A&W Root Beer Float

My family and I tried this recently:

Brand: A&W Root Beer Float.

Origin: Plano, TX.

Purchase Place: Target, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: I was excited for this. I mean "root beer float?!?" That sounds great! How could they screw this up?

... but they screwed this up. It was harshly odd. The root beer flavor was good, but then the "float" flavor was an oddly sharp vanilla addition to this soda. No thanks. No one in my family cared for it. We were kind of shocked. It wasn't HORRIBLE, but it just wasn't good.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Fitz's Root Beer

I opened this during supper the other night:

 

Brand: Fitz's Root Beer.

Origin: St. Louis, MO.

Purchase Place: Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This was really, REALLY good. It had a deep flavor, and was smooth and creamy. It didn't have much of a head, but I've had this can for a while, so maybe it lost some carbonation. Either way, it wasn't (much) worse because of it. There was a nice vanilla kick that wasn't overpowering. 

I realized I had this same soda about 12 years ago (from a more traditional glass bottle) and I ranked it a 9. I think after another couple of hundred sodas, I'll rank this a bit higher now... it was GOOD.

Score: 9.5 out of 10.

Liquid Death Killer Cola Flavored Sparkling Water

On Saturday, I stopped at "Five Below" with my son so he could shop for his girlfriend, and I grabbed a Liquid Death. On Sunday, I opened it while I cooked supper:

I was ready to "murder my thirst" as it says at the bottom.  ;)

 

Brand: Liquid Death Killer Cola Flavored Sparkling Water.

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

Purchase Place: Five Below, Roseville, MN.

Sweetener: Agave Nectar and Stevia Leaf Extract.

Review: First of all, you have to note that it's a "flavored sparkling water" and not a "soda." It's not nearly as sweet as you'd expect a soda to be. But with both agave and stevia, it's still PLENTY sweet - it's not like a La Croix or something.

I don't know if I would have labeled this as a "cola" by just sipping it blindly. It had a real fruity / floral sweetness to it, and a bit of that "sharpness" that stevia tends to add. It wasn't a bad flavor, but it really wasn't what I'd say was "cola." In the end, I didn't care for the sharpness it had (even though it was only slightly carbonated which helped, because otherwise it would have been VERY "sharp"), and the flavor wasn't what I expected. The sweetness was good, so I'll give this a middle-of-the-road score.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Fitz's Cardinal Cream Soda

I opened this with supper tonight:

 

Brand: Fitz's Cardinal Cream Soda.

Origin: St. Louis, MO.

Purchase Place: Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: I didn't know what this would be like under this big aluminum can (the neck is painted aluminum and not the color of the soda). Honestly, I enjoy the screw-top aluminum bottles like this - I think more places should try that.

On to the flavor... it was a bit of a mix of Dr. Pepper and a cream soda. It had a deeper flavor like Dr. Pepper, but then was REALLY creamy. I had to pour some out into a glass to see what color it was, because it could have been cola/brown, clear, or red, and it turns out it was a pretty deep red. It was LIKE their cream soda that I had years ago, but this had a little more depth and interestingness to it. Not bad!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Zero Sugar Faygo Orange

I was headed through Rochester today, and I grabbed this at a Kwik Trip:

Back home after being mostly drank!

Brand: Zero Sugar Faygo Orange.

Origin: Detroit, MI.

Purchase Place: Kwik Trip, Rochester, MN.

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: The first thing I noticed is that this was my first "ZERO SUGAR" Faygo as opposed to "DIET" Faygo. In the past, I've had a Diet Faygo with aspartame, but this had sucralose. So I figured they maybe had a "new line" of sodas or either changed their formula. Then I found this article from a few months ago talking about their NEW ZERO SUGAR sodas.

