State Fair Soda Cotton Candy

I was doing a lot of cooking last night, and I cracked into this:

Brand: State Fair Soda Cotton Candy.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

Purchase Place: Lunds & Byerlys, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Well this tasted EXACTLY how it should have. It had that perfectly sugary flavor of cotton candy. I really don't know what else to say: if you like cotton candy and think it would be good as a liquid, then TRY THIS.

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

The Pop Shoppe Root Beer

My wife recently grabbed 2 bottles of soda for me at Lunds and called them my Valentine's Day present (I'm not complaining, as it was more than I got her - we don't do Valentine's Day). Here was the first one I cracked into: 

Brand: The Pop Shoppe Root Beer.

Origin: Ontario, Canada.

Purchase Place: Lunds & Byerlys, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was decent! It had a deep almost smokey flavor that was quite smooth. It did little to stand out from other root beers, but it was relatively classic flavor (maybe a slightly modern take on a classic root beer, but nothing drastically different). 

(And whooooa... this makes 5 out of the last 8 posts being root beer related! Nice!)

Score: 6.5 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.
 

Lift Bridge Black Cherry Soda

We grabbed this from Lund's in Minneapolis last night:

Brand: Lift Bridge Black Cherry Soda

Origin: Stillwater, MN.

Purchase Place: Lund's, Minneapolis, MN (St. Anthony Main area).

Sweetener: Natural Sugar.

Review: I've generally enjoyed Lift Bridge sodas in their extra large cans (and I like that they are made just outside of the Twin Cities here in MN), so I was excited to try this. And it lived up to my expectations. I had to re-look at the label 2 times to make sure it didn't say "Black Cherry CREAM" because it had a very creamy flavor. Trying to remove the "creamy" flavor from my mind while tasting, the black cherry is pretty average, but that's not a bad thing. It's a tasty, creamy black cherry soda.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Route 66 Cream Soda

In my office yesterday, I opened this between classes:

Brand: Route 66 Cream Soda.

Origin: Chicago, IL.

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

Sweetener: Real Cane Sugar.

Review: This was nice and smooth the way a cream soda should be. There's nothing incredibly unique about this, but it's a solid/decent cream soda. It has a BIT of a sharper flavor at the end of each sip which is SLIGHTLY different, but otherwise, just a normal cream soda. I'll rank this just above average.

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.

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.

CideRoad Organic Blueberry Switchel

I was walking through Lunds earlier today, and I saw these:

So I grabbed the blueberry one.

First of all, what is this? I had to look up "Switchel." Apparently, it's this:

Switchel, also switzel, swizzle, ginger-water, haymaker's punch or switchy, is a drink made of water mixed with vinegar, and often seasoned with ginger. Honey, sugar, brown sugar, or maple syrup were sometimes used to sweeten the drink instead of molasses.

This one has water, sugar, vinegar, maple syrup, and some fruit juices (including some ginger). It's not a soda, but it's not a traditional "healthy" drink because it only has 2% of your daily allowance of Vitamin C and Calcium. It is labeled as 14% juice. So what the heck is it? Well... it's switchel, I guess.


Brand: CideRoad Organic Blueberry Switchel.

Origin: Mendham, NJ.

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

Sweetener: Cane Syrup and Maple Syrup.

Review: I don't think I've mentioned this here before, but I'm not a fan of kombucha. I can't stand it. My wife loves it, so it's around a lot. Well, this is a bit like a "tame" kombucha. The "tang" that this CideRoad drink has is kombucha-like, but not as overly harsh. I can taste the ginger, but it's not overwhelming. The blueberry is nice. If a "tame" kombucha sounds good to you, give this a try. It would be refreshing for the right person. I just thought it was OK.

Score: 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.

Q Kola Spectacular Kola

I tried this when I needed a caffeine boost recently:

I noticed it had some interesting ingredients for a cola: it was sweetened with organic agave, and it had extracts of cinnamon, cloves, coriander, kola nut, lemon, lime, orange, and nutmeg. And it noted that it has the original spices of John Pemberton's original Coca Cola recipe "without the syrupy sweetness of today's factory colas." Worth a try.

Brand: Q Kola Spectacular Kola.

Origin: Brooklyn, NY.

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

Sweetener: Organic Agave.

Review: This had a relatively traditional cola flavor, but was much sharper than that. Of all of the unique ingredients, I could really taste the cinnamon and a bit of the lemon and lime. It was just a little too sharp for me, verging almost on bitter. But it was a decent, unique cola that had an unexpected tang to it.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.

Frostie Blue Cream Soda

I cracked into this tonight:

Brand: Frostie Blue Cream Soda.

Origin: Detroit, MI.

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

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Cane Sugar (I hate it when it's like the bottle doesn't even know what's in it).

Review: This is really sweet. REALLY. It could be called "bubblegum" or "cotton candy" flavor. It's not bad, it's just a really sugary cream soda. If that sounds OK to you, you'll like this. Just be ready for a sugar high.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Jarritos Tamarind Soda

Tonight during the Super Bowl (what an ending!) I tried this soda without knowing what the flavor was:

Brand: Jarritos Tamarind Soda.

Origin: Mexico.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: I don't fully know how to describe this flavor. It's a little like a fermented apple juice, but with more of a bite. I looked up "tamarind" on Wikipedia, and found out that it's a pod-like fruit that is used in (of all random things) Worcestershire sauce. The soda was good, but odd. It wasn't super sweet, and it's not something that you can just gulp down. It's worth a try. Check it out.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.

Frostie Diet Root Beer

I was grocery shopping with my sons the other day, and I came across a 99 cent deal:

Brand: Frostie Diet Root Beer.

Origin: Detroit, MI.

