'Rocket Fizz Soda Pop & Candy Shop' in the Mall of America

We were at the Mall of America this past weekend celebrating my youngest son’s birthday, and we stopped at Rocket Fizz Soda Pop & Candy Shop for the first time. I had been to Rocket Fizz in Vegas 12 years ago, but didn't realize I had one so close to home:

Sodas were kinda expensive at $2.99/bottle, but they had a huge selection of novelty sodas if you’re into that sort of thing!

Lots of candy and novelty metal signs as well. (And sodas down low.)

The middle part of this cooler is all birch beer, root beer, and sarsaparilla.

I didn't get anything, but I'd stop back (if I was willing to spend a little more) if I wanted to find some funky flavored novelty sodas! I think I've had all of the root beers in the image above, but I wouldn't be surprised if I stopped in sometime to grab a few other sodas. 

Cock N Bull Bitter Lemon

I opened this last night:

Cool bottle cap!

Brand: Cock N Bull Bitter Lemon.

Origin: Columbus, OH.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: OOOOOoooooo LAWD this was bitter! This tasted like I was biting a grapefruit. Really, the flavor wasn't very "lemon"-like, but much more like a grapefruit. I couldn't handle it at first. But it was good when I put some in a mixed drink last night.

BUT, it got better as it sat in the fridge overnight. I took another drink this morning, and it was much more subtle. The carbonation was adding to the intensity, and once that subdued a bit, it was much more of a pleasant lemon soda. 

Not drinkable on its own, good in a mixed drink, and more palatable after a night in the fridge. 

Score: 3 out of 10.

Uncle Scott's All Natural Root Beer

Yesterday after class, I cracked open a root beer:

 
Brand: Uncle Scott's All Natural Root Beer.

Origin: Mooresville, NC.

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

Sweetener: "100% pure cane sugar."

Review: This wasn't my favorite. It had too much anise flavor, and almost tasted "burnt." I checked the ingredients list, and I was happy to see "vanilla" (which I could taste a little), but then next came "cinnamon oil" which might be adding to that burnt taste. Later on down the list was both "licorice root oil" and "anise oil" which combined provided the TOO MUCH ANISE flavor that I didn't care for. The root beer flavor was OK, but the other flavors were just too much. Not a great root beer. Dang.

Score: 3.5 out of 10.

Grandpa Joe's Marshmallow Old Fashioned Soda Pop

I opened this last night with my boys:

 

Brand: Grandpa Joe's Marshmallow Old Fashioned Soda Pop.

Origin: Pittsburgh, PA.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: It SMELLS like marshmallow! Truly! And the first sip had a bit of a marshmallow flavor, but first came an overly sweet "cream soda" flavor. It was decent, but VERY sweet - my boys loved it and my wife thought it was too much. I'll give it a pretty average score.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.

7-Up Syrup

Someone found a bottle of 7-Up flavor syrup in their grandma's house:

Fitz's Cardinal Cream Soda

I opened this with supper tonight:

 

Brand: Fitz's Cardinal Cream Soda.

Origin: St. Louis, MO.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: I didn't know what this would be like under this big aluminum can (the neck is painted aluminum and not the color of the soda). Honestly, I enjoy the screw-top aluminum bottles like this - I think more places should try that.

On to the flavor... it was a bit of a mix of Dr. Pepper and a cream soda. It had a deeper flavor like Dr. Pepper, but then was REALLY creamy. I had to pour some out into a glass to see what color it was, because it could have been cola/brown, clear, or red, and it turns out it was a pretty deep red. It was LIKE their cream soda that I had years ago, but this had a little more depth and interestingness to it. Not bad!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

New Spring Grove Soda Announcement

Spring Grove recently announced something I'm excited to try:

'Breaking Bad's' Los Pollos Hermanos Horchata Soda

I opened this with supper tonight:

The fictional "Los Pollos" restaurant from "Breaking Bad."

Yep... there's the "Breaking Bad" tie-in.

Brand: 'Breaking Bad's' Los Pollos Hermanos Horchata Soda.

Origin: Incline Village, NV.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This was OK. It had that "milky sweetness" of Horchata that wasn't bad! But it was a little odd when combined with the "sharpness" of carbonation - this could have been better uncarbonated. There was a little hint of cinnamon that was nice too...

... but wait... I recall writing that before. OH WAIT! I wonder if this is the EXACT SAME SODA as the Lester's Fixins Horchata that's also made by Rocket Fizz. Did they just relabel an old soda to appeal to the "Breaking Bad" crowd? Probably. 

Score: 6 out of 10.

Friendly Reminder!!...

NEW Orange Cream Coca-Cola Zero

My wife grabbed some of these to try from someone who was given most of a 12-pack away on our local "buy nothing" page because they didn't care for it:

Why is "orange cream" centered in this shot,
but then not "zero sugar" or the text at the bottom?

Brand: Orange Cream Coca-Cola Zero.

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: gifted from our local "buy nothing" Facebook group.

Sweetener: Aspartame and Sucralose.

Review: Cracking this open, I was assaulted with the scent of orange cream. That smell (and flavor) was pretty spot on! The problem is that I like cola, and there's no cola flavor left because it's just orange cream.

