Old Keg Root Beer

It's been awhile (about SIX WEEKS) since my last review! I need to start hitting the soda a bit harder... so I started with this before class yesterday:

 
Brand: Old Keg Root Beer

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Honey.

Review: This was SUPER creamy from the first sip. It was an INCREDIBLY smooth root beer with a fair amount of vanilla flavor with just a nice little hint of anise. 

After I had enjoyed it quite a while, I took a closer look at the ingredients list (because this was turning into a top-10 root beer for me and I wanted to see why!), and I found "honey" on the list as well. Honey can make or break a soda (I love honey by itself), and I tend to find it's flavor not that complimentary to a root beer. But this was so nicely subtle that it worked really well with the smoothness and creaminess of this root beer. This was REALLY GOOD! And it's not just because I haven't had a root beer in a while! A very quality soda! It's my first soda rated a "10" in the last 10 years!

Score: 10 out of 10.

Jones Soda Special Release Zero Cola

I grabbed this from Hy-Vee last week with my son:

 

Brand: Jones Soda Special Release Zero Cola.

Origin: Seattle, WA. 

Purchase Place: Hy-Vee, Eagan, MN.

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: This had a lot of flavor for a 0 calorie soda! The cola flavor was quite unique, and it had a hint of that "Dr. Pepper bite" to it. It was good! Both of my boys enjoyed it as well. We were happy with this one!

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Jones Special Release Sugar Cookie Soda

I brought this to work with me and enjoyed it at my desk: 

 

Brand: Jones Special Release Sugar Cookie Soda.

Origin: Seattle, Washington.

Purchase Place: Cub Foods, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: The bottle said this was "a blast of frosty cookie goodness fresh out of the oven!" And it claims it has the "buttery delight" of a sugar cookie but without the crumbs. Would those statements hold up? I wasn't sure.

At first sip, it was VERY much like a cream soda! It had that smoothness and sweetness that you'd expect with a cream soda. But I can see how there's a "frosting" flavor in there - I'm glad the bottle noted that was a "frosty cookie" flavor, but I get that! It's definitely heavy on the "frosting" front and not as much on the "cookie" front. It was a fun flavor, but nothing too special. It got a little too overly sweet as I drank the bottle, so I'll rank this just barely below average.

Score: 4.5 out of 10.

Teem Lime Soda

I took this with me this morning to grade at one of the colleges where I teach:

Brand: Teem Lime Soda.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: I sort of pegged this as another lemon lime soda, but it was a bit different. First of all, it has caffeine, and none of my “normal” lemon lime sodas are caffeinated. Secondly, it’s labeled as a “citrus refresher,” but it’s only lime flavored. I have no issue with that - it’s just not what I’m expecting when I see “citrus” on a soda.

It was a pretty smooth lime, almost like key lime. But then there’s a refreshing pop/sharpness of the carbonation, so it has a little bit of everything. Good lime flavor, and good to sip on as I was working. Decent, but nothing amazing.

Score: 7 out of 10.

 

Jones Special Release Icee Cherry Soda

I opened this last night: 

Brand: Jones Special Release Icee Cherry Soda.

Origin: Seattle, WA.

Purchase Place: Cub Foods, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Inverted Cane Sugar.

Review: It SMELLS like a cherry Icee at first sniff! And the taste is right on when it first hit my tongue. But then it has a harsh, almost bitter flavor. As I think about it, it's about right on when sipping a melted Icee, but that's just not desirable to me. 

My wife tried it and said "Yum, it tastes like sipping a melted Icee!" But that was the exact reason I did NOT like it. So this soda is going to have varying reviews! If you've ever loved sipping a melted Icee (I haven't), this this soda is made for you.

It seemed to get better as I sipped (and that could partially be due to me just getting used to it), but I was hoping this would just be sweet and delicious... and it wasn't. I figured I'd love this, but it didn't live up to my expectations. Dang.

Score: 2.5 out of 10.

Mexicana Cola

I opened a soda from my recent trip to the Bloomington Blue Sun Soda Shop:

Brand: Mexicana Cola

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Bloomington, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar and Mexican Agave Syrup.

Review: This initially had a DEEP cola flavor, but it also had a bit of an unusual bitterness. I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming it might be from the agave as a sweetener. It's flavor was OK, but I was turned off a bit my the slight bitterness. In the end, it was worth trying, but not high on my list of colas.

Score: 6 out of 10.

O-So Key Lime Soda

My wife was at the Mall of America recently, and she got me this:

She was at Legacy Toys at MOA.

She sent me 2 photos asking if I'd had all of these...

... and the only ones I hadn't had were O-So Peach (not interested) and O-So Key Lime.

Brand: O-So Key Lime Soda.  

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

Purchase Place: Legacy Toy Store, Mall of America, Bloomington, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This REALLY tasted like Key Lime! My wife took a sip, and I thought she'd hate it (as it's pretty sweet, and she doesn't like overly-sweet things), but she said "wow... that's like liquid pie!" And she meant that in a good way. Very spot on key lime flavor, and quite sweet. Not bad!

Score: 7 out of 10.

Bedford's Creme Beer

It was hot today, so I cracked into this tonight:

The labels weren't facing the same direction. Awkward.

Brand: Bedford's Creme Beer.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This was VERY smooth and creamy. I couldn't put my finger on the specific flavor: it wasn't vanilla, but it had a hint of something floral. It was just a real decent cream soda. I'll rate this a little above average. Give it a try!

Score: 7 out of 10.

