Garlic flavored cola. Fizzy sweet cola with a pungent¹ garlic taste. Yum? Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of weird² food and drink come out of Japan, and as of January 9, there has been a new addition to that list.

大蒜味可乐？气泡丰富、甜味十足的可乐里透着辛辣刺鼻的大蒜味？是的，你没看错。过去几年里，我们曾见识过源自日本的形形色色的暗黑食物或饮料，现在这个暗黑群体又多了一名新成员。

Hailing from Aomori, the garlic capital of Japan, which has previously³ produced such delectables as garlic ice cream and garlic beer, “Jats Takkola,” is brought to us from the garlic center of the garlic capital of Japan, also known as “Garlic Town,” Sannohe Districts’ Takko Town.

这款大蒜味可乐名叫Jats Takkola，出自青森县。青森县在日本被称为大蒜之都，这里曾出产过不少具有大蒜风味的产品，比如大蒜味冰淇淋和大蒜味啤酒等。

The town got its charming nickname from the fact that every July, so much garlic is harvested that the entire town. We have a feeling they don’t suffer from vampire⁴ attacks very often.

青森县之所以被称为大蒜之都，是因为每年七月份这里都会收获大量的大蒜。感觉连吸血鬼都不会光顾这里，因为那浓浓的大蒜味。

The town offers pretty much any form of garlic you could ever imagine, but the creation of the Takkola (get it? Takko + cola = takkola), took some trial and error experimentation⁵. The real issue, apparently⁶, was breaking through the stereotype⁷ that garlic should be used exclusively for food.

青森县出产过各式各样、你想到或想不到的大蒜味食品，这次的大蒜味可乐在面世前也是经过一系列失败试验的。但最终成果仍成功表明大蒜不只可以用在食物里，可乐里也能加大蒜。

The drink is just cola mixed with some finely ground garlic, pretty simple. It’s just as bubbly and tasty as normal cola, but you get the pleasant aftertaste of garlic. Who wouldn’t love that?! Really, if you think about it, it’s probably not much different than washing down some garlicky gyoza with cola and then burping. You just don’t have to eat the gyoza first.

其实这款可乐不过是在可乐里加入了被磨成细粉状的大蒜，喝起来和普通可乐一样多泡、可口，只是回味时有令人愉快的大蒜味。谁会不喜欢呢？说真的，你其实可以这么想象，比如你喝着可乐吃大蒜味的日式煎饺，之后打嗝的那种味道，只是通过这款可乐你可以获得不用吃大蒜味日式煎饺的那种体验。

Since the name of the drink doesn’t mention garlic at all, this could easily be used to play some tricks on unassuming friends who don’t know that Takko is the garlic center of Japan. Then there is also the fact that “Jats!” is local dialect for what you say when you are surprised, an odd feature for the name of a cola. That is, unless the creators of this drink had some tomfoolery in mind when they made it!

因为这款可乐的名字里没包含任何跟大蒜有关的字词，所以你可以用它来跟不知道Takko是日本大蒜之都的朋友开玩笑。而且Jats是青森县方言中人在惊讶时所发出的声音，制作者们把这个词加在大蒜味可乐的名字中，搞不好是在制作的时候脑补了什么。

In reality, they chose the name because they want this item to leave a lasting⁸ impression and to “stimulate⁹ the heart” of whoever sips¹¹ it. They advise that before you drink, turn it slowly to remix the garlic, open the cap carefully and then take a sip¹⁰. According to the creators, there is no way that you won’t shout in surprise after tasting it.

实际上，这样命名是因为制作者们希望这款可乐能给每个品尝过它的人都留下持久深刻的印象并且能够“直击他们的内心”。制作者们还建议在喝之前，先摇一摇，然后小心打开瓶盖喝一小口，尝过之后应该没有人不发出惊奇的叫声吧。

So, if you’re itching¹² to play tricks on friends, are just really scared of vampires¹³, or are looking for a health-boosting cola, you can order a case of 24 bottles from the town’s merchandise website, for 7,200 yen¹⁴ (US$60) or if you’re in the area, head to the store itself where you can get single bottles for 299 yen (US$2.50) each, until the end of February.

所以，如果你想要跟朋友开玩笑，如果你非常害怕吸血鬼，如果你还在苦苦寻觅一款健康可乐，那么请赶紧登陆青森县的购物网站订购一箱24瓶装的大蒜味可乐吧。现在起到2月底，网购一箱需7200日元（约60美元），直接在当地商店购买一瓶为299日元（约2.5美元）。