I like Coke Zero - it's in my top 5 of normal "daily" afternoon caffeine pick-me-ups. And I also like Cherry Coke Zero - the cherry flavor works itself in nicely with the cola. But this soda is just ALL orange cream. There's no cola flavor left - this is just an orange cream SODA, and not an orange cream COLA. I wish the orange cream was a little toned down so the cola flavor could come through a bit more. I'll put this right in the middle of "average."

Score: 5 out of 10.

Excel Lucky Cherry Cola

I cracked into this at work this afternoon:

 

Brand: Lucky Cherry Cola.

Origin: Breese, IL.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: There was "tree fruit & spice" in the ingredients list, which I was curious about! (Along with "essential oils.") The flavor was pretty unique, but I didn't LOVE it. The cola flavor was a little weak, and the cherry flavor was a little "simple" (as in not too complex). This was fine for sipping, but I'll rank it a little lower than average:

Score: 4.5 out of 10.

Zero Sugar Faygo Orange

I was headed through Rochester today, and I grabbed this at a Kwik Trip:

Back home after being mostly drank!

Brand: Zero Sugar Faygo Orange.

Origin: Detroit, MI.

Purchase Place: Kwik Trip, Rochester, MN.

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: The first thing I noticed is that this was my first "ZERO SUGAR" Faygo as opposed to "DIET" Faygo. In the past, I've had a Diet Faygo with aspartame, but this had sucralose. So I figured they maybe had a "new line" of sodas or either changed their formula. Then I found this article from a few months ago talking about their NEW ZERO SUGAR sodas.

So how was it? It was decent. It didn't taste TOO "diet" as it had a pretty full flavor. It was very "real" orange and not "fake" orange, which was nice. It was almost an "orange creme" flavor, but not quite. So if a slightly creamy and slightly actually orange flavored diet soda sounds good to you, then try this! I'll rate it a little better than average.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Zevia Cherry Cola

I grabbed this while out earlier today:

Enjoying it in my car.

Brand: Zevia Cherry Cola.

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

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

Sweetener: Stevia Leaf Extract.

Review: Over 7 years ago, I tried "Black Cherry Zevia" and just thought it was OK. (It was weird to me that it was clear.) Well, this was a cherry COLA (not just a SODA) which meant I expected it to be darker, but it was clear as well. This started strong, but it seemed to get worse the more I sipped on it. The cherry flavor wasn't nearly as refined as I expected it to be - it was a bit of an over-the-top child-like cherry. Overall, it wasn't bad, but had that sharpness from Zevia that I sometimes don't care for. I drank it all, but didn't care for it much by the end as it felt sharper and sharper. I'll rank this a bit lower than average.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Drunk History: The Discovery of Coca-Cola

This is a fun ride with Jenny Slate, Bill Hader, and Simon Helberg:


Direct link: youtu.be/2HZ_r66lKSo

We've All Done This...

Assam Milk Tea

Last week, my family and I stopped by Shanghai Wholesale Market Place in St. Paul (across the road from Menards in the Midway neighborhood) for the first time. I found an aisle full of drinks:

Lots of fun things to try!

I went back on Sunday with both of my boys (1 boy was gone we we first stopped by) and I grabbed a drink:

A smaller can: 10.48 oz.

The non-English side of the can.

I love things lost in translation: "If sedimentation or oil slick from the milk fat agglomeration
of the case is a product characteristics, quality without fear, please drink at ease."

Brand: Assam Milk Tea.

Origin: Siehe Village, Taiwan.

Purchase Place: Shanghai Wholesale Market Place, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: unknown.

Review: I often get a "royal milk tea" from local tea shops (like Sencha and Niko Niko Boba), so I know the flavor of that... or at least what I EXPECT. This was a lot sweeter! It almost had a lavender flavor to it. I determined that it wasn't lavender, but some other "perfumy" flavor. It was good, but not as smooth as the milk teas that I knew of. The flavor was sweet and a bit unique. It was tasty!

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

p.s. I picked up some tapioca pearls at Shanghai Wholesale as well, so I made some pearls to have with my milk tea:

Nixie Zero Sugar Root Beer

I grabbed this from Fresh Thyme earlier this week, and cracked it open last night:

Brand: Nixie Zero Sugar Root Beer.

Origin: Larkspur, CA.

Purchase Place: Fresh Thyme Farmer's Market, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Organic Stevia Leaf Extract.

Review: I was curious how this would taste after glancing at the ingredients list: it had vanilla listed pretty high (which I associate with a "smooth" or "creamy" root beer), but it also had ginger listed (which I associate with a root beer with more "bite"). 

It turns out that it was a bit heavier on the "bite" side, but not by much - it had a bit of a Barq's flavor, which is known for having a bite. But the ginger wasn't too heavy, and I appreciated that. There was still a bit of the smoothness from the vanilla, but then each sip ended with a little bite. Overall, it tasted "diet" because it was a bit watery and weak, but the flavor that was there was decent. Not a bad soda - better than I thought it was going to be!

Score: 6.5 out of 10.