Brother Paul's Cure All Cola

I cracked into this between classes in my office today:

 

Brand: Brother Paul's Cure All Cola.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: I was ready for a "decent" cola when I first took a sip, but I was not ready for this! It had a TON of flavor, similar to a Dr. Pepper - I'm not saying Dr. Pepper has a ton of flavor, but instead that the flavor here was like a concentrated Dr. Pepper. It was a bit fruity, but otherwise was a very deep and almost smokey flavor. It was really unique and quite good! I drank this down pretty quickly.

Score: 9 out of 10.

International Fanta Challenge

Recently, Rhett and Link tried to guess where different Fanta sodas originated:


Direct link on Facebook: fb.watch/j7tc188-vb/

That's the edited 6 minute version above, but here's the full version on YouTube if you're interested (which is 22 mins long).

Spindrift Lime Sparkling Water

This is NOT going to turn into a "sparkling water" blog, but I happened to grab this last week and figured I'd review it. 

At work with photo paper, negatives, and the darkroom door in the background.

Brand: Spindrift Lime Sparkling Water.  

Origin: Newton, MA.

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: None.

Review: I was walking through Menards and saw these large cans, and they looked good. So I grabbed one. But I was pretty let down with my first sip. Yes, I get that it's JUST carbonated water and lime juice with no sweetener, but the lime flavor had an odd almost fruitiness to it (and not in a good way). I was expecting (and OK with) a sharper citrus punch, and it didn't have that. I didn't expect a smoother lime water - I feel like that wasn't what I signed up for.

But truth be told, it grew on me a bit as I sipped on these 16 ounces. Part of that might have been just figuring out what the flavor was and slowly becoming OK with that. It went from maybe a score of 2 or 3 at the start to more like a 4 by the end of the can. So I still don't love it, but it's not completely horrible.

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.

Zia Piñon Cola

I brought this to Hyland Ski Hill this afternoon to drink as my boys skied:

Ski hills in the background!

 
Brand: Zia Piñon Cola.

Origin: Taos, New Mexico.

Purchase Place: Smith's Food and Drug, somewhere in Utah.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: First of all, it's a clear soda, which feels weird to me. That might be part of the reason that it doesn't taste very traditionally "cola-like" to me. But it's not a bad thing. The first part of each sip has the "deepness" of a cola to me, but then it ends with a refreshing kick of lime (note that the bottom of the label says "kola nut & lime"). The flavor is a bit smokey (maybe from the "roasted piñon" nuts noted on the label), but then there's a tropical feel to it with the lime. Very unique cola with a citrusy kick!

I've enjoyed all 3 Zia sodas that some friends dropped off for me last fall - I'll keep my eye out for more from Zia in the future.

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Pop/Soda Box Art

Here's a collection of "soda box art" from different displays:

There's something horribly ironic about "Farm Fresh Produce" being spelled out by something full of processed sugars.

And because of the "pixellated" nature of soda box art, it lends itself well to old video games:

 

Oh, and here's a Boba Fett example that I showed a few years back.

Frostie Green Apple Soda

I opened this after some snow shoveling today:

   

Brand: Frostie Green Apple Soda.

Origin: Detroit, MI.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: I sort of expected this to taste like a liquid Jolly Rancher: sweet and tasty. But it wasn't as sweet or as flavorful as I expected. The green apple flavor was weak and had a hint of "wet cardboard." It was OK, but not great. I'll give it an average score.

Score: 5 out of 10.

The First Taste of La Croix

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.

Yoli Sabor Limon

When we were in Mexico last month, my boys each had one of these on Ixapa Island:

Under a little thatched sunshade with the ocean crashing behind me.

 

Brand: Yoli Sabor Limon.

Origin: "Hencho in Mexico."

Purchase Place: Ixtapa Island.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was refreshing. But anything on the island would have been! It was a like a 7Up, but a bit smoother and with a heavier lime kick. Tasty while sitting in the sun!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.