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.

Excel Lucky Cherry Cola

I opened my first soda from last week's trip to Blue Sun Soda: 

Brand: Excel Lucky Cherry Cola.

Origin: Breese, IL.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This smelled good from the start - quite sweet. It definitely leans towards "cherry SODA" and not so much "cherry COLA" as there's not a super strong cola element to this. And that's not a bad thing, because it's still quite tasty. It's a pretty solid cherry flavor. Nothing super unique, but a drinkable and tasty soda.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Excel Gooey Butter Cake Soda

Up at the cabin this past week, I cracked into this beauty:

Brand: Excel Gooey Butter Cake Soda.

Origin: Breese, IL.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: I poured out little sips for all my family to try, and there were no horrible reactions (which is a little rare with a "novelty" soda). Some of the younger kids even liked it. I took a sniff and it didn't smell like much. When I tasted it, the flavor was quite subtle. There was a true hint of butter, but not rich, thick, super creamy butter. Just a nod of the flavor. And that was about it. It was just a "light butter" flavor, with no real "cake" flavor at all. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't something that I would drink a bottle of, so I have to rank it kinda low.

Score: 3.5 out of 10.

Excel Black Cherry

I grabbed this last night:

Brand: Excel Black Cherry Soda.

Origin: Breese, IL.

Purchase Place: Frattallone's Ace Hardware, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This didn't stand out from many other black cherry sodas. It was sugary and almost a bit too syrupy, but the flavor was good. There was a bit of a "sharpness" at the end of each sip, but not bad. Overall, a decent, normal soda.

Score: 5 out of 10.