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 Zero Sugar Holiday Creamy Vanilla

I grabbed this while walking through Kowalski's the other day:

 
Brand: Coca Cola Zero Sugar Holiday Creamy Vanilla.

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: Kowalski's Market, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Aspartame and Sucralose.

Review: I was a little excited for this. I had heard that it was tasty. BUT... it was just too much for me. It was VERY strong on the vanilla. It was almost like it was overly creamy and overly vanilla-y. I suppose that's what it is: a "creamy vanilla" like it says in its name. But it was just too much. Try it if you want something strong on the creamy vanilla, but otherwise stay away.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Excel Lucky Cherry Cola

I cracked into this at work this afternoon:

 

Brand: Lucky Cherry Cola.

Origin: Breese, IL.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: There was "tree fruit & spice" in the ingredients list, which I was curious about! (Along with "essential oils.") The flavor was pretty unique, but I didn't LOVE it. The cola flavor was a little weak, and the cherry flavor was a little "simple" (as in not too complex). This was fine for sipping, but I'll rank it a little lower than average:

Score: 4.5 out of 10.

Zevia Cherry Cola

I grabbed this while out earlier today:

Enjoying it in my car.

Brand: Zevia Cherry Cola.

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

Purchase Place: Kowalski's Market, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Stevia Leaf Extract.

Review: Over 7 years ago, I tried "Black Cherry Zevia" and just thought it was OK. (It was weird to me that it was clear.) Well, this was a cherry COLA (not just a SODA) which meant I expected it to be darker, but it was clear as well. This started strong, but it seemed to get worse the more I sipped on it. The cherry flavor wasn't nearly as refined as I expected it to be - it was a bit of an over-the-top child-like cherry. Overall, it wasn't bad, but had that sharpness from Zevia that I sometimes don't care for. I drank it all, but didn't care for it much by the end as it felt sharper and sharper. I'll rank this a bit lower than average.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Oreo Coca Cola

My wife saw this in the store earlier this week, and she had to grab it for me:

 

Brand: Oreo Coca Cola

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: Wal-Mart, Roseville, MN.

Sweetener: Aspartame and Sucralose.

Review: The bottle says "Fizzy Cookie Flavored." And my wife had the big question: "Is this just the CREAM of the Oreo?... Is it like a creamy Coke?" I thought otherwise: "I bet it's chocolate too! I think it will be BOTH flavors of the Oreo: chocolatey and creamy."

And unfortunately, I was right.

It smelled totally normal. Just like regular Coke. But the taste was oddly chocolate. AND creamy. It was like a liquified Oreo, with carbonation. It really didn't taste anything like Coke, but the flavor of an Oreo was spot on. But that didn't make it "good." My wife thought it was disgusting, I thought it was sub-par, and my boys thought it was pretty good. I wouldn't want another one of these, so I'll rank it below average. But it you LOVE Oreos, then this flavor might be for you.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Pearson Bros. 1986 Root Beer

Last week, my family and I took a 6 day road trip through Yellowstone National Park! (I posted just a little about it on my other blog, but will be sharing more photos shortly.) We stopped at a Cracker Barrel right off I-90 in Billings Montana on our 2nd morning heading out there. And I found a big selection of sodas in their "country store:"

There or 4 sodas in this small collection that I haven't had!..

... including this root beer! (Being enjoyed outside of the Old Faithful Snow Lodge in Yellowstone.)

Brand: Pearson Bros. 1986 Root Beer

Origin: Newport, VT.

Purchase Place: Cracker Barrel, Billings, MT.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: So I grabbed that root beer (and another soda to try shortly) and we threw it in our fridge at our next hotel. It was cute at just 11 oz (that extra oz was noticeable!). Then my family and I cracked into it the following evening in Yellowstone, just about 1000 feet from Old Faithful!

My wife liked it, my boys thought it was OK, but I just thought it was decent. It was a bit too "sharp" and caramel-heavy for me. It wasn't my favorite. The root beer flavor was OK, but overall just not a great drinking experience. I have to rank this just a bit below average.

Score: 4.5 out of 10.

p.s.  Here's my first post about our trip on my other blog.

Whirly Pop Juicy Grape Soda

I opened this between classes today:

Brand: Whirly Pop Juicy Grape Soda.

Origin: San Bernardino, CA.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This was both pompus and child-like at the same time. The first ingredient was "carbonated artesian spring water" (which I've seen before, but not in a drink that seems really marketed towards kids), but there's a big kid-friendly lollipop on the front of the label. So it seems it's somewhere between being marketed to adults who want fancy ingredients (at least "fancy sounding") and kids with it's fun label.

Anyway, on to the flavor. It's not GREAT. It's not the strongest or the sweetest grape flavor - which I think means that even though there's a big lolli on the front, it seems to be marketed to adults. The flavor is a little fake and off. Not great, especially for a grape soda (which I think is a hard soda to screw up).

Score: 4 out of 10.

