Anyone troubled by this pressing question can end their search for the answer: Which over-the-counter medicine is the most appetizing?
#5 – Dramamine
Containing dimenhydrinate to prevent nausea, Dramamine’s bitter, biting flavor mingles with acidulous notes. The experience is characterized by a strong tingling sensation resembling a carbonated drink, accompanied by slightly spicy – yet not unpleasant – tones. The bitterness dissipates quickly with the powder, but the heat continues to spread throughout the mouth. After a few minutes, it’s replaced with a viscous sensation, giving way to complete numbness for several hours. This is caused by its active antihistamine ingredient, which blocks nerve endings, and not an allergic reaction. An unaware medicine taste-tester may be sent into brief panic before they contemplate every decision leading them up to that moment. It is strongly advised to swallow Dramamine directly without chewing, to minimize all adverse effects.
#4 – Advil
Advil pills, commonly taken as painkillers, are coated in a sugary shell – enjoyable for the few moments that it survives on the tongue, with a ricelike or honey sweetness. Its actual flavor, once chewed, is woody and paperlike; distinctly inedible, but difficult to discern through an intolerable burning sensation which attacks all areas of the mouth. When swallowed, it leaves a prickly, ticklish irritation in the throat – characteristic of ibuprofen, its central ingredient.
#3 – Zyrtec
Zyrtec’s active ingredient is cetirizine, used to relieve symptoms of allergies and hay fever. The medicine carries a pleasant, tangy, almost fruit-like scent akin to Greek yogurt. Don’t be fooled, though! It wreaks havoc once in the mouth, overwhelming the senses with a strikingly pungent bitterness and a sharp, sour edge. Each tablet is hard, but crushes into a mild powder; it lingers on the tongue for several minutes, even after rinsing copiously with water. As recommended by professionals, Zyrtec is best taken without chewing.
#2 – Pepto-Bismol (liquid form)
Brand-name Pepto-Bismol – or bismuth subsalicylate, which treats a variety of stomach conditions – is flavored with wintergreen mint; this herbal-candy taste is comparable to black liquorice or root beer. Though its overwhelming sweetness gives way to a sickly sensation, it’s tolerable – even pleasant. Its strongest merit, however, is its texture: in liquid form, the medicine has a thick, very smooth, and almost creamy consistency. It creeps into the stomach slowly and inoffensively, which is ideal for a person suffering from indigestion. Although the recommended 60mL/hr dose makes for quite a long drink, overstaying its welcome, it’s impressively palatable among OTC medicines.
#1 – Natrol
This brand of melatonin comes in a delightful strawberry flavor – which, although not resembling a strawberry even slightly, evokes the taste of candy. The initial taste is mild, sweet, and a little chalky, but as it departs for the esophagus it leaves behind a glimpse of its more sickly, cloying underlying tone. The texture is equally appetizing: unlike the brittleness of other tablets, it’s crushed and dissolved easily into a fine powder, which stays only for a fleeting moment in the mouth. It doesn’t assault the senses in the least, and gives no indication of its medicinal purpose – it would make for a wonderful treat outside the context of sleep deprivation, if not for the saccharine aftertaste.
