Lolli's Cherry Pop Energy Drink

I needed a pick-me-up this afternoon, so I cracked into this:

Brand: Lolli's Cherry Pop Energy Drink.

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This is odd, but not bad. The cherry flavor is nearly a "vanilla" cherry, and it's quite smooth and syrupy. It didn't taste "artificial" at all, and maybe that's because it had some real ingredients like ginseng, bitter orange, and grape skin extract. Different, odd, but not bad. Especially for an energy drink.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pork with Coke

We got an Instant Pot for Christmas, and I've used it 4 times so far. The first thing I did was use it as a slow cooker when I made some BBQ pulled pork. Their recipe for it was simple: just a roast, some BBQ sauce, and a can of Coke:

Looks gross now: just pork, Coke, and BBQ sauce.

Shredded 8 hours later, with about half the juice/sauce added back in.

I should have used a few herbs and some onions like I usually use in roasts, but the Coke added some nice sweetness. Not too bad. Now I'll be trying a Pad Thai recipe in the Instant Pot tonight!

Penny Frosted Root Beer

I opened this an hour ago:

Brand: Penny Frosted Root Beer.

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was a bit odd from the first sip. There's a strange weakness/smokiness to this. Once I got past that flavor, it was good, but I'm still not sure what to think of this. I'll give it an average score.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Unknown Dred Formula No 53 Road Rage Red

I needed a pick-me-up this morning, so I opened this "all purpose energy drink" with the weirdest label:

It *might* just be a random scuff, but one of the ingredients seems to be perfectly crossed out. Suspicious.

Brand: Unknown Dred Formula No 53 Road Rage Red.

Origin: Unknown.  Possibly Seattle, WA.

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

Sweetener: "Cane sugar and/or fructose."

Review: I knew nothing about the flavor other than "road rage red." And at the top of the bottle it was called an "all purpose energy drink with a good taste and mellow finish."

But it did not have a good taste. Or a mellow finish.

It was Red Bull-like, but less sweet and not as good. It had that "red" flavor of red bull that I can't quite nail down. I couldn't drink more than a few sips of that. Stay away.

Score: 1.5 out of 10.

Indian Wells Black Cherry Soda

My boys and I spent a night in a camper cabin in southern Minnesota when it was -15 outside. We were toasty warm. After breakfast, I shared a large $6 bottle of soda with them:

In our camper cabin. (We were nearly all packed up, so it's empty.)

The wax seal over the bottle cap. Fancy.

Brand: Indian Wells Black Cherry Soda.

Origin: Inyokern, California.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was pretty fancy, so I was ready to not like it. First of all, I think it was about $6 for a 22 oz bottle of soda. Second, the wax seal. Third, it was made with "artisan spring water." And fourth, it was carbonated "in a special process using recovered naturally created CO2" which is about the biggest line of hippy bull-honkey I've ever read on a bottle of flavored sugar water.

But this ended up being good. Damn good. The black cherry flavor was both deep and crisp. It was really a "full bodied" soda, which is something I don't know I've ever said before. My boys loved it, but they love it any time they get a sip of my soda. This was a good final soda for 2017. Happy New Year!

Score: 9 out of 10.

p.s. Here's more photos from our chilly (but awesome) camping trip.