A&W Root Beer Float

My family and I tried this recently:

Brand: A&W Root Beer Float.

Origin: Plano, TX.

Purchase Place: Target, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: I was excited for this. I mean "root beer float?!?" That sounds great! How could they screw this up?

... but they screwed this up. It was harshly odd. The root beer flavor was good, but then the "float" flavor was an oddly sharp vanilla addition to this soda. No thanks. No one in my family cared for it. We were kind of shocked. It wasn't HORRIBLE, but it just wasn't good.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Coca Cola "Spiced"

My wife picked this up for me recently:

 

Brand: Coca Cola "Spiced"

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: Target, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: It smells like Christmas in a mall near a Yankee Candle store... not IN the store, but just NEAR the store when you get a hint of aroma in the air. And it tastes similar. There's a slight cinnamon flavor to this, as well as like a "Christmas spice." It's not bad. I don't get a ton of "raspberry" flavor even though that's what is says at the bottom of the can: "Raspberry Spiced Coke & Other Natural Flavors." If a slightly cinnamon version of Coke with a hint of generic Christmas spice sounds good to you, then give this a try. It was better than I thought it was going to be!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Limited Edition Coca Cola Creations Y3000

Just after my last post about the Coca Cola that was "co-created with Artificial Intelligence," I happened to be walking through Target and found one by the checkout:

 

Brand: Limited Edition Coca Cola Creations Y3000.  

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: Target, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Aspartame and Sucralose.

Review: I wasn't that excited to try this. As noted in my last post, people were saying it tasted like perfume or banana, and neither of those excited me. Also, I don't know what "Futuristic Flavored" means on the left side of the bottle... tastes like the apocalypse?

After my first sip, BOTH of those people were right: it started with a sharp/chemically perfume-like taste that was a bit overpowering, but then it ended with a sweeter banana-like flavor. That combo was quite odd. I didn't love it.

But then after I kept drinking, I started to like it more and more. And my boys were sipping on it with me, and they had the same reaction: it got better as we drank it. Maybe the negative thoughts clouded my first sips, but it wasn't as bad as we went on. I wouldn't say I LIKE it, but I DIDN'T DISLIKE it. I don't think I'll buy another bottle, but it was decent. 

Score: 5 out of 10.

Coca Cola Zero Sugar Limited Edition "Ultimate" League of Legends

What?!?

 

League of Legends? And +XP Flavored?

A QR code on the other side of the bottle took me to an endlessly scrolling "limited edition" Coke page.

Brand: Coca Cola Zero Sugar Limited Edition "Ultimate" League of Legends.

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: Target, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Aspartame and Sucralose.

Review: I've had enough of Coke's new "limited edition" flavors. (Seen here and here.) And yet I keep trying them. But some good news: this one was the best of the limited edition flavors that I've tried. I don't know what an "experience point" should taste like (this is "+XP Flavored"), but it wasn't bad. It was mainly a regular Coke Zero, but there was an extra fruitiness to it. It was almost nostalgic. I couldn't pin-point the flavor, but it wasn't bad. I found a review that said it was a bit bubblegum flavored, and then thought it had a hint of banana Laffy Taffy. A Food Network review said "it’s a super mellow, citrus-peachy flavor." I didn't get much of a peach flavor, but I enjoyed the fruity kick. It's not bad!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Limited Time: Diet Coke with Plant Based Sweetener

I saw a "bin" of these at Target, so I had to grab one of these funky tall cans: 

In front of my "broken camera shelf" in my office.

(And it's hard to tell in that photo, but the can is not a normal "Diet Coke gray" color.  It's got a touch of green to it, presumably because of the "plant-based" nature of it.)
 
Brand: Diet Coke with Plant Based Sweeteners.

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: Target, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Stevia Extract and Monk Fruit Extract.

