Father's Day Sodas...

Blue Sun Soda Shop posted this last night on their Instagram:

This selection seems pretty appropriate for Dads.  Happy Father's Day!

Dad-Gum-It! Cream Butterscotch

I opened this tonight after working outside:

Brand: Dad-Gum-It! Cream Butterscotch

Origin: Camarillo, CA

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar

Review: When I popped the bottle cap, I got a huge whiff of butterscotch candies. I was impressed, and I was hopeful. And it didn't taste too bad! It sure was better than their "Root Beer Butterscotch," so that was good. It still had a slightly off aftertaste (or maybe more specifically "later" in the taste but just before an "aftertaste"), but it wasn't too egregious.

Also, it doesn't really need the word "cream" in the name. One would assume that something liquid and butterscotch flavored would be creamy. It's not soooo creamy that it warrants the title of CREAM Butterscotch. IMHO.

This calls for higher points for a unique flavor, but then that gets lowered down a bit because of the slightly weird aftertaste. But a decent butterscotch soda that was fun to sip on a hot evening.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.
 

Boylan Cane Cola

I was grabbing some mulch at Ace (on Grand near Snelling Ave) last week, and I also grabbed this:

I liked the design of the bottle cap.

Brand: Boylan Cane Cola.

Origin: New York, New York.

Purchase Place: Frattallone's Ace Hardware, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was OK. It had that flowery sweetness that many "good" colas have, but it was pretty subtle. There wasn't anything special or unique about this. Pretty average, so I'm giving it an average "5."

Score: 5 out of 10.

A&W Drive-In Nostagia

This was shared recently on a "History of St. Paul" Facebook page, and I thought it'd be fun to share here:

Rugged Mountain Root Beer

I opened this last night while FINISHING UP MY GRADING for the school year! (Yay!)

Brand: Rugged Mountain Root Beer

Origin: Poultney, VT.

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

Sweetener: Evaporated Cane Juice.

Review: First of all, IT'S CLEAR! That's unusual. And maybe that made it taste a little weak to me - I don't know. It was oddly sweet. It had that slightly herby flavor of root beer, but this was just so generically smooth and sweet. It was unique, but a little odd. Not bad, but slightly strange at the same time. I still really don't know how I feel about this, so I'll just give it a middle-of-the-road score.

Score: 5 out of 10.
 

North Star Vanilla Cream Soda

I opened this earlier tonight:

Brand: North Star Vanilla Cream Soda.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN. (Purchased by Blue Sun Soda; formerly of Forest Lake, MN.)

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: I first had a sip of this at a "cream soda tasting" event at Blue Sun Soda 6 months ago, and I noted in that post that "I remember the North Star being very creamy." It wasn't my favorite at the tasting, but because I noted that, I must have thought it was OK.

Well, it trying it again, I found that quote to be super true. This *MIGHT* be the creamiest and smoothest soda I've ever had. It just floated above my tongue and down my throat. It's pleasantly sweet and almost a bit floral. And there's definitely a little smooth kick of vanilla - I can see why it's called a "vanilla" cream. Its flavor is almost overpowered by just HOW sweet it is. This is quite unique and worth a taste.

Score: 9 out of 10.
 

Soda-Flavored Jelly

Blue Sun Soda has "Soda-Pop Jelly," and root beer sounds horrible. But I'd also love to try it.

Summit Craft Root Beer

This past weekend, we took a quick trip to a local state park, and I brought along some root beer to share. My wife had picked up a 4-pack of this at Aldi here in St. Paul last week:

On the picnic table during our lunch.

I gave my boys some in their own cups, and then Henry cleaned up the bottle when it was time.

Brand: Summit Craft Root Beer.

Origin: Batavia, IL.

Purchase Place: Aldi, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: It had a good head and was pretty smooth. The end of each sip had a bit of a wintergreen bite, and it was maybe a BIT more than I cared for, but it wasn't too bad. Pretty decent overall.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.
 

Soda on The Simpsons

"Mountain Deuteronomy."  Nice.

Yacht Club Hillary's Liberal Limeade

Here's the 2nd part of my "Donald vs Hillary" drink off:

(In case you missed it, here's part 1 from Tuesday. I tried both sodas at the same time to compare them head-to-head.)

Brand: Yacht Club Hillary's Liberal Limeade.

Origin: Centredale, RI.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: Donald's was a bit sharper, but Hillary's was sweeter. The limeade flavor had a refreshing kick.  It was pretty good, but I couldn't get over just HOW unnaturally neon it was. It tasted like a fun summer drink. My wife and 2 boys both thought Hillary was better (my oldest son noting that it was sweeter), but I HONESTLY was pretty split. Donald maybe have better "adult" flavor, and Hillary was a "sweeter" sipper. I'm not trying to ride the political fence here, but I'm giving them the exact same score.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.