Kickapoo Joy Juice

This bottle/label/name was just too amazing to pass up:

Brand: Kickapoo Joy Juice.

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: Frattallones Ace Hardware, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was pretty weak. It was like watered-down, carbonated lemonade. It wouldn't be bad if it had more flavor, but it just didn't have enough of anything. OK lemony flavor, just too subtle.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Fanta Strawberry

Time for something sugary:

Brand: Fanta Strawberry.

Origin: Mexico.

Purchase Place: Kowalski's Market, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was sweet (Fanta seems to usually be sweet). I would never call the flavor "strawberry" - it was almost more cherry. Kinda just "red" flavored. It was sweet and OK. Nothing too great or memorable, but OK.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Avery's Gold Coin Root Beer

Time for a root beer:

Brand: Avery's Gold Coin Root Beer.

Origin: New Britain, Connecticut.

Purchase Place: Frattallones Ace Hardware, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup and Sugar.

Review: This was a pretty classic-tasting Root Beer. It was pretty smooth with just a little bite. It was a bit creamy with a little vanilla flavor. Classic, tasty, nothing too strange or "out there."

Score: 8 out of 10.

Sprecher Cherry Cola

This one said it had cherry juice from Door County, WI, and raw Wisconsin honey in it. It was sounding a little pretentious from the start (especially for something from Wisconsin*).

Brand: Sprecher Cherry Cola

Origin: Glendale, WI.

Purchase Place: Frattallones Ace Hardware, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Glucose Syrup and Raw Honey.

Review: This was a very creamy cherry cola - it could have been labeled "cherry creme." The cherry flavor was a little unique with a slight sharpness to it. It was tasty. My only complaint is that there's a slight chemically taste to this soda as well. But overall, it's unlike any cherry cola I've had. I really respect this cola for trying something new and not just being another cherry soda. Unique and alright.

Score: 7 out of 10.

* I have to say that and feel that way because I'm from Minnesota.  It's in my blood.

Goya Coconut Soda

I recently finished off my small stash of sodas from the Mexican Food section of Cub that I picked up a few months ago.

Brand: Goya Coconut Soda.

Origin: Secaucus, NJ.

Purchase Place: Cub Foods, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: I'm not a fan of coconut flavored things - I'll admit that. So the best coconut soda might only be able to reach a mark of 7 out of 10 on my scale. Well, this one will do just that. When I opened this, it had no smell what-so-ever, and that worried me. But the first sip was decent. The problem with coconut flavored drinks is that sometimes it tastes like you're drinking sunscreen, but this one didn't taste like that. It was a good, smooth coconut flavor. It tasted very clean and pure. If you like coconut flavored things, give this a shot - it was as good as it could have been.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Diet Stewart's Root Beer

I haven't reviewed a diet soda for a while…

Brand: Diet Stewart's Root Beer.

Origin: Rye Brook, NY.

Purchase Place: Kowalski's Market, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Aspartame.

Review: This was OK. And for a diet soda, it was pretty good. It was "thin" and weak like many diets, but it had a good vanilla flavor and was very smooth and tasty. It had a slightly chemically aftertaste. Not a super fantastic soda, but not too shabby either.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Ely Wild Blueberry Soda

This was the other soda that my friends dropped off for me the other week. They grabbed it as they passed through northern Minnesota on their way down to the Twin Cities.

With the 3 acorns my son just brought home.

Close up of one of the BEST label designs I've ever seen.  EVER.

There's no contact info on the bottle, and I could find NOTHING online. This has to be a very small operation.


Brand: Ely Wild Blueberry Soda.

Origin: Ely, MN maybe? That would make sense. But who knows?...

Purchase Place: Zup's Grocery Store, Ely, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: It smelled great! There was a strong blueberry scent that was a lot like blueberry pie! But then the flavor couldn't keep up to the smell. It didn't taste bad, it just tasted like 85% plain sugar with just a hit of blueberry flavor. Not the best. It was nice that it wasn't sharply carbonated (it just had a little fizz) because lots of carbonation would have made this even worse.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Stewart's Black Cherry Soda

We had a feast this past weekend. With the feast, I had a Stewart's Black Cherry Soda:

Lots of food in the background.

Brand: Stewart's Black Cherry Soda.

Origin: Mansfield, OH.

Purchase Place: Kowalski's, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: This was sugary and rich. It was a decent Black Cherry. It didn't stand out as anything too unique or different, but it did it's "job" well. Good soda.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Durango Soda Company Zuberfizz Creamy Root Beer

Some friends stopped by last week with some tasty treats for me! They came to visit and left this for me:

Zuberfizz that they brought from CO, and Ely Wild that they purchased in Northern MN.

Zuberfizz is their favorite Root Beer (locally made near their house in CO), so I had to try that one first:

Brand: Durango Soda Company Zuberfizz Creamy Root Beer.

Origin: Durango, Colorado.

Purchase Place: King Soopers Grocery Store, Denver, CO.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This was total crap. (Just kidding friends from CO! Just trying to scare you!) No really, it was good. It was VERY creamy with a good vanilla root beer flavor. This had a classic taste but with extra cream. My wife thought it tasted a lot like a root beer float, but I didn't think it went that far. The only real downside to all the creaminess is that there is practically no "bite" at all. So if you like a soda with bite, this isn't for you. But I thought it was pretty decent.

Score: 8.5 out of 10.