Tyler the Kid Sarsaparilla

I opened this with my boys last night: 

Brand: Tyler the Kid Sarsaparilla.

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was pretty good! If you had told me this was a root beer, I wouldn't have balked. It's just a little more herbaceous than root beer. There was a nice vanilla flavor, and then a bit of a wintergreen kick at the end. Pretty decent overall!   

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Some Like a Can of Coke... Some Like a...

Fora the Red Drink by Casamara Club

My boys and I recently got back from 3 days of mountain biking in Cuyuna State Park. On our 2nd day, I found this cool looking can at a fancy ice cream shop:

On the ladder of my boys' bunk bed at our small hotel.

Look at that wild ingredients list! Grapefruit Peel? Rhubarb Root? Black pepper?!?

Brand: Fora the Red Drink by Casamara Club.

Origin: Detroit, MI.

Purchase Place: Victual, Crosby, MN.

Sweetener: Demerara Cane Sugar.

Review: This tasted unlike anything I've ever had. It's basically a flavored, carbonated, and lightly sweetened water. (And it's just BARELY light pink, so I don't know that it deserves to be called "the red drink.") It initially has the citrus hit of lemon, but then the flavor goes much deeper than that. I feel like the black pepper gives it almost a ginger-like "spiciness," and the hibiscus and rose definitely give it some flowery notes. (And maybe that's some of the strawberry coming through as well.) 

Honestly, I didn't love it, but I enjoyed it because it was so unique! My wife (who loves La Croix and Bubly waters) could have enjoyed this. It's a bit sweeter than La Croix as there's actually 20 calories of sugar in this, and I appreciated that. I'll give it an average 5, although the experience was higher and the flavor was lower.

Score: 5 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.

Lester's Fixins Buffalo Wing Soda

Well, it's been a few weeks since my last review, and that's because I've been sitting on this bottle... scared... 

Brand: Lester's Fixins Buffalo Wing Soda.

Origin: Incline Village, NV.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: You might remember first seeing this bottle when I tried Ranch Dressing Soda last month. I FINALLY got around to opening this one up, and it wasn't really what I expected. 

When I first sniffed it, it didn't smell bad - it was like a "sharp orange flavored" smell. I was hopeful.

And you know what? It didn't taste horrible either. The flavor was kind of meaty (but not in a bad way), smokey, and slightly salty. The problem occurred 5-10 seconds after each sip - there's this burning that happened in the back of my throat. It was like a chemical burn feeling. Not pleasant. And it happened sooner and sooner after each sip. I couldn't finish this. So favor was bad but not horrible, but the general experience of this soda was bad. Just bad.

Score: 1.5 out of 10.

Root Beer Milk

It turns out that this is a real thing:

Announced here on Facebook at Kwik Trip. (Also on the Real Seal page.)

Same!

Ha!!

I need to try to find this at a Kwik Trip sometime...

Lester Fixins Ranch Dressing Soda

I opened this "Ranch Dressing" soda with my extended family on a trip up north recently:

I thought it could pair well with Buffalo Wing Soda.

My youngest was ready to try a shot of it...

...but he immediately spit it into the sink

My brother-in-law and I sniffed it...

Drinking it!

 

Trying not react to the flavor! Ha! (We agreed ahead of time to try to not show our disgust.)

 

Brand: Lester Fixins Ranch Dressing Soda

Origin: Incline Village, NV.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: You know, this WASN'T horrible. It smelled quite like ranch dressing. And then the aftertaste left a ranch dressing-like film in my mouth (but not in an ABSOLUTELY horrible way). 

The biggest positive for this is that the carbonation really helped. And it had a perfect amount of sweetness to cut the almost savory ranch flavor. Both my brother-in-law and I agreed on this. 

It sure isn't a soda that I'd grab on any given day saying "boy, I sure could go for something 'ranch dressing' flavored right now!" But it wasn't BAD. The ranch dressing flavor was about spot on, so give this a (humorous) try if you're a fan of ranch. This had POTENTIAL for being scored at 1 or 2, but it's honestly better than that.

Score: 3.5 out of 10.

Minnesota Soda Pun

A classic joke posted by Blue Sun Soda:

Labrador Root Beer Butterscotch Soda

I was downloading files at one of the colleges where I teach this afternoon, and I brought this with me: 

Nuthin' says "champion of the USA" like a shotgun shell!  ;)

     

Brand: Labrador Root Beer Butterscotch Soda.

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: At first sniff, the butterscotch was subtle, so I started thinking this might be decent. And I was right! The butterscotch isn't overpowering, and the root beer is really smooth and really creamy. It's a bit strong on the wintergreen, but that wasn't a horrible thing here - I think it balances out the butterscotch a bit. My only possible complaint is that it could be TOO creamy. It's NOT a traditional root beer, but it tasted pretty good. Worth a try!

Score: 8 out of 10.

Excel Lucky Cherry Cola

I opened my first soda from last week's trip to Blue Sun Soda: 

Brand: Excel Lucky Cherry Cola.

Origin: Breese, IL.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This smelled good from the start - quite sweet. It definitely leans towards "cherry SODA" and not so much "cherry COLA" as there's not a super strong cola element to this. And that's not a bad thing, because it's still quite tasty. It's a pretty solid cherry flavor. Nothing super unique, but a drinkable and tasty soda.

Score: 7 out of 10.