Big Ben's Lemon Bubbles!

I opened this while doing a lot of cooking last night:

 
Brand: Big Ben's Lemon Bubbles!

Origin: Catawissa, PA.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This was really sweet. It was a tasty lemon soda - at first sip, I thought "this is like a Sprite or 7Up," but then I realized I wasn't tasting the LIME of those sodas. It was just lemon, but it was overly sweetened to make up for it. Very tasty. Went down easy.

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

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.

Calypso Lemon Tea

This is my first and might be my last review of a bottled tea:

Brand: Calypso Lemon Tea.

Origin: Milwaukee, WI (even though its tagline is "Taste Of The Island").

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was good. It was fine. It was what you'd expect. I was in the mood for a lemon tea when I was walking through Menards, and this hit the spot. It was sweet and lemony and had a good tea flavor. It tasted like every-other sort of lemon tea or lemonade tea or Arnold Palmer that I've ever had. So that's why I say I won't review more things like this, as they are all just decent, refreshing, and similar. Yes, I'm sure there's a difference between different brands, but I don't have them nearly enough to compare flavors. Maybe someday... but I'm not planning on it right now.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Lemon Billy's Bubble Pop

I opened this with lunch today:

Brand: Lemon Billy's Bubble Pop.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: Billy's sodas are meant to be goofy so they are not the color you'd expect them to be based on the flavor.  But I swear I can taste the red! It's like a soft, smooth lemon flavor with some sweet grenadine added. I kept sipping this to confirm - it TASTES "red." Really. All that being said, it's not horrible. It's a real subtle/gentle lemon flavor that has no bitter "punch" like lemonade. It was just OK.

Score: 5 out of 10.

 

"Froze-N-Lemonade" at Remix

I stopped by Remix earlier this week to try their "Froze-N-Lemonade:"

Nicely sour and super icy.

It's more "whipped" than you might think. Yes, it's kinda like an Icee, but it's a bit more creamy than that. Here's a pic with the top off that shows that a bit:

The next day, I took my boys to try it out. I brought my own "straw cup" so that we could buy 1 and then split it for the boys (so there's no fighting about "but you took a longer sip that time!!!") because they both didn't need 16 oz of deliciousness. They loved it too:

My boys with the split Froze-N-Lemonade (Remix in the background).

Here's a bit about Remix's new cotton candy in a post from last month if you missed it.

Cock N' Bull Bitter Lemon

I opened this while cleaning up last night:

I didn't know what to expect! A "signature bitter taste?" Umm... I'm... excited?

Brand: Cock N' Bull Bitter Lemon.

Origin: Spring Grove, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was undrinkable! The first sniff / sip seemed promising... like a lemon-heavy lemon-lime. But then the last moment of each drink is a POW of bitterness. It is SO bitter. My 8-year-old was home with me, and he couldn't drink it either. I tried making a mixed drink (because it notes that it's good as a mixer, and I could see that), but what I tried with it didn't work. It still wasn't that drinkable. (Although it was better.) I can understand that this could be good in the right mixed drink, but on it's own (and how I tried it with an Elderflower Liqueur) it's undrinkable. Try it if you're looking for a bitter lemon flavor to add into mixed drinks, but unless that's specifically what you're looking for, stay away!

Score: 1 out of 10.
 

Towne Club Lemonade

I opened this the other day with my boys:

Brand: Towne Club Lemonade

Origin: Detroit, MI.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: It was just slightly carbonated, and it was good. It wasn't too sweet - almost a little tart. That made my wife and I like it quite a bit, but my boys say they wished it was sweeter. So it was an "adult" lemonade. Pretty good!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Boots Lemon Meringue Soda

After an afternoon of cooking in the kitchen, I cleaned up the mess as I opened this (my 2nd of 3 bottles from my recent Blue Sun Soda stop):

Brand: Boots Lemon Meringue Soda.

Origin: Bryan, Texas.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: I had Boots Sarsaparilla this past summer, and it was a real let down, so I was hoping this would be good. When I first popped the bottle cap, it smelled a LOT like lemon meringue pie. Really. It had a lemon smell, but an extra sugary creaminess of the meringue too.

It didn't TASTE as much like lemon meringue pie though. I was curious how they would mix the "lemon" and the "meringue" flavors together in a soda, and (not surprisingly) it didn't work. It tastes like some sort of lemon candy, not necessarily lemon meringue pie. I'm an endurance athlete, and it coated my throat the way a super thick, sweet GU energy gel would. That part was a little gross (fine for a GU, but weird in a soda), but overall, it wasn't bad. Not horrible, but not great.

Score: 4.5 out of 10.

Q Lemon Spectacular Sparkling Lemon

I grabbed this when I stopped at the grocery store with my boys recently:

Brand: Q Lemon Spectacular Sparkling Lemon.

Origin: Brooklyn, NY.

Purchase Place: Lunds Grocery Store, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Organic Cane Sugar.

Review: This had a unique flavor. It reminded me of unsweetened LaCroix lemon water with just a bit of a sweetness to it. There was another element to this as well. It was alright. Not to sweet (as the bottom of the can said).

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Always Ask for Avery's Dog Drool

After a decent "gross" soda yesterday, it was time to try another:

With fruit pizza and my sister in the background at the cabin.

Brand: Always Ask for Avery's Dog Drool.

Origin: New Britain, Connecticut.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This was better than the "Kitty Piddle" that I just had. It tasted like a nice crisp carbonated lemonade. The "orange" part of the "orange lemon" flavor was subtle. Perfect for a summer night.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.