Gray Brewing Co. Orange Cream

Another Midwestern soda, today I have a bottle of Orange Cream from the folks at Gray Brewing Co. in Janesville, Wisconsin. Established back in 1856, Joshua Gray began by brewing beer using family recipes, but ceased brewing beer in the 1890's. They were originally known as Gray's Bottling Works, then Chas. C. Gray Beverage, later Gray's Beverage Company, before settling on Gray Brewing Co. The decision to move away from the beer business and get into soda's no doubt gave them an early advantage when prohibition came about and many beer brewers switched to sodas to stay afloat. Gray Brewing Co. is still in the hands of the same family, being run by the fifth generation of Joshua Gray's descendants, with the sixth generation already working there ready to take the hand off. Somewhere along the way they continued producing beer as well since there are several varieties from them currently available. They are supposedly the oldest family owned bottling company left in the U.S. That's quite a neat story. Sodas currently produced by the Grays include root beer, black cherry, strawberry, cream soda, and orange cream. I may have to take a detour through Janesville on my next trip north to hunt down the rest of their sodas to try.

This bottle has a great creamsicle aroma to it, quite strong. I like the taste right away. I find it has a soft orange flavor with a wonderful creaminess to it. No doubt the can sugar rounds out that flavor rather than making it sharp since I've mentioned in many previous posts that I find naturally sweetened sodas to have a softer, rounder sweetness than those with corn syrups. I think it's well balanced as the cream flavor does not hide the orange but compliments it well. The cream flavor is the forward dominant flavor but the orange gives it the robust creamsicle taste you want from an orange cream soda. This would make a lovely desert soda on a hot summer night on the porch. 

Pepsi Soda Shop Black Cherry Cola

Another of Pepsi's Soda Shop releases, this particular one is a Black Cherry Cola. The Soda Shop series is meant to invoke some of the flavor combinations old soda counters used to produce. Let's see how this one tastes. 

There's a deep cherry aroma like that from a cough syrup coming from this bottle, so I'm already delighted. It does taste reminiscent of many cough syrups or cherry cough drops. Thankfully they used real sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. It helps the flavor a lot. It would be much sharper with corn syrup than sugar. It's pleasant, not too syrupy or overly sweet, so I definitely recommend picking up a bottle. 

Northwest Soda Works Ginger Ale

A soda so nice they named it twice? From Port Angeles, Washington, Ed Bedford, with the help of some investors, launched Northwest Soda Works in 1984; thus the secondary name of "Bedford's Sodas." Initially he bottled a "premium" creme soda, called Creme Beer. His investors later sold off the majority stake of the company to Unique Beverages in across Puget Sound in Everett. After several years Ed bought the control of the brand back from Unique. It was around this time Ed changed to the use of cane sugar and partnered with Orca Beverage, mentioned several times over the years on this blog, to create additional flavors. 

Opening this bottle I get a sharp sense of ginger from it. It was strong like ginger beer at first then mellowed and now smells like a pretty normal ginger ale. There's a fair amount of carbonation, not too little and not too much. The drink is refreshing and crisp. I think it has just a small touch more ginger bite than many main stream ginger ale brands, but not like many ginger beers. A nice overall soda. 

Original New York Seltzer Root Beer

Now truth be told, I'm not big on seltzers. I've always found them to be quite bitter. But Original New York Seltzer has something of a cult following. Interestingly, the drink did not begin in New York, but in California, where father and son team Alan and Randy Miller started producing the drinks in 1981. In the 1980's producing any kind of soda, seltzer or otherwise without coloring, preservatives, or caffeine was something of an oddity. Nevertheless, the brand grew quickly and the father and son team had a penchant for a large and flamboyant lifestyle, complete with exotic animals. The Original New York Seltzer beverages were discontinued in 1994. However, in 2015, the brand staged a comeback with new leadership featuring the same fist-sized glass bottles as the original. 

