Rocky Mountain Soda Company Palisade Peaches & Cream

As I was caulking and spot-priming the siding on our new garage this past weekend, I enjoyed a bottle of this:

Brand: Rocky Mountain Soda Company Palisade Peaches & Cream.

Origin: Commerce City, CO.

Purchase Place: Rocket Fizz, somewhere in CO.

Sweetener: Beet Sugar.

Review: I expect "peaches and cream" to be creamy and smooth. But this was a pretty sharp - both the peaches and the cream flavor. Truth be told, I'm not a HUGE peaches and cream fan anyway, and this was a little off. Not my favorite.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Americana Root Beer

This had the same "Vintage Soda" cap that was on the Jic Jac Sodas (that were mostly simply OK to me in the past), so I didn't have super high hopes for this.

Enjoyed this while working on my new garage last weekend.

Brand: Americana Root Beer.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Organic Honey.

Review: This was pretty good. It had a bit of licorice flavor, but not too much. It also had sassafras root (which, as I understand it, is really only used by micro brews because it's been banned for mass production by the FDA because it is a known carcinogen) which lends a nice subtle bite. A pretty "traditional" tasting root beer, but with a slight twist. Try it!

Score: 7 out of 10.

Another Trip to "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store"

Last week, my son and I made another trip to "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store" in Jordan Minnesota. It was our 2nd trip in just under 4 weeks.

Seen from the south heading north on Hwy 169.

My Mom and son looking for some treats.  Too bad they were all out of candy...  :)

I picked up a bag of these.

I SHOULD have gotten a bag of these, but I didn't.

My new case of assorted sodas: about half root beer and half "other."

That case contained the following ROOT BEERS:
- Bedford
- Brownie Caramel Cream
- Sparkies
- River City
- Saint Arnold
- Waialua Soda Works
- Dog n Suds Diet
- Empire Diet
- Golden Maple
- Druthers Black Cow Vanilla Creme
- Grown-Up Soda

And the following ASSORTED SODAS:
- Spiffy Cola
- The Pop Shoppe Cream Soda
- Buddy's Grape
- Reading Draft White Birch
- The Wizard of Oz Cherry Cola
- Empire Orange
- Iron Horse Black Cherry
- Hank's Black Cherry
- Lost Trail Black Cherry
- Boylan Black Cherry
- Sioux City Cream Soda

And I got 2 "NOVELTY SODAS:"

- Cookies and Cream Bites Soda
- Lester's Fixins Peanut Butter and Jelly

HERE'S the post from a month ago when were were at Minnesota's Largest Candy Store (where I took a lot of photos of their soda selection.

Stay tuned for more updates on these sodas and the root beer candies. It's going to be a tasty fall!

Oogave Root Beer

This bottle looked a little "hippy," and it was the first USDA Organic root beer I've had. I didn't know if I'd like it...

Brand: Oogave Root Beer.

Origin: Denver, CO.

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

Sweetener: Agave Nectar.

Review: I usually think of root beers as being someone on a "smooth" to "bite" scale. This was a little different - I wouldn't describe it as BITE, but I think I'd call it SHARP - maybe it was the agave nectar. It had a bit of a cola flavor, as if it were a mix between root beer and cola. It was interesting but not strange, so I'll give it a slightly better than average score.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Death Valley Root Beer

Time for another root beer from my recent "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store" stash...

Brand: Death Valley Root Beer.

Origin: Inyokern, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: It has a slight bite like Barq's. A bit of a carmel flavor, and some vanilla in there too. It's nothing "fancy," but it's pretty good if you like a little bite.

Score: 7 out of 10.

The Pop Shoppe Root Beer

Time to crack into another root beer from my recent stop at MN's Largest Candy Store:

Brand: The Pop Shoppe Root Beer.

Origin: Ontario, Canada.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Very smooth and an INCREDIBLY frothy head, but too much carmel flavor for me. That's about all. Decent, but could be better. I'm giving it an average score.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Rocky Mountain Soda Company Breckenridge Blackberry Soda

I busted out this soda while working on constructing my new garage last week:

I took a sip of this, and my first reaction was a head nod and a "Uh huh!!" That's a good sign! (And pretty rare.)


Brand: Rocky Mountain Soda Company Breckenridge Blackberry Soda.

Origin: Commerce City, CO.

Purchase Place: Rocket Fizz, somewhere in CO.

Sweetener: Beet Sugar.

Review: It tasted just like very sweet blackberries. This was pretty fantastic. There was a slight crisp bite from the blackberry flavor, and then a lot of smooth sweetness from the sugar. The taste was fantastic! (And it wasn't because it was a cold drink on a hot day... look at the photo above - it was a chilly and rainy day.) My only complaint was that it started getting a little TOO sweet by the end of the bottle.

Score: 9.5 out of 10.

Grape Fizzies - Instant Sparkling Drink Tabs

I tried something "different" from Minnesota's Largest Candy Store the other night. I had to try some "Fizzies." Here's a photo from my post last month:

Instructions on the box.

Tablets from the box.

A tab in my glass, with 8 oz of water measured out.

Fizzing!

Surprisingly opaque once it was dissolved.

Right away, I thought this would be fun for kids. I didn't time it, but it couldn't have been more than 2 minutes before it was ready to drink. So it was "fun," but would it taste good?


Brand: Grape Fizzies (Instant Sparkling Drink Tabs).

Origin: Plymouth, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sorbitol and Sucralose.

Review: It smelled "grapey." When it first touched my lips, it had a good grape flavor. But it quickly turned into something strange. It was not good. It tasted like grape soda mixed with, oh I don't know... maybe mixed with paint. I would have rated it a 2, but I'll bump it up a point for having 100% of your daily value of vitamin C (through ascorbic acid).

Score: 3 out of 10.

Chicago Root Beer

This past weekend, I had the creamiest root beer that I've ever had:

Brand: Chicago Root Beer.

Origin: Des Plaines, Illinois.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: It's SUPER smooth, super creamy, and there's a lot of vanilla. If you like "bite," there's none here. There's a slight strange carmel flavor, but it's just a minor issue. Check this one out!

Score: 8.5 out of 10.