Cream Soda Tasting at Blue Sun Soda

Yesterday, my boys and I headed to another free tasting event at Blue Sun Soda Shop. It was similar to the tasting the 3 of us went to 2 months ago: they just set out some sodas and some mini-cups, and you can sample them all.

The "event banner" from Blue Sun Soda's Facebook page.

Cream Sodas: Dad's, Fiz, Iron Horse, Sioux City, North Star, Tower, and Henry Weinhard.

The "voting" table: take a bottle cap (far right) and put it in the cup that you
thought was best. They even had a roll of "I voted" stickers to put on (left foreground).

My oldest and I both agreed that Sioux City was our favorite, and my youngest voted for Dad's. I remember the North Star being very creamy (it was called "Vanilla Creme"), and I think it was Henry Weinhard's that had an odd sharpness. Fiz was decent.

Some new "kiddie cocktail" sodas made right at Blue Sun Soda.

All the flavors of "fresh" soda at the soda counter at Blue Sun Soda.

My boys and I split a fresh Root Beer. It was good! My oldest got
a tear in his eye because he said it was SOOO carbonated.

I also stocked up on root beers. I had a few sodas in the basement before this trip to Blue Sun, but only 1 of them was a root beer. I took my time looking through their root beer selection, and I picked up 7 new ones (and 6 other sodas to bring home a baker's dozen). I think I've now had (or have just purchased) EVERY root beer at Blue Sun Soda Shop! Oh no! I'll need to find some new root beers somewhere else soon...

Sioux City Ginger Beer

I opened this in my office between classes today:

The odd thing is that the label contained hardly any more info than what's pictured above: just a barcode to the left (barely visible near the bottom of the label in that pic), and which states you can get a refund for the bottle on the right. No other info. Strange. So I got the rest of the info from Beverages Direct.


Brand: Sioux City Ginger Beer.

Origin: Whitestone, NY.

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

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: This was pretty decent (and this coming from someone who doesn't care for ginger things). It had a good, natural bite of ginger (the kind that nearly stings the back of your throat), but then it almost finished smooth. That combo I like (a bite, but then smooth), so this was better than I figured it would be. It was like a ginger ale mixed with a slightly "thin" cola (but not in a bad way). If you are a ginger fan, check this out.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

What Soda is Your State Known For?

Thrillist put together a map of "THE ICONIC SOFT DRINK OF EVERY STATE IN AMERICA."

Click to enlarge.

Locally, Minnesota is known for Sun Drop, although I've NEVER TRIED THAT! I guess I need to ASAP. The article says "This citrus soda may've been introduced in Missouri, but it's got a strong foothold in Minnesota and the upper Midwest."

Our next door neighbor Wisconsin has a good one. They are best know for Sprecher Root Beer. The article states "Sprecher is a pretty standard brewery in that it makes beer, but it's a little more well known for its sodas -- particularly its root beer, which has Wisconsinites foaming at the mouth in more ways than one."

Both North Dakota and South Dakota to our west are just labeled with good ole' Coca Cola. The only reason they were given Coke is that they couldn't find anything else for the Dakotas. Dang. Must be a dull place. (News flash: I've been out there. It IS dull.)

Finally, our enemy neighbor to the south Iowa is best know for Sioux City Sarsaparilla, noting that it's named after Sioux City Iowa. They say that it's "widely regarded as one of the best sarsaparillas out there and was even mentioned in 'The Big Lebowski.' Damn, dude."


Here's my review of Sprecher Root Beer from this past spring, and my review of Sioux City Sarsaparilla from my Vegas trip nearly 2 years ago. And now I need to go find a bottle of Sun Drop so I can still be considered a true Minnesotan…

Sioux City Prickly Pear

Earlier today, I was in the mood for something a bit fruity.

Brand: Sioux City Prickly Pear.

Origin: Whitestone, NY.

Purchase Place: Frattallones Ace Hardware, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: It pretty much nailed the "prickly pear" flavor, but it just wasn't for me. It was very sweet, but it was a SHARP sweetness that did not go down well. I think this is just part of the prickly pear flavor, but I wanted it to be a little drier or a little smoother. It wasn't bad, just not for me.

Score: 3.5 out of 10.

Diet Sioux City Sarsaparilla

Time for some Sarsaparilla:

Brand: Diet Sioux City Sarsaparilla.

Origin: Whitestone, NY.

Purchase Place: Frattallones Ace Hardware, Burnsville, MN.

Sweetener: Sucralose (Splenda).

Review: Right away, I thought this was pretty good (for a diet). It was a little weak and watery like most diets, but it still had a nice smoothness and creaminess to it. There was a bit of an odd aftertaste, but it was good.

The weird thing is that it doesn't have that earthiness or extra bite of a sarsaparilla. It tastes pretty much just like a diet root beer. I would have never called this sarsaparilla. Maybe the "bite" of sarsaparilla can't be translated to a diet. I dunno. But still, overall, not bad.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Sioux City Cream Soda

So far, I haven't found Sioux City's root beer to be the best, but I've been impressed by their other sodas. Time to try their cream soda:

Brand: Sioux City Cream Soda.

Origin: Whitestone, NY.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This had a "dark" flavor that was really good. It was a *little* carmel-like, but not too much (I really don't care for much carmel flavor, and this was subtle). Nice and smooth, and it went down easy. This was a good, classic cream soda.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Sioux City Birch Beer

I've been curious about birch beer, but until the other night, I hadn't tried it. I finally sat down with a bottle of Sioux City Birch Beer. I've had their Root Beer and their Sarsaparilla before, and they were pretty good. What would this be like?

Brand: Sioux City Birch Beer.

Origin: Whitestone, NY.

Purchase Place: Frattallone's Ace Hardware, Burnsville, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: I was really surprised by this. It was very tasty. The flavor was just a little different than root beer, and it was actually quite a bit better than Sioux City Root Beer. It's like root beer with a slight "berry" kick. I expected it to be earthier for some reason, but it was very good. If you like creamy yet sharp root beer, try this birch beer! Now excuse me while I go find some more birch beers to try out...

Score: 9 out of 10.

Sioux City Root Beer

When I saw Sioux City Root Beer on the shelf, I had to grab it.  I had some Sioux City Sarsaparilla when I was in Las Vegas recently, and it was pretty good.  So it was time to try their Root Beer.

Brand: Sioux City Root Beer.

Origin: Whitestone, NY.

Purchase Place: Frattallone's Ace Hardware, Burnsville, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: It just didn't stand out. The flavor was OK, but nothing was great or horrible about this. I'll give it a slightly-above-average 6.5. Not fantastic, but I'll try it again.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Sioux City Sarsaparilla

Fifth in my Vegas sodas was Sioux City Sarsaparilla:

Image source.

All my Vegas Sodas: Bulldog Root Beer, Dad's Root Beer, Faygo Root Beer, Sioux City Sarsaparilla,
Lester's Fixins Bacon Soda, and Snooki's Wild Cherry.

Brand: Sioux City Sarsaparilla.

Origin: Whitestone, NY.  (Then WHY is it called "Sioux City?")

Purchase Place: Rocket Fizz, Las Vegas, NV.

Sweetener: Pure cane sugar.

Review: Really smooth, and really caramely. I'm not into that much caramel flavor, but the smoothness was nice. Good amount of head.

Score: 8 out of 10.