Firstly, before I even get to tasting this, I really miss these little bottles. I can no longer find any brand of ginger ale made in the tiny green glass bottles anymore. I found the smooth metal screw off cap a little difficult to remove, it needs a little more texture for easier grip. This bottle certainly smells of root beer. Well now that is surprising to taste. It doesn't taste bitter like I often find sparkling flavored waters and seltzers to taste, but it does taste like regular root beer. With only 120 calories and 5mg of sodium per 10oz bottle it might sound like a healthier option, but be aware it also has 31g of sugar in it. Overall though, I give it a thumbs up for a smooth root beer flavor, albeit not a very "creamy" tasting one. 

Boom Chugga Lugga Cherry Ginger Ale

This soda comes to us from Cherry Republic, which began in 1989. The area around Glen Arbor and Traverse City in Michigan grows a great deal of cherry groves, primarily known for tart cherries, some other varieties are also found as well. Cherry Republic sells a wide assortment of cherry flavored foods, condiments, candies and gifts, sodas just being one of them. 

This bottle has the color of a ginger ale rather than a typically pink or red hued cherry soda. Upon opening this bottle the smell actually seems more like a cream soda. It has plenty of carbonation, but I think the flavor is off for some reason. If I hold it in my mouth a while and focus I can pick up some cherry. Maybe this bottle was not stored in optimal conditions or something. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. If I make it back up into that region of Michigan again I'll look to do a new tasting if I can find it.

Butter Soda

Continuing from yesterday's Sweet Corn, the State Fair theme goes on today with this Butter Soda from Rocket Fizz. Rocket Fizz has several candy and soda shops around the country and produces some of their own sodas for their shops. But I think you'll find that they mostly cater to lesser known brands and their own labels which are almost, but not all, novelty flavored. 

Firstly, there's very little scent coming from the bottle. It takes a good whiff before it smells something like butter. Oof. That is another flavor that just can't be stomached. It gives off a butter flavor in a very bold way and tastes quite "fatty." I prefer to not taste that again. 

Lester's Fixins Sweet Corn

With the State Fair season upon us in the Midwest, it seems like an appropriate time to try this novelty from the Lester's Fixins label. 

These novelty flavors often so terrible. A whiff off the top of this bottle smells almost exactly like a can of creamed corn, sickeningly so. The smell makes me nervous to even try a sip. A single swig of this is about all I can take. It does taste like corn, corn that has been cooked but not buttered or seasoned and with a dash of sugar on it. This is not a bottle I recommend unless you are curious for punishment. 

Cawston Press Elderflower Lemonade

Cawston Press is located in the UK and opened shop in 1986 with an apple orchard. This particular can is labeled as being made in the Netherlands, but I believe they have some other facilities in Europe as well. While listed as sparkling juice, I basically consider any beverage that is carbonated and non-alcoholic a soda. By definition, it's a soft drink, but I use the term soda. In any case, Cawston Press has several flavors of both regular juice as well as sparkling juices, such as this one. All of which are made by pressing real fruit and no added sugar or sweeteners. 

There is a fresh lemony scent upon opening. A sip comes across a bit sour, but that is owing to the fact that most beverages are so sugary that tasting naturally sweet flavors are duller in comparison. I taste the lemon quite strongly. I think the pressed apple juice in the ingredients does come through in the background. The sourness reminds me quite a bit of a hoppy beer. I can't really pick up the elderflower. Maybe its being masked by the lemon. All in all, it's a decent, naturally made sparkling lemonade. Since I had to purchase this in a pack, it will make a nice drink in the summer heat to mix things up every now and then. 

Mezzo Mix

What an interesting find at the World Market this was. This can of Mezzo Mix is made by Coca-Cola and is canned and sold in Germany. Back in May I posted about Schwip Schwap a German made cola and orange soda from PepsiCo. It would appear this is Coca-Cola's answer to that. Just like in America, Pepsi and Coca-Cola battle each other for market share often with their own takes on the same flavors. As I remarked before, it's a little weird though that us Americans get cola with lemon, cola with lime, but Germans get cola with orange. Since it is so difficult to find cola with orange here, it makes me wonder if it is equally as difficult to find cola with lemon or lime there. I certainly don't recall coming across lemon or lime variations in the UK on any my trips there, nor did I come across either such drinks in Austria. 