 

O-So Cherry Soda

I stopped at Lunds to get some BOGO deals, and I grabbed this in their soda aisle:

Brand: O-So Cherry Soda.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This isn't a kids cherry soda. It's not overly sweet, and it's got a full, deep flavor. However, I didn't care for it a ton. It was a bit sharper than I'd care for, so I found it to be a "sipping" soda (not a "chugging" soda). If you've ever said that some sodas are too sweet for you, then you might like this. However, if you're like me and you kind of like a super sweet soda, then this might be a bit too harsh for you. It's not *bad*, but I'll rank it a bit lower than average.

Score: 4 out of 10.
 

Sipping Spider Venom Cherry Cola

Last Friday, I stopped by Frattallone's Ace Hardware on Grand Ave in St. Paul (the "west" one by Macalaster College), and I took a quick look over their soda section:

I grabbed something near the top left of that image, and I opened it earlier today:

Brand: Sipping Spider Venom Cherry Cola.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was good. It had a real deep cherry flavor - very strong and sweet. It was almost a "black cherry" flavor. It has "extract of dark sweet cherry" on the ingredients list, and I don't know if it's that ingredient that makes this so tasty. It was strong flavored classic cherry cola with a bit more "pop." I really enjoyed it!

Score: 9 out of 10.

Sugar Plum Soda

I opened this in my classroom recently:

Brand: Sugar Plum Soda.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This is like a grown-up grape soda. It's not overly syrupy or sweet, and it has a little more depth to it. The flavor is a bit plum-like, but it's similar to grape. Unique, but not strange. Not a bad soda to be sipping during class.

Score: 6 out of 10.

O-So Strawberry Soda

I picked this up at Lund's last month, and it was time to try it out:

Brand: O-So Strawberry Soda.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This wasn't an overly sweet soda. It tasted a bit "adult." In fact, I'd NEARLY call it a "strawberry rhubarb" soda because of it's flavor and lack of super sweetness. I'm not complaining - I'm just noting that if you like a syrupy sweet soda, then this isn't for you. If you like more depth of flavor, then give this a try. I'll rate this just a bit above average.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Unknown Dred Formula No 53 Road Rage Red

I needed a pick-me-up this morning, so I opened this "all purpose energy drink" with the weirdest label:

It *might* just be a random scuff, but one of the ingredients seems to be perfectly crossed out. Suspicious.

Brand: Unknown Dred Formula No 53 Road Rage Red.

Origin: Unknown.  Possibly Seattle, WA.

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

Sweetener: "Cane sugar and/or fructose."

Review: I knew nothing about the flavor other than "road rage red." And at the top of the bottle it was called an "all purpose energy drink with a good taste and mellow finish."

But it did not have a good taste. Or a mellow finish.

It was Red Bull-like, but less sweet and not as good. It had that "red" flavor of red bull that I can't quite nail down. I couldn't drink more than a few sips of that. Stay away.

Score: 1.5 out of 10.

Hollywood's Original Shirley Temple Soda Pop

I cracked in to this earlier today:

Brand: Hollywood's Original Shirley Temple Soda Pop.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This wasn't good. It was incredibly "sharp" and harsh. It had a very strong/strange strawberry flavor that was just too much along with the carbonation. I had a few sips over an hour, but I didn't come close to finishing this. Gross.

Score: 2 out of 10.

Jones Root Beer

After a race yesterday, I cracked into this:

Brand: Jones Root Beer.

Origin: Seattle, WA.

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

Sweetener: Inverted Cane Sugar.

Review: The first thing that hit me was the caramel flavor - it was a very "caramel-y" root beer. It wasn't too bad. It was pretty smooth with just a little bit of a foamy head. I thought it was OK. If you really like a bit of caramel flavor, then try this for sure. But I'll give it a slightly-above-average score of 6.5.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Hippo Size Burley Birch Beer

It's been hot. I grabbed this to cool down:

Brand: Hippo Size Burley Birch Beer.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This tasted like an herby root beer. It wasn't bad, but it didn't stand out as anything super amazing either. Decent overall.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Jic Jac Grape

We went camping last weekend, and I brought this soda along to enjoy:

Brand: Jic Jac Grape.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar

Review: Classic grape flavor. Went down smooth. I shared some of it with my wife's Godchild, and she thought it was tasty too. It wasn't anything amazing, but it as good!

Score: 7 out of 10.

p.s. Here's a lot of photos from our camping trip on my triathlon blog.

Bedford's Ginger Beer

I was in the mood for something "spicy," so I cracked into this:

Brand: Bedford's Ginger Beer.

Origin: Port Angeles, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: The first thing I like to do with a ginger soda is to check the ingredients list: this had "brewed ginger root" on the list, so I was ready for a BITE. And for a guy who doesn't care for ginger beers that much, I thought this was pretty good. It had a smooth (almost creamy) initial flavor, and then each sip ended with a BIG KICK of ginger that almost stings the back of your throat. That big kick is usually why I stay away from ginger sodas, but this was alright.

Score: 6 out of 10.

O-So Butterscotch Root Beer

I was curious, so I tried this recently:

Brand: O-So Butterscotch Root Beer.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was HEAVY on the butterscotch. It had the smoothness and creaminess of a root beer, but the flavor was about 90% butterscotch. Ideally (for me), a butterscotch root beer would taste about 20% butterscotch and 80% root beer. If you REALLY like butterscotch, then try this because you'll love it. If you just think butterscotch is OK (like me), then this could be too much for you.

Score: 3.5 out of 10.

Americana Huckleberry

I was in the mood for something berry-like the other day:

Brand: Americana Huckleberry.

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: I didn't know what huckleberry tasted like, but this was pretty good. It smelled a bit "sharp," but the taste (thankfully) wasn't as harsh. It seemed to be a bit of a mix of blueberry and strawberry. If you're a berry lover, you'll like this. Unique and pretty tasty.

Score: 7 out of 10.