Whirly Pop Juicy Grape Soda

I opened this between classes today:

Brand: Whirly Pop Juicy Grape Soda.

Origin: San Bernardino, CA.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This was both pompus and child-like at the same time. The first ingredient was "carbonated artesian spring water" (which I've seen before, but not in a drink that seems really marketed towards kids), but there's a big kid-friendly lollipop on the front of the label. So it seems it's somewhere between being marketed to adults who want fancy ingredients (at least "fancy sounding") and kids with it's fun label.

Anyway, on to the flavor. It's not GREAT. It's not the strongest or the sweetest grape flavor - which I think means that even though there's a big lolli on the front, it seems to be marketed to adults. The flavor is a little fake and off. Not great, especially for a grape soda (which I think is a hard soda to screw up).

Score: 4 out of 10.

Bigga Orange Soda

My family recently got back from Jamaica, and this was in the fridge of our hotel room:

On our hotel balcony with the waterpark in the background.

 

Brand: Bigga Orange Soda.

Origin: Spanish Town, Jamaica.

Purchase Place: Unknown (came in our hotel fridge in Riu Ocho Rios).

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Sucralose.

Review: This was very sweet! And not in an overpowering way. It had a bit of a crispness/sharpness to it that was classic and tasty. Nothing wrong with this! Just a decent orange soda!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

(See more pics from our trip here.)

Guilty...

Baumeister Vanilla Cream Soda

I've enjoyed Baumeister sodas over the years, so I had high hopes for this:

 
Brand: Baumeister Vanilla Cream Soda.

Origin: Green Bay, WI.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This soda was very sweet and tasty like some other Baumeister sodas that I've had. Both the VANILLA and the CREAM were intense - I don't know that I've had a strong vanilla flavor in a soda before. And it wasn't too much - it was really nice. It was creamy and smooth and went down easy. It was quite sweet and I'd feel overly sugared-out if I were to have more than 1 bottle of this, but the flavor was nice and JUST ON THE VERGE of being too much.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Freeze-Dried Candy: Coming Soon to Remix?

I stopped into Remix on Marshall Ave in St. Paul just before Christmas to get some popcorn goodies for my parents. The owner saw me and gave me a few new treats to try:

These are all freeze-dried candy! They are NOT for sale yet as the owner is still "perfecting" her strategy on making these. She gave them to me so my boys could try them!

The 2 on the left are both Skittles (one plain and one sour). The middle tub is Jolly Ranchers - they are big and airy and puffy and dissolve QUICKLY in your mouth, but taste JUST like Jolly Ranchers! And I think the ones on the right are Sprees. 

They are all very good and very unique! I took them home to try with my extended family over Christmas, and they were all enjoyable!

So look for these new menu items coming soon to Remix: 2042 Marshall Ave, St Paul, MN 55104. Open Wed-Sun, 12-5 pm, and until 6 pm on Saturday. Check out their shave ice if you haven't yet.

Gold Mine Root Beer

My boys and I spent 2 nights in a camper cabin at Afton State Park recently, and I brought a big bottle of root beer to share on our first evening there:

Ready for some root beer while playing Catan.

Large 22 oz wax-sealed bottle.

A nice detail on the side label: 5 of these will get you 1 free root beer.

I cut off the "bottom" of the wax seal before taking a few stabs at taking off the cap with my son's multi-tool.

       

Brand: Gold Mine Root Beer.

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: We didn't know if this would be "fancy" as I remember it being a bit more expensive (and not just like twice as expensive because it's about twice the volume of a normal bottle). It didn't taste fancy, but it was pretty solid! It wasn't very smooth and creamy, but instead it was a root beer with a decent amount of "bite" to it. It wasn't exceptional, but it was a decent and tasty root beer, so I'll rank it just above average.

Score: 7 out of 10.