Cock Cola

I opened this last night:

Brand: Cock Cola.

Origin: Incline Village, NV.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: In case you're wondering (like I was), they give no indication as to why they call it "cock" cola. Nothing. So that's still a mystery. But the line at the bottom of the label saying "strong cola taste" is pretty right on: it's a strong-tasting but pretty normal cola. Nothing stands out about it, but it was fine. I'm giving it a pretty average score.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Towne Club Lemonade

I opened this the other day with my boys:

Brand: Towne Club Lemonade

Origin: Detroit, MI.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: It was just slightly carbonated, and it was good. It wasn't too sweet - almost a little tart. That made my wife and I like it quite a bit, but my boys say they wished it was sweeter. So it was an "adult" lemonade. Pretty good!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Grand Teton Brewing "Old Faithful" Root Beer

Some "internet friends" recently had a tasty root beer, and they thought of me! (I'm honored!) So they tracked down another can (which wasn't easy - they had it in Yellowstone and then had to find another can for me later at an ice cream shop) and spent $10 to mail a can first class to me. Thanks Brandon and Theresa!

They mailed it a few weeks ago when we were out of town. I got it and put it in the fridge right away, and I was saving it for a special occasion. Yesterday, I spent some time outside working on the foundation of our house, and then my boys and I ate supper outside because it was so beautiful. PERFECT time to crack out a good root beer.

In the backyard.

The boys getting a few ounces of my root beer after supper in the backyard.

Brand: Grand Teton Brewing "Old Faithful" Root Beer.

Origin: Victor, ID.

Purchase Place: Genuine Ice Cream Co, Bozeman, MT.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was very creamy. But more importantly, it was VERY "herby." If you like a "rooty" and herb-filled root beer, then try this. It might be the most herby I've ever had. But it wasn't overpowering. And then there was a fruity sweetness at the end. Theresa noted that it had a good head, but mine was a bit flatter (could have been from being in the mail for a few days?), but it wasn't a problem. Unique and tasty!

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Flavors of Soda

Lift Bridge Black Cherry Soda

We grabbed this from Lund's in Minneapolis last night:

Brand: Lift Bridge Black Cherry Soda

Origin: Stillwater, MN.

Purchase Place: Lund's, Minneapolis, MN (St. Anthony Main area).

Sweetener: Natural Sugar.

Review: I've generally enjoyed Lift Bridge sodas in their extra large cans (and I like that they are made just outside of the Twin Cities here in MN), so I was excited to try this. And it lived up to my expectations. I had to re-look at the label 2 times to make sure it didn't say "Black Cherry CREAM" because it had a very creamy flavor. Trying to remove the "creamy" flavor from my mind while tasting, the black cherry is pretty average, but that's not a bad thing. It's a tasty, creamy black cherry soda.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Barq's Frozen Root Beer and Vanilla Ice Cream Float

So I just found out that THIS exists this summer:

I need to find these. Although, there are 24 in there, and I *could* go a bit overboard and have... I dunno... like 24 of these at a time. So I'll need to watch myself.

Right now, I can only find them on Instacart.

IBC Root Beer

The boys and I cracked into this yesterday:

Brand: IBC Root Beer.

Origin: Plano, TX.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This is a root beer that I've had a dozen times. It's maybe the first "glass bottle" root beer I remember having as a kid - my Mom would buy a 4-pack during the summer as a treat after hot July hay baling. This had a real deep flavor. It had a nice balance of "smooth" and "bite." The sweetness had a slightly off taste at the end of each sip, but that was the only (minor) issue. It went down easy and was quite tasty!

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Ingredients in Coca Cola

An opinion that many of us could get behind...