Nixie Zero Sugar Root Beer

I grabbed this from Fresh Thyme earlier this week, and cracked it open last night:

Brand: Nixie Zero Sugar Root Beer.

Origin: Larkspur, CA.

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

Sweetener: Organic Stevia Leaf Extract.

Review: I was curious how this would taste after glancing at the ingredients list: it had vanilla listed pretty high (which I associate with a "smooth" or "creamy" root beer), but it also had ginger listed (which I associate with a root beer with more "bite"). 

It turns out that it was a bit heavier on the "bite" side, but not by much - it had a bit of a Barq's flavor, which is known for having a bite. But the ginger wasn't too heavy, and I appreciated that. There was still a bit of the smoothness from the vanilla, but then each sip ended with a little bite. Overall, it tasted "diet" because it was a bit watery and weak, but the flavor that was there was decent. Not a bad soda - better than I thought it was going to be!

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

GT's Alive Root Beer Ancient Mushroom Elixir

I knew this was a risk. I still tried it:

 

Brand: GT's Alive Root Beer Ancient Mushroom Elixir.

Origin: Beverly Hills, CA.

Purchase Place: Fresh Thyme Grocery Store, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Stevia.

Review: "Mushroom Elixir?" I think that means "mushrooms mushed up in water." Umm... yummy?  Maybe not. When we cracked the top (I say "we" because I tried this with my family), it really smelled of pretty classic root beer. I got my hopes up a little! And PART of the flavor of this was root beer, but a lot of it was based off apple cider vinegar. So... no thanks. There was no mushroom funk to this, but the kombucha-like sharpness from the apple cider vinegar overpowered anything that was decent about the root beer flavor. If you like kombucha, this might be worth a try. But if you get it solely based the fact that it's root beer flavored, you'll be let down. Not for me! 

Score: 2 out of 10.

Fresh Fizz Organic Soda Sparkling Jalapeno Limeade

I opened this while in my car waiting for one of my sons' sports practices:

Sitting in my car

Brand: Fresh Fizz Organic Soda Sparkling Jalapeño Limeade.

Origin: Island Park, NY.

Purchase Place: Fresh Thyme, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Organic Honey.

Review: This was a risky soda. I grow jalapeño peppers and like cooking with them, but I didn't know how I'd like that flavor in a soda... and if they'd be able to CREATE that flavor in a soda.

The first time bringing it to my mouth gave me a sniff of what smelled like TRUE jalapeño peppers - I was impressed already one second before taking my first sip. After my first sip, I was even more impressed - the jalapeño flavor came through well and was spot on! There are only 4 ingredients (carbonated water, lime juice, honey, and jalapeño peppers) and they all pull their own weight. 

This was not a "gulping" soda... this is definitely a "sipping" soda. My wife enjoyed the flavor and remarked this would be good in a cocktail, which is 100% right. The limeade cuts through the jalapeño nicely, and they work well together! It's hard to give this a score because it's not something I would just open and gulp down because it's so tasty, but I would sip on it for a while because it's refreshing. I was impressed by this!

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Bruce Cost Pomegranate with Hibiscus Ginger Ale

I opened this just now: 

Brand: Bruce Cost Pomegranate with Hibiscus Ginger Ale.

Origin: Brooklyn, NY.

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

Sweetener: Organic Cane Sugar.

Review: I was kinda not looking forward to this as I don't always enjoy that back-of-the-throat bite that ginger ale has. (My wife grabbed this for me while getting groceries this past weekend.) But there's something about the hibiscus flavor in this that sweetens this up and takes away that horrible bite! This wasn't bad! It still had the slight bite of ginger ale, but it wasn't too much. It was a real interesting and very drinkable ginger soda... and this coming from someone who isn't usually a fan of ginger! (Side note: I also enjoyed a little warning on the small label on the neck: "Separation is natural. Shake gingerly." #DadJoke)

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

New York Seltzer Root Beer Soda

My wife brought this home for me from the grocery store: 

This was sort of an accidental re-review. I had this YEARS ago and I felt like I didn't like it, so I've been ignoring "New York Seltzers" when I see them around. But as it turns out, I ranked it a 6.5 when I first had it nearly 6 years ago, and that's not horrible. So when my wife brought this home for me, I had to try it again.

Brand: New York Seltzer Root Beer Soda.

Origin: Walnut, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Yep, not horrible. It has a decent root beer flavor, but you NEED to keep in mind that it's water. If you want "root beer," don't have this. This is a sparkling root beer flavored water. Check out my first review, because that still holds pretty true. I think it's time to try a few more of these seltzers...

Score: 6.5 out of 10.  (still)

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.
 

Pennsylvania Dutch Cherry Cola Candy Cane

I was shopping at "Fresh Thyme Farmer's Market" on University Ave in Minneapolis a few weeks back, and I happened to glance across the flavored candy canes. And I spotted this:

A jar of Pennsylvania Dutch Cherry Cola Candy Canes.

Just the good stuff: sugar, more sugar, fake flavor, and color.

Brand: Pennsylvania Dutch Cherry Cola Candy Cane.

Origin: Hicksville, NY.

Purchase Place: Fresh Thyme, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar and Corn Syrup.

Review: I was first (pleasantly) surprised to find that there was no strong peppermint taste. Even though it's NOT a traditional candy cane, I was afraid it'd have a hint of peppermint thrown it. But it didn't.

At first, all I tasted was "cherry." There was no other flavor than cherry. "Where's the COLA?" I wondered. Then I realized I was just sucking on a red part - notice in the picture above that the cane is swirled red and brown. I focused my licks on a brown part, and sure enough, that was more "cola" flavored. So that was kinda fun to discover.

Both the cherry and the cola weren't very strong, but they were OK. I'm not really a fan of hard candies, so take that into consideration. This was fine, but there's ZERO chance it could beat an ACTUAL cherry cola. So I'll rank this just below average.

Score: 4 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.

Bawls Guarana Cherry

We stopped at "Fresh Thyme" grocery store over the weekend, and my wife asked "hey, have you had all of these?" as we walked through the soda section. I found a Bawls Cherry that I hadn't tried before:

Hard to photograph - had to hold it in the right spot to make out the label.

Brand: Bawls Guarana Cherry.

Origin: Twinsburg, OH.

Purchase Place: Fresh Thyme Grocery Store, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: My first Bawls soda / energy drink was a bit of a let down. They made sodas with a super high caffeine content - one of the ingredients is guarana extract which is about twice as potent as coffee beans. This bottle had 64 mg of caffeine. But I still wanted to try this. It wasn't great. The cherry flavor was OK the moment it touched my tongue, but then it immediately became very "chemically" tasting. And it was weak/thin tasting. Both of those things I ended up saying about my first Bawls soda as well. Not a fan of Bawls.

Score: 3 out of 10.

Jones Birthday Cake Soda

I'm sipping on this during class right now:

Brand: Jones Birthday Cake Soda

Origin: Made in Canada.

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

Sweetener: Inverted Cane Sugar.

Review: Oh my God. It tastes like a sugary fun-fetti birthday cake. For real. I *like* sweet sodas, but this is too sweet to drink. It's a sipping soda for sure. If you like sweet cake/frosting like at a kids birthday party, you'll be happy with this. If you sometimes think some sodas are too sweet, this might be one of them. Good flavor, but a bit too sweet.

Score: 6 out of 10.