Costa Rican Coke Zero

Earlier this winter, my family went to Costa Rica for a week. With my first meal at our resort, I had a Coke Zero with zero sugar, or "zero azúcar" as the can says:

My son had an orange Fanta with breakfast one morning (why not?... we were on vacation...) and he noted that it tasted better because of the cane sugar vs the HFCS we have up here in the US:

Checking the ingredients list.

Here's a video from a day we spent in a rain forest and here's LOTS of photos from this trip!

Zero Sugar Faygo Orange

I was headed through Rochester today, and I grabbed this at a Kwik Trip:

Back home after being mostly drank!

Brand: Zero Sugar Faygo Orange.

Origin: Detroit, MI.

Purchase Place: Kwik Trip, Rochester, MN.

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: The first thing I noticed is that this was my first "ZERO SUGAR" Faygo as opposed to "DIET" Faygo. In the past, I've had a Diet Faygo with aspartame, but this had sucralose. So I figured they maybe had a "new line" of sodas or either changed their formula. Then I found this article from a few months ago talking about their NEW ZERO SUGAR sodas.

So how was it? It was decent. It didn't taste TOO "diet" as it had a pretty full flavor. It was very "real" orange and not "fake" orange, which was nice. It was almost an "orange creme" flavor, but not quite. So if a slightly creamy and slightly actually orange flavored diet soda sounds good to you, then try this! I'll rate it a little better than average.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Bigga Orange Soda

My family recently got back from Jamaica, and this was in the fridge of our hotel room:

On our hotel balcony with the waterpark in the background.

 

Brand: Bigga Orange Soda.

Origin: Spanish Town, Jamaica.

Purchase Place: Unknown (came in our hotel fridge in Riu Ocho Rios).

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Sucralose.

Review: This was very sweet! And not in an overpowering way. It had a bit of a crispness/sharpness to it that was classic and tasty. Nothing wrong with this! Just a decent orange soda!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

(See more pics from our trip here.)

Root Jack Orange Flavored Root Beer Pirate Energy Drink

I opened this earlier today: 

Brand: Root Jack Orange Flavored Root Beer Pirate Energy Drink.

Origin: Mishawaka, IN.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Bloomington, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: This is labeled a "pirate energy drink," so I was a little concerned. It has your daily allowance of vitamin C to "keep scurvy in check," so that's good. It has quillaja which Google tells me is sometimes used to help with foam in root beer. And it has caffeine and guarana seed extract which are both stimulants. I also found online that it has 10 mg of caffeine/oz, so this bottle had 120 mg of caffeine! 

But on to the flavor. It's not great. It has that energy drink chemically-ness to it. The orange flavor with the root beer isn't bad - that's actually kinda fun. If you like energy drinks, then you might like this. If you don't then you might want to steer away from this one. Not bad, totally unique, but not great.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.

Frostie Orange Soda

Last night as I was peeling oranges for my wife to take to work today, I opened something orange for myself:

Brand: Frostie Orange Soda.

Origin: Detroit, MI.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Bloomington, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: Ehh... this was OK. There's nothing that stands out much about it's flavor - it's orange soda. It's just a little odd because it's smooth on the front end but has a slight sharpness in its aftertaste. I liked it more at the first sip when it was a little smooth, and I would have NEARLY called it a "orange cream" soda, but then that changed a little at the end of the sip. Not bad, but nothing great, so it gets a middle-of-the-road score.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Duff A L'Orange Soda (Energy Drink?)

I cracked into the "Duff" soda based off "The Simpsons" that I picked up last week at Legacy Toy Store at MOA:

 

 

The soda can is pretty true to the can on The Simpsons.

Only 20 calories? And lots of B vitamins? I think this is meant to be an energy drink.

Brand: Duff A L'Orange Sparkling Beverage / Soda / Energy Drink

Origin: Woburn, MA.

Purchase Place: Legacy Toys, Mall of America, Bloomington, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This isn't bad for being just 20 calories. But the orange flavor is what you'd expect from something that is meant to be an energy drink: it's sharp and almost just a touch bitter. Not bad, but just not great. It will be more enjoyable for you if you like the flavor of energy drinks. I'm ranking this right down the middle at an "average 5" on my scale.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Baumeister Orange Old-Fashioned Soda

I opened this last night: 

Brand: Baumeister Orange Old-Fashioned Soda.

