stronger on the artichokiness.