State Fair Soda: Chocolate Chip Cookie

I was at a little shindig at my brother-in-law's house over the weekend, and him and his wife did something very sweet: they know I don't drink wine or beer (and the other 5 people there DO), so they grabbed 4 fun bottles of soda for me at the grocery store! This was the one I opened and had with their delicious supper: 

Brand: State Fair Soda: Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

Purchase Place: Unknown (western suburbs of the Twin Cities).

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This had a really sweet initial taste. There was definitely a "dough-like" flavor that came through, but not really anything like chocolate chips. It had a slightly chemically aftertaste, but it wasn't bad! (And we assume it's trying to be "Sweet Martha's Cookies" without saying that...)

I had to look back to when I tried a handful of "State Fair Sodas" 2.5 years ago, and I ranked "Chocolate Chip Cookie" as my LEAST favorite of the 5. So I'm excited to try some of the other flavors as if I called this my least favorite, we're only going up from here!

Score: 6 out of 10.

Sprecher Maple Root Beer

In "honor" of the Packers losing this past weekend (YASSSS!!!!), I cracked into this 2nd soda that my wife picked up for me recently at Menards: 

Brand: Sprecher Maple Root Beer.

Origin: Glendale, WI.

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and WI Maple Syrup.

Review: I was ready for this to have a weird funk, but it didn't. It didn't really smell of maple or maple syrup, and it just had a SLIGHT flavor of it, which paired well with a normal root beer flavor. It was so subtle that it seemed to just have a slight butterscotch flavor. The root beer was slightly smooth and pretty decent, and the maple flavor just gave it a little something extra.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Blue Sun Soda Shop is Expanding!

Last month, I hit another one of the locations of Blue Sun Soda Shop. And 2 days ago, they announced they are now expanding outside of the Twin Cities:

Here are some of the pics they shared:

I haven't been out to Stillwater in a while, but this would be a good trip with my boys this summer. Good luck Blue Sun Soda!

Sprecher Vanilla Root Beer

My wife brought this home from Menards (LOVE HER) for me today: 

Brand: Sprecher Vanilla Root Beer.

Origin: Glendale, WI.

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This had a very vanilla scent, and a very vanilla flavor. I didn't love it, but couldn't put my finger on "why" right away. Then I realized what was bothering me: I equate "vanilla" with "smooth," but this had a fair amount of bite after that initial vanilla flavor. It was just an odd combo.  

Score: 6 out of 10.

Mexicana Cola

I opened a soda from my recent trip to the Bloomington Blue Sun Soda Shop:

Brand: Mexicana Cola

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Bloomington, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar and Mexican Agave Syrup.

Review: This initially had a DEEP cola flavor, but it also had a bit of an unusual bitterness. I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming it might be from the agave as a sweetener. It's flavor was OK, but I was turned off a bit my the slight bitterness. In the end, it was worth trying, but not high on my list of colas.

Score: 6 out of 10.

It's Hard Out There on the Playground...

Baumeister Orange Old-Fashioned Soda

I opened this last night: 

Brand: Baumeister Orange Old-Fashioned Soda.

Origin: Green Bay, WI.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: Once I cracked the top, it smelled like a very smooth "creme"-like orange. I was intrigued. And the taste didn't disappoint! It was smooth, creamy, and very drinkable. It felt "classic" and yet "modern" at the same time. Orange soda is never near the top of my list, but this was quite good! I'm giving this a solid score...

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

W.T. Heck Dill Pickle Soda

We had one final Christmas party this past weekend. I brought down a "fun" soda to share.

On my mother-in-laws stove next to some tasty snacks.

 

My sister-in-law tried some before I did. This was her trying to swallow it.

Brand: W.T. Heck Dill Pickle Soda.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: Before my sister-in-law tried it (pictured above), I give my father-in-law a sip and he didn't think it was too bad. But my father-in-law kind of eats/drinks anything, so that didn't mean much. My sister-in-law didn't like it. But when I tried it, I THOUGHT IT WASN'T TOO BAD! 

It smells HORRIBLE (like a jar of pickles that's not quite right) and super salty. And the first part of each sip tastes like salty pickle juice, but then all it tastes like is sweet sugary soda! That "combo" is what my sister-in-law couldn't handle, but I thought it made it quite drinkable! I mean, it's still not "good," but it was way less "bad" than I thought it'd be! This would be a fun gift for the pickle lover in your life.

Score: 4 out of 10 (which feels surprisingly higher than it could be!).