Dr. Enuf Soda

I'm currently sipping on this soda that I got on my trip to Yellowstone last month (where I also had this slightly sub-par root beer):

 
Brand: Dr. Enuf Soda.

Origin: Johnson City, TN.

Purchase Place: Cracker Barrel, Billings, MT.

Sweetener: 100% Pure Sugar.

Review: As you can see on the front of the label, this says "rich in vitamins" and that it's the "original energy booster." Apparently it says that because it has added vitamin B1 and B3. Big whoop. That's not that impressive.

And it basically tastes like 7Up or Sprite - it's a pretty generic lemon lime soda. It has a slightly different after taste, and maybe that's from the B vitamins. So I think 7Up and Sprite are both better because they don't have that slightly "off" taste. It's OK. It's fine. Basic lemon lime.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Mirinda

This past weekend, my wife and I got back from a 10-day trip to Italy! Here's a soda found in our mind-fridge of our hotel in Rome that I tried:

 

Brand: Mirinda.

Origin: Milanofiori, Milan, Italy.

Purchase Place: Unknown (found in mini-fridge of Hotel Artemide)

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was pretty OJ heavy, even though it only contained 4% orange juice (the ingredients label noted "succo d'arancai (4%)" after water and sugar). It tasted like a lemon-lime soda with OJ added. That's about it! It was simple and refreshing, and surprisingly only 4% OJ. Tasty and simple, so I'll rank this just barely above average.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Zero Sugar Lemon Lime Starry

I've been seeing this around lately (a "rebrand" of Sierra Mist), and I grabbed one on a walk around the neighborhood with my son recently:

On the back wall of Marshall Stop.

 
Brand: Zero Sugar Lemon Lime Starry.

Origin: Purchase, NY.

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

Sweetener: Aspartame.

Review: I didn't need to try this. It was a pretty generic lemon lime soda. Sure, it *WAS* good, but it wasn't doing anything different from 7Up, Sprite, Sierra Mist (what it replaced), etc. It's just another decent lemon lime soda. It's a lot like a 7Up, but just slightly sweeter (which I guess is pretty impressive for it being a 10 calorie drink). I like lemon lime sodas, and I liked this... I just wish it was trying something new.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Diet Shasta Twist Lemon Lime

I tried my 2nd soda from Menards recently: 

Brand: Diet Shasta Twist Lemon Lime.

Origin: Hayward, CA.

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: This was a decent, tasty, crisp 7Up-like or Sprite-like lemon line soda. It was refreshing. I could have thought it was diet 7Up, only it's a bit heavier on the "lime" than most lemon lime sodas, which I quite enjoyed.

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

 

Diet Shasta Cola

At Menards last week, I grabbed these 2 cases:

Diet Shasta Cola and Diet Shasta Twist!

I tried this one first at work.

Brand: Diet Shasta Cola.

Origin: Hayward, CA.

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: This had more flavor than I expected! It had the extra sweetness like Diet Pepsi compared to Diet Coke, but then there was an extra almost cinnamon-like flavor. Honestly, it got to feel (taste) OVERLY sweet by the end of the can. But surprisingly good (for generic and for diet).

Score: 6 out of 10.

A Minor Refill at Blue Sun Soda

Last night, I dropped my boys off at Grandma's house, and I celebrated my freedom by going to a soda and candy store. Of course. The last time I stopped at Blue Sun Soda was pre-COVID back in November. Back then, we stopped by for a cream soda tasting. But now (without the boys), I could take my time.

Colas on the left, root beers on the right.

This note was hung on the wall with no explanation. Perfect.

"Summertime Sodas:" lemon limes, an orange cream, and some novelty "fair" flavors.

Love all the greens and yellows in the lemon lime section.

Worth noting: MN legal "fireworks" are cheap now!

  

Also note that the fireworks are in their "soda fountain" area. Both the soda fountain and the arcade are not open because of COVID-19. That's understandable (I wouldn't have gotten a fresh-made soda while there, and I SURE wouldn't have been playing pinball that all kinds of grubby hands have been on) but still sad. Here's a post from a year ago that shows the soda fountain and arcade pretty well.

The main reason I stopped was because my stash at home was running very low: I was down to 2 sodas! Maybe sometime in 2013 (shortly after starting this blog) my stash got that low, but this was the 2nd lowest it's ever been.  So I picked up a random assortment of 10 bottles at Blue Sun Soda Shop: a few of their Whistler bottles, some random flavors, and even a novelty soda. That should get me through the end of summer.

Soda Humor

Whistler Lemon Lime Soda

I opened the first of the 8 bottles that I picked up from Blue Sun Soda this past weekend. It was a Whistler Lemon Lime:

Proof that it was Lemon Lime (the bottles all look the same, but the bottle caps have stickers).