I'm a little off topic so let me return to talking about Mezzo Mix. Apparently, this brand from Coca-Cola was released back in 1973 in what was then West Germany. However both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are copying an earlier cola and orange soda, named Spezi, introduced in the 1950's. There are also generic or store-brand versions as well. The tagline pictured at the bottom of the can, "cola küsst orange," translates as "cola kisses orange." 

A crack of the can shows good carbonation, but there's very little scent. A tinge of orange in the air but hardly any cola scent. I've got to say that I personally favor this one over the Schwip Schwap option. Whereas Schwip Schwap gave me a more powerful orange flavor, the orange in this drink is more subtle. It's much more like a cola with an orange garnish rather than mixing equal parts cola and orange soda, so I'm giving the edge to Coca-Cola on this one. But if you favor stronger orange, opt for one of the other cola and orange brands. 

Dr Pepper Cream Soda

I do enjoy the occasional Dr Pepper, so I'm excited to have found this variety. When I open it, I find it smells like regular Dr Pepper. I don't pick up any scent like that of a straight plain soda. However, the flavor comes across as much more of a cream soda. The cream soda flavor is forward with the taste of Dr Pepper as a background finish. I would have perhaps chosen to make Dr Pepper the hero flavor with a more slight cream soda to round it out. It's still good, but could be improved. 

Capone Family Secret Root Beer

Well, this company doesn't appear to exist any longer, yet here I have a bottle of Capone Family Secret Root Beer. Did they have other flavors? Based on an unmaintained Facebook page, that hasn't been updated since 2013, they had a few standard flavor options. I have no idea where I picked up this bottle but it must have been around a while. The print on the side of the bottle isn't legible to read any date. Oh well, glass bottled sodas can last for ages when they are well sealed since glass is not gas permeable, which sounds like a topic to address in a future post. 

I don't know if it's just past its prime or it wasn't a good root beer to begin with. It tastes old and stale but with a slight metallic taste. Oh well, it made the post, but I'm dumping the rest of it. If the label is any indication, it was probably a pretty generic tasting root beer even at its best. 

Coca-Cola California Raspberry

Following up on yesterday's post is another interesting choice from Coca-Cola, this time we have California Raspberry. Again, hard to find but seemingly still available online from Coca-Cola. 

A strong raspberry aroma comes from this bottle and it has ample carbonation, just like yesterday's peach variety. It's funny, I've come to expect to taste the crunch of little raspberry seeds when I taste anything raspberry. I find raspberry flavor to be quite true, but it overshadows any cola flavor by far. In short, it's worth trying, though raspberry isn't the sort of fruit flavor I want everyday. 

Coca-Cola Georgia Peach

I'm not certain if this is a limited release flavor or not, but it appears Coca-Cola is still selling these. They aren't that easy to find in stores, but they are available online. Growing up I was not a fan of peach anything. These days I do find some peachy things to enjoy, like making a PB&J with peach jam. But there is a range of different sensations in terms of peach flavor. 

I think Coca-Cola did a nice job getting the right blend here where you can still taste the cola flavor even with a healthy punch of peach. In some of my reviews on these sort of blended flavors, particularly when mixing with cola the fruit flavor often over powers the cola. I think they hit this mix pretty well. The bottle has great carbonation and I feel a tiny bit of peach with a dose of cola. The finish brings a strong tart peach flavor. I would say this leans more towards that sweet and sour sensation you get from the outer skin of a peach slice rather than the inner fleshy fruit. Selling this in a glass bottle instead of plastic or a can makes it that much better. Glass bottles are just always more preferable to me and the cold glass seems to enhance the flavors. If you can get a bottle I recommend tasting this one. 

Sinalco Bitter Orange

This bottle was something of a mystery when I found it. Located in a nearby market for middle eastern foods, it has arabic labeling on the cap and on one side, but said it was bottled in Germany. I had to turn to the internet and their own website claims they are a popular global brand and the oldest soft drink in Europe, yet I had never heard of them before. 

