Sweet Blossom Rose Petal Soda

Here's another purchased from Galco's. (I recently made a trip to Mitsuwa to obtain some Japanese sodas; more on that soon.) This one was specifically recommended by the manager, as he claimed it has actual rose essence as a flavoring. The ingredients label confirms it: "natural rose flavor". Flower-flavored soda; pretty Weird.
I think the last time I ate flowers intentionally was at my wedding. We had edible flowers in the salad. They didn't taste like much, but they were pretty.

Where and when: purchased 4/11/09 at Galco's, Los Angeles
Color: pale pink. About the same paleness as the Plantation Style Mint Julep, but pink rather than green. These two should really get together.
Scent: Whoa. A faint acid bite, combined with a slightly sweet yet bitter floral/vegetable scent. The vegetable is slightly reminiscent of that in the CoCo Rico, but much more pleasant.
Taste: A fairly strong acid bite, with a strong sweet and floral tone. It's quite a bit stronger than it smells. The taste is actually quite nice.
Kibbitzer-in-Chief: (grimacing) "That's...accurate. Very Persion. Have you ever had rose petal ice cream?" I indicate that I have not. "You have to be in a Persian restaurant to get it. It tastes a lot like that, but not as sweet."
This actually tastes a lot like roses smell, but with a lot more acid. There's an interesting aftertaste; it's slightly bitter, and has a very unusual mouth feel; it's slightly astringent. The rose taste lingers for some time, competing with the acid.
This is quite a bit more pleasant than I was expecting. It's a bit too oily and lingering to be refreshing, and I doubt I'd want it on a hot day. But it might actually be an interesting drink with dinner. I'm not sure what would go with rose-petal soda.

Quaff rating: 3.5. Nice, if a bit lingering.
Cough rating: 1. I could guess that this might be unpleasant for some, but I like it.