Sipping Spider Venom Cherry Cola

Last Friday, I stopped by Frattallone's Ace Hardware on Grand Ave in St. Paul (the "west" one by Macalaster College), and I took a quick look over their soda section:

I grabbed something near the top left of that image, and I opened it earlier today:

Brand: Sipping Spider Venom Cherry Cola.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was good. It had a real deep cherry flavor - very strong and sweet. It was almost a "black cherry" flavor. It has "extract of dark sweet cherry" on the ingredients list, and I don't know if it's that ingredient that makes this so tasty. It was strong flavored classic cherry cola with a bit more "pop." I really enjoyed it!

Score: 9 out of 10.

Sparkling Life Soda

My boys and I just spent 3 days winter "camping" in a camper cabin in western MN. We cracked open this soda on the first night when we were playing games in the Interpretive Center:

Battleship by the woodstove before bed.

Brand: Sparkling Life Soda.

Origin: Breese, IL.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: I don't know that I've ever had a "bad" lemon lime soda, but this one wasn't fantastic. It wasn't "bad," but it had a slightly strange sharpness at the end of each sip. My boys loved it, but they love anything sugary. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good, so I'll give it an average score of 5.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Cherry Coke Transformer

Red Ribbon Pennsylvania Punch

I opened this with the boys last night:

Brand: Red Ribbon Pennsylvania Punch.

Origin: Natrona, PA (duh).

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was non-carbonated, but I didn't realize that until after the first sip. (Even though it says it right on the label above "Pennsylvania Punch"). It was quite good! It was very sweetly grape flavored, and it was a pretty deep flavor. My wife even liked it when I thought it could be too sweet for her. My boys loved it. A unique and delicious soda!

Score: 9 out of 10.

Gene Simmons Moneybag Root Beer

I recently opened this:

Gene and one of his sodas.  (via) 

Brand: Gene Simmons Moneybag Root Beer.

Origin: USA (somewhere).

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was surprisingly good. It tasted nothing like tongue. (Ha!) It was smooth, but yet had a strong flavor. There wasn't much anise, but there was a decent vanilla kick. All around, quite good! Nice work, Gene!

Score: 9 out of 10.

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.)