Strawberry Kiwi Breese

I cracked into this after a long holiday weekend of yard work:

The label has an adorable illustration of a kiwi and strawberry in a breeze.  Adorable.

Brand: Strawberry Kiwi Breese.

Origin: Breese, IL.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was pretty good. It wasn't an even mix of strawberry and kiwi - more like 80% strawberry and 20% kiwi. It was pretty smooth and sweet, and it went down easy.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Rating Our State Fair Treats!

Yesterday, my boys and I went to the Minnesota State Fair.  Here's a quick rundown of the 9 treats we had while I was there (with my standard scoring system of 1=crap, 5=average, and 10=the best thing ever).

FOOD #1: Soft pretzel from the place next to the sheep barn: delicious.  SCORE: 7.

FOOD #2: Deep-fried Spam bites. OK, but nothing spectacular. SCORE: 5.

FOOD #3: Deep-fried olives stuffed with cream cheese. I'm not a huge olive fan,
but these were GOOD. My Dad loved them. SCORE: 8.5.

FOOD #4: Ice cream sandwich (free at the end of the kid's "farmhand experience").
It's a standard ice cream sandwich. SCORE: 5.

FOOD #5: Gizmo (Italian bun stuffed with sausage, beef, and cheese).
Good seasoning. Good flavor. Cheesy goodness! SCORE: 7.

FOOD #6: Deep-fried grilled cheese bites from O'Garas. AMAZING. Really cheesy
and not super bready. These rival cheese curds. Really. SCORE: 9.

We HAD to stop for honey sticks in the Horticulture building. They're 4 for a $1.

FOOD #7: Henry's eating a root beer honey stick, and I had a clover honey and wildflower honey stick. SCORE: 6.

FOOD #8: Seriously some of the best mini donuts I've ever had. This was right next to the Kiddie Midway,
and I think it was Tiny Tim donuts (maybe Tom Thumbs - I'm not sure). SCORE: 8.5.

FOOD #9: Cotton Candy on the way home. Just normal cotton candy. SCORE: 5.

Oh, and I didn't have any soda at the fair this year, but I passed 2 or 3 of these root beer barrels:

And I NEARLY stopped for a 1919 root beer float on the way to the exit.

I Instagrammed this photo of our 9 fair foods.

For me, the olives were the big surprise, and the deep fried grilled cheese bites were my favorite. But the mini-dounts were a close 2nd!

Here's a quick post from the State Fair in 2013, here are some photos from Henry's and my visit to the State Fair in 2014, and a few photos from 2015.  In 2013, it was my 100th post; in 2014, it was my 199th; and in 2015, it was my 299th. This year, it's my 409th post. Upping the pace a bit I guess.  :)

Diet Dublin Texas Root Beer

I'd had regular Dublin Texas Root Beer, and it was good. Now on a canoeing trip with the fellas, I tried the diet version:

With the Kickapoo River in the background.

Brand: Diet Dublin Texas Root Beer.

Origin: Dublin, Texas.

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

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: This wasn't anything special. It was OK, but nothing fancy. Weak, smooth-ish, and OK. Forgettable.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Excel Black Cherry

I grabbed this last night:

Brand: Excel Black Cherry Soda.

Origin: Breese, IL.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This didn't stand out from many other black cherry sodas. It was sugary and almost a bit too syrupy, but the flavor was good. There was a bit of a "sharpness" at the end of each sip, but not bad. Overall, a decent, normal soda.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Jelly Belly Green Apple Soda

The label said "GOURMET soda," but I didn't have much faith in this:

Brand: Jelly Belly Green Apple Soda.

Origin: Fairfield, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: When I popped the top, it smelled like wet cardboard. My first sip was interesting: it had a very "CANDY green apple" flavor (not like a tart ACTUAL green apple), and then it had a strange aftertaste. The flavor wasn't bad, it was just more sugary than I expected (and I expected it to be a bit sugary). Overall, I'll call it just barely below average - it was drinkable, but not great.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Joe's Root Beer

This ended up being my first soda from Nevada:

Sweet bottle cap.

Brand: Joe's Root Beer.

Origin: Henderson, NV.

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

Sweetener: Cane sugar and honey.

Review: So I liked that this was trying something unique, but it just wasn't that good. Honey and vanilla are the last two ingredients in this root beer, and there's just way too much honey. I've said it before: I don't care for honey in root beer even though I may love it in other flavors of soda. I can taste the vanilla, and that's a nice little addition. But the honey is just too much and a little too strange. (Honey isn't the only sweetener - it's just an added sweetener near the end of the ingredients list.)

Score: 3 out of 10.

Dang! That's Good Italian Cherry Soda

I enjoyed this on a hot afternoon yesterday:

(With flowers in the background that my son brought home from his Great-Grandpa's funeral.)

Brand: Dang! That's Good Italian Cherry Soda.

Origin: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: The first thing I would describe this as is "crisp." It has a sharp carbonated kick to it that is a little like having a freshly-made soda at an old-fashioned soda fountain. The cherry flavor was initially good, but then leaves a little bit of a funky aftertaste. Overall, it's nothing special, but it was better than I thought it would be.

Score: 6 out of 10.

1893 Cola (by Pepsi)

I spied this available being sold as individual cans at Target:

Brand: 1893 (by Pepsi).

Origin: Unknown.

Purchase Place: Target, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Fair trade certified sugar.

Review: For some reason, I expected this to have a LOT of flavor, and it didn't. But it was good. Really good. It had a sweet flavor, with just a little kick from some bitters. I've never been a huge fan of Pepsi, but this was one of the better colas I've had. 

Score: 8.5 out of 10.
 

North Star Craft Soda Orange Cola

This was my last (of 3) sodas from the cabin (see the first one here and the second one here):

On the railing at the cabin with the lake in the background.

Brand: North Star Craft Soda Orange Cola.

Origin: Forest Lake, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: The "orange" was subtle, which was good. A super ORANGE "orange cola" sounds disgusting. The cola part of this was good - a bit fruity and sweet, with just a bit of a bite. It wasn't as odd as it sounded, and it went down well.

Score: 6 out of 10.
 

Lost Trail Diet Root Beer

Another soda on vacation:

On the counter in the cabin at the lake.

Brand: Lost Trail Diet Root Beer.

Origin: Louisburg, KS.

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

Sweetener: Aspartame (Nutrasweet brand).

Review: This has the typical weak flavor of a root beer. It's sort of right in the middle of the "smooth vs bite" scale, and I kind of wish it would pick one side or the other. It's relatively creamy, but just a bit weak because it's diet. Overall, this was just OK.

Score: 5 out of 10.