Filbert's Old Time Quality Green Apple Soda

I enjoyed drank this in my classroom today:

Brand: Filbert's Old Time Quality Green Apple Soda.

Origin: Chicago, IL.

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

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: Ehh. This was OK. The green apple taste was decent. Unlike my first green apple soda, this one was NOT overly sweet, so that was better. But LIKE my first green apple soda, this one also had a wet cardboard aspect to it - in the other green apple soda, it was just a smell, but this one tasted like green apples mashed with wet cardboard. Not great. It was drinkable, but fantastic. I'll rank this the same as the only other green apple soda I've had: just below average.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Mom's Root Beer

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my Grandma's house yesterday, and I brought along this root beer to enjoy:

On my Grandma's sweet, orange, 1960s kitchen counter.

Brand: Mom's Root Beer.

Origin: Minneapolis, MN.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This was pretty good (and went down easily after a good Thanksgiving dinner). It was very smooth and creamy, and it had a pretty rich taste. It wasn't amazing or super unique, but it was very enjoyable.

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Colombiana La Nuestra

Today my students were working on their final project proposals, so I took it easy and drank this:

A student in the background. Not my student. Just a student.

Brand: Colombiana La Nuestra.

Origin: Milton, NY.  (I was hoping for something more exotic. Something,... more south...)

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

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: I cracked this open not knowing what to expect, or even what flavor it was. It only said "Kola Flavored Soda" on the bottle, which I've always thought of as a sweeter, fuller, "fruitier" cola flavor.

Well, it wasn't really cola flavored. It was VERY smooth, and nearly a "cream soda." I saw something online saying this is apple flavored, but I don't taste that. It's like a sweet cream soda with a BIT of a Dr. Pepper flavor. Interesting. Unique. Not bad.

Score: 6 out of 10.
 

Hosmer Mountain White Birch Beer

As we were doing a lot of cooking last night, I opened this:

Brand: Hosmer Mountain White Birch Beer.

Origin: Willimantic, CT.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This was good! If I wasn't told it was a "white birch beer," I would have called it a clear root beer. It tasted like a rich root beer that was heavy on the anise (but not TOO heavy). My boys tried sips of this too, and they loved it. I really don't have any complaints! I'm ranking this quite high!

Score: 9.5 out of 10!
 

Kiss Army Root Beer

I've had this in the fridge for a few days, and I finally opened it today:

Brand: Kiss Army Root Beer.

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Of course, this semi-novelty soda was made by Rocket Fizz. I've had a lot of bad luck with their sodas, but some good luck too, so I didn't know what to expect from this root beer. Turns out, it was pretty good. It was pretty flavorful and strong, with a pretty noticeable anise flavor (JUST shy of being too much). It had a bit more bite than I'd like, but was very enjoyable overall. I've been on a good run and having a few good sodas lately...

Score: 8 out of 10.
 

Spring Grove Soda at Holiday!

Spring Grove just made this announcement on Facebook:

 Make sure to follow Spring Grove Soda on Facebook.

Fitz's Black Cherry

I didn't mean to review 2 black cherry sodas back-to-back, but this is the soda I grabbed on the way out the door to my class today:

At the "instructor station" in my classroom before class started.

Brand: Fitz's Black Cherry

Origin: St. Louis, MO.

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

Sweetener: "All natural pure cane sugar" (whew, that's a mouthful).

Review: Actually, it's a lot like Twig's Black Cherry that I just had a few days ago. It was equally sugary and syrupy. This maybe had a SLIGHTLY better aftertaste, so I'll give this one a half point more. Otherwise, they were QUITE similar.

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Twig's Black Cherry

I opened this last night:

Brand: Twig's Black Cherry.

Origin: Shawano, WI.

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

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was pretty good. It reminded me a bit of a syrupy cough syrup from when I was a kid (in a good way). Real deep flavor and quality black cherry taste. This wasn't AMAZING, but it was good.

Score: 8 out of 10.
 

Lift Bridge Root Beer

I'm currently drinking this as my students are working on their projects in the background:

Made in Stillwater, MN, which has a lift bridge. Note the lift bridge
depiction at the top of the can, and around the far right in the middle.

Brand: Lift Bridge Root Beer.

Origin: Stillwater, MN.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar and Honey.

Review: It was very creamy and rich, and had a pretty classic flavor. It was very smooth and had a good head. There's a LITTLE bit of a honey flavor, but not too much (and too much honey in a root beer has been something I complained about in the past). They are 2 minor things that I don't like about this root beer: first, there's a slight "wet cardboard" taste at the start of each sip (very subtle), and second, this is a 16 oz can which is just too big for me. Those are just minor issues, so this is getting a decent score!

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Blenheim Ginger Ale

I opened this earlier today:

It's a bit hard to make out, but the white stuff that's settled on the bottom is real ginger bits.

Brand: Blenheim Ginger Ale

Origin: Hamer, South Carolina.

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

Sweetener: Sucrose.

Review: Sometimes, Ginger Ale has too much of a kick in the back of my throat. I think you know what I'm talking about. This had that kick, but it wasn't as intense, and it was a bit smoother than other Ginger Ales that I've had. I'm still not a major fan of Ginger sodas, but this wasn't bad. I'll rank this just above average.

Score: 6 out of 10.