Romano's Creamy Strawberry Italian Soda

I brought 1 more soda home to my parent's house to enjoy over Christmas:

Brand: Romano's Creamy Strawberry Italian Soda.

Origin: Corvallis, OR.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: I'm used to "fresh" Italian Soda's from coffee shops, and this was a bit different. It wasn't as "sharp" probably because it wasn't made using straight-from-the-tap soda water. But it was decent. It truly was a "creamy" strawberry flavor, which was different but good. Not bad.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Sassy Lil' Lass Root Beer

At Christmas with my parents, I tried this root beer:

At my parent's house, after a lot of snacks.

Brand: Sassy Lil' Lass Root Beer.

Origin: Chicago, IL.

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

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: This was not good. It first tasted weak and almost like a bad diet root beer, and then it ended with an off taste that was a bit chemically. No thanks. Not a fan. And neither was my wife or brother-in-law. No one liked it. I expected more with something called "Sassy." Dang.

Score: 3 out of 10.

Tree Fort Root Beer

These bottles caught my eye when I stopped by Kowalski's a few days back:

So I grabbed a bottle of this foggy-looking root beer to try:

Brand: Tree Fort Root Beer.

Origin: Minneapolis, MN.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: When I first took a sip, I had to double check the bottle to make sure I hadn't purchased the ginger ale - it was THAT gingery! It really didn't taste or smell like root beer one bit. Really. It had a bit of a honey taste, and then I saw that "white honey" was the third ingredient. I like honey as a sweetener, but rarely in a root beer. If you like ginger, give this a try. Otherwise, stay away - you won't like it. I didn't care for it.

Score: 3 out of 10.

NuGrape Soda

I didn't realize that I'd had this before, because this logo is much more retro than the first bottle I had:

It's funny it says "A Flavor You Can't Forget" on the label, and I had forgotten I'd had this before.

Brand: NuGrape Soda.

Origin: Waco, TX.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: I made sure not to look at my previous review of this soda as I tried this. It was syrupy, sugary, and delicious. It was a classic "childhood" grape soda. Tasty.

Score: 8 out of 10.

(OK, so I looked at my previous review and I only gave it a 6.5 and called it "weak." So if you try this soda, make sure to grab this retro bottle, because it was much better than the more modern bottle!)

Iron Horse Diet Root Beer

After a big day yesterday, I came home and had this:

Brand: Iron Horse Diet Root Beer.

Origin: Edina, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: In typical diet soda fashion, this was a bit weak and watery. The flavor was pretty good - it had a pretty rich head, but then it dwindled away too quick. Decent flavor, but too weak in the end. I'll give it an average score.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Crystal Pepsi is COMING BACK!

Direct link: youtu.be/sAXLD2c18Ac

Johnnie Ryan Cola

I had their diet cola recently, so now it was time to try their "full fat" cola:

Brand: Johnnie Ryan Cola.

Origin: Niagara Falls, NY.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was good. It had a solid, deep, cola flavor, and a slightly berry aftertaste (which is similar to what I said about their diet cola last month). This is a pretty rich cola. I'm a fan.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Root Beer / Math Humor

North Star Craft Soda Root Beer

I grabbed this the other day:

Brand: North Star Craft Soda Root Beer.

Origin: Forest Lake, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This wasn't great. It tasted like harsh carbonated water with a bit of flavor. The root beer flavor was quite weak, but at the same time, it had too strong of an anise flavor. No thanks.

Score: 3.5 out of 10.

Cherry Breese

I cracked into this at class today:

In my classroom - I forgot my phone, so I took this photo with Photo Booth on my Mac.

Brand: Cherry Breese.

Origin: Breese, IL.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This wasn't too smooth of a soda; it had a little sharpness to it. The ingredients list showed lemon and lime oils, and it maybe came from that. It was just a bit to sharp for me. Not bad, but not great. (p.s. It's called Cherry "BREESE" because it's made in Breese, IL.  Fun fact.)

Score: 4 out of 10.