The story goes that Friedrich Eduard Bilz, who had an interest in natural healing methods, opened a sanitarium in 1895. In 1902, Bilz created a drink called Bilz-Brause to serve to his sanitarium patients. The drink consisted of mineral water and citrus juice. Brause translating as "lemonade" or "fizz." It sounds as if he and John Harvey Kellogg, creator of corn flakes, would have been buddies had they lived closer to each other. In 1905, Bilz and Franz Hartmann joined together and renamed the drink to Sinalco. This name is a mash up of the Latin for "without alcohol." As the oldest soft drink company in Europe, they've released other flavors of Sinalco, and grown to include a stable of drink brands, much like a PepsiCo or Coca-Cola Company.

I find there's very little scent from the bottle. It takes a very deep whiff to get a hint of something more akin to the smell of grapefruit. There's a good level of carbonation from the bottle and even though it's a single use bottle it has the feel of the old reusable, returnable bottles. I do like this and think the citrus nature of it makes it a nice choice for a morning soda. It finishes clean with no aftertaste and is refreshing. 

Sipp Sparkling Mojo Berry

This is the second flavor I've come across from Sipp, that specialize in organic sodas. The last one I reviewed can be found here. This 12oz bottle is sweetened with agave and boasts just 40 calories per bottle. 

I'm expecting something a little interesting here since they've combined blackberry, mint, lime, and agave syrup. Both the scent and color actually remind me of cranberry cocktail. It has a light carbonation level, but having just 40 calories may not be worth it after tasting. It's acerbic like wine and tastes like someone let a cup full of ice melt into some berry flavored Crystal Light. A swing and a miss to me personally, but I can imagine there's a contingent of calorie light beverages and wine day drinkers that may like it. 

Sprecher Citrus Splash

A newly found variety from the folks at Sprecher graces the blog today. This bottle screams "caffeinated" right on the bottle, but I do not recall the previous sodas from Sprecher that I've tried being caffeine free. I'll have to try to remember to look for that on other bottles from them in the future to see. The label states this 16oz bottle has 93mg of caffeine. For comparison, 16oz of Pepsi has 51mg of caffeine. A light lime scent emanates from the top of the bottle and it carries a lemony yellow color. Unfortunately, I find this bottle quite lacking in carbonation. Its certainly there, but I think it could use more. Sprecher offers some rich flavor options, but honestly, I don't think this is one of their better flavors. It's a very non-specific "citrus" flavor in that I don't really taste a specific sort of citrus fruit. Instead I'd say it's trying to be a little more like Mountain Dew and it falls short of that. The "citrus-iness" is weak. In the end I think its just okay but I recommend passing this bottle up for something else.

Jones Soda Root Beer

Truthfully I've had Jones Soda's root beer before. But it's been eons. Jones Sodas are not daily drinkers for me but I will pick up the odd flavor when I see one or if I'm grabbing a bite where they're sold and want something a little different. But since I hadn't had one of their root beers in ages and haven't posted it here I thought this would be as good a time as any. Similar to the Jones Soda I reviewed a short while ago, the bottle mentions its a product of Canada, so I'm wondering whether or not they moved bottling operations? 

This bottle has a sarsaparilla-like aroma. The cane sugar provides a smooth flavor and it has a decent level of carbonation. I'd say its a decent root beer, but I find the carbonation bubbles to be small. I'm used to great big carbonation bubbles in root beers, but that alone doesn't make it a bad root beer. the flavor doesn't linger long on the tongue after a swig. Additionally, I like a bit more creaminess in a root beer.

Fitz's Cardinal Cream

A flavor of Fitz's I've not encountered before, this is the second appearance from Fitz's on the blog. Cardinal Cream doesn't say a lot about what it is, so I'm guessing it may be a red cream? Since Fitz's is from St. Louis, my gut says this is either a tribute to or in partnership with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. 

Based on the scent, I'd say my guess was dead on. It smells like a red cream soda, think Big Red if you don't know about red cream sodas. Unlike Big Red, I'd say this particular soda is creamier. There's still a bubblegum-like quality to it, but with a creamier finish than other red creams I've had. While I'm not that big of a fan of red cream sodas, this one is okay... in small amounts as far as I'm concerned. 

