Y'all, it's time. I had a lot of fun doing this, but I found myself kind of forgetting about it so I think it's time this whole thing got the ending it deserved: the extremely rare, u/Spacebucketeer11 limited-edition Gibco Jungle Juice™. Thank you all for the incredibly fun comment sections, the nice (and some very concerned) DMs, and general good vibes. Maybe one day this will get a sequel, but it'll probably be a very long time. I have done my duty as a Labrat, and now I must rest (and finish this m'fucking paper...) Anyway, the review:

*Clinical and weird,*  
*A journey no tongue asked for—*  
*Closure, faintly sweet.*

Every time I tested medium I took 2ml and pooled in a 50ml tube at -20 °C. I could've/should've/would've taken a larger amount considering the final volume (see photo), but honestly I didn't need much for a good final tasting. I know what I'm doing by now, I might put it on my CV.

Aesthetic: Judging by the color I think it became a little more basic than when I started out, but the beautiful red came out nicely. Of course in a real Glencairn crystal glass, how else can this be anything else than a 10/10

Mouth feel (this category is making a come back for this last installment): Smooth. The 'dry wine without any of the good characteristics of wine' dryness from the neurobasal isn't there. Slight tinge at the tip of the tongue. 9/10

Nose: Fairly neutral, not unpleasant. Considering there are some nasty nasty media in here as well (looking at you, DMEM/F12), I am pleasantly surprised. Light hints of academic despair, nostalgia, and procrastination. 8/10

Palate: I know a lot of you will think I'm making all of this up, but I swear on my first publication that I'm not. It's pretty good (again: as far as culturing medium is concerned). The faint sweetness of the high glucose DMEM is there, the nutty notes from the G-MEM are pronounced but just diluted enough for it to be pleasant. The salt isn't too bad, either. The foulness I encountered in some of the early installments such as plastic and cardboard aren't there at all, much to my surprise. 9/10

Finish: Barely any linger after taste, which is usually the biggest factor in this category. Maybe a faint nuttiness, walnut to be precise. I don't mind it. 9/10

Pairing: That feeling you get when you put the last plate back in the incubator after a full lab day

Price point: my sanity/10

Overall: I'm going to be generous with this one. Maybe just because it's been fun, maybe it's because it's now over, maybe it's because I just got used to the nastiness of tasting cell culture medium and I became way too generous with the scoring. It's probably the last one, though. It's pretty good. A worthy farewell to this series, and to you dear reader. 9/10. It's a 10/10 if you account for the ridiculous amount of attention this series has gotten.

Farewell, may your cells have good morphology, and your p-values be <0.05.

The final edition of Tasting and rating different cell culture media. #8: JUNGLE JUICE