Vess Pina Colada

For more on the history of Vess, see my earlier post here.

Now to my recollection, I don't think I've ever actually had a true Pina colada. But I expect a least a little hint of coconut since I've made Pina coladas in a bar I used work at. After opening, it certainly carries the scent of coconut with it and a touch of citrus. It's a very sweet and sugary soda, but not strong in flavor. Although very light, I find it to be pretty pleasant. However all these mass market sodas are made with artificial flavors and I just find that drinking a bottle of chemicals instead of real extracts and natural products takes something away from the indulgence of it. Other than that I could see using this as a quick mixer with some booze or simply a light soda for a hot summer afternoon.

Big Red

Grover C. Thomsen and R.H. Roark were chemists for Perfection Barber and Beauty Supply in Waco, Texas when they started making their own flavor extracts. Together, in 1937, they struck out on their own and began selling Sun Tang Red Cream Soda. The name changed to Sun Tang Big Red Cream Soda in 1959, then again to just Big Red ten years later. It was only available regionally, in Central and Southern Texas and around the Louisville, Kentucky and parts of Southern Indiana until the late 1970's. It is currently produced under license by several bottling companies, which include Dr Pepper Snapple Group and the Pepsi Group. Over the years Big Red Inc. has also added some other flavors to their collection, but are usually harder to find. Big Red is iconic enough to have garnered copy cats over the years such as Coca-Cola's Red Flash.

It's odd to ask someone to describe flavors sometimes and that can certainly be said when talking about a red cream soda. Most people have an idea of what cream soda tastes like even without ever having it because they know what "cream" is. But what does a color like red taste like? Once you open a bottle of Big Red, it's smells like bubble-gum. The aroma just pops! It's like a circus in a bottle. The flavor itself comes from a mixture of different citrus oils with vanilla. Big Red isn't as creamy flavored as some of it's imitators. Rather, they focus more on the "red." It definitely is reminiscent of a candy/bubble-gum flavoring yet it isn't. I'm reminded of the time one of my British friends asked me what Root Beer tasted like and the only thing I could say was, "It tastes like root beer." It definitely has a more child-like following. You won't often see adults drinking it outside of Texas and that's probably because most fans of this drink only enjoy it because they liked it as kids. So if you're 6-12 you'll be a big fan. If you're trying it for the first time as a 40-year old, you're likely to be disappointed.

Faygo Pineapple Orange

When I hear "Faygo" I think of my childhood. When I was little, Saturday nights at my house were pizza and movie night. Of course with pizza we had to have some soda. In the 1980's I never saw Faygo sold any other way than individual glass bottles, but it seems there were cans available since the 1960's. You can find it in cans today too, but the glass bottles are gone, replaced with plastic. In those days Kroger carried a pretty good selection of flavors. I usually stuck with grape, strawberry or root beer and those bottles seemed enormous when you're a small kid.

Faygo began in Detroit in 1907 as Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works. Russian brothers and immigrants, Ben and Perry Feigenson started business with just three flavors (strawberry, grape and fruit punch), which were based on family recipes for cake frosting. The Feigenson Brothers shortened their product's name to Faygo in 1921. It's interesting to think about now, but in 1922 they delivered their soda to your door. The business was later handed down to the Feigenson's sons in the 1940's and was later sold to National Beverage Corp in 1987. Today, Faygo produces dozens of different flavors.

The smell of this Pineapple Orange is a little strange. While it's not a strong smell, it's a bit reminiscent of some sort of antiseptic to me. I wasn't expecting too much with this soda since I'm normally not a fan of soda's with mixed fruit flavors. This isn't a terrible flavor, but I think the orange flavoring throws off the pineapple too much. Maybe I'll be able to compare it to their pineapple sometime in the future. Unfortunately, I also think that plastic bottles can affect flavor over time, while glass does not interact with the soda on a chemical level like plastic will. 

Zuberfizz Key Lime Cream Soda

This soda comes from the Durango Soda Company in Colorado. I'm hoping that this will be much better than the Coco Fizz I tried from them in the past. 

It has a very light smell when I open the bottle. For just a moment I thought I smelled a scent of cocoa but that may have been from any cream flavoring added and it dissipated quickly. I find the coloring a bit off putting because it is bright green like mouth wash. It is well carbonated but for some strange reason this leaves my tongue feeling vaguely numbed. This soda has more cream than key lime in it. One of my favorite summer sodas is Stewart's Key Lime, but this drink from Durango falls short of enjoyable for me. 

Vess Whistle Orange Soda

Vess was founded in 1916 by Sylvester "Vess" Jones. Charles L. Grigg was working for Vess when he developed Whistle around 1920. He later left Vess and the Whistle brand with it, he went on to found the Howdy Company and eventually created 7-Up. 

At the time Whistle was the brand name used for their Orange flavor, while the others were branded as Vess. After the stock market crash of 1929, Vess sold the company to Donald Schneebarger and still more flavors were added to the Vess brand line-up. The company was bought by beverage conglomerate, Cott Beverages in 1994. 

Being that the drink has changed hands to a modern bottler and is no longer sold in glass it's hard to say if it is still anything at all like the original drink. This bottle may be old since I found it at a gas station and there was no distinct release of carbonation upon opening. But it's still not bad. The tangy citrous flavor holds up and is not overly sweet and syrupy. Refreshingly cool too for this summer heat. 

©2009 by Ross White

During the heydays of the carbonated beverage St. Louis was a center of activity for many companies, probably helped by the fact that a large industry of beer bottling already existed there. The old Bottling District near the Edward Jones Dome is no longer home to this industry but the name remains. The landmark Vess Bottle can still be found there and plans are in the works for neighborhood redevelopment.