Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I expected the worst, honestly. The web is full of reviews declaring that fermented cod liver oil is the foulest substance ever created by man, that it tastes like the harbor pier on an August morning, and that kids in the olden days were right to scatter when mom came around with the cod liver oil. I was certain I was going to have to gag it down with a whiskey chaser just to get a few vitamins in my diet. Well, I'm happy to report that rumors of this stuff's nastiness have been greatly exaggerated. Or at least a little exaggerated. It's nothing I would call delicious, but it's not exactly bad, either. When I first I opened the bottle, I was greeted by a waft of... something. It didn't smell overwhelmingly like chocolate, or like fish, or like butter (but it did attract the cat nonetheless). It reminded me of Thai fish sauce with mild buttery undertones. I gave it a mighty stir with a knife, just in case it settled, and tried a little. Not too bad. I could do this!, I thought. Then I scooped out a 1/2 teaspoonful, ate it with little fanfare, licked the spoon (at this price I was not about to waste any), and put the bottle in the fridge. Some time later I noticed an unusual odor, which I quickly traced to my lips. Oil, it turns out, is a pretty persistent material, and the gusto with which I had cleaned the spoon had left me later feeling as if I had been making out with a bait bucket. Lessons learned, I guess. Still, the first dose went remarkably well. The next day I removed the bottle from the fridge and nearly died. The smell -- the stench, even -- was fierce. It was nothing like I remembered from the day before. The cat came galloping from across the house to see what died and if, perhaps, he might be permitted to eat it. What could have changed, I wondered. Oxidation? It couldn't have gone bad already! Perplexed, I soldiered on, but that day's spoonful of the now rather solid oil found me once again looking thoughtfully at a bottle of Jim Beam. But as it turned out, I didn't need the booze after all. A few days and some experimentation later, I have learned some very important things: 1. DO NOT refrigerate this stuff (unless for long term storage). The cold makes it unbelievably nasty as well as changing it from a spoonable cream to a stiff butter-like solid. 2. Eat it carefully, or wash your face very well afterwards. 3. A light sprinkling of brown sugar brings out the chocolate flavor and almost makes it sort of pleasant to eat. Almost. It's too soon to say yet if this alleged superfood has made any difference in my health or mood. But with winter coming and the dentist brandishing her drill at me, I'll find out soon enough if it will really cure dry skin, stave off winter blues, and heal teeth. I am mostly skeptical but I figure it's worth a shot.