Saturday, April 25, 2015

Hank's Gourmet Diet Root Beer

After helping some students in class this past week, I cracked into a treat I brought from home in my classroom:

Hank's Gourmet Diet Root Beer


Brand: Hank's Gourmet Diet Root Beer.

Origin: Trevose, PA.

Purchase Place: "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store," Jordan, MN.

Sweetener: Aspartame.

Review: This was OK from the start. Nothing fancy, but not horrible. Just OK. As with most diet root beers, it was a little watery and weak. But the flavor was decent - it was a bit earthy and herby, without being to heavy handed. That's the review I guess: a little thin, but decent flavor.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Olde Philadelphia Old Fashioned Diet Root Beer

I needed some root beer…

Olde Philadelphia Old Fashioned Diet Root Beer


Brand: Olde Philadelphia Old Fashioned Diet Root Beer.

Origin: Philadelphia, PA (which makes sense).

Purchase Place: "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store," Jordan, MN.

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: This isn't bad, but it's sure not great either. It's a little "thin" and could use more of a kick (a common diet soda issue). The flavor was OK, just watery. It's a bit herby and a bit "old fashioned" as the name would imply.

Score: 4.5 out of 10.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Bedford's Vanilla Creme Beer

Time for something creamy:

Bedford's Vanilla Creme Beer


Brand: Bedford's Vanilla Creme Beer.

Origin: Port Angeles, WA.

Purchase Place: "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store," Jordan, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This has a fair amount of vanilla, and a lot of creme. It's smooth and goes down easy. It's very sweet/sugary, so if you're OK with that, you'll like this a lot. There's a little bit of a strange aftertaste, but it's not a major issue - it just kept this from being rated another point higher.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Rummy Grapefruit Soda

I brought this to a board meeting the other night:

Rummy Grapefruit Soda


Brand: Rummy Grapefruit Soda.

Origin: Breese, IL.

Purchase Place: "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store," Jordan, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: It's like Squirt. A lot like squirt. And a little like Fresca. It's good, but nothing special. You like Squirt? You'll like this.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Dr. Brown's Black Cherry Soda

Last night, we grabbed some sandwiches from Cecil's Deli just down the street here in St. Paul. They have a big cooler with sodas, so I grabbed one to take home.

Sodas at Cecil's Deli

Dr. Brown's Cherry Soda
In the front of Cecils. The front is the deli, and the back is the restaurant.

Brand: Dr. Brown's Black Cherry Soda

Origin: College Point, NY.

Purchase Place: Cecil's Deli, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: This was somewhere between a black cherry soda and a black cherry CREME soda. It needed to pick a side. It was too smooth to be a good black cherry soda, but it wasn't smooth enough to be a good black cherry creme soda. I was disappointed.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

1990s Pepsi Cans

Someone just found a stash of unopened Pepsi cans from the late 80s / early 90s:

Pepsi from the 1990s

Raging Razzberry Pepsi

Pepsi from the 1990s

Pepsi from the 1990s with a surfer

Pepsi from the 1990s

Pepsi from the 1990s

Pepsi Cool Cans


Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Iron Horse Cream Soda

Yesterday I had the worst cream soda of my life:

Iron Horse Cream Soda


Brand: Iron Horse Cream Soda.

Origin: Edina, MN.

Purchase Place: "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store," Jordan, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: This was bad. You know the sharpness that unsweetened carbonated water has? It tasted like that only slightly more "brown." It was not creamy like a cream soda should be. I couldn't drink the whole bottle.

Score: 1.5 out of 10.