Olipop Vintage Cola Sparkling Tonic

I was in Kowalski's with my family this weekend, and my wife spotted this: 

Check out that huge ingredients list!

Brand: Olipop Vintage Cola Sparkling Tonic.

Origin: Oakland, CA.

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

Sweetener: Stevia.

Review: So this is marketed saying that it's a "soda that's actually good for you." Well, I don't really buy that, but they're just trying to add things to soda while not adding too much sugar. That's the simple version. There's just 2 grams of sugar (they used Stevia), and they've added prebiotics and fiber... yes, NINE grams of FIBER... to the can.

So how does it all taste? Honestly, better than I thought it would. With the prebiotics and apple juice and fiber and all of those roots, I expected this to taste a bit like licking a hippies armpit. Like a bad kombucha. But it had a lot of deep flavors. It was herby and almost a bit smokey at times. The cola flavor was similar to "Bottle Caps" cola, which is not a bad thing. I don't care for the aftertaste of Stevia, and maybe that was the biggest downside to this soda. SUPER unique, and I'll gladly try some of their other flavors even though I didn't absolutely LOVE this.

Score: 6 out of 10.

 

Duff A L'Orange Soda (Energy Drink?)

I cracked into the "Duff" soda based off "The Simpsons" that I picked up last week at Legacy Toy Store at MOA:

 

 

The soda can is pretty true to the can on The Simpsons.

Only 20 calories? And lots of B vitamins? I think this is meant to be an energy drink.

Brand: Duff A L'Orange Sparkling Beverage / Soda / Energy Drink

Origin: Woburn, MA.

Purchase Place: Legacy Toys, Mall of America, Bloomington, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This isn't bad for being just 20 calories. But the orange flavor is what you'd expect from something that is meant to be an energy drink: it's sharp and almost just a touch bitter. Not bad, but just not great. It will be more enjoyable for you if you like the flavor of energy drinks. I'm ranking this right down the middle at an "average 5" on my scale.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Candy at Legacy Toys at the Mall of America

My boys and I were at the Mall of America on Friday morning. They wanted to stop at Legacy Toys on the 3rd floor, so I looked at sweet treats as they browsed the toys:

 

5 lb gummy bears!

I haven't seen candy cigarettes in MN for a while, but these don't
say "cigarette" anywhere on them so maybe that makes them legal again. 

You can make some happy little trees with this Bob Ross gummy candy kit!

These are one of my favorites, so I got a few (including one to sneak into my wife's lunch for her).

 
I grabbed a can of "Duff Beer" (not actually beer) that was packaged to look just like the "real thing" from The Simpsons. It's in the fridge and I hope to crack into that shortly! They didn't have as much soda as I showed in this post from last year, but they still had a few fun bottles.

p.s. I realized that maybe the candy cigarette issue was just with St. Paul as I went back and looked at this post from 2013. So maybe the packaging has made them OK again, or maybe it was just St. Paul that banned them, or maybe Legacy Toys is breaking a law that no one cares about.  :) 

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.

Dad's Diet Old Fashioned Root Beer

This Diet Dad's was another gift from my brother-in-law and sister-in-law from their party:

Brand: Dad's Diet Old Fashioned Root Beer.

Origin: Jasper, IN.

Purchase Place: unknown (western suburbs).

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: This was quite tasty! It had a real deep (almost smokey) flavor which was surprising being it was a diet root beer. There wasn't that "thin and watered down" flavor that many diet sodas (especially root beers) have. Deep classic flavor, just a little bite, and quite easy to drink. Solid soda!

Score: 8 out of 10.

Jelly Belly A&W Root Beer Jelly Beans

I forget where we picked these up, but they showed up in my boys's Christmas stockings 2 months ago: 

We just recently opened it, and my oldest son really enjoyed them! Root beer barrels have a bit more of a "bite" to them, but these jelly beans have a bit more of a "smooth" root beer flavor (which is usually what I prefer). You might have to check these out!

Thunder Beast American Cream Soda

I opened this with my boys this afternoon: 

Brand: Thunder Beast American Cream Soda

Origin: Washington, D.C.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: When I tried my first Thunder Beast soda last year, I REALLY didn't like it. So I didn't have high hopes for this one. It smelled VERY sweet when I opened it. And it almost tasted THICK and syrupy when I took my first sip. The "cream soda" flavor was pretty spot on, just VERY sugary. (Sorry for all the CAPS in this review, but this soda IS a bit EXTREME.) 

If you like sugary, then try this. I tend to like sweeter and more syrupy sodas, and this is even a bit much for me. But decent smooth cream soda flavor with a slightly caramel aftertaste.

Score: 7 out of 10.

 

State Fair Soda: Chocolate Chip Cookie

I was at a little shindig at my brother-in-law's house over the weekend, and him and his wife did something very sweet: they know I don't drink wine or beer (and the other 5 people there DO), so they grabbed 4 fun bottles of soda for me at the grocery store! This was the one I opened and had with their delicious supper: 

Brand: State Fair Soda: Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

Purchase Place: Unknown (western suburbs of the Twin Cities).

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This had a really sweet initial taste. There was definitely a "dough-like" flavor that came through, but not really anything like chocolate chips. It had a slightly chemically aftertaste, but it wasn't bad! (And we assume it's trying to be "Sweet Martha's Cookies" without saying that...)

I had to look back to when I tried a handful of "State Fair Sodas" 2.5 years ago, and I ranked "Chocolate Chip Cookie" as my LEAST favorite of the 5. So I'm excited to try some of the other flavors as if I called this my least favorite, we're only going up from here!

Score: 6 out of 10.

Sprecher Maple Root Beer

In "honor" of the Packers losing this past weekend (YASSSS!!!!), I cracked into this 2nd soda that my wife picked up for me recently at Menards: 

Brand: Sprecher Maple Root Beer.

Origin: Glendale, WI.

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and WI Maple Syrup.

Review: I was ready for this to have a weird funk, but it didn't. It didn't really smell of maple or maple syrup, and it just had a SLIGHT flavor of it, which paired well with a normal root beer flavor. It was so subtle that it seemed to just have a slight butterscotch flavor. The root beer was slightly smooth and pretty decent, and the maple flavor just gave it a little something extra.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Blue Sun Soda Shop is Expanding!

Last month, I hit another one of the locations of Blue Sun Soda Shop. And 2 days ago, they announced they are now expanding outside of the Twin Cities:

Here are some of the pics they shared:

I haven't been out to Stillwater in a while, but this would be a good trip with my boys this summer. Good luck Blue Sun Soda!