Malta is a carbonated malt beverage, and not in a Zima or Olde English way. What the hell it tastes like: Malta lands somewhere at the intersection of brown ale, molasses, and unsweetened cola. Even though the beverage itself is sweet, your mouth might register it as not sweet. It has thickness, like milk, and its carbonation compares to a Coke that’s been open for a few hours. This Malta Goya, out of Puerto Rico, pours like a dark, strong ale, molasses brown and almost as dark as a porter. It smells, depending on your nose, anywhere from heavily malted chocolate to an earthy, beer-soaked molasses cookie. Definitely a degree of difficulty to drink, malta’s lack of aggressive carbonation really throws your brain for a loop. Basically, malta is unfermented wort, or beer before beer becomes beer.