I've had issues with Whistler sodas not being sealed (like in my last one which I drank shortly after purchasing it and it STILL had an issue), so I drank this one 3 days after purchase. Luckily (and FINALLY), this soda "psssssstt"-ed when I opened it.


Brand: Whistler Lemon Lime.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was a really sweet lemon lime. I really enjoyed it! It was heavy on the lemon, and NEARLY seemed "thick" because of how sweet it was. Finally, a Whistler that I enjoyed! I knew I'd like some of their flavors, but they just kept selling my un-sealed bottles that had lost all carbonation. Maybe they figured it out, or maybe I just got lucky with this one, but it was good.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Sparkling Life Soda

My boys and I just spent 3 days winter "camping" in a camper cabin in western MN. We cracked open this soda on the first night when we were playing games in the Interpretive Center:

Battleship by the woodstove before bed.

Brand: Sparkling Life Soda.

Origin: Breese, IL.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: I don't know that I've ever had a "bad" lemon lime soda, but this one wasn't fantastic. It wasn't "bad," but it had a slightly strange sharpness at the end of each sip. My boys loved it, but they love anything sugary. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good, so I'll give it an average score of 5.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Mr. Newport Lemon-Lime

I opened this over the weekend:

A very formal label.

Brand: Mr. Newport Lemon-Lime.

Origin: Chicago, IL.

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

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: There wasn't anything too special about this. It was generically OK. Just another nice lemon-lime with maybe a BIT too much of a slightly weird aftertaste.

Score: 5 out of 10.

First 5 Hard Ciders / Hard Sodas from Total Wine

Here's my first of 2 "mini reviews" of the hard ciders and hard sodas that I recently picked up at Total Wine:

All the bottles from last month, but this review is just for 5 of the 9.

Here's my review of my first 5 (in the order that I drank them):

Strongbow "Honey" Hard Apple Cider: This was very sweet and crisp. It was almost just apple cider with a bit of a boozy taste. I thought it was great, but my wife (who has a more refined wine drinkers palette) said it was too sweet. Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Coney Island Hard Lemon Lime Twist: This was stronger on the lemon, and weaker on the lime. So it was quite unique and didn't taste like 7-Up or Sprite. Also making it unique was the smooth finish - it sounds like it could be weird, but the vanilla aftertaste was quite nice. My wife really like this, and I thought it was pretty good. Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Henry's Grape Hard Soda: This was a bit like a grape beer. I don't care for beer, and this had just a little too much of a "hoppy" taste to it. The grape was nice though. If you like beer and grape soda, then try this. Being I'm not a huge beer fan, this was just OK. Score: 6 out of 10.

Not Your Father's Vanilla Cream Ale: There was a MAJOR vanilla smell when I cracked this open (it's made with Madagascar vanilla). The first sip was deliciously heavy on vanilla, but then the beer taste took over and totally ruined it. Again, like I said in the grape soda above, if you like vanilla and beer, then try this. But this was way too "beery" for me. Score: 4 out of 10.

Henry's Hard Sparkling Lemon Lime: This was stronger on the lime than the lemon (so reversed from Coney Island Hard Lemon Lime Twist above), but it was good. It wasn't as interesting as the Coney Island, but still decent. I'll rank this just a bit above average. Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Bundaberg Lemon, Lime & Bitters

Last night, I cracked into this. I didn't have high hopes because my last Bundaberg soda wasn't that great, and the flavor didn't sound all that interesting:

The Bundaberg tab on top.

Brand: Bundaberg Lemon, Lime & Bitters.

Origin: Queensland, Australia.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: The first sip started like Lemon Lime soda, but then the "bitters" part kicks in and leaves quite a bitter aftertaste. This wasn't that enjoyable to drink, but I can imagine it mixed with booze and being quite good. As a stand-alone soda, it was too bitter.

Score: 3 out of 10.
 

3 Hard Soda Reviews: Sprecher Hard Root Beer, White Claw Black Cherry Hard Seltzer, and Seagrams Hard Lemon 'N Lime

I've finished my first 3 hard sodas from my recent Total Wine trip (where I picked up 6 total). I'll do 2 sets of mini reviews, so here's the first:

Sprecher Hard Root Beer, White Claw Black Cherry Hard Seltzer, and Seagram's Lemon 'N Lime.

Sprecher Hard Root Beer: I think this was a touch better than "Best Damn Root Beer," but not by much. The maltiness mixed with the root beer makes it taste a little burnt. It smells good and has a creamy/vanilla aroma, but then it has a harsh aftertaste. Not the best (but as I've noted before, I'm not a beer fan).  Score: 3.5 out of 10.

