Soda Shaq Strawberry Cream Soda

This was my last of 3 Soda Shaqs that I was sent from a friend. The first 3 were really bad, kinda bad, and pretty good, so I didn't know what to expect with this one. (Click here to see all of my Soda Shaq reviews.)

Brand: Soda Shaq Strawberry Cream Soda.

Origin: Woodbury, NY.

Purchase Place: 7-Eleven, somewhere in Colorado.

Sweetener: Sugar and Honey.

Review: This was better than I thought it'd be. It smelled right, and it tasted right. It wasn't amazing, but it was a decent "strawberry cream" soda. It didn't have the horrible aftertaste that some of the other Soda Shaqs had. I'll give it a just-above-average score.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Soda Shaq Orange Cream Soda

So far, I'd had one pretty crappy Soda Shaq, and one that was pretty decent. It was time to try the Orange Cream:

Brand: Soda Shaq Orange Cream Soda.

Origin: Woodbury, NY.

Purchase Place: 7-Eleven, somewhere in Colorado.

Sweetener: Sugar and Honey.

Review: Well, it was the middle of my 3 Soda Shaqs. It smelled like the orange floats I used to have at my Grandma's house, and the initial sip was pretty smooth and tasty. But 1 second later, it turned into a chemical-tasting shit storm. It was the same issue I had with Vanilla Creme Soda Shaq - it just tasted "fake." It wasn't horrible, but it was sub-par.

Score: 3.5 out of 10.

Soda Shaq Blueberry Cream Soda

This was my 2nd "Soda Shaq." The first one left a horrible taste in my mouth (both literally and figuratively) so I wasn't too excited about trying the other 3 that I had. But I recently cracked into this Blueberry Cream on a hot afternoon:

Brand: Soda Shaq Blueberry Cream Soda.

Origin: Woodbury, NY.

Purchase Place: 7-Eleven, somewhere in Colorado.

Sweetener: Sugar and Honey.

Review: When I cracked it open, it smelled strongly of blueberries... I was optimistic. And it really didn't let me down! It has a crisp, "clean" bite of blueberry, and then it left a creamy smoothness at the end. My last soda had way too much honey in it, but this just had a nice refreshing touch. It had a good subtle vanilla flavor from bourbon vanilla extract as well. This was a surprisingly decent soda! (It'd be good with liquor - maybe vodka...)

Score: 8 out of 10.

Soda Shaq Vanilla Cream Soda

Of the 4 kinds of "Soda Shaq" that I was just sent, I wanted to try the least-offensive sounding one first. So I grabbed the can of Vanilla Cream Soda.

On my freshly-primed front steps.

Brand: Soda Shaq Vanilla Cream Soda.

Origin: Woodbury, NY.

Purchase Place: 7-Eleven, somewhere in Colorado.

Sweetener: Sugar and Honey.

Review: I did not care for this. It simply tasted "fake." There was almost a chemical-like taste to this. The vanilla didn't taste right, and the cream was off too. There are some sodas that I don't care for, but I can see how SOME people would like it. However this is not one of those - I can't see anyone liking this soda.

Score: 2 out of 10.



Side note: I had horrible gas later in the day after drinking this, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't related. But it might have been. Shaq, I don't trust you...

Goodies in the Mail

I got a surprise on our front step yesterday.

First layer.

Second layer

Some blogger friends who follow my triathlon blog sent me some sugary treats from Colorado.

"Soda Shaq?"  Seems suspicious.  Gotta try it.

Tommyknocker Strawberry Creme, and a set of 5 Rocky Mountain Soda Company sodas.

Theresa and Brandon tell me that Soda Shaq is a 7-11 exclusive, and that the 6 others are from local brews ("local" to them in CO). They hadn't tried them, so they're curious what I think of them.

THANKS GUYS!! I'll be trying these all shortly, so check back to see if I like having some of Shaq's cream in my mouth...