The Pop Shoppe Lime Ricky

I opened this last night with supper: 

Brand: The Pop Shoppe Lime Ricky

Origin: Ontario, Canada.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was appropriately tart. It was more tart than just a lime soda - if you want just a "lime" soda, this won't be what you're after. The tartness adds a nice layer to this. It's still sweet, but then that sweetness it cut with that little tart. Nothing special, but a decent soda!

Score: 6 out of 10.

The Pop Shoppe Black Cherry Soda

I opened this last night after cooking: 

Brand: The Pop Shoppe Black Cherry Soda

Origin: Canada

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: At first sip, this had a very deep "black cherry" flavor! It quickly became quite sugary, ALMOST to the point of "cough syrup-like." As you all know, I like sugary things, but this was still just ALMOST a bit too much for me. It was good, just a bit heavy. I'll rank it a bit better than average.

Score: 6 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.

The Pop Shoppe Cream Soda

I grabbed this from the basement fridge because I thought it was a cherry soda… then I noticed it was a cream soda:

No bonus points for the unique bottle, even if it is cute.

Brand: The Pop Shoppe Cream Soda.

Origin: Ontario, Canada.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was VERY smooth and creamy - almost to a fault. It was syrupy and sugary. The red color kept throwing me off - it DID just taste like "cream soda," but at times I thought I tasted cherry (but that was just due to the color). If you like smooth, creamy, and sugary, then try this. If you like a little kick or a little bite, this isn't for you.

Score: 7 out of 10.

The Pop Shoppe Root Beer

Time to crack into another root beer from my recent stop at MN's Largest Candy Store:

Brand: The Pop Shoppe Root Beer.

Origin: Ontario, Canada.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Very smooth and an INCREDIBLY frothy head, but too much carmel flavor for me. That's about all. Decent, but could be better. I'm giving it an average score.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Minnesota's Largest Candy Store (and their hours)

Last night, my family was driving up Hwy 169 back to St. Paul from visiting family in southern Minnesota. And it's hard to miss THIS while driving through Jordan, MN:

"MINNESOTA'S LARGEST CANDY STORE" along Hwy 169 about 40-45 mins south of the Metro.

Stockpiled with all kinds of sweetness.

SODA!!

MORE SODA!

YET MORE SODA!

And this is ALL ROOT BEER.  They have a sign that boasts "191 kinds of root beer."
(When we were there a year ago, they only had 92 kinds of root beer, so someone's been busy.)

My son and lots of pumpkins.

The flat-roofed section in the foreground was added since last year - it just keeps getting bigger!

I left with a piece of candy for my son, some Cow Tales and some "Fizzies Grape Drink" for me...

... and 10 different kinds of root beer:

We found out that they are open until December 1st, and their hours are 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. every day. (They don't have a website and it's hard to find info on this place - the owner is older and "old school" like that.) But if people are around, they'll stay open later - we got there at 7:40 p.m. and the place was still hopping. They said they were going to be closing at 9 p.m. that night.

Check back soon for reviews of these root beers... I have one waiting in the fridge for me tonight. And check out more photos on my other blog (including photos of their "bacon" section!).