Review: I feel like I can taste Stevia in things, and it's not the best flavor. But I didn't know anything about Monk Fruit (turns out it's a calorie-free sweetener that also has some anti-inflammatory properties). And it turns out I feel like I can KIND OF taste the Stevia in this - it's not as blatant as some sodas. It tasted a little "softer" than regular Diet Coke, but not necessarily "weaker." It wasn't bad, but I think I preferred regular Diet Coke better - I often drink Diet Coke, but I don't have any at home right now so I could do a side-by-side comparison. Quite decent.

Score: 7 out of 10.

2023 Limited Edition Pepsi Peeps Soda (Pepsi x Peeps)

I saw these at Target and just HAD to try one:

Pepsi x Peeps

Close-up of the label.

 

Brand: 2023 Limited Edition Pepsi Peeps Soda (Pepsi x Peeps).

Origin: Purchase, NY.

Purchase Place: Target, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: A few weeks ago, I was grocery shopping with my wife when we first came across this. We looked at it, and one of the Pepsi delivery guys who was stocking shelves next to us said it was pretty horrible. So we left without getting a bottle.

But his reaction has been making me want to try one ever since! So when I swung by a few days ago, I noticed there were still a few left in then bin where we originally saw them. So against my better judgement, I grabbed one.

It smelled like an extra sweet Pepsi. And it tasted like an extra sweet Pepsi... at first. Then the end of each taste turned into something weird. Like hot wet landfill. Like sugar trash. Like sweet death. It's super "chemically" and really nothing like marshmallows. I was excited for this, but they just couldn't get a real marshmallow taste, or maybe the taste of Pepsi just didn't vibe with it. I don't know how this through Pepsi's team (much like Coke's limited edition "Dreamworld").

Score: 2 out of 10.

NEW! Coca Cola Zero Sugar Limited Edition "Starlight" Space Flavored

So, what is the flavor of "space?" 

Brand: Coca Cola Zero Sugar Limited Edition "Starlight" Space Flavored.

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: Target, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Aspartame.

Review: My wife grabbed a small pack of these tiny 7.5 oz cans for my this morning at Target. She had to Google the flavor to make sure I wouldn't hate it, and what she found out was that people were calling it very sweet with a raspberry or minty flavor (which seem VERY different to me).

First of all, it's quite red which was surprising. There's really no "normal" Coke taste to it. It has a strong "vanilla" flavor, but more like "plug in air-freshener woodsy vanilla" and not a preferable "vanilla bean." There's a hint of "abandoned humid cardboard warehouse" in there as well. So what I'm saying is that I'm not a fan.

To be honest, if I wasn't expecting Coca Cola, I'd maybe rank this a bit higher. It's a unique flavor, and I can give them that. But when I'm expecting just a "twist" on Coke Zero and get hit with air freshener in a damp cardboard factory, I'm not happy about it. I didn't even finish my 7.5 oz can, and I don't know what to do with the rest of the cans she got me.

Score: 2.5 out of 10.

Northern Soda at Target

I spotted this end cap near the front of the Roseville Target recently:

Our local candy and popcorn store (Remix Delights) carries cans of Northern Soda, but this is the only other place I've seen them so far. They have 8 kinds here, so check it out!

1893 Citrus Cola (by Pepsi)

I grabbed this from Target this weekend:

Brand: 1893 Citrus Cola (by Pepsi).

Origin: unknown.

Purchase Place: Target, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Fair trade certified sugar.

Review: I was ready for an "orange" punch, but after a sip, it was clearly a "grapefruit" flavor. And then, sure enough, I noticed that it said it was infused with "grapefruit essence." If you like grapefruit, then give this a try - the grapefruit flavor was pretty spot on. It was OK, but their plain 1893 Cola was much better.

Score: 6 out of 10.

1893 Cola (by Pepsi)

I spied this available being sold as individual cans at Target:

Brand: 1893 (by Pepsi).

Origin: Unknown.

Purchase Place: Target, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Fair trade certified sugar.

Review: For some reason, I expected this to have a LOT of flavor, and it didn't. But it was good. Really good. It had a sweet flavor, with just a little kick from some bitters. I've never been a huge fan of Pepsi, but this was one of the better colas I've had. 

Score: 8.5 out of 10.