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Melba's Fixins Strawberry Shortcake Soda

I opened this with my boys during supper last night: 

Brand: Melba's Fixins Strawberry Shortcake Soda.

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: I've only had one other "Melba's Fixins" pseudo-novelty soda, and that was decent, so I had relatively high hopes for this. My boys and I sniffed it, and it DID smell like strawberry short cake. When drinking it, the first thing that hit was the creaminess - it was like a "cream soda." And the strawberry flavor was solid, but a bit subtle. The carbonation was a bit harsh, so it was like a cream soda that just had a little "bite" to it. In the end, we all agreed that it totally was a "strawberry shortcake soda." It was like a subtle strawberry flavored cream soda.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Barq's Lip Balm

I have this Barq's lip balm in my car:

It's surprisingly "correct" in it's flavor! If I had to guess what major root beer company this was, I'd say Barq's as it has the slight "bite" to it.

Olipop Classic Grape Sparkling Tonic

I opened this before class yesterday: 

 

Brand: Olipop Classic Grape Sparkling Tonic.

Origin: Oakland, CA.

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

Sweetener: Stevia and their "olismart" blend.

Review: Interestingly enough, this can contained 45 calories whereas their "cola" that I had last winter had 35 calories. This one had more fruit juice concentrates, so that must have been the difference: the cola just had apple and lime juice, but this had grape, apple, and lime. (Which makes the sugar content go from 2g to 4g.) But it had the same NINE grams of fiber added to it!

This was pretty good! It wasn't an overly sweet child-like grape soda (or "tonic" I suppose I should say). It was still tinted purple, but the flavor was a little deeper and almost "herbier" than a standard grape - there was more depth to it. I didn't get a bad aftertaste from the Stevia which happens with some drinks. This was a bit better than their cola in my mind! I'll need to keep exploring these tonics!

Score: 7 out of 10.

When Enjoying High Fructose Corn Syrup in a Soda...