1893 Citrus Cola (by Pepsi)

I grabbed this from Target this weekend:

Brand: 1893 Citrus Cola (by Pepsi).

Origin: unknown.

Purchase Place: Target, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Fair trade certified sugar.

Review: I was ready for an "orange" punch, but after a sip, it was clearly a "grapefruit" flavor. And then, sure enough, I noticed that it said it was infused with "grapefruit essence." If you like grapefruit, then give this a try - the grapefruit flavor was pretty spot on. It was OK, but their plain 1893 Cola was much better.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Mexican Squirt

I grabbed this at the corner store this past weekend:

Brand: (Mexican) Squirt.

Origin: Mexico.

Purchase Place: Marshall Stop, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This had a little more "kick" than the Squirt I'm used to. And I don't think it's all in my head. Squirt that I'm used to is a little smoother, and this isn't. It's sure not bad, but it's just slightly different. Otherwise, the pretty normal citrus flavor I'm used to. (Oh, but COOL bottle. The slight spiral was nice.)

Score: 6 out of 10.

Ski (Citrus Soda)

Time for a citrus soda:

Brand: Ski.

Origin: Breese, IL.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was a pretty typical "lemon lime" flavored soda, but with a little kick. The kick might be from the orange juice in the soda - first time I've seen that. It's a little heavier on the "lemon" flavor, but not too heavy. (It's NOT officially a "lemon lime" soda - it's just "citrus.") Not bad, but nothing groundbreaking either. Great retro logo design with the skier.

Oh, another random point: this isn't a soda where you expect caffeine. But it's caffeinated. I was going to have this 2 nights earlier, but when I saw it had caffeine in it, I figured I shouldn't have it at 9 p.m. This isn't a good or bad thing to me personally, but I just wanted to note the caffeine.

Score: 6 out of 10.