Northern Soda Company Cherry Lime Soda

I opened this with supper last night, as the 2nd in the pack my wife picked up from Remix:

Brand: Northern Soda Company Cherry Lime Soda,

Origin: Arden Hills, MN.

Purchase Place: Remix Popcorn and Delights, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was good! Flavorful! The cherry was a bit tart, but with plenty of sweetness to balance it out. And then there's a nice kick of lime as well. This was a classic flavor that both my wife and I loved. A REALLY good soda! 

Score: 9 out of 10.

Grinch Soda Box Display

Merry Christmas!!

Northern Soda Company Sweet Liberty Blue Raspberry Lemonade

My wife and youngest son stopped by Remix over the weekend, and they came back with a 4-pack of Northern Soda for me:

4-pack on the counter.

The first one we tried!

Brand: Northern Soda Company Sweet Liberty Blue Raspberry Lemonade.

Origin: Arden Hills, MN.

Purchase Place: Remix Popcorn and Delights, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was (unsurprisingly) unnaturally blue. It didn't have much lemonade flavor at all, as it was mostly "blue raspberry." I thought it tasted like a melted blue raspberry Icee, and my boys said it tasted liked a melted Freezee. It tasted good, but those thoughts made it a little more depressing to drink: we WANTED it to be a Freezee or an Icee, and it wasn't. It was just soda. So I have to rank this a little lower than I'd initially rank it because it WANTS US to WANT IT to be something else. But the flavor IS good if you're interested!

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Spongebob Squarepants Bikini Bottom Cooler Pineapple Drink

I opened this with my boys earlier this week:

Brand: Spongebob Squarepants Bikini Bottom Cooler Pineapple Drink

Origin: Woburn, MA.

Purchase Place: Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: This was decent, especially for being only 5 calories. One of my boys remarked that it was a little like Mountain Dew, and I could see that - it had the citrus hit of Mountain Dew, but then with more of a pineapple flavored kick at the end. It wasn't overly sweet, which was a concern being it's based off a cartoon. Decent, but not amazing.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Root Naturals Root Beer

I tried this with my boys tonight:

Brand: Root Naturals Root Beer.

Origin: Cincinnati, OH.

Purchase Place: "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store," Jordan, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Caramelized Cane Sugar.

Review: This had a relatively strong anise flavor, and it was a BIT too anise-heavy for me. But the root beer flavor was pretty herby, deep, and tasty. There's a bit of of a fruity / berry flavor as well. It was a pretty unique root beer, and I like what they were trying. It wasn't amazing, but it was quite decent.

Score: 7 out of 10.

"Reverse" Root Beer Float

This is WILD... I might have to try this:


Direct link: youtu.be/VgGTYOmoUtY

Oreo Coca Cola

My wife saw this in the store earlier this week, and she had to grab it for me:

 

Brand: Oreo Coca Cola

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: Wal-Mart, Roseville, MN.

Sweetener: Aspartame and Sucralose.

Review: The bottle says "Fizzy Cookie Flavored." And my wife had the big question: "Is this just the CREAM of the Oreo?... Is it like a creamy Coke?" I thought otherwise: "I bet it's chocolate too! I think it will be BOTH flavors of the Oreo: chocolatey and creamy."

And unfortunately, I was right.

It smelled totally normal. Just like regular Coke. But the taste was oddly chocolate. AND creamy. It was like a liquified Oreo, with carbonation. It really didn't taste anything like Coke, but the flavor of an Oreo was spot on. But that didn't make it "good." My wife thought it was disgusting, I thought it was sub-par, and my boys thought it was pretty good. I wouldn't want another one of these, so I'll rank it below average. But it you LOVE Oreos, then this flavor might be for you.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Dr. Enuf Soda

I'm currently sipping on this soda that I got on my trip to Yellowstone last month (where I also had this slightly sub-par root beer):

 
Brand: Dr. Enuf Soda.

Origin: Johnson City, TN.

Purchase Place: Cracker Barrel, Billings, MT.

Sweetener: 100% Pure Sugar.

Review: As you can see on the front of the label, this says "rich in vitamins" and that it's the "original energy booster." Apparently it says that because it has added vitamin B1 and B3. Big whoop. That's not that impressive.

And it basically tastes like 7Up or Sprite - it's a pretty generic lemon lime soda. It has a slightly different after taste, and maybe that's from the B vitamins. So I think 7Up and Sprite are both better because they don't have that slightly "off" taste. It's OK. It's fine. Basic lemon lime.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Favorite Halloween Candy in Each State

Think this is true?...

Pretzel M&Ms?  What's wrong with Wisconsin??!?...

Pearson Bros. 1986 Root Beer

Last week, my family and I took a 6 day road trip through Yellowstone National Park! (I posted just a little about it on my other blog, but will be sharing more photos shortly.) We stopped at a Cracker Barrel right off I-90 in Billings Montana on our 2nd morning heading out there. And I found a big selection of sodas in their "country store:"

There or 4 sodas in this small collection that I haven't had!..

... including this root beer! (Being enjoyed outside of the Old Faithful Snow Lodge in Yellowstone.)

Brand: Pearson Bros. 1986 Root Beer

Origin: Newport, VT.

Purchase Place: Cracker Barrel, Billings, MT.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: So I grabbed that root beer (and another soda to try shortly) and we threw it in our fridge at our next hotel. It was cute at just 11 oz (that extra oz was noticeable!). Then my family and I cracked into it the following evening in Yellowstone, just about 1000 feet from Old Faithful!

My wife liked it, my boys thought it was OK, but I just thought it was decent. It was a bit too "sharp" and caramel-heavy for me. It wasn't my favorite. The root beer flavor was OK, but overall just not a great drinking experience. I have to rank this just a bit below average.

Score: 4.5 out of 10.

p.s.  Here's my first post about our trip on my other blog.