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.)

Forty-Ninth State Brewing's Frontier Root Beer

I cracked right into this can shortly after my friends sent me some sodas in the mail:

Brand: Forty-Ninth State Brewing's Frontier Root Beer.

Origin: Anchorage, Alaska.

Purchase Place: Somewhere in Alaska.

Sweetener: Cane sugar and Alaskan honey.

Review: I was excited to try this. It had "Alaskan honey" listed as one of the sweeteners, but it was farther down the list - I took that as a good sign as I like a HINT of honey in my root beer. It also had "Madagascar vanilla beans" listed too, and that was also a great sign. The side of the can noted "This delightfully sweet and spicy libation, overflowing with notes of vanilla and honey, was molded after an old klondike gold miner's closely guarded root beer recipe."

This lived up to my expectations. It was smooth and creamy... but then it had a little bite at the end as well. It's a root beer that could please most anyone! True to my expectations, there was just a little hint of honey and not an overwhelming slap. And then there's a nice smooth vanilla finish to each sip. This was unique but not too "out there." A real good root beer!

Score: 9 out of 10.

Mirinda

This past weekend, my wife and I got back from a 10-day trip to Italy! Here's a soda found in our mind-fridge of our hotel in Rome that I tried:

 

Brand: Mirinda.

Origin: Milanofiori, Milan, Italy.

Purchase Place: Unknown (found in mini-fridge of Hotel Artemide)

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was pretty OJ heavy, even though it only contained 4% orange juice (the ingredients label noted "succo d'arancai (4%)" after water and sugar). It tasted like a lemon-lime soda with OJ added. That's about it! It was simple and refreshing, and surprisingly only 4% OJ. Tasty and simple, so I'll rank this just barely above average.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Vodka Spritz Fresca Mixed Grapefruit Citrus: a 'Hard' Fresca

My sister-in-law handed me one of these when we were on a family camping trip recently:

Brand: Fresca Mixed Grapefruit Citrus.

Origin: Daleville, VA.

Purchase Place: Unknown (somewhere in SW WI).

Sweetener: Unknown (I can't stand alcohol labels with how much they don't have to have on it).

Review: This was dangerous. It was crisp and refreshing like a Fresca... like a non-alcoholic Fresca. You could easily have too many of these! It tastes like a regular Fresca with just a SLIGHT bite of alcohol. Fresca is already one of those sodas that could mix will with booze, and they're doing it well with this drink. If you're interested in any of what I'm writing here, you'll be happy if you grab a few of these!

Score: 8 out of 10.

Dad's Diet Old Fashioned Root Beer

This Diet Dad's was another gift from my brother-in-law and sister-in-law from their party:

Brand: Dad's Diet Old Fashioned Root Beer.

Origin: Jasper, IN.

Purchase Place: unknown (western suburbs).

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: This was quite tasty! It had a real deep (almost smokey) flavor which was surprising being it was a diet root beer. There wasn't that "thin and watered down" flavor that many diet sodas (especially root beers) have. Deep classic flavor, just a little bite, and quite easy to drink. Solid soda!

Score: 8 out of 10.

State Fair Soda: Chocolate Chip Cookie

I was at a little shindig at my brother-in-law's house over the weekend, and him and his wife did something very sweet: they know I don't drink wine or beer (and the other 5 people there DO), so they grabbed 4 fun bottles of soda for me at the grocery store! This was the one I opened and had with their delicious supper: 

Brand: State Fair Soda: Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

Purchase Place: Unknown (western suburbs of the Twin Cities).

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This had a really sweet initial taste. There was definitely a "dough-like" flavor that came through, but not really anything like chocolate chips. It had a slightly chemically aftertaste, but it wasn't bad! (And we assume it's trying to be "Sweet Martha's Cookies" without saying that...)

I had to look back to when I tried a handful of "State Fair Sodas" 2.5 years ago, and I ranked "Chocolate Chip Cookie" as my LEAST favorite of the 5. So I'm excited to try some of the other flavors as if I called this my least favorite, we're only going up from here!

Score: 6 out of 10.

An Unlabeled Bottle

Well, here's a review unlike any other...

I just opened a bottle that had no label. I vaguely recall getting this bottle, but I have such a bad memory, that I have no idea when, where, or why. It was in my box with other "MN Largest Candy Store" sodas, but that's the only hint I have.

The "front" of the bottle...

... and the "back." Seriously.

Brand: Unknown.

Origin: Unknown

Purchase Place: "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store" (I think), Jordan, MN.

Sweetener: Unknown.

Review: OK, so the first obvious issue is to determine the flavor. I cracked the top (still heard the sound of carbonation, so that's good) and took a sniff. My eyes lit up and I took another... "It's root beer" I thought. It was a bit heavy on the anise, but otherwise pretty decent and relatively smooth. Wish I knew what this was...

Score: 7 out of 10.
 

Jarritos Mango Soda

About 10 days ago, I won a duathlon (it's a run/bike/run race - like a triathlon, but with another run in place of the swim).  Because it was in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, the winner's "goodie bag" had Mexican themed things in it, including a 1.5 liter bottle of Mango flavored Jarritos Mexican soda.

Goodie bag

Brand: Jarritos Mango Soda

Origin: Mexico.

Purchase Place: Unknown.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: I'll be upfront: I don't really care for mangos. But this was OK. It was sweet, but not too sweet. It was right in the middle of my "smooth vs bite" scale. This surprised me a bit - for not liking mango things, this was as good as it really could have been.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer (Round 2)

I first reviewed Dad's Root Beer over a year ago, and I only gave it a 3 out of 10 - it did not go over well with me. But in that review, I said "I think I'll have to try Dad's again because I don't remember it being this bad when I've had it in the past."

Well, my sister-in-law showed up with a bottle of Dad's for me because I just became a Dad for the 2nd time.

My new son Charlie.

Charlie and Henry - my 2 boys.

Charlie's first bath at home when he was 6 days old.

So here was the Dad's I got:

Brand: Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer.

Origin: Jasper, IN.

Purchase Place: Some convenience store, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane sugar.

Review: This wasn't nearly as bad as the one I had over a year ago. It had a bite, and a slightly "classic" root beer flavor. It had a bit more bite than I cared for, but was still pretty good. I'll take back my "3 out of 10" from my first review, and now I'll give it a 6.5.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Black Cherry IBC

Thursday night I stopped by a "going away" party for 2 people at work. They had beer and tequila... both of which I passed on. But I DID grab a bottle of Black Cherry IBC.

Image Source

My bottle of IBC surrounded by sweets (and a bottle of Patron....)

Brand: IBC Black Cherry Soda.

Origin: Plano, Texas.

Purchase Place: Unknown. (Kowalski's maybe?)

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: This had a strong smell and a strong flavor. Luckily, it was also a GOOD flavor. It was pretty syrupy, which I like. This was quite a sweet treat, and I'd have this again in a heartbeat. Tasty.

Score: 8 out of 10.