Pepsi Nitro Draft Cola

"Nitrogen-infused cola?!?" I just had to grab this when I saw it:

Chill, "pour hard," and then "admire" and enjoy? Intriguing!

Lots of long-lasting head.

The final pour was 80% foam!

Tearing open the can afterwards to find the nitrogen dispenser at the bottom.

Brand: Pepsi Nitro Draft Cola.

Origin: Purchase, NY.

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

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: The "crack" of opening this can was loud! It startled my wife! I then poured it "hard" (as instructed) into a few glasses for my family to enjoy. It had bigger and longer-lasting head than normal, but nothing too dramatic. 

But it WAS more dramatic in the flavor - it added a real smoothness (almost creaminess) to the Pepsi flavor. This was really good, and very unique on the tongue (if that doesn't sound too pretentious - talking about "mouth feel"). There was a "vanilla cola" version of this next to it at Kowalski's, and I'm thinking about stopping back to try that as well. Very interesting, very tasty, and a bit of a different experience than just a "normal" cola. On taste alone, I'd call this a 9, but I'm almost bumping it up to a 9.5 because of the interesting and foamy head.

Score: 9 out of 10.

Inotea Pobble Passion Fruit + Apple

I grabbed this from Aldi over the weekend:

Here are a few of the "popping pearls" in a glass. 

Brand: Inotea Pobble Passion Fruit + Apple.

Origin: Newark, NJ.

Purchase Place: Aldi, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was quite good! It was very sweet, and tasted like a "good" apple cider that you might get on the holidays for the kids - like the sparkling kind, even though this wasn't sparkling. It was mainly apple flavored, and then the "popping pearls" had more of the passion fruit flavor inside. Yes, they are little pearls that are liquid filled that "pop" when you bite into them - I don't think everyone is ready for that experience. :)

My wife tried it, and she doesn't like things that are too sweet, so I thought she wouldn't like this. But after her first sip, she paused and said "... oh, that's GOOD." And my boys loved it too, so it went over well in our house. We'll have to try the other 2 flavors we saw at Aldi as well!

Score: 8 out of 10.

Dr. Pepper and Rum Chata

In more than 1 recent "viral" video, I've heard that mixing Dr. Pepper and coconut Rum Chata is supposed to be delicious. My Mom is a huge fan of "regular" Rum Chata, so I grabbed a mini coconut bottle of Rum Chata before a recent family vacation. I paired that with a Diet Dr. Pepper we got from the convenience store near our rented cabin:

On the counter in our cabin.

As a mixed drink. It's hard to tell because of the line in the glass, but the top 1/3 is all frothy head!

It came as no surprise that this was delicious! I've had regular Rum Chata a few times with my Mom (which is good mixed with chocolate milk or root beer, or good on its own over ice), but never the "coconut" Rum Chata. The coconut Rum Chata had a bit of a sunscreen vibe to it (many coconut flavored things have that vibe to me), but it was very smooth and tasty mixed with Dr. Pepper! It was a creamy and easy-to-drink mixed drink! I think I'll bring this combo around more often when I'm together with my Mom.

Moneybag's Creme Soda

I was recently "up north" with family in a cabin, and I brought this to enjoy:

Under the bottle cap.

Wait... Gene Simmons?

     

Brand: Moneybag's Creme Soda.

Origin: Niagara Falls, NY.

Purchase Place: Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: First of all... yes, this is put out by Gene Simmons of KISS fame. I enjoyed the design on the front of the bottle, but didn't spot Simmons's name until I took off the cap. It's a pretty smooth cream (or "créme" as it's spelled on the bottle) and it went down easily. Nice and sugary. There's a BIT of a chemically aftertaste, but it's not bad. I'll rank this just a bit over average.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Buddy's Strawberry Soda

I opened this yesterday afternoon:

 

Brand: Buddy's Strawberry Soda.

Origin: Sleepy Eye, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was classically good! It had a strong strawberry flavor (like "candy" strawberry and not "real" strawberry), and it was really creamy - not creamy enough to be a "strawberry CREAM," but nice and smooth. This went down easy and had the perfect amount of sweetness - it was really sugary, but not TOO sugary. This was a treat.

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Black Bear Cherry Soda

I was recently on a camping trip with my boys, niece, and nephew, and I grabbed this from a candy store in Ely:

Brand: Black Bear Cherry Soda.

Origin: Glendale, WI.

Purchase Place: Ely's Old Fashioned Candy, Ely, MN.

Sweetener: Glucose Syrup.

Review: I took the first sip, and had to look again at the label. It had a more “cola” flavor than just a cherry “soda” (but it was just a “soda” and not a “cola” as the label confirmed). I like cherry cola, so that wasn’t a problem. It had a little bit of a sharp medicinal taste that was less desirable. Flavor was strong, but the sharpness wasn’t great. I’ll call this an average “5.”

Score: 5 out of 10.

(And again, see more "up north" photos from our camping trip on my other blog.)