Stubborn Black Cherry

As it turns out that the Stubborn Soda brand is actually a subsidiary of PepsiCo. This must be either one of those excuses to test experimental flavors or one of many attempts by giant corporations to fly under the radar as a craft/niche product. Interestingly, it appears they are using stevia as a sweetener and the ingredients list purple carrot juice concentrate for coloring. 

Not sure what to make of a soda that list tarragon in its flavor profile, but technically this is black cherry with tarragon. I've no real meter to judge what tarragon tastes like though. A web search seems to describe tarragon as bittersweet and somewhat comparable to anise. It seems to have plenty of carbonation since it fizzes up well each time I tip up the bottle. The color is not as dark as you usually get from black cherry sodas. You'll definitely pick up a black cherry flavor, though not one with a lot of depth. It has a tartness to it though that I think is owed to that tarragon. All in all, I find it a bit of a miss as it's too tart for me to enjoy. I prefer a sweeter black cherry with rich berry flavor. 

Jones Soda Extreme Sour Black Cherry

I'm a bit gun shy after the last flavor from Jones I tried, but time to jump back on the horse and try another bizarre flavor offering from the folks at Jones Soda. This "extreme sour" version of black cherry looks to have been created in partnership with Warheads, a classic American mouth puckering candy.

Well the aroma is nice. It has a rich, deep cherry smell to it and the dark cherry color of it looks nice as well. It has lots of carbonation, evident when taking a swig. I'm immediately struck by the black cherry taste. It takes a moment to start to feel anything resembling "sourness." I'm not typically a fan of sour anything, though occasionally I like Sour Patch Kid candies. This is less sour than that. It's not terrible, and I wouldn't even venture to say it ruins the black cherry taste. I find it just provides a little pucker inducing sensation at the end of a gulp. It sort of hits that spot in the back of your cheeks that makes your mouth water. I think kids that enjoy sour candies would like it. 

Green Cola

While they've been around since 2011, I only recently came across this cola beverage from the Green Cola Company. They state their goal is creating healthier refreshments. The can lists it as having no calories, no sugar (they use stevia as a sweetener, no aspartame, no preservatives, no phosphoric acid, and apparently natural caffeine from green coffee beans??? I think coffee bean use in a soda is probably a first for me. A 12oz can of regular Mountain Dew has 54mg of caffeine, while this can of Green Cola has just 37mg. The amount of sodium is on par with other sodas at 40mg per can. While Green Cola appears to be their flagship, they do apparently have other flavors. 

I don't readily smell much when cracking open a can of this stuff. Well it certainly tastes different. If you can adapt to the change in taste from the giant mass market of sodas this seems like it would make a healthier alternative, but to be clear... it does taste different. It has a cola flavor, but its light handed and that flavor quickly dissipates from the tongue. But I think the stevia and other flavorings they use make the biggest difference. Its not quite as smooth as you might wish for it to be. There's an almost tea-like quality to it. The flavor itself has a bit of "grittiness" to it, not the liquid. I think that might be the best way to describe it. To be fair it can be a challenge to describe flavors that are created with out of the norm ingredients. I am delighted to say however, that it's totally drinkable. Just typing the first paragraph above about it made me cringe to think what it might actually taste like. As I've said it's not the normal cola flavor, but why should it be? With a few minutes you quickly get used it and its not bad at all but you will pay a little more for this than your Coke or Pepsi. It gets my thumbs up enough to encourage you to try it if you should find it. 

Okc Soda Blueberry Acai

It's been a long time since I passed through Oklahoma City, but on my most recent visit to Kansas City I found this can from Okc Soda Co. Founded in late 2019 by three guys from the beer brewing business, Michael Crowder, Mike Noonan, and Pat Krencicki, had a desire to create sodas with more whimsical flavors. You'll note on the labeling that these have no high fructose corn syrup (they use cane sugar), no caffeine, and reverse osmosis filtered water. They have some flavors you might expect, such as root beer, lemon-lime, and orange cream... but what interests me is some of their more unique options, like strawberry shortcake and this can of blueberry acai. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find other flavors at the shop where I found this, which I note for some transparency because I've not found blueberry sodas to be very good in the past. Maybe this one will surprise me, but I do hope to hunt down some of their other flavors in the near future on some of my trips. 

