The Corona Conundrum

At work today, I realized something interesting: Sam Adams is only slightly more expensive than Corona. Seventy cents more per six-pack, or a buck more per twelve-pack. This begs the question to me, why do people buy Corona? I just don't get it. It's one thing if you're native, because drinking the water there will either kill you, cause you to grow a new appendage, or something equally unfun.

Here though, it's one of those things where you're paying a lot more money just to say you're drinking an import. People don't drink it for the taste, skunked lime seltzer. And if you do drink it for the taste, you can go for Bud Light Lime for a lot cheaper, all of the blandness with none of the gross. It's the Heinkeken import effect, I guess. One can get a domestic lager that tastes the same or better than Heineken for the same price or cheaper, but it gives people some kind of psychological placebo endorphin rush to drink something that is imported for the sake of drinking something imported.

I also don't get the whole "stick a lime wedge in it so it doesn't smell like crap" thing. Smell affects our perceptions of taste to a great degree. If you don't want to drink something that smells skunked, why don't you just drink something else, something that actually smells appealing? I think a lot of people think that that is just the way import beers are supposed to smell, which isn't the case. When beer is done right, it's like a baby - you just want to keep smelling and smelling it despite everyone around you giving you funny looks.

If you really do like it, there's nothing wrong with that, but please don't drink something just for the sake of drinking it, when there is so much else out there.