Lester's Fixins Horchata Soda

I opened this yesterday as it didn't seem to be too "risky" of a novelty soda:

 
Brand: Lester's Fixins Horchata Soda.

Origin: Incline Village, NV.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Something felt "wrong" about drinking a horchata from a guy named "Lester." (It's a drink that originated in northern Africa before settling in Spain and often being thought of as a Mexican drink today.) 

The first sip was odd because the flavor was about right on (including a cinnamon-like hit at the end like Mexican horchata has), but it was a bit strange with the carbonation. 

I actually let it sit in the fridge open for a while, and I think it got better - I like this more with a "softer" carbonation. Overall, it tasted pretty right on and nicely sweet, but the carbonation added a sharpness to it that wasn't as great.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Lester's Fixins Buffalo Wing Soda

Well, it's been a few weeks since my last review, and that's because I've been sitting on this bottle... scared... 

Brand: Lester's Fixins Buffalo Wing Soda.

Origin: Incline Village, NV.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: You might remember first seeing this bottle when I tried Ranch Dressing Soda last month. I FINALLY got around to opening this one up, and it wasn't really what I expected. 

When I first sniffed it, it didn't smell bad - it was like a "sharp orange flavored" smell. I was hopeful.

And you know what? It didn't taste horrible either. The flavor was kind of meaty (but not in a bad way), smokey, and slightly salty. The problem occurred 5-10 seconds after each sip - there's this burning that happened in the back of my throat. It was like a chemical burn feeling. Not pleasant. And it happened sooner and sooner after each sip. I couldn't finish this. So favor was bad but not horrible, but the general experience of this soda was bad. Just bad.

Score: 1.5 out of 10.

Lester Fixins Ranch Dressing Soda

I opened this "Ranch Dressing" soda with my extended family on a trip up north recently:

I thought it could pair well with Buffalo Wing Soda.

My youngest was ready to try a shot of it...

...but he immediately spit it into the sink

My brother-in-law and I sniffed it...

Drinking it!

 

Trying not react to the flavor! Ha! (We agreed ahead of time to try to not show our disgust.)

 

Brand: Lester Fixins Ranch Dressing Soda

Origin: Incline Village, NV.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: You know, this WASN'T horrible. It smelled quite like ranch dressing. And then the aftertaste left a ranch dressing-like film in my mouth (but not in an ABSOLUTELY horrible way). 

The biggest positive for this is that the carbonation really helped. And it had a perfect amount of sweetness to cut the almost savory ranch flavor. Both my brother-in-law and I agreed on this. 

It sure isn't a soda that I'd grab on any given day saying "boy, I sure could go for something 'ranch dressing' flavored right now!" But it wasn't BAD. The ranch dressing flavor was about spot on, so give this a (humorous) try if you're a fan of ranch. This had POTENTIAL for being scored at 1 or 2, but it's honestly better than that.

Score: 3.5 out of 10.

Lester's Fixins Peanut Butter & Jelly Soda

I'll be honest… I was NOT really looking forward to trying this:

The color was strange. The PB&J sandwich on the label looked disgusting. The smell was actually about right on: it smelled like peanut butter and grape jelly. So I took a swig.


Brand: Lester's Fixins Peanut Butter & Jelly Soda.

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: It actually tastes a little like peanut butter and jelly. This surprised me. I know it's called "Peanut Butter & Jelly Soda," but still, I didn't know how you could make that flavor into a liquid. It tastes a little "artificial," but the flavor isn't really that bad. I had low low low low expectations for this, and it was better than I hoped. Still… not really "good." But not as bad as I thought. Someone else described it as "fruit gone bad," but I thought it was a little better than that. I'm at a loss to fully describe this flavor, so you'll just have to try it yourself if you're curious. It scores a slightly better than average score based on my other novelty soda reviews.

Score: 4.5 out of 10.

Lester's Fixins Bacon Soda. Yes, BACON Soda.

Alright... It was our last day in Vegas, and it was time to get adventurous.  I busted out the Bacon Soda.

Image source.

The label.

Brand: Lester's Fixins Bacon Soda.

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

Purchase Place: Rocket Fizz, Las Vegas, NV.

Sweetener: Cane sugar.

Review: It didn't taste like bacon. It tasted like Bac-Os or Bacon Bits... only in liquid form... with carbonation. That's all a nasty combination. It was salty and smoky, much like bacon (or a hairy, sweaty, Russian man). But in soda form, this is just disgusting. I took 2 tiny sips and had to dump the rest. Lester's Fixins Sweet Corn Soda had slightly more (better) flavor, but I could not stomach this.

Score: 1 out of 10.

Lester's Fixins Sweet Corn Soda. Yes, SWEET CORN.

This was my most "out there" purchase when I bought my case of assorted sodas at Minnesota's Largest Candy Store. This was simply to intriguing to pass up. Sweet Corn Soda?!? I had to grab a bottle.

I opened it this past weekend when family was visiting so we could all try a little.

It smells strongly like actual sweet corn mixed with a can of creamed corn.  The smell is not that appealing - it almost made me gag as I was going in for my first sip. But the taste isn't TOO bad. It doesn't really taste like sweet corn, but it has a "sweetness" to it.

Brand: Lester's Fixins Sweet Corn Soda

Origin: Camarillo, California.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wished it tasted MORE like sweet corn. The flavor was just a strange sugariness. The only reason this isn't getting a "0" or a "1" is because it's entertaining - this would be a fun bottle to open with friends (like I did) to see who actually likes it.  You won't ever forget your first sip of Sweet Corn Soda.

Score: 2 out of 10.