So how was it? It was decent. It didn't taste TOO "diet" as it had a pretty full flavor. It was very "real" orange and not "fake" orange, which was nice. It was almost an "orange creme" flavor, but not quite. So if a slightly creamy and slightly actually orange flavored diet soda sounds good to you, then try this! I'll rate it a little better than average.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Inotea Pobble Passion Fruit + Apple

I grabbed this from Aldi over the weekend:

Here are a few of the "popping pearls" in a glass. 

Brand: Inotea Pobble Passion Fruit + Apple.

Origin: Newark, NJ.

Purchase Place: Aldi, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was quite good! It was very sweet, and tasted like a "good" apple cider that you might get on the holidays for the kids - like the sparkling kind, even though this wasn't sparkling. It was mainly apple flavored, and then the "popping pearls" had more of the passion fruit flavor inside. Yes, they are little pearls that are liquid filled that "pop" when you bite into them - I don't think everyone is ready for that experience. :)

My wife tried it, and she doesn't like things that are too sweet, so I thought she wouldn't like this. But after her first sip, she paused and said "... oh, that's GOOD." And my boys loved it too, so it went over well in our house. We'll have to try the other 2 flavors we saw at Aldi as well!

Score: 8 out of 10.

Buddy's Strawberry Soda

I opened this yesterday afternoon:

 

Brand: Buddy's Strawberry Soda.

Origin: Sleepy Eye, MN.

Purchase Place: Kowalski's Market, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was classically good! It had a strong strawberry flavor (like "candy" strawberry and not "real" strawberry), and it was really creamy - not creamy enough to be a "strawberry CREAM," but nice and smooth. This went down easy and had the perfect amount of sweetness - it was really sugary, but not TOO sugary. This was a treat.

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Diet Faygo Cola

I grabbed this on a car ride back from a camping trip, and didn't get a photo of it until I was back home cleaning out my car:

Messy car... unloading from a wet weekend of camping!

Brand: Diet Faygo Cola.

Origin: Detroit, MI.

Purchase Place: Kwik Trip, Rochester, MN.

Sweetener: Aspartame.

Review: This was a decent cola, but there was nothing fancy, special, or unique about it. It had decent flavor for being diet as well - not that strong, but also not TOO weak. Very decent and what I expected (and wanted). I'll rank this just above average.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Gold Mine Root Beer

My boys and I spent 2 nights in a camper cabin at Afton State Park recently, and I brought a big bottle of root beer to share on our first evening there:

Ready for some root beer while playing Catan.

Large 22 oz wax-sealed bottle.

A nice detail on the side label: 5 of these will get you 1 free root beer.

I cut off the "bottom" of the wax seal before taking a few stabs at taking off the cap with my son's multi-tool.

       

Brand: Gold Mine Root Beer.

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: We didn't know if this would be "fancy" as I remember it being a bit more expensive (and not just like twice as expensive because it's about twice the volume of a normal bottle). It didn't taste fancy, but it was pretty solid! It wasn't very smooth and creamy, but instead it was a root beer with a decent amount of "bite" to it. It wasn't exceptional, but it was a decent and tasty root beer, so I'll rank it just above average.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Premium Frostop Black Cherry Soda

I grabbed this at the hardware store as I was picking up something to help make Mother's Day presents last week:

 
Brand: Premium Frostop Black Cherry Soda.

Origin: Columbus, OH.

Purchase Place: Frattallone's Ace Hardware, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Sweetener and Cane Sugar.

Review: This is not a black cherry "cola" but just a black cherry "soda." It was VERY sweet and almost a little syrupy. My wife doesn't like things that sweet/syrupy, so I thought she'd make a face when she tried this... but she said it was pretty good. It's a heavy soda: heavy on the sweetness and heavy on the black cherry flavor. But the flavor was good! If you don't mind them a little extra sweet, give this a try.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Spindrift Lime Sparkling Water

This is NOT going to turn into a "sparkling water" blog, but I happened to grab this last week and figured I'd review it. 

At work with photo paper, negatives, and the darkroom door in the background.

