A few months ago, I was at the gym, working with a trainer when a few minutes into a session she remarked on how much I must love artichokes. I was momentarily confused by this perceived non sequitur until she pointed at my T-shirt, a "true royal" blue-colored item with a prominent hops cone on the chest. I had to explain what the drawing was actually depicting, and she almost immediately lost interest.
I was reminded of this odd little interaction last week when Planet Dog, a Maine-based company reached out with news of a chew toy, the Orbee-Tuff Artichoke, that they were trying to rebrand as a "Hopichoke" because customers were apparently confusing the vegetable with a hops cone.
This is a fairly common occurrence as a recent freewheeling online conversation among beer-minded people revealed. From shirts, signs, jewelry, and tattoos, hops cones have been confused with everything from artichokes, Brussels sprouts, and pine cones to acorns and porcupines.