Brigham's Brew Cream Soda

I opened this while cooking today:

 
Brand: Brigham's Brew Cream Soda.

Origin: Salt Lake City, Utah.

Purchase Place: Harmon's, Utah.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was another soda sent to me from some friends last month. It had been waiting in the fridge for a quiet weekend after some busy ones. This smelled very creamy... if that's a possible smell. And it WAS creamy and sweet - almost TOO sweet (which means something coming from me). But it had that really deep, smooth, cream soda flavor that was quite good. If you like sweet sweet things and like a hard hit of classic cream soda, then you'll like this! But if you like more "adult" and subtly-flavored cream sodas, this might be too much for you. I'll give this a pretty average score.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.

IT'SUGAR on Navy Pier

My family and I got back yesterday morning from 3 days in Chicago (see lots of photos in this post on my other blog), and we found a store called "IT'SUGAR" (not misspelled) on Navy Pier. It turns out there's one locally in Mall of America as well, so I might have to stop in sometime. It had... well... lots of sugar, including some fun sodas:

Some fun sodas in one section.

I only purchased one thing there, and it wasn't soda. They had "Cow Tales" that my family and I enjoy, but they had OREO Cow Tales which we'd never tried. They were good, but none of us could really tell any difference from REGULAR Cow Tales, so we didn't really understand the point. Still a quick tasty treat!

Again, click here for more photos from our long-weekend Chicago trip.

Granny Tries Gross Sodas

Granny tries to find her beloved Pepsi:

If the embedded video doesn't work, you can find it on Facebook here.

And I've had the 3 "gross" sodas that she tried: click these links to see my reviews of Sweet Corn soda, Buffalo Wing soda, and Bacon soda.

Limited Edition Coca Cola Creations Y3000

Just after my last post about the Coca Cola that was "co-created with Artificial Intelligence," I happened to be walking through Target and found one by the checkout:

 

Brand: Limited Edition Coca Cola Creations Y3000.  

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: Target, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Aspartame and Sucralose.

Review: I wasn't that excited to try this. As noted in my last post, people were saying it tasted like perfume or banana, and neither of those excited me. Also, I don't know what "Futuristic Flavored" means on the left side of the bottle... tastes like the apocalypse?

After my first sip, BOTH of those people were right: it started with a sharp/chemically perfume-like taste that was a bit overpowering, but then it ended with a sweeter banana-like flavor. That combo was quite odd. I didn't love it.

But then after I kept drinking, I started to like it more and more. And my boys were sipping on it with me, and they had the same reaction: it got better as we drank it. Maybe the negative thoughts clouded my first sips, but it wasn't as bad as we went on. I wouldn't say I LIKE it, but I DIDN'T DISLIKE it. I don't think I'll buy another bottle, but it was decent. 

Score: 5 out of 10.

Y3000 Coke... Created by AI??

Saw this on Instagram recently: 

I don't know about AI created soda. I'll have to see if I can find a bottle around here. But the thought of "creamed corn dipped in perfume" isn't making want to hurry out to find it...

Large Movie Theatre Sodas...

Forty-Ninth State Brewing's Frontier Root Beer

I cracked right into this can shortly after my friends sent me some sodas in the mail:

Brand: Forty-Ninth State Brewing's Frontier Root Beer.

Origin: Anchorage, Alaska.

Purchase Place: Somewhere in Alaska.

Sweetener: Cane sugar and Alaskan honey.

Review: I was excited to try this. It had "Alaskan honey" listed as one of the sweeteners, but it was farther down the list - I took that as a good sign as I like a HINT of honey in my root beer. It also had "Madagascar vanilla beans" listed too, and that was also a great sign. The side of the can noted "This delightfully sweet and spicy libation, overflowing with notes of vanilla and honey, was molded after an old klondike gold miner's closely guarded root beer recipe."

This lived up to my expectations. It was smooth and creamy... but then it had a little bite at the end as well. It's a root beer that could please most anyone! True to my expectations, there was just a little hint of honey and not an overwhelming slap. And then there's a nice smooth vanilla finish to each sip. This was unique but not too "out there." A real good root beer!

Score: 9 out of 10.

New Sodas to Try!

My soda-loving-friends have sent me another stash of things to try! (They first sent me some Shaq sodas 10 years ago, then stopped by with more shortly after that, and finally stopped over last year with more goodies!) Here's what arrived in the mail last week:

A heavy box that was $20 to ship!

Well-wrapped goodies inside.

Some root beer from Alaska, another fun Zia to try, and a few kinds of "Brigham's Brews!"

The 2 cans are in the fridge already as I'm excited to try those. Back with a review shortly. Thanks T and Brandon!!

Northern Soda Company Butter Scotch Root Beer

I brought this to work with me earlier this week: 

 

Brand: Northern Soda Company Butter Scotch Root Beer.

Origin: Arden Hills, MN.

Purchase Place: Remix, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This is another soda from my Father's Day variety pack my wife got me from the delicious Remix down the street (click here for a recent post about Remix, and click here for the first time I checked them out). I'm kind of torn on butterscotch flavored things: sometimes it feels too heavy and gross, but other times it's a nice and smooth addition. I tend to like it in a root beer when it's subtle.

But most "butterscotch root beers" aren't too subtle with the butterscotch. And this one was no exception. The butterscotch flavor is quite good and smooth and tasty, but it's just a bit too heavy for my taste. I can barely taste any "root beer" - it's generally just "butterscotch." It's not as extreme as some butterscotch root beers that I've had, but I still wish it was a bit lighter on the butterscotch. It wasn't horrible by any means, so I'll rank this right in the middle...

Score: 5 out of 10.

Babe Ruth Cola

I opened this while making supper tonight:

 

Brand: Babe Ruth Cola.

Origin: Reno, NV.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Not surprisingly, "Babe Ruth" soda is made by funky "Rocket Fizz" - they make random funny sodas. There was no indication on the label about what would make this different or special as a cola, just that it "tastes like 714 home runs." Mmmmm-kay...

It ended up being pretty decent. It has that rich/sweet kola nut/fruity flavor of a good cola, only it was a bit stronger in this one compared to what I'm used to. And that's not a good or bad thing: it tasted good, but I didn't know if I liked it more or less because it was so strong. If you like a "strong" cola, give this a shot!

Score: 7 out of 10.