Kiss Cherry Kola

It was over 3 years ago that I first tried Kiss Army Root Beer, and it was surprisingly OK. So I was kind of looking forward to this:

Brand: Kiss Cherry Kola.  

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: Like their root beer, this was a solid beverage. It had a pretty deep cola flavor. But the "cherry" part of the flavor was hardly there! If you had told me it was just "cola," I would have thought "oh, it's a slightly 'fruity' cola like some of the unique ones that I've had." But I don't think I ever would have thought it was a CHERRY cola. 

 

And here's the conundrum for rating this: as a CHERRY cola, it's a bit of a letdown. But as a plain cola, it's pretty good! So I'm going by overall taste, not what I EXPECT it to taste like.

Side note: this is the first soda that I recall seeing anything like this on the label: "Flash Pasteurized for Stability and Safety." Huh.

Score: 7 out of 10.

 

Refreshing My Soda Stash

I have ONE soda left in my stash! Well, I should say "had" one soda left. My wife had a day off mid-week a few days ago, so I snuck away for an hour to restock my "soda box" in the basement. I hit up Blue Sun Soda:

I have *not* enjoyed a few of these, but I grabbed some that I hadn't tried before.

A BIG stock of their bottled-in-store Whistler sodas!

I had Kiss Army Root Beer a few years ago, but I hadn't tried the other 2. So I bought them.

Some "fancy" 22 oz $7 bottles. Just out of frame to the right is Indian Wells which we liked.

In the "all natural" section, here's a brand I haven't cared for (2 bottles rated 3.5 and 2).

Blue Sun now has a bigger "Japanese" section, so I grabbed 2!
It didn't seem right to have Elvis and John Wayne in the background...

I left with a case of 24 sodas, but I only had 2 root beers in there. After drinking those, I think I'll have had EVERY kind of root beer at Blue Sun except for 2 of the "big bottle" brands! I saved those for another time.

Thanks for refreshing my stash Blue Sun! I hope to check out your new location sometime soon as well!

Kiss Army Root Beer

I've had this in the fridge for a few days, and I finally opened it today:

Brand: Kiss Army Root Beer.

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Of course, this semi-novelty soda was made by Rocket Fizz. I've had a lot of bad luck with their sodas, but some good luck too, so I didn't know what to expect from this root beer. Turns out, it was pretty good. It was pretty flavorful and strong, with a pretty noticeable anise flavor (JUST shy of being too much). It had a bit more bite than I'd like, but was very enjoyable overall. I've been on a good run and having a few good sodas lately...

Score: 8 out of 10.