Brand: Spindrift Lime Sparkling Water.  

Origin: Newton, MA.

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: None.

Review: I was walking through Menards and saw these large cans, and they looked good. So I grabbed one. But I was pretty let down with my first sip. Yes, I get that it's JUST carbonated water and lime juice with no sweetener, but the lime flavor had an odd almost fruitiness to it (and not in a good way). I was expecting (and OK with) a sharper citrus punch, and it didn't have that. I didn't expect a smoother lime water - I feel like that wasn't what I signed up for.

But truth be told, it grew on me a bit as I sipped on these 16 ounces. Part of that might have been just figuring out what the flavor was and slowly becoming OK with that. It went from maybe a score of 2 or 3 at the start to more like a 4 by the end of the can. So I still don't love it, but it's not completely horrible.

Score: 4 out of 10.

WBC Vanilla Cream Craft Soda

I recently spent 2 nights and 3 days in a little cabin with my boys in Whitewater State Park, and we sipped on this during a game of Catan: 

About to be shared in the tiny camping cups to the left.

Brand: WBC Vanilla Cream Craft Soda.

Origin: Glendale, WI.

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was just OK. It was really sweet and smooth on the front end (and had it stopped there, I'd rank it a little better than average), but then it had a pretty sharp and chemically aftertaste - something that I just hate when trying to enjoy a soda. That extra little "tang" at the end brought this from more of a 6 or 7 down to the 5 range. Not bad, just not great.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.

Goya Coconut Water

While technically not a soda, I opened this with my boys a few days back: 

 I took a photo of it, and later realized it was the Spanish side...

... so I had to turn the can and take one of the English side.

Brand: Goya Coconut Water.

Origin: Jersey City, NJ.

Purchase Place: Aldi, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This smelled nicely like lightly sweetened coconut. But it was odd tasting. (Even after shaking it well like it said to.) The biggest thing that put me off was how thick it was. It had the thickness of syrup, but it wasn't nearly that sweet. So it was odd to wrap my head around. Sure, I'm not a huge fan of coconut-flavored things, but this I couldn't do. And neither could my boys - they both gave up on it after a sip. No thanks. I have to rate this pretty poorly.

Score: 2 out of 10.

1919 Classic American Root Beer

My wife bought me this on New Year's Eve, and I had it with my boys:

Brand: 1919 Classic American Root Beer.

Origin: New Ulm and Sleepy Eye, MN.

Purchase Place: Kowalski's Market, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: First of all, I thought I had this YEARS ago, so I've been passing it up when I've come across it. But it turns out I've never had it. It might be the same as the root beer I had 8 years ago from Lynden's Soda Fountain (now "Cold Front") because the mug had this same logo and the same phrase at the top: "America's Original Brewery Made 1919 Classic American Root Beer." (And maybe part of the reason I thought I'd had this before is that I posted about the pony keg they had of this at Kowalski's back in 2015.)

So how was it? It was VERY strong on the vanilla. It was quite creamy! I poured out 2 glasses for my boys (as this is a big 16 oz can with lots to share) and it formed a good head. I wish the flavor was a little "deeper" though as it seemed a little weak. But that's about my only complaint - otherwise, it was smooth, creamy, heavy on the vanilla, and light on the anise which is the way I like my root beer.

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Casey's Cola

We recently got together with my parents for Christmas, and they just opened a bottle of "Casey's Cola" that they didn't want to keep, so they sent it with me:

A few glasses poured out, but still 2/3 full.

Brand: Casey's Cola.  

Origin: Ankeny, IA.

Purchase Place: Casey's General Store, Wells, MN. 

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup. 

