Cap'n Eli's Black Cherry Pop

I opened this in my office this afternoon: 

Brand: Cap'n Eli's Black Cherry Pop

Origin: Portland, ME.

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

Sweetener: Cane sugar.

Review: It had a strong taste of black cherry. This wasn't a cola that tasted a little fruity - no, it let you know that it was BLACK CHERRY. The flavor was decent, but not amazing. Being it wasn't a cola, it was pretty clear with a tint of red to it (which is always just a BIT weird to me as I think I always EXPECT a black cherry COLA - but that's my problem and not the soda's). Overall, quite drinkable with decent (but not amazing) black cherry flavor. I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Cap'n Eli's Root Beer nearly 10 years ago.

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Maine Root Pumpkin Pie Soda

Happy (day after) Thanksgiving!  I thought I'd try an appropriately seasonal soda today:

I let my son try a sip.

He thought it was good. (But he never gets soda, so that's not worth much.)

Brand: Maine Root Pumpkin Pie Soda.

Origin: Portland, Maine.

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

Sweetener: Fair Trade Certified organic cane juice (sheesh).

Review: I was ready to not like this. I mean, it sounds kinda gross. But I was intrigued because it only had 3 ingredients: carbonated water, Fair Trade Certified organic cane juice, and spices. Turns out, it was OK. It didn't REALLY taste like pumpkin pie, but it was herby and spicy like a real flavorful pumpkin pie is. It SMELLED really like pumpkin pie. It wasn't bad. I mean, it wasn't GREAT either, but it was one of the better "novelty" sodas that I've had. And, as seen above, my 5-year-old liked it.

Score: 6 out of 10.
 

Sea Dog Root Beer

This label caught my eye:

Brand: Sea Dog Root Beer.

Origin: Portland, Maine.

Purchase Place: Frattallone's Ace Hardware, Burnsville, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This reminded me a lot of my last root beer (Capt'n Eli's). It's how root beer should taste. It had a "classic" taste that was fantastic. Smooth, a little bite, a hint of wintergreen and vanilla, and not too much anise. This was GOOD! Try this one today!

Score: 9.5 out of 10 !

Capt'n Eli's Root Beer

Time for some Capt'n Eli's.

I cracked into this, and it smelled fantastic. It smelled strong of vanilla, wintergreen, and a hint of anise.

Brand: Capt'n Eli's Root Beer.

Origin: Portland, ME.

Purchase Place: Frattallone's Ace Hardware, Burnsville, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This soda is REALLY smooth and creamy. If you like a lot of head on your root beer, this is for you. It had a bit more anise than I cared for, but I say that a lot - I'm not big on anise. Overall, this was a really great, classic tasting root beer. Go try this!

Score: 9 out of 10.

Maine Root Root Beer

My wife told me this would be the best or the worst root beer we'd ever have - it was the most expensive root beer she'd ever purchased.

The bottle boasted all kinds of natural and fair trade ingredients. Their website says "Handcrafted soda made with Fair Trade Certified organic evaporated cane juice.  Open a bottle and taste the flavor of extracts of wintergreen, clove and anise.  Our recipe combines these ingredients with FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED ORGANIC SUGAR to allow the flavor of each of these extracts to come through."


Brand: Maine Root Root Beer

Origin: Portland, Maine.

Purchase Place: Lunds Grocery Store, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Fair trade certified organic cane juice (that's a mouthful...).

Review: The first 2 things I noticed was that it was quite watery, and it had a very herby and spicy flavor (not "hot" spicy, but "spice shop" spicy). The carbonation was a bit too weak. The spices were a bit much, but at the same time, the flavor was weak and watery. It needed MORE and LESS at the same time.

Score: 4 out of 10.