Topo Chico Grapefruit Mineral Water

I cracked into this last night:

Brand: Topo Chico Grapefruit Mineral Water.

Origin: Monterrey, Mexico.

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

Sweetener: None.

Review: I saw "grapefruit" on the label, but I didn't realize this was just mineral water until my first sip. It was decent as no-calorie slightly-flavored water. It was like a fancy La Croix. Nothing amazing, but still refreshing. I'll give it an average score.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Dead World Goon Bitters Cherry Cola

I cracked into this just now, but unfortunately I think it's been my least favorite "Dead World" soda:

Brand: Dead World Goon Bitters Cherry Cola.

Origin: Detroit, Michigan.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: For being "novelty" sodas, I've quite liked most Dead World favors. But this one was a bit of a let down. The cola flavor was just OK, and there wasn't much of a cherry flavor at all. And it was oddly harsh. It wasn't great.

Score: 3.5 out of 10.

Grinch Soda Display

Here's a great Christmas soda display:

Dead World Royal Rotter Black Cherry Soda

Happy New Year to you in 2019! I had to celebrate by cracking into a soda. This afternoon, I opened this:

Brand: Dead World Royal Rotter Black Cherry Soda.

Origin: Detroit, MI.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was pretty "thick" - it was relatively syrupy. And that's not something I usually mind. It definitely leaned towards the "cough syrup" end of the cherry soda spectrum. It was smooth and think with a pretty deep black cherry flavor. Not bad, but not great, and nothing unique. Just a decent black cherry.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

A Homemade Cola at Cold Front

My big guy and I stopped at Cold Front on Thursday afternoon. He got some ice cream, and I got some soda:

Moose Tracks ice cream. He loved it!

Cold Front had remodeled since we were last there. This layout is nicer.

My cola, freshly made by the soda jerk behind the counter.

It was a nice "sharp" cola, probably from the "fresh" bubbly water. I'm not really here to rate it, but it was probably a 6 or a 7, and my son love the 2 sips he got. (And it was in a plastic cup because I got it "to go," otherwise it's in an actual glass.)

Towne Club Root Beer

When my son and I picked up a bunch of root beers for his teacher last weekend, I grabbed 1 larger bottle for myself. I opened it (and shared it with my boys) tonight:

Brand: Towne Club Root Beer.

Origin: Detroit, Michigan.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was pretty good! (Both of my boys loved it, but they're not necessarily the most discerning.) It was a bit heavy on vanilla and anise, but not too a fault. This was fun to drink and quite good - nice deep flavor. I liked this!  

Score: 9 out of 10.

Boylan Grape

I've had an up and down relationship with Boylan. It was time for another try. So I opened this over the weekend:

Brand: Boylan Grape Soda.

Origin: New York, NY.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was sugary and delicious. It had a deep grape flavor and went down easily. It's been a few years since I had Faygo grape soda, but it reminded me of that (but maybe a bit smoother and better). Tasty stuff!

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

A quick trip to Blue Sun Soda

My 2nd grader and I took a trip to Blue Sun Soda this afternoon. His teacher loves root beer, so I made a list of my favorite root beers from this blog (ones rated 9 or 10) and picked up 8 for him as an upcoming Christmas present.

We brought a few dollars worth of quarters for Henry and me.

Playing a slightly older pinball machine.

Rocky Mountain had a nice end cap.

SODAS! The aisle along the wall on the right is all root beer.
Colas are in the middle of this pic. Everything is divided by flavor.

There was a birthday party going on in a back room, which is a great idea! The kids seemed to be having fun. Henry and I grabbed some free popcorn and some goodies for his teacher. I ended up getting:

- Capt'n Eli's Root Beer
- Old Fashioned Killebrew Root Beer
- Dang! That's Good Root Beer
- Barrel Brother's Creamy Vanilla Root Beer
- The Three Stooges Wise Guy Root Beer
- Route 66 Root Beer
- Hippo Size Jumbo Root Beer
- Abita Root Beer

Those last 2 on the list have been the ONLY sodas on this blog that have received "10 out of 10." The rest on this list either got 9s or 9.5s. (You can find reviews of all of these in the sidebar - look for the brand name in the tags.) I hope his teacher likes his Christmas present!

Kickapoo Maliblu (Pina Colada)

I opened this at the end of class today:

Brand: Kickapoo Maliblu (Pina Colada)

Origin: Atlanta, GA

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: I mean, it tastes like sunscreen. But also Pina Colada. It's not real drinkable, but it's OK in sips. It COULD be better with booze. But as is, it's a little weird.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Pop vs. Soda

This map seems pretty broad, but ABOUT right from what I've noticed while living in MN, eating out a few times in New Orleans, and visiting AZ and Las Vegas.

In out-state MN, it's "pop," but it's more "soda" here in the Metro.

Do you think this is about right?