Review: This was a bit weird. It had that strong and sharp "fruity" flavor of some colas that I like, but it was super sharp in this one. It was just harsh to drink. It was OK to sip, but it wasn't that enjoyable. I know that there are people that will like this sharpness, but it wasn't for me. It wasn't HORRIBLE, but it's just not what I'm looking for out of a cola.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Refreshing My Soda Stash

I have ONE soda left in my stash! Well, I should say "had" one soda left. My wife had a day off mid-week a few days ago, so I snuck away for an hour to restock my "soda box" in the basement. I hit up Blue Sun Soda:

I have *not* enjoyed a few of these, but I grabbed some that I hadn't tried before.

A BIG stock of their bottled-in-store Whistler sodas!

I had Kiss Army Root Beer a few years ago, but I hadn't tried the other 2. So I bought them.

Some "fancy" 22 oz $7 bottles. Just out of frame to the right is Indian Wells which we liked.

In the "all natural" section, here's a brand I haven't cared for (2 bottles rated 3.5 and 2).

Blue Sun now has a bigger "Japanese" section, so I grabbed 2!
It didn't seem right to have Elvis and John Wayne in the background...

I left with a case of 24 sodas, but I only had 2 root beers in there. After drinking those, I think I'll have had EVERY kind of root beer at Blue Sun except for 2 of the "big bottle" brands! I saved those for another time.

Thanks for refreshing my stash Blue Sun! I hope to check out your new location sometime soon as well!

Goslings Ginger Beer

This BIG bottle (1 liter) has been sitting in my basement for a while. It was time to crack it open:

Brand: Goslings Ginger Beer.

Origin: Worcester, MA.

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

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: Maybe it's because I've had this sitting at home for a while, but it was flat. It didn't taste bad, so I had to check the ingredients: yes, "carbonated water" was the first ingredient, so it was meant to have bubbles. It had the normal and familiar "bite" of ginger in the back of my throat. But it otherwise didn't stand out in any way. Just a decent "ginger ale-y" ginger beer.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Zevia Ginger Root Beer

I was at Fresh Thyme recently and grabbed a large can of ginger root beer:

Brand: Zevia Ginger Root Beer

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

Purchase Place: Fresh Thyme Farmer's Market, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Stevia Leaf.

Review: My 3 other "Zevia" sodas were all just OK (receiving "average" scores of 4.5, 5, and 5.5), so I was ready for this to be just OK. I poured some out for my boys to taste, and it was CLEAR, so that was weird. It had a strange tartness (that I think is from the Stevia) that I didn't care for. I didn't taste any of the ginger flavor in it - it was just a kinda strange root beer. And it was so weak that it tasted almost like a flavored water. It didn't taste that great, and it was weak, so no thanks.

Score: 3 out of 10.
 

Zevia Zero Calorie Grape

I was walking through "Fresh Thyme" in Minneapolis, and I grabbed this large can:

Brand: Zevia Zero Calorie Grape.

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

Purchase Place: Fresh Thyme, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Stevia Leaf Extract.

Review: Recent "grape soda" posts came to mind with my first sip: last month, I said "I don't know that I've had a 'bad' grape soda," and earlier this year, I said "I think most grape sodas can win me over pretty easily."

But this wasn't great. And it didn't win me over easily. I had to look at the label again to make sure I wasn't drinking flavored carbonated water. Because it had that "sharp/weak" taste of a La Croix. But no, it was a soda. Just a weak weak weak soda.

What's funny though is that the more I sipped it, the more I was OK with it. It wasn't a "drinkable" soda that you'd gulp down in 1 minute. But it was something I kept taking sips of over an hour, and I was OK with that. So initially (like after the first 2 sips), I would have ranked this more like a 3, but after spending some more time with it (in it's large 16 oz can), I became OK with it's weaker flavor and ranked it a bit higher.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Towne Club Lemonade

I opened this the other day with my boys:

Brand: Towne Club Lemonade

Origin: Detroit, MI.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: It was just slightly carbonated, and it was good. It wasn't too sweet - almost a little tart. That made my wife and I like it quite a bit, but my boys say they wished it was sweeter. So it was an "adult" lemonade. Pretty good!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.