Drink 17: Jet Ease

The Name: Jet Ease                                                                       

The Bar: Jake's Dilemma (430 Amsterdam Ave., between 80th and 81st, NYC)

The Story Behind The Name: There isn't much of a story behind this one. Instead, the name "Jet Ease" refers to a pre-existing product which simply strikes me as funny. This is actually how I got  the name for one of the best drinks on this blog-- the Shut The Box. But, unlike the Shut The Box, which might be a perfectly fine product that simply has a funny name, this time, it's the product itself that strikes me as ridiculous.

I first learned about Jet Ease when flying to Paris with my parents. Now, Paris time is six hours ahead of New York City, and as anyone who has undergone a long-distance flight knows, jet lag is not fun, and can be pretty disorienting. Jet Ease is a product that claims to be able to eliminate the effects of jet lag altogether. Which would be great...if it weren't pretty obviously completely bogus.

Now, in fairness, I do have a bit of a bias here. It's a homeopathic product, and while I am not a medical expert of any kind, I find it hard to take homeopathy seriously. Not to say that I think Western medicine is the only thing that can be used (I will never be convinced that chicken and matzoh ball soup does not have great remedial value), but homeopathy in particular strikes me as incredibly bizarre and untrustworthy. The brilliant James Randi (who, if you don't know about him, is one of the most fascinating people in the world and you should learn more about him) gives a great explanation as to why homeopathy is ridiculous here. If you don't want to watch Randi's admittedly long (but amusing) explanation, you can also watch this very funny sketch.

So, when my mom produced a packet of homeopathic medicine which she claimed would stop jet lag, I was skeptical. But then, I looked at the packet, and...my skepticism was 100% justified.

My mom's packet of Jet Ease, somewhat wrinkled from-- no doubt-- years of working effectively.

If you were supposed to just take one tablet and then your jet lag would be cured, that would be one thing, and I probably would have tried the Jet Ease because it wouldn't do any harm. But then I found out that this was not just a one-time deal. You were supposed to keep taking tablets every hour and a half, which strikes me as remarkably invasive and rather random for something that clearly would not work in the first place. Therefore, rather than take a Jet Ease pill, I made my skepticism known. My mom rebutted this with the fact that "The salesman told her that it worked." I should note now that my mother is a remarkably intelligent individual and I don't want it to sound like I don't trust her judgment, but...the salesperson typically has a vested interest in selling a product and therefore is not the most trustworthy of advocates for a product.

"No animals are harmed to make this, right?"
"...Nope."
"I'll take seven!"

If anyone thinks I'm being harsh on Jet Ease, well, I still haven't gotten to the most ridiculous part yet. I already mentioned that you were supposed to take a pill every ninety minutes. Unlike most medicine which tells you to take two or three tablets a day, the Jet Ease has no such notice. Instead, you are instructed to take the pills every hour and a half until you do not have jet lag anymore.

I repeat that. You're supposed to keep taking the pill until your jet lag is gone. Which could take who knows how long. If you stop taking the pills and still have jet lag, well then, it's not the product's fault because you should have taken more pills! But, the thing about jet lag is that you're always going to get accustomed to your new time zone eventually. So, you'll eventually get over the jet lag whether you take the pills or not, but this way you can misguidedly attribute this to a bullshit homeopathic remedy! Thanks, Jet Ease!

Maybe Jet Ease works. Maybe it is a complete waste of money and no one should ever buy it. I will let you decide. I don't know because I never tried it. My mother tried it for a few hours and ultimately gave up. I don't believe she has used it since. But I've been laughing at the existence of this product ever since.

Ordering The Drink: I was out having a drink with What's That Drink regular Kenny, at Jake's Dilemma. If you live on the Upper West Side and don't know about Jake's Dilemma, then you should know about it. They have some great specials every single night and on the Wednesday that I went there, drinks were $4, which made this the cheapest drink that I have ordered for this blog, which is definitely a plus. It also meant that the bar was incredibly busy, meaning that not much really happened when I ordered my drink. I simply made the request, explained the rules to the bartender, and received my drink. He told me what was in it, but I didn't have a chance to hear his reasoning for putting together this drink. And it was really loud, so if he had told me, I might not have been able to hear it at all. Anyway, got the drink, which looked pretty standard, and returned to my table.

The Drink:

The Jet Ease.

Bourbon

Ginger Ale

Lime 

House Bitters

Assessment of Drink: It was good! Nothing too complex going on in this drink, and I don't have anything too complex to say about it either. It tasted good. Bourbon and ginger ale go well together. It was a good, refreshing, simple drink.

Does It Live Up To The Name: No matter what, I can say that this drink is AS EFFECTIVE in fighting jet lag as the real Jet Ease is, so in that way it does live up to the name. But, to be fair, ANYTHING would be as effective in fighting jet lag, as long as it didn't contain Red Bull or something.

But something about this drink definitely did live up to the name. As I said, it was simple, and anything with the word "ease" in it probably should be. And, while I have no idea if this was the bartender's intention or not, the inclusion of ginger ale immediately made me think of this plane-themed comic. If the bartender was indeed referencing this, then he deserves the highest praise, and also, this drink becomes an undeniable success. So, let's just assume that's what happened here. Although, if that's the case, I don't know if it should be called the Jet Ease, or the Magic Sky Juice.