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

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: Ehhh… it was OK. It tasted a little "chemically" right off the bat. It was trying to be part "smooth" and part "bite," and it wasn't pulling off either very well. It wasn't horrible, just not very amazing. Frostie "regular" Root Beer is much better, but this wasn't bad for a diet root beer. It just needed to pick a side (it needed bite or it needed to be smooth), and the slightly chemically flavor needs to go away.

Score: 5 out of 10. 

Fentimans Rose Lemonade

My son and I were in Lunds the other day when I stopped by the cold soda section:

I popped it open on the ride home.

I've had a lot of Fentimans "interesting" sodas in the past, but this one was just not good.


Brand: Fentimans Rose Lemonade.

Origin: Burnaby, BC, Canada.

Purchase Place: Lunds, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar and Glucose Syrup.

Review: It smelled like a sweet Lemonade. But it tasted like Lemon Pledge furniture polish. Really. Read that again: it tasted like Lemon Pledge. Nothing about that is a good thing. It was slightly drinkable in small, small sips, but any "normal" sip was horrible. I didn't finish the bottle.

Score: 1.5 out of 10.

Joia Blackberry Pomegranate & Ginger Soda

This sounded a little strange, but they're a local company that I WANT to like, and the first kinda strange sounding soda that I had of theirs was actually pretty good. So I gave this a try this past weekend:

Brand: Joia Blackberry Pomegranate & Ginger Soda.

Origin: Minneapolis, MN.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: It's got a pretty strong and unique flavor. It's a little strange, but still drinkable. Barely. My wife said it tasted a little like perfume (and I can see what she means). All of the flavors can be tasted: blackberry, pomegranate, and ginger. It's a bit sharp with very little smoothness. It has a bit of a bite from the ginger. Not a very tasty soda.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Fentimans Ginger Beer

I've enjoyed a number of Fentimans Sodas over the past few months, and the other day I tried their Ginger Beer:

In the snow that we just got here in MN.

Brand: Fentimans Ginger Beer.

Origin: Burnaby, BC, Canada.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Glucose Syrup.

Review: This had a good smell and a nice cola / ginger flavor with the first sip. I was pleasantly surprised. But then came the really harsh and sharp ginger bite to the back of my throat. That sharp sharp sharp bite was too much for me, and I could only sip this. The initial flavor is REALLY good, so I'm giving this higher marks than I normally would. But that bite at the end is too much for me. If you like cola and a BIG ginger bite, then try this soda.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Joia Pineapple Coconut & Nutmeg Soda

I had my first Joia soda nearly 2 years ago - I don't remember what flavor it was, but I remembered it being a little "weird," and I didn't care for it a lot. But I recently picked up 2 more Joias to try out.

Blurry photo from a big taco party we were at this past weekend.

A better photo from the Joia website.

Admission: I do not care for pineapple or coconut that much.  So I didn't know what I was hoping with this soda.

Brand: Joia Pineapple Coconut & Nutmeg Soda.

Origin: Minneapolis, MN.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. In fact, it was downright tasty. I didn't taste much of the nutmeg: it was mainly coconut flavor with a bit of pineapple in there. It was very sweet and went down well. It's flavor sounded like it could have been "sharp," "harsh," and just not very drinkable, but it was quite tasty. It was good with my tacos at our taco party.

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Old Fashioned Killebrew Cream Soda

I was quite pleasantly surprised with Killebrew Root Beer last year, and now it was time to try it's sister:

Brand: Old Fashioned Killebrew Cream Soda.

Origin: Ramsey, MN.

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

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: I liked Killebrew ROOT BEER because it had a nice subtle sweetness from "Minnesota Honey." But my first sip of this Killebrew CREAM SODA tasted like nothing BUT honey. I really like honey, but this was just too much and too strange in this cream soda. It was more "honey soda" than it was "cream soda." If you really, really, really like honey, maybe try this. Otherwise, I don't recommend it.

Score: 3 out of 10.

Fentimans Curiosity Cola

"Curiosity Cola" - that intrigued me.

I saw one of the ingredients was "fermented ginger root," and I wasn't sure what I would think of this. I like a little ginger bite, but not TOO much.


Brand: Fentimans Curiosity Cola.

Origin: Burnaby, BC, Canada.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was a bit better than I thought it would be. The ginger is pretty subtle, but it adds a nice different bite to it over traditional cola. The cola flavor itself is a little subdued and not very overpowering at all - in fact, the cola flavor could be stronger. There's a another sharp, crisp, almost citrus-like flavor that I think comes from the juniper. If you like colas that have a little something different to offer, check out Fentimans Curiosity Cola.

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Fentimans Full Bodied Shandy

I didn't know what a "Shandy" was until I looked it up. Was it a man named Randy who underwent sexual reassignment surgery to become Sandy but got stuck somewhere in the middle?

No, I found out it was not.

According to Wikipedia, a Shandy is "beer mixed with a soft drink, carbonated lemonade, ginger beer, ginger ale, or apple juice. The proportions of the two ingredients are adjusted to taste, usually half-and-half."

Fentimans Shandy is 70% de-alcoholized beer mixed with lemon juice. Sounds weird. How would it taste?

Brand: Fentimans Full Bodied Shandy.

Origin: Burnaby, BC, Canada.

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

Sweetener: Granulated Sugar.

Review: I'm not a huge fan of beer, but this was refreshing and pretty tasty. If you like beer, I'm not sure if you'll LIKE this soda (because it tastes a bit like beer) or if you'll NOT LIKE this (because it tastes just a little like beer, but it's not beer). It tastes like a thin summer beer. It's definitely a different flavor for a soda, but it wasn't bad.

Score: 7 out of 10.