Lost Trail Diet Root Beer

Another soda on vacation:

On the counter in the cabin at the lake.

Brand: Lost Trail Diet Root Beer.

Origin: Louisburg, KS.

Purchase Place: Frattallone's Ace Hardware, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Aspartame (Nutrasweet brand).

Review: This has the typical weak flavor of a root beer. It's sort of right in the middle of the "smooth vs bite" scale, and I kind of wish it would pick one side or the other. It's relatively creamy, but just a bit weak because it's diet. Overall, this was just OK.

Score: 5 out of 10.
 

Yacht Club Black Cherry

I took this on a family vacation recently, and drank it while watching my boys play at the beach:

At the beach as my boys play in the lake.

Brand:  Yacht Club Black Cherry.

Origin: Centredale, Rhode Island.

Purchase Place: Frattallone's Ace Hardware, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This smelled good and had a good black cherry flavor. But then it went downhill - there was no cola flavor at all. The black cherry felt a bit heavy and syrupy (which I sometimes don't mind), and it got to be too much. There was a bit of a strange bite at the end of each sip. If it had more cola flavor mixed in, it would have been a lot better.

Score: 3.5 out of 10.
 

Wilderness Weeee

This was the 3rd and final soda from my son's and my trip to Fizzy Waters in Duluth:

At our campsite in Jay Cooke State Park.

The funny pee jokes on the side of the bottle.

My son having a sip. He doesn't get soda at home, so this is a treat.

He liked it. A LOT.

Brand: Wilderness Weeee.

Origin: Ely, MN.

Purchase Place: Fizzy Waters, Duluth, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar and Corn Sweetener.

Review: In case your wondering (and didn't see it on the label in the first photo), this is orange flavored. The orange flavor is pretty good, and it's slightly "sharp" (it ain't no "orange cream"). Nothing fancy, but pretty funny and goes down well.

Score: 6 out of 10.
 

Boots Sarsaparilla Root Beer

I enjoyed this on the shore of Lake Superior as my son played in the water:

Brand: Boots Sarsaparilla Root Beer.

Origin: Bryan, Texas

Purchase Place: Fizzy Waters, Duluth, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: I'm still not sure if this is sarsaparilla or root beer. This had a very anise flavor that I didn't care for. It had a good smooth head, and yet it had a sharpness to it that was just a bit too much. It was a unique flavor, but it just wasn't something that I enjoyed.

Score: 3.5 out of 10.
 

Rogue Soda Root Beer

My son and I went camping in Duluth for 3 days this past week, so we had to stop at Fizzy Waters and get some soda. This was the first one we tried:

A larger 22 oz bottle, with my son by the campfire in the background.

My son enjoying a sip.

Brand: Rogue Soda Root Beer.

Origin: Newport, OR.

Purchase Place: Fizzy Waters, Duluth, MN.

Sweetener: Brown Sugar and Honey.

Review: The ingredients list showed "root beer flavor" and "sarsaparilla flavor," as well as brown sugar and 2 kinds of honey. I knew I was in for something different. It had a very deep flavor and was strong on the sarsaparilla. I could really taste the brown sugar. There was a little kick of honey, but it wasn't overpowering. 

Score: 6 out of 10.
 

Two Trips to "Fizzy Waters" Soda and Candy Store

My 5-year-old son and I spent 3 days camping near Duluth a few days ago. We stopped into "Fizzy Waters" soda shop TWICE during our time near Duluth. It just moved locations about a week ago from Canal Park to just the other side of the interstate. (We parked in Canal Park to do other things and walked to Fizzy Waters the first day with no problem.) Here are some photos:

If it hadn't been for this sign out front, I would have thought they were closed.
They JUST opened in their new location this past week!

The scene upon entering. My son spotted the candy in the middle aisle and off in the distance on the left.

Five pairs of large shelves on the right side of the store with soda organized on each.
Right now it's just hand-written notes that say "grape," "citrus," "root beer," etc.

More soda on the left side of the store. That's their "novelty" section on the right.

They had a few coolers with cold soda.

I was ready for this to be "just" a soda store with a little candy.
But they had a decent candy selection running front-to-back.

From the back of the store looking to the front. Lots of candy to the right and in the middle.
Sodas down the left side along with in the distance on the right.

One final look at the sodas before leaving.

I overheard someone who just walked in say "Oh, this is SOO much bigger than their other location!" They've got a lot of space. Some of it is currently unused, so I'd be curious to see what they do with it over the next few months. Find out more about Fizzy Waters on their website. And they have some great photos of them moving into their new location on their Facebook page.

I picked up 3 sodas during our 2 stops there (including a large bottle of small-batch root beer), so look for those reviews in the upcoming week!

Hippo Size Burley Birch Beer

It's been hot. I grabbed this to cool down:

Brand: Hippo Size Burley Birch Beer.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

Purchase Place: Frattallone's Ace Hardware, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This tasted like an herby root beer. It wasn't bad, but it didn't stand out as anything super amazing either. Decent overall.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Romanian Garlic Coke

Have you seen this image?

Don't get your panties in a bundle.  It's fake.  Go back to drinking your non-garlic Coke.

Sky Valley Black Cherry

My wife and I recently took a trip to Colorado. (Some pics here.) I grabbed a soda to enjoy in our hotel room while we were there.

Brand: Sky Valley Black Cherry.

Origin: Danville, VA.

Purchase Place: Whole Foods, Fort Collins, CO.

Sweetener: Organic Cane Sugar.

Review: This wasn't good. I've had one other Sky Valley soda, and that wasn't good either. This had "balsamic vinegar" as one of the last ingredients, and that just has no place in a black cherry soda. Nothing really decent about this at all.

Score: 1.5 out of 10.

Wink Martindale's Orange Passion Fruit Guava Soda

A friend told me this was good. Well, he thought it was good but added "maybe because I had such low expectations." So it was time to try it:

TWO THINGS:

First, that's a crappy Photoshop job on the label to make it look like Wink is holding a bottle of his soda.

Second, I had to look up who Wink Martindale was. It turns out he "is best known for hosting Tic Tac Dough from 1978 to 1985, Gambit from 1972 to 1976 (and again from 1980 to 1981), and Debt from 1996 to 1998." (According to Wikipedia.)


Brand: Wink Martindale's Orange Passion Fruit Guava Soda.

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: I can't explain this flavor, but like my friend said, it's not bad. At first sip, it ALMOST tastes like a pink lemonade, but then there's a lot more depth to it. I can taste a subtle orange flavor, and I think I taste some guava at the end of each drink. If you like fruity and sweet sodas (that aren't OVER sweet), then check this out.

Score: 6 out of 10.