Ramune Original Flavor

I was at HyVee earlier today, and I found this in the Asian Foods aisle:

 

Brand: Ramune Original Flavor.

Origin: Japan.

Purchase Place: HyVee, Eagan, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup and Sugar.

Review: "Original Flavor..." what's that? I don't always do well with "mystery" flavors. After the fun task of opening these special bottles, I took a sip. I first thought it was some sort of fruit flavor, but I quickly realized that it's very "bubble gum" favored. My boys both agreed as well. It was very sweet... really TOO sweet. It was good, but I happy it was only 6.7 oz because it was a lot of sugary goodness. It was OK, but just a bit too much sweetness. Between the fun way to open the bottle and the super sweet soda inside, this would be great for a kid... but not an adult.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Farrah Fawcett Cream Soda

My boys and I recently spent 3 days in Lake Vermilion State Park and then another 2 days in Grand Marais, and we brought my Mom along for the trip. The town of Ely is near Lake Vermilion State Park, so we stopped into Ely's Old Fashioned Candy like we did last year. 

Free pinball! My son and my Mom.

Soda selection.

I grabbed this to try a few days later:

In the kitchen of our motel room in Grand Marais (after leaving Ely).

 
Brand: Farrah Fawcett Cream Soda.

Origin: Incline Village, NV.

Purchase Place: Ely's Old Fashioned Candy, Ely, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Ehh, this is OK. It's got a nice sweetness to it, but then it had a "chemically" taste to it. It's not a smooth as it should be, but it's decently rich. Not a great flavor with a poor aftertaste. No thanks. RIP Farrah.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Avery's Fungal Fruit

I brought this with me to my office today:

 

Brand: Avery's Fungal Fruit.

Origin: New Britain, Connecticut.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: Yes, that's rotten fruit on the label. Yippie. As always with these "novelty" flavors, I'm happy when they actually note what the flavor is SUPPOSED to be on the bottle: this "fungal fruit" was really pink passion fruit and lime. I made it a point to NOT look at that until AFTER I tried my first sip, and I got a weak "fruity lime" flavor from that initial sip. The flavor isn't very strong, and it's also not very sugary. It tastes a BIT more "adult" than I expected - I thought this would be strong and possibly really sweet, but it's not. The lime flavor is fine, but this needs a little more of a kick of something. It's just a bit lacking. Ranking it just below average.

Score: 4 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.

Strawberry Vanilla Health-Ade Pop

I was at Whole Foods last night, and I saw these:

Is "last chance" a bad sign?...

I looked over the flavors, and I first thought about the "Apple Snap" on the left. But it was giving me kombucha vibes, and I'm not a fan of kombucha. So I went with the "Strawberry Vanilla:"

Brand: Strawberry Vanilla Health-Ade Pop.

Origin: Torrance, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: So there's still SLIGHT kombucha vibes here as the first ingredient is "organic fermented tea." But it's not as harsh and vinegar-heavy like kombucha is. (But there is a warning that there could be "small piece of culture" floating around.  NO THANKS.) There's only 35 calories in each can, so there's just a little sweetener. And there's also inulin which is supposed to be good for your lower gut.

At first sip, the sparkles hit hard, kind of like a La Croix. And there's a little kombucha-like tang, but it's subtle. The smooth vanilla mixes oddly with the sharpness of the carbonation. I'm left with more of an apple-like aftertaste, with not much strawberry flavor there. It's not bad... I thought it'd be worse. I still can't give this a GREAT score, but it's not horrible. My kombucha-loving wife would probably find this to be a little of a treat.

Score: 4.5 out of 10.

W.T. Heck Dill Pickle Soda

We had one final Christmas party this past weekend. I brought down a "fun" soda to share.

On my mother-in-laws stove next to some tasty snacks.

 

My sister-in-law tried some before I did. This was her trying to swallow it.

Brand: W.T. Heck Dill Pickle Soda.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: Before my sister-in-law tried it (pictured above), I give my father-in-law a sip and he didn't think it was too bad. But my father-in-law kind of eats/drinks anything, so that didn't mean much. My sister-in-law didn't like it. But when I tried it, I THOUGHT IT WASN'T TOO BAD! 

It smells HORRIBLE (like a jar of pickles that's not quite right) and super salty. And the first part of each sip tastes like salty pickle juice, but then all it tastes like is sweet sugary soda! That "combo" is what my sister-in-law couldn't handle, but I thought it made it quite drinkable! I mean, it's still not "good," but it was way less "bad" than I thought it'd be! This would be a fun gift for the pickle lover in your life.

Score: 4 out of 10 (which feels surprisingly higher than it could be!).

Briar's Root Beer

I opened this while doing some classwork tonight: 

Brand: Briar's Root Beer.

Origin: South Brunswick, NJ.

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

Sweetener: Invert Sugar.