White Claw Black Cherry Hard Seltzer: I didn't know what this was supposed to be: it's a hard seltzer (I expected "spiked water"), but it also noted on the can that it was "beer with natural flavors." But it was good. It had a slightly malty aftertaste, but it was not very "beery" at all. My wife had a few sips and noted something like "I could see myself sipping on one of these on a hot day!" The black cherry was quite sharp, but I sort of expected that with the carbonated water. I'll try other flavors of this over the summer! Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Seagram's Lemon 'N Lime: This reminded me a lot of Mike Hard Lemonade (pretty sugary and syrupy), but with more of a hint of lime and more of a slight malty beer-like aftertaste. Real sweet. Pretty good! Score: 8 out of 10.

Back with more soda reviews shortly, and the last 3 hard soda reviews in a few weeks (probably).

Hard Sodas from Total Wine

My wife and I left our boys at Grandma's house after Christmas for a few days, so we got to run "adult" errands. We had to stop at Total Wine in Roseville so my wife could pick up some wine for a party, and I cruised the by-the-bottle hard cider section:

All sold as individual bottles. It's pretty sweet.

These are all hard sodas. There were more on the next shelf down as well.
There were very few of these here the last time I was here.

 In the end, I walked out with these 6 to try:

I heard a lot about "Not Your Father's Root Beer" in the past, so I'm excited to try it.  I didn't know that Sprecher made a hard root beer!  I tried (and did NOT care for) Best Damn Root Beer, so I'll see what I think of their cherry cola.  The "White Claw" is a hard sparkling water with black cherry.  And I have no preconceived opinion about the Jack Daniels Cola or the Seagram's Hard Lemon N' Lime.  I'll report back about these 6.

Here's a link to all of my posts tagged with "alcohol" so you can see my previous reviews of hard sodas and hard ciders.  And here's a post about my first trip to Total Wine to get some hard ciders with my little guy 2.5 years ago.

365 Lemon Lime

The boys and I swung by Whole Foods for a snack this past weekend, and I grabbed a lemon lime soda:

At a table at Whole Foods, with dark Selby Ave in the background.

Brand: 365 Lemon Lime.

Origin: Austin, TX.

Purchase Place: Whole Foods, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: There was nothing special about this, but it was good. It wasn't as sugary and sweet as "name brand" lemon lime sodas - it was a bit more crisp and subtle. Maybe it was because I was at Whole Foods, but I felt like this wasn't AS bad for me as normal sodas. (Yeah, that was all in my head.) Pretty good, and not overly sweet.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Howdy Lemon Lime

I had this because it looked refreshing on a recent hot day:

Brand: Howdy Lemon Lime.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: I feel like I'm showing my background as an art and design professor when I say this, but here it goes anyway: it's not the greatest, but I like that it tried something different. (I've said that to students during critique before.) This isn't like 7-Up or Sierra Mist. This is a bit more tart, and a bit heavy on the lime. In fact, one of the ingredients is "lime juice with added lime oil." A bit TOO tart for me, but like I initially said, I'm glad they tried something different and didn't make another generic lemon lime soda. (Which is a common complaint of mine for colas.)

Score: 5 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.

Kickapoo Joy Juice

This bottle/label/name was just too amazing to pass up:

Brand: Kickapoo Joy Juice.

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: Frattallones Ace Hardware, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was pretty weak. It was like watered-down, carbonated lemonade. It wouldn't be bad if it had more flavor, but it just didn't have enough of anything. OK lemony flavor, just too subtle.

Score: 4 out of 10.

History of Soda Can Logos

I just came across a post (that's a few years old) with the history of some soda can designs :

I'm sad that the "bubbles" so prominent in the 7-Up design (in 1961 and 1980 - 1994) have disappeared.

And I prefer many of the older more simple designs.  The 1960s - 1970s have the most of my favorite designs above.  I like the 1965 and 1972 Crush cans and the 1990 7-Up can.  What do you like?

Vegas Trip!!

My wife and I just got back from 4 days in Vegas. Our trip included a stop at Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shop.

This is ALL Root Beer!!

All of their individual kinds of soda on the wall.

They had 3 carts of soda like this!

Here's a selection of 15 different kinds of orange soda (under some taffy).

Over 20 kinds of Lemon Lime soda.  At my count, I've had 6 of these.

Lots of bottles in the coolers in the back.

Unfortunately, I couldn't purchase a case or 2 of soda and have them mail it home to me - I was hoping they could do that. So I had to only purchase what I was going to drink in the next 24 hours before we left for home. I limited myself to 6 bottles:

Bulldog Root Beer, Dad's Root Beer, Faygo Root Beer, Sioux City Sarsaparilla,
Lester's Fixins Bacon Soda, and Snooki's Wild Cherry.

My 6 sodas sitting in our hotel room over-looking The Bellagio's fountain.

So I'll be posting my reviews of all of these over the next week or 2.  Stop by to see what I thought of my Vegas sodas.