There isn't a massive release of carbonation when opening the can, but there is a strong blueberry aroma that reminds me of fresh blueberries in my cereal. Pouring out a little to get a sense of the carbonation and color, it has more of a slight blue tint instead of a disturbing dark color. I can't recall actually ever eating acai berries, but I enjoy blueberries fresh, in waffles, yogurt, etc. I can say that the taste is very true to the flavor of blueberries. It isn't overly sweetened like some brands that end up tasting like candy, which probably is partially owed to the use of cane sugar over HFCs. As I've mentioned before I find that using cane sugar gives a softer sweetness. So I am pleasantly surprised that to have found a delightful blueberry soda. 

Northern Soda Minnesota Apple

A couple of teachers left their day jobs in 2018 to found the Northern Soda Company, producing craft sodas in small batches. They do only appear to be released in cans rather than bottles. Their range of flavors includes many common classics, but they also feature several more interesting flavors, such as cherry citrus and blue raspberry. The next time I find myself up in the twin cities region for a family visit I may need to try to negotiate a visit. 

The label on this particular can gives me Christmas vibes from green, red, and white combined with a slightly whimsical retro font. This particular can is marked as gluten free, caffeine free, and made with cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. The apple scent is not strong, but that could also owe a little to being canned. I often find that canning doesn't always give you as good as a scent as from glass bottles, perhaps because of the aluminum can or perhaps due to the shape of the opening. The flavor is sweet and much like an apple pie without cinnamon. Think of fresh made apple cider that's been carbonated. I do like this flavor and would recommend grabbing some in the autumn. 

Dr Pepper Strawberries & Cream

Just the other week a new bottle appeared at the grocery store, this Stawberries & Cream variant of Dr Pepper. More on the history of Dr Pepper can be found on my previous post, here. I really dislike the shape of the plastic Dr Pepper bottles these days. The upper dome at the top pushes your hand up and like many other brands these days the caps are too round and smooth making them harder to open. I don't know why they do this. 

The aroma from the bottle reminds me of the strawberry gel filling in Little Debbie's Stawberry Shortcake Rolls. I healthy sized swig does in fact taste a lot like those Little Debbie snacks... with the taste of washing it down with a bit of Dr Pepper. I like the level of carbonation, its very on par with regular Dr Pepper. I find the flavor dissipates quickly after swallowing, but then a moment later a delayed kick of strong strawberry aftertaste washes over my taste buds. It's a tasty drink, a sipper to drink over time in my opinion because it is sugary and a full bottle may be sickening by the end. Sipping it over time would be my suggestion as long as it stays cold. Overall it's a pleasant soda. 

Coca-Cola Ultimate +XP

This bottle is a limited edition from Coca-Cola that brings to mind the difficulty in sometimes knowing what to call some of these drinks. I find that sometimes marketers will reuse labeling with special release flavors or create packaging design that makes it difficult to discern if you're looking at a limited edition label, flavor, or that has confusing naming. 

Take this bottle as an example. When I came across it in the store I wasn't sure what to make of it right away. The coloring reminded me of the Coca-Cola coffee flavor that I'm not even sure exists anymore. While I saw the label read "Ultimate Limited Edition" in white above the Coca-Cola name what did this mean? There have been some limited edition packaging and bottles from some brands in the past, was that what this was and the drink was just regular Coca-Cola? I had to look closely to find, in tiny gold lettering on a black background, "+XP Flavored."

