Death Valley Sarsaparilla

We had a work day in class today, so I had this up at the "instructor station" while some students worked:

Brand: Death Valley Sarsaparilla.

Origin: Inyokern, CA.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This had a little herby, slightly "woodsy" bite to it. It was herby-er than root beer, but otherwise it could have been called root beer without much thought. It was OK - nothing great - but decent. I'll rate it just above average.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Dad's Diet Root Beer

I made homemade pizza the other night, and I grabbed this diet root beer to go along with it:

That my hot-out-of-the-oven pizza in the background!

Brand: Dad's Diet Root Beer.

Origin: Jasper, IN.

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

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: This was good. Quite good. It had a bit of a bite, but still a nice creamy head. This would have been a good "regular" root beer, so I was very happily surprised that it was actually diet! Try this. It was great.

Score: 9 out of 10.

Americana Cherry Cola

I wanted to crack into my new stash from "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store" this past weekend, but I still have a few bottles from Frattallone's Ace Hardware that I told myself I should drink first. I grabbed this one earlier today because I needed some caffeine:

Brand: Americana Cherry Cola.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This is a decent "adult" cherry cola. It's not overly sugary and sweet like some. The cherry flavor is deep and rich, not just like a piece of hard candy. It starts of almost creamy, and ends with a little bite. Good deep flavor.

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Stocking up on Soda from "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store"

This past weekend was our annual trip to "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store" outside of Jordan, MN.

Driving through the lot: the 2-story section to the right
was recently added-on since the last time I've been here.

Driving up.  Tip: come early because it's REALLY quiet when they open at 9 a.m.

Waking inside and coming face-to-face with lots of soda! Everything is (mostly) organized by flavor.
The boxes to the left are for customers to load up. (Sorry for the blurry photos - I was holding my 1.5-yr-old.)

More sodas.

This is pretty much ALL ROOT BEER!

A lot of Cola and Grape sodas.

"Novelty" sodas - I didn't get anything too strange this trip.

Beyond the sodas is all the candy. And meat. And apples. And baked goods. They have everything.

Apparently, you make "apple smoked pork" by putting an apple in
a pig's mouth and letting it smoke a cigar. Who knew?

Lots of treats, and lots of puzzles on high shelves along the ceiling.

This is inside the addition.  It's not 2 stories, it just has a high ceiling.

Treats below and TONS of puzzles above. They had a 32,000 piece puzzle
that was something like 6' x 17' when finished.

Licorice and puzzles.

From the back corner of the new addition.

My 2 cases of sodas loaded into my car: 1 assorted case (a lot of grape, cherry, and black cherry),
and 1 case that's mostly root beer with a few sarsaparillas thrown in as well.

Hoping back on Hwy 169 to leave. Until next time. Love you. Miss you. XOXO

Oh, and notice how many cars are now in the lot an hour after they opened. There were a lot more cars off the frame to the right too. It definitely got busier as we were there. Stop by early around 9 (when they open). And FYI: they say they close at 8 pm, but they'll stay open as late as 10 pm if there are people still around.

Boylan Diet Black Cherry Soda

Well, here are 2 back-to-back posts about a Diet Boylan soda. I thought that "regular" Boylan Black Cherry was pretty good when I reviewed it nearly 2 years ago, so now it was time to see how their Diet fared:

Brand: Boylan Diet Black Cherry Soda.

Origin: Teterboro, NJ.

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

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: It's been a long time since I had "regular" Boylan Black Cherry, so it's hard to do a true head-to-head comparison, but I THINK I like this Diet Black Cherry better. It's a little creamy, but just a BIT - not enough to be a nasty cherry-cream. It's quite sugary tasting with a pretty deep flavor for a diet soda. There's a slightly off aftertaste, but not bad. This is pretty good, and quite good for a diet!

Score: 8 out of 10.

Boylan Diet Root Beer

I tried this yesterday:

Brand: Boylan Diet Root Beer.

Origin: Teterboro, NJ.

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

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: Like many diet sodas, it's a little weak. It's also a little "chemically" and tastes a little off. But there is a nice little berry aftertaste that's unique. It's not that great, and it's even sub-par for a diet. Not the best.

Score: 3 out of 10.

Americana Black Cherry

I brought this to class with me to enjoy today as my students had a work period:

(Yes, a few students thought I was drinking beer.)

Brand: Americana Black Cherry.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: You know, this was OK. Nothing great. It had a bit of a sharpness to it that I didn't care for. Maybe it was the "dark sweet cherry extract" in the ingredients list. I could see this as a flavor that SOME people would really love, but it was just too harsh for me. It was OK - very drinkable - but not the best.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Dwindling Soda Stash

Last October, I stocked up with 2 cases of soda from "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store." Well, my last review was my LAST soda from that stash. Not to fear - I'm heading back in a few weeks.

In the meantime, I stopped at Frattallone's Ace Hardware on Grand Ave in St. Paul 2 days ago to get a few more sodas. I walked away with 8 from their selection:

Back with more reviews soon!