Review: After a big day, I was hoping for something tasty, but this wasn't fantastic. It was decently smooth, but had a slightly off aftertaste. It didn't have a ton of flavor which might have actually worked in its favor - the slightly off flavor wasn't too powerful which made it sippable. Nothing great, but it was OK. I'll rank this just below average.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Chumlee Root Beer

I had to look up who "Chumlee" is/was because I had no idea. It turns out he's on "Pawn Stars" and this is possibly the best possible photo of him:

Brand: Chumlee Root Beer.

Origin: Incline Village, NV.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: I feel like I've tasted this before. It was made my "Rocket Fizz," and I have a feeling that many of their semi-novelty sodas are all the same. It's a weak generic tasting root beer. It was a bit creamy and had a good head, but it was just so weak that it wasn't very enjoyable. I'm ranking it just below average.

Score: 4 out of 10.

On a side-note, that's the last bottle from my old soda stash (it's no wonder I left "Chumlee" soda sitting there for so long), so shortly I'll be starting in on the case I got from Minnesota's Largest Candy Store last month! Sweet!

Serenity Sodas Lime and Coconut

I've had good luck with "Serenity Sodas" - they make some interesting flavor combinations, and they are "2 for 2" in my book. Last night, I cracked into my 3rd: 

Brand: Serenity Sodas Lime and Coconut.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This is another small bottler that was purchased by Blue Sun Soda, so it's now bottled there. The first sip tastes very "limey," and then it ends with the coconut hit. It's a BIT heavy on the coconut, but maybe that's because I always think of what my wife told me years ago: "everything coconut flavored tastes like sunscreen." She's not wrong. So it totally lives up to it's flavor, but I didn't totally care for the combo. It'd be better sitting on a beach somewhere... not huddled next to our fireplace on a 30 degree evening. Not bad, just not totally for me.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Casey's Cola

We recently got together with my parents for Christmas, and they just opened a bottle of "Casey's Cola" that they didn't want to keep, so they sent it with me:

A few glasses poured out, but still 2/3 full.

Brand: Casey's Cola.  

Origin: Ankeny, IA.

Purchase Place: Casey's General Store, Wells, MN. 

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup. 

Review: This was a bit weird. It had that strong and sharp "fruity" flavor of some colas that I like, but it was super sharp in this one. It was just harsh to drink. It was OK to sip, but it wasn't that enjoyable. I know that there are people that will like this sharpness, but it wasn't for me. It wasn't HORRIBLE, but it's just not what I'm looking for out of a cola.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Pennsylvania Dutch Cherry Cola Candy Cane

I was shopping at "Fresh Thyme Farmer's Market" on University Ave in Minneapolis a few weeks back, and I happened to glance across the flavored candy canes. And I spotted this:

A jar of Pennsylvania Dutch Cherry Cola Candy Canes.

Just the good stuff: sugar, more sugar, fake flavor, and color.

Brand: Pennsylvania Dutch Cherry Cola Candy Cane.

Origin: Hicksville, NY.

Purchase Place: Fresh Thyme, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar and Corn Syrup.

Review: I was first (pleasantly) surprised to find that there was no strong peppermint taste. Even though it's NOT a traditional candy cane, I was afraid it'd have a hint of peppermint thrown it. But it didn't.

At first, all I tasted was "cherry." There was no other flavor than cherry. "Where's the COLA?" I wondered. Then I realized I was just sucking on a red part - notice in the picture above that the cane is swirled red and brown. I focused my licks on a brown part, and sure enough, that was more "cola" flavored. So that was kinda fun to discover.

Both the cherry and the cola weren't very strong, but they were OK. I'm not really a fan of hard candies, so take that into consideration. This was fine, but there's ZERO chance it could beat an ACTUAL cherry cola. So I'll rank this just below average.

Score: 4 out of 10.
 

Batch Craft Soda Brown Sugar Root Beer

After my last 2 sodas were soooo bad (maybe the worst root beer I've had, and then something that tasted like perfume), I looked for something in my stash that looked promising. So I grabbed this:

Brand: Batch Craft Soda Brown Sugar Root Beer.

Origin: Orange County, California.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar and Caramelized Unrefined Cane Sugar.

Review: This wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing (unfortunately). The sweetness was a little odd/sharp, and there was a bit too much wintergreen for me. It sure wasn't a BAD soda, but it wasn't a great root beer. So I guess I still have to wait to break my streak of not-great sodas. I have to rank this a bit below average.

Score: 4 out of 10.
 

Refrescos Country Club UVA Grape Soda

I opened this as I was cooking a meat loaf yesterday:

Brand: Refrescos Country Club UVA Grape Soda.

Origin: Brooklyn, NY.

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

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: I quite often say that I like (or at least"don't mind") a syrupy soda. But this was nearly too much for me. I don't know that I've EVER had a soda that was this syrupy. My wife would have called it a little "cough syrup-like" (although it didn't taste medicinal at all). The grape flavor was "expected" and OK, but it was just a bit to thick-tasting. I appreciate that it seems to be trying something new/unique, but I'll still have to rate it just below average.

Score: 4 out of 10.