Origin: Green Bay, WI.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: Once I cracked the top, it smelled like a very smooth "creme"-like orange. I was intrigued. And the taste didn't disappoint! It was smooth, creamy, and very drinkable. It felt "classic" and yet "modern" at the same time. Orange soda is never near the top of my list, but this was quite good! I'm giving this a solid score...

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Channel 45's Dr. Chuck Ells Orange/Banana Soda

So... a local TV station's "mascot" has his own soda (and yes, I'm jealous):

So there's no info on the bottle as to who makes or distributes this, but I wondered if it wasn't Blue Sun Soda. And when I found this video, my suspicion was confirmed as he standing in front of the old Whistler bottling machine at Blue Sun:

Click here to see the video on the Channel 45 website if it doesn't work above.

Brand: Channel 45's Dr. Chuck Ells Orange/Banana Soda.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This tasted like an extra creamy orange soda. The "first" part of each sip is very orange, and then it "ends" with more of the creaminess of a banana. I can't really taste the banana, but there's a sensation of it there. For being a "funny" soda, it's not bad! I'm ranking it just a bit above average.

Score: 6 out of 10.

 

Twig's Orange Soda

I opened this after a big day of working in my basement today: 

Brand: Twig's Orange Soda.

Origin: Shawano, WI.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: The unique thing about this orange soda is that it had quite a sharpness to it. It was like a sharp carbonation. I prefer a smoother orange soda (it's no secret that I tend to lean towards "smooth" on the "smooth-to-sharp" scale). It was unique, but just OK - it was definitely a sipping soda, because I couldn't drink a ton of this at one time. Nor horrible, but not great.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.

Soda-Flavored Jelly

Blue Sun Soda has "Soda-Pop Jelly," and root beer sounds horrible. But I'd also love to try it.

Buddy's Orange Soda

I opened this tonight as we worked on wrapping presents:

Brand: Buddy's Orange Soda.

Origin: New Ulm, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was just OK. It had a little sharpness to it that made it taste less like a super sweet orange soda, and more like a "clementine" soda. (And yes, clementines are sweeter than oranges, but they are NOT sweeter than your typical orange soda.) This wasn't bad, but it just had that sharpness that I didn't totally care for. My boys thought it was fine, but they like any sugar they can get their hands on. I'll rank it middle-of-the-road average.

Score: 5 out of 10. 
 

Jarritos Mandarin

The boys and I stopped at Cub Foods 2 days ago (we rarely do because we are more of an "Aldi" family) for some ingredients for some Thai chicken, and we found a Jarritos that we hadn't tried yet:

Brand: Jarritos Mandarin.

Origin: El Paso, TX.

Purchase Place: Cub Foods, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This had a true "kick" of mandarin orange - it was not just a regular orange soda. And I don't know that I cared for it that much. You know the difference between an "orange" and an "orange cream" soda? Well, take that difference and make an orange soda with more of a bite than creaminess, and you'd have this soda. True that it has an appropriate mandarin kick, but it's just not something that I liked all that much. I'll rate this just below average.

Score: 4 out of 10.

MN State Fair Sodas

Last Friday, my boys and I went to the MN State Fair. One of our first stops was a root beer barrel for a root beer:

My 8-year-old did the ordering.

A small is $2, and the "Blue Ribbon Bargain Book" had a $1 off coupon. So this $1 IBC root beer might have been our deal of the day.

We also had to stop at the Spring Grove Soda stand by the DNR building. I let the boys pick the flavor, and they picked orange. We had a $1 off coupon for this too, so it was only $2 after the coupon:

My 5-year-old hogging the orange soda.

This was just after a burp, so he looks quite drunk off soda.  ;)

Check out the State Fair before it closes on Monday!

And in related posts, click the "Minnesota State Fair" tag at the bottom of this post to go back year-after-year. Or click directly on my 2 favorite State Fair posts: rating lots of fair food 3 years ago, and having treats and Spring Grove Soda 5 years ago.

Carousel Orange Soda

My kindergartener is home with some spots on his back (waiting on test results to see if it's chickenpox), so he played Legos as I enjoyed this:

Legos alllll over our table. 

Brand: Carousel Orange Soda.

Origin: Arlington Heights, IL.

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

Sweetener: Sugar and/or Corn Sweetener.