Now obviously from the packaging this was a limited edition release of some sort in a promotion in which they've paired with League of Legends from Riot Games. League of Legends is something I know almost nothing about since I'm not a gamer. But I know it's an online multiplayer battle style game. And I know that cosplayers love to dress up as one of the leading characters, named Jinx. I have no idea what the game and Coca-Cola have to do with each other besides this bottle. Or what flavor +XP is supposed to be. For the uninitiated "XP" means experience points and the "+" means it adds to your game character's experience which usually helps you level up. So overall I'd say the marketing department kind of blew it on this one because the whole thing is quite confusing. Though, I have to say at least Coca-Cola is being consistent with their series of abstractly named limited release flavors, like "Space" and "Move." 🙄

When I open the bottle and take a big whiff it smells like something flowery, almost like lavender and cedar? I'm having trouble placing it. Think of potpourri that used to be inside an old antique wood cabinet but was taken out a long time ago and the wood absorbed some of the scent and is still holding onto it. 

While the scent is slight, the taste is much stronger. Again, it's quite flowery in nature but also seems a lot like cucumber water mixed with cola. Yes, I think that's the best way I can describe the taste. It's not bad. It's definitely more befitting a summer drinks so I'm glad this wasn't another soda that tastes better on a hot day but is released in the autumn. The strange thing to me is how light and flowery the taste is for a beverage meant to be marketed to battle competing online gamers. It's not a daily drinker by the very fact that its a limited edition but it's just strange enough that even if it weren't I doubt many would just sit around drinking it with lunch. Nevertheless, it's an interesting combination of flavors worth a try if you can find it before its gone. 

Fanta Banana

Here we are with another Fanta flavor. I found this can on one of my recent travels. Banana is a dicey flavor for anything. It's the kind of flavor that is very hit or miss. Based on the can's labeling, this flavor is available in the Caribbean. I've noted that instead of listing high fructose corn syrup within the ingredients, they list sugar. One might assume that means cane sugar, but when that's the case most brands proudly slap "pure cane sugar" somewhere on the packaging. So maybe it's just plain white sugar??? 

The scent is very much like banana candy in that it smells overtly sugary and ultra "banana-y". I find the taste unexpected. Based on the overpowering aroma I thought this would be a punch in the gob. Instead it's got a softer fruit flavoring. It reminds me of tasting the slices of banana out of a fruit salad/ambrosia when it's covered in the juices from other fruit. I taste a hint of citrus and something like the tiniest iota of strawberry or pear. Sipping it seems best. A big swig or washing it over the back sides of the tongue reveal a bit stronger punch of that candy banana. 

Jones Soda Hatch Chile & Lime

Here we are with another special release from the Jones Soda Company. This one is very interesting. With all honesty I'm expecting to hate this flavor, but I couldn't pass it up. In an interesting twist the bottle says "Product of Canada," which I've not seen on a bottle from Jones before and they are known as being based in Washington State. But let's give it a go...

Wow... I opened this bottle a full two feet away from my nose and yet the instant I heard the carbonation release I could smell peppers. It absolutely smells like I was cutting green peppers in my kitchen. I don't smell any hint of lime. Oof... I don't like the taste of this bottle at all. A swig from it tastes like rotten vegetables, or a bowl of very cheap salsa left out in the sun. Look, it's not for me, but by all means if you like chile peppers and come across a bottle, feel free to give it a try. 

Schwip Schwap Cola & Orange

Here's an interesting find I came across in London. From PepsiCo Deutschland comes this interesting flavor combo. I can't find evidence of other flavors from the Schwip Schwap label, so it may only be the cola and orange option. It sounded intriguing and there are certainly precedents for it where both Coca-Cola and Pepsi have released lime and lemon combinations with cola. 

It does smell like a glass of cola with a slice of orange added for garnish. However, I find the orange flavor is overpowering the cola taste. This is much more like an orange juice with a touch of cola added than the other way around. The concept seems solid, but the taste isn't really there, in my opinion. Nonetheless its supposedly popular in Germany. 

Rubicon Sparkling Mango

Rubicon began in 1981 and is listed has having facilities in both Canada and the UK. They specialize in juices but have a line of carbonated juice drinks as well. 

