W.T. Heck Waffles and Syrup Soda

I opened this with my boys tonight:

Brand: W.T. Heck Waffles and Syrup Soda

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: Yes, it tastes like syrup. It's like a thin, watered-down syrup (but not in a bad way). My 9-year-old said it was a bit like butterscotch, and he's not wrong! In fact, I'd say the "waffle" flavor comes across more like "butterscotch." So if the thought of a syrupy-butterscotchy soda sounds good to you, give it a try! But for me, it was more of a sipping soda - it didn't have a bad flavor, but I couldn't chug this.

Score: 5 out of 10. 

 

Another "Pop vs Soda vs Coke" Map

I grew up in rural southern MN, and it was always "pop." But since I've moved to the Cities, it's always been "soda."

Channel 45's Dr. Chuck Ells Orange/Banana Soda

So... a local TV station's "mascot" has his own soda (and yes, I'm jealous):

So there's no info on the bottle as to who makes or distributes this, but I wondered if it wasn't Blue Sun Soda. And when I found this video, my suspicion was confirmed as he standing in front of the old Whistler bottling machine at Blue Sun:

Click here to see the video on the Channel 45 website if it doesn't work above.

Brand: Channel 45's Dr. Chuck Ells Orange/Banana Soda.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This tasted like an extra creamy orange soda. The "first" part of each sip is very orange, and then it "ends" with more of the creaminess of a banana. I can't really taste the banana, but there's a sensation of it there. For being a "funny" soda, it's not bad! I'm ranking it just a bit above average.

Score: 6 out of 10.

 

Raspberry and Basil Serenity Soda

Honestly, I haven't been looking forward to trying this:

Brand: Raspberry and Basil Serenity Soda.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: I was ready for an "odd" flavor, but that didn't happen. The first sip was quite good. I would definitely call it "raspberry," but the other flavor didn't seem like basil. It had another little "bite" of something, but it paired well with the raspberry making it a very drinkable soda. I'd almost call this more of an "adult" soda, but that implies that it's not sweet, and it's still quite sweet. Just a unique flavor that's totally worth a try! So far, I'm 2-for-2 with Serenity Sodas! 

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

 

Root Beer Popcorn at Remix!

I stopped by Remix yesterday to see if they had done it... and they had!!

The last time I was in, the owner was telling me that her husband was working on the "formula" in the back at the moment, and we would occasionally get whiff of root beer in the air. Yesterday, she said it's still not perfected, but it's for sale!

It's a very subtle flavor, but the real root beer flavor hit me just after I chewed it up. Suddenly, my mouth tasted like old-school root beer barrels! And when I shared it with my boys last night, they said the same thing. Nice work, Remix!

(Here's my first post about Remix, and here's a post right after they started making root beer cotton candy.)

Serious Bean Co Baked Beans with Dr. Pepper

So I just HAD to grab this from Aldi a few weeks ago:

The boys and I cracked into it recently. The beans were just OK, and then they had a ZING of extra flavor at the end that was reminiscent of Dr. Pepper. I'm used to having "doctored up" baked beans, and these straight from the can couldn't hold up to that. But they were OK. Just worth a fun try.

Lemon Billy's Bubble Pop

I opened this with lunch today:

Brand: Lemon Billy's Bubble Pop.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: Billy's sodas are meant to be goofy so they are not the color you'd expect them to be based on the flavor.  But I swear I can taste the red! It's like a soft, smooth lemon flavor with some sweet grenadine added. I kept sipping this to confirm - it TASTES "red." Really. All that being said, it's not horrible. It's a real subtle/gentle lemon flavor that has no bitter "punch" like lemonade. It was just OK.

Score: 5 out of 10.

 

Pulled Pork Root Beer Sliders

This past weekend, I defrosted a big pork roast. I threw it in the crock pot with some seasoning salt, an onion (fresh from my Mom's garden), and most of a bottle of Frostie Root Beer. (We had an extra bottle left from the 4-pack of Frostie my wife bought me back in July.)

After about 3 hours on high, I took out the pork, trimmed off the fat, saved the liquid and onions, and shredded the meat.  Here's what it looked like when it was done, with the extra liquid on the bowl at the back, and the fat on the tray:

My wife and boys made some wheat rolls, and also some coleslaw with a cabbage from my Mom (her last of the year). So I made pulled pork root beer sliders with coleslaw for supper:

The great thing about doing it this way is you can add just as much liquid back as you'd like. So you can make it juicy and sloppy, or drier and cleaner. We leaned a bit towards the sloppy side. So good!!