Henry Weinhard's Vanilla Cream

I really enjoyed my first Henry Weinhard's soda (which was their root beer), so I was hoping this would live up to that:

 

Brand: Henry Weinhard's Vanilla Cream

Origin: Fort Worth, TX.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sucrose and Honey.

Review: This was just OK. The vanilla was OK, but there was a slight syrupiness that was slightly off-putting. There was a nice floral hint to it. Overall, it was just "fine" - nothing great.

In my review of Henry Weinhard's Root Beer, I noted that it had a touch of honey that was surprisingly nice and subtle, and it worked well with the root beer. Well, there's another little touch of honey in this soda, but it doesn't work with the vanilla as well. It's just a bit odd. Sorry.

Score: 5 out of 10.

 

Henry Weinhard's Black Cherry Cream

I celebrated a final "work week" before finals with a soda in class today:

Before any of my students showed up. Obviously.

Brand: Henry Weinhard's Black Cherry Cream.

Origin: Fort Worth, TX.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sucrose.

Review: This was QUITE creamy. I think I may have tasted the creaminess before actually tasting the black cherry. It was nearly too much. The black cherry part of it had a good deep flavor, but it was paired with this intense creaminess. I don't think it was bad, but it was just a bit more than I expected. I didn't "chug" this, but it was very "sip-able" throughout the morning in my classroom. Not bad. Different. CREAMY.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Cream Soda Tasting at Blue Sun Soda

Yesterday, my boys and I headed to another free tasting event at Blue Sun Soda Shop. It was similar to the tasting the 3 of us went to 2 months ago: they just set out some sodas and some mini-cups, and you can sample them all.

The "event banner" from Blue Sun Soda's Facebook page.

Cream Sodas: Dad's, Fiz, Iron Horse, Sioux City, North Star, Tower, and Henry Weinhard.

The "voting" table: take a bottle cap (far right) and put it in the cup that you
thought was best. They even had a roll of "I voted" stickers to put on (left foreground).

My oldest and I both agreed that Sioux City was our favorite, and my youngest voted for Dad's. I remember the North Star being very creamy (it was called "Vanilla Creme"), and I think it was Henry Weinhard's that had an odd sharpness. Fiz was decent.

Some new "kiddie cocktail" sodas made right at Blue Sun Soda.

All the flavors of "fresh" soda at the soda counter at Blue Sun Soda.

My boys and I split a fresh Root Beer. It was good! My oldest got
a tear in his eye because he said it was SOOO carbonated.

I also stocked up on root beers. I had a few sodas in the basement before this trip to Blue Sun, but only 1 of them was a root beer. I took my time looking through their root beer selection, and I picked up 7 new ones (and 6 other sodas to bring home a baker's dozen). I think I've now had (or have just purchased) EVERY root beer at Blue Sun Soda Shop! Oh no! I'll need to find some new root beers somewhere else soon...

Henry Weinhard's Root Beer

Enjoyed another soda in my classroom:

Brand: Henry Weinhard's Root Beer.

Origin: Colfax, CA.

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

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup (and honey flavor).

Review: This was super smooth and really good. The bottle said "draught style head," and it didn't disappoint - it had a great, long-lasting head. There was just the slightest hint of anise, and a nice vanilla flavor as well.

When I was nearly finished drinking it, I noticed the bottom of the label said that it had artificial and natural flavors "including sassafras, vanilla, and honey." I've mentioned that honey as a sweetener is only OK in certain sodas, and I usually don't like the flavor it gives to root beers, but it's so nicely subtle here that it's quite good. (And honey is not on the ingredients list, so I'm assuming it's one of the artificial flavors.) I could see some people complaining that this is TOO smooth, but if you like a smooth root beer, try this one. It's near the top of my root beer list!

Score: 9.5 out of 10.