Review: This had a soft, subtle flavor. It was OK, but just a little weak. And it's hard to rank on the "sharp" to "smooth" scale because each sip starts a little sharper and ends a little creamier. Not bad. Not great either. Nothing fancy. Cool label though.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Frostie Orange Soda

I was getting some "specialty" ingredients for a recipe at Lunds last week, and I walked down the soda aisle and grabbed this:

Brand: Frostie Orange Soda

Origin: Detroit, MI.

Purchase Place: Lund's Grocery Store, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: "High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or cane sugar."

Review: The first sip was good, but then there was a "sharpness" that didn't belong in an orange soda. I didn't expect it to be "smooth," I just didn't expect it to have that strange bite. It wasn't TOO bad, but it wasn't that desirable. I'll give it a middle-of-the-road score.

Score: 5 out of 10.

North Star Pineapple Orange Soda

I brought this to class with me today:

With a board full of notes in the background. Busy day.

Brand: North Star Pineapple Orange Soda.

Origin: Forest Lake, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: OK, "pineapple orange" doesn't sound that good to me. I mean, let's be honest. But I just thought I'd give this a try. The flavor is subtle and "soft," and it was surprisingly good. The pineapple isn't harsh or too sharp, and it tastes like a true mix of pineapple and orange. Sure, I had low expectations for this, but it flew past them. Not too shabby.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Fitz's Orange Pop

I opened this up with supper tonight:

Brand: Fitz's Orange Pop.

Origin: St. Louis, MO.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Ehhh, this was OK. Nothing special. It had a bit more of a "bite" than I expected from an orange soda, and that was about it. Otherwise, it was "orangey."

Score: 5 out of 10.

"Zombie" Soda Tasting at Blue Sun Soda

My boys and I headed to Blue Sun Soda in the north metro earlier today because I saw they advertised a "free taste testing" of "Dead World" sodas on Facebook. I figured we'd swing by.

Sodas made in Minnesota (a lot here, but mainly Joia, North Star, and Spring Grove).

The 3 free pinball machines are ALWAYS popular.

My 2 boys on the far left waiting their turns.  Last time when we were there, I pulled down a soda box
for Charlie to stand on.  I see that Blue Sun realized that was an issue and made little steps.  Sweet.

There were a LOT of people in there.

My boys got their turn after a few minutes.

The "Dead World" soda tasting at the front of the store.

All of these gross-sounding flavors (like "rot berry") are all "normal" flavored sodas.  Nothing gross.

I tried all of these. The "Slow Decay" was a decent root beer on the left! "Zeek Cocktail" was a sugary
cotton candy, "Coon Bitters" was an OK cherry cola (without much cherry flavor), and the Orange
was quite smooth and tasty. The grape was good too.  I was rather impressed overall!

The "Dead World" display on an end cap in the store.

They added a big loose candy dispenser since I was there last.

Charlie got a rock candy sucker.

I just grabbed 3 sodas: a novelty root beer, the "Slow Decay" root beer I tried,
and a Lemon Meringue soda.  Reviews coming shortly.

Henry wanted a sucker with a REAL scorpion inside.  He hasn't tried this yet...

Here's a link to my post when my boys and I went to Blue Sun Soda for the first time 6 months ago. There are lots of photos of their soda selection in that post.

So check out Blue Sun Soda on Facebook, or in person in Spring Lake Park, MN. And check back soon for some new reviews.

Henry's Hard Orange Soda

My wife recently bought this for me when she was getting some wine for herself at Total Wine (she's obviously the classy one in this relationship):

Under the bottle cap.

Brand: Henry's Hard Orange Soda.

Origin: Milwaukee, WI.

Purchase Place: Total Wine and Spirits, Roseville, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: I didn't know how an orange soda would mix with a beer flavor. I'm not a HUGE fan of beer. But this wasn't beer-flavored at all. I couldn't make out the alcohol flavor - it was almost like a "gentle" vodka flavor. It was good! The orange flavor was pretty normal/classic, and then it just had a slight alcoholic kick at the end of each sip. I may have to try the other Henry's Hard Soda flavors!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

North Star Craft Soda Orange Cola

This was my last (of 3) sodas from the cabin (see the first one here and the second one here):

On the railing at the cabin with the lake in the background.

Brand: North Star Craft Soda Orange Cola.

Origin: Forest Lake, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: The "orange" was subtle, which was good. A super ORANGE "orange cola" sounds disgusting. The cola part of this was good - a bit fruity and sweet, with just a bit of a bite. It wasn't as odd as it sounded, and it went down well.

Score: 6 out of 10.