Flathead Lake Granny Apple

I had a few "normal" sodas from my Frattallone's Ace Hardware stash, so I thought I'd try something a bit different this past weekend. I grabbed a bright green bottle:

Brand: Flathead Lake Granny Apple.

Origin: Ocean City, NJ.

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

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: I was ready for this to be "weird" or just a little different, but it wasn't. It wasn't overly carbonated, and the flavor was VERY much that of a green apple. The apple flavor wasn't overpowering - it was just nice and subtle. It wasn't the best soda ever, but it WAS surprisingly good!

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

365 Cherry Vanilla Creme Soda

My wife surprised me on my birthday. She showed up to my class with cake for me and all of my students. AND she brought me a soda. It was Whole Food's "store brand" 365 Cherry Vanilla Creme soda:

Because it's 365, it's all natural with nothing artificial. It had a pretty strong cherry flavor which I liked. It was really what I expected - it was "as advertised."

Brand: 365 Everyday Value Cherry Vanilla Creme Soda

Origin: Austin, TX.

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

Sweetener: 100% Cane Sugar.

Review: Good cherry flavor with the vanilla hitting more in the aftertaste. As "creme" would imply, it's very smooth. It's a good creme soda, and the fact that it's cherry sets it apart from other creme sodas that I've had. This would be a good summer soda.

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Jack Black's Blood Red Cola

I bought this soda because of the label:

It wasn't actually red.  That bummed me out.


Brand: Jack Black's Blood Red Cola.

Origin: Gardena, CA?

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This has a sharp bite, and I don't care for it a ton. It has a bit of vanilla / ginger flavor, and the kick is just a little too much. The flavor has a hint of cherry (and I LOVE cherry), but this missed the mark for me. It wasn't very "drinkable" - it was something I could sip, but it didn't make me want to take big gulps.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Dog N Suds Root Beer

I had to grab this one because it looked "fun."

As I found out, "Dog n Suds" is a restaurant franchise where you can get (you guessed it) hot dogs and root beer.


Brand: Dog N Suds Root Beer.

Origin: Norton Shores, MI.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: Smells great, but there's a bit of a sharp, strange flavor. Really creamy. A bit of an "old fashioned" taste.

Score: 7 out of 10.

AJ Stephans Root Beer

Brand: AJ Stephans Root Beer.

Origin: Fall River, Massachusetts.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: It's no secret that I don't care for "fancy" root beer. I had heard this was going to be a fancier one, so I wasn't expecting much. But it was OK! It had a sharp bite, and a hit of anise and vanilla. It had a slightly weird aftertaste, but it wasn't horrible. My wife thought it tasted a little like aftershave. (Weird.) It was better than I thought it would be, but not fantastic.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Black Cherry IBC

Thursday night I stopped by a "going away" party for 2 people at work. They had beer and tequila... both of which I passed on. But I DID grab a bottle of Black Cherry IBC.

Image Source

My bottle of IBC surrounded by sweets (and a bottle of Patron....)

Brand: IBC Black Cherry Soda.

Origin: Plano, Texas.

Purchase Place: Unknown. (Kowalski's maybe?)

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: This had a strong smell and a strong flavor. Luckily, it was also a GOOD flavor. It was pretty syrupy, which I like. This was quite a sweet treat, and I'd have this again in a heartbeat. Tasty.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Sugar is Toxic

I've had a cold for a few days, so I haven't been trying any new sodas. It wouldn't be fair right now because everything tastes like bland potatoes to me.

So instead, I'll leave with with a warning. It turns out that sugar is bad for us. Who knew.

Just take it easy on the candies and sodas and HFCS, and we'll get through this just fine. Life in moderation.

Route 66 Root Beer

I opened my first bottle from Frattallones Ace Hardware.

When I checked their website, they had a link with recipes: cake, frosting, pulled pork, cookies, etc. I'll have to try some of those out sometime!

Brand: Route 66 Root Beer.

Origin: Lebanon, Missouri.

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

Sweetener: Real Cane Sugar.

Review: Overall, it's smooth, deep, has a subtle-carmel flavor, and nice amount of vanilla. This was quite delicious from the first sip. Pretty smooth with a little bite. This ranks up there as one of my current top-10 favorites.

Score: 9 out of 10.

A New Place to Get Root Beer in the South Metro!

About 2 months ago, someone named Mike sent me an e-mail. Here was the first part of his note:

Hey Steve,
I found a really weird but great place to buy root beer if you're ever in the south metro - Ace Hardware in Burnsville.  It opened a few months ago and I went in to get some caulk and saw a glorious row with about 50 different kinds of soda!  It's mostly root beers but also some cream soda, ginger beer, and others...

On Thursday night, I was heading back to St. Paul from south of the Metro, and I thought I'd swing by and check it out. It's right on County Road 42, just past the Burnsville Mall on the north side of the road, so it's only about a mile from the 35E / 35W split.

I walked in and a woman asked if she could help me. I smirked a bit and said "I heard you have a lot of root beers..." She smirked back and said "Follow me..."  We stopped at this:

37 kinds of soda on this side...

... and 46 more kinds on this side.

Doing the math, they had 88 different kinds of soda!! There are 84 different kinds picture above between those 2 photos, and they had another small shelf of 4 different kinds of slightly cheaper root beers. Oh, and I guess they had a refrigerated case in the front of "normal" sodas like Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper, but I'm not counting those.

I started filling a box, thinking I'd get maybe a dozen different kinds. (There's a price break at 6 bottles and at 24 bottles.) Well, the first time I stopped to count how many bottles were in my box, I already had 20. So I figured I'd grab 4 more and get the "24 bottle discount." (I saved about $0.25 / bottle by getting 24.) Here's a photo of what I bought once I got it home:

The woman who lead me to the sodas and chatted with me as I picked out my selection mentioned that a good dark rum is GREAT with Birch Beer, so I'll have to try that some time.

Oh, and just so I remember what 24 kinds I bought, here's a list of what's in the box:


ROOT BEERS:
- Route 66
- Sea Dog
- Caruso's Legacy Robusto
- Sioux City
- Frostie
- AJ Stephans
- Dog n Suds
- Capt'n Eli's

NON-ROOT BEERS:
- Malta Goya Malt Beverage
- Diet Cheerwine
- AJ Stephans Cream Soda
- Nesbitt's Orange
- Sioux City Birch Beer
- Route 66 Lime Soda
- Route 66 Black Cherry
- Faygo Rock & Rye
- Cock n' Bull Ginger Beer
- Jack Black's Blood Red Cola
- Jarritos Mexican Cola
- Apple Beer (the brand and flavor)
- Flathead Lake Wild White Grape

"UNIQUE" SODAS:
- Coco Fizz Chocolate Soda
- Empire Bottling Works Banana
- Flathead Lake Granny Apple


(Next time I stop by, I'll bring this list to make sure I don't get any repeats...)

Goose Island Vanilla Cream Soda

I've liked Goose Island Root Beer for a year or 2, so when I saw their Vanilla Cream at the grocery store a few weeks ago, I had to grab a bottle.

Brand: Goose Island Vanilla Cream Soda.

Origin: Redding, California.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Very smooth with a strong vanilla bean smell and taste. Great initial flavor - sweet and delicious with a little bit of a punch. The aftertaste isn't as great, but I'd definitely have this again.

Score: 8 out of 10.