It has a fleshy mango scent with a bright orange color. The color alone makes me think this could be carbonated fruit juice rather than soda flavored with fruit, if that makes sense. The taste is decent. It has a dense mango flavor with a sugary finish. I'd say this has a fairly faithful taste to real mango. It may make a good breakfast drink choice, but isn't a "daily drinker" for myself. After a while I becomes a bit too much for me, but sipping over it for a while is nice. 

Barr Bubblegum

Another soda to grace the blog from Barr. I spotted this one on the shelf and had to grab it knowing I probably would loathe the taste. It was hard to miss with that color. Many of Barr's sodas seem to be on the cheaper end of the spectrum, such as this one.

Bubblegum is usually such a cloying sugary taste that I went into this fully expecting not to like it. Flavors like this often make adults sick to their stomach quickly, but I was willing to give it a try. The smell reminds me of Kool-Aid made with copious amounts of sugar with a hint of that smell of cheap Bazooka bubblegum hiding in the background. Indeed, its close in taste to cheap, penny bubblegum like Bazooka or that circus stuff thrown out to kids at parades. It is powerfully sugary in nature and I'm sick of it after just a few sips. 

Mr. Fitzpatrick's Superior Black Currant Cordial

Well this was an interesting find. Perusing a gourmet food store on my recent trip to the Orkney's I stumbled on a range of different cordial flavors from Mr. Fitzpatrick's. The brand has been producing botanicals beverage products for over a century. While there were a lot of options I selected this black currant bottle. As mentioned in a previous post, black currant flavoring is very popular in the UK.

Now, based on the bottling and my limited knowledge of cordials I thought they were alcoholic beverages like an aperitif. Cordial apparently has a slightly different meaning in the UK. The shop staff told me they weren't alcoholic, but I later learned cordials require a mixer. They are essentially just a concentrated syrup. Although I've never reviewed a cordial before on this blog, I already had the beverage and it's still a soda as an end product so why not? 

I eventually located a bottle of sparkling water and chilled both the sparkling water and the cordial in the fridge. The syrup was quite thick so I ended up mixing about three parts sparkling water to one part syrup. The flavor was not heavy, but you could always just adjust the amount of water used to make it stronger I suppose. I think this ratio worked pretty well and is refreshing with a nice currant flavoring but the taste dies off pretty quickly. This means there is no real aftertaste lingers, but some folks that like this flavor my find it disappointing to have such a short lived taste. All around I find it made a nice sipping beverage. 

Fanta Pineapple & Grapefruit (Lilt)

Imagine my surprise when I thought I'd discovered another new Fanta flavor on my latest trip in the UK. I was pretty exited, but later noticed the Lilt logo on the side. A short google later I discovered that Coca-Cola has merely relabeled the old Lilt brand as a new Fanta flavor. Apparently, lagging sales for Lilt meant that Coca-Cola came up with bringing it under the Fanta label. I'm unsure how they think the same flavor would perform differently being called something else, but I could be totally wrong about that since Fanta is a powerful brand worldwide. 

Since I reviewed Lilt many years ago there's little more to mention on it. It does release a very audible amount of carbonation when opening. The taste is as described. It's quite citrus in nature tasting of about equal amounts of grapefruit and pineapple, both soda flavors I enjoy, but this is noticeable less sugary than it might be if similarly released in the US. Still a good drink in my opinion and another nice choice for breakfast. 

Tango Dark Berry Sugar Free

Another Tango flavor makes its appearance. The last flavor featured was their flagship orange soda. Here I've found a bottle of what they've named "Dark Berry", which is really more of a black currant. The UK is pretty wild about black current flavored everything, from drinks to jams and more. Probably the most well-known is a competitive beverage named Ribena that is ubiquitous in shops around the UK. 

The can did not release a great deal of carbonation upon opening. Opening it released a pleasant smell like that of black currant jam. Noting that this is a sugar free soda, the sweeteners listed are sucralose and acesulfame. It actually tastes like a rich jam as well. For those unfamiliar with black currant, its like a robust grape; very deep and definitely keeping with the black currant flavor profile. I find this to be quite nice to drink. 

M&S Very Interesting Cola

Found this bottle in the Marks & Spencer Foodhall on my recent trip. Marks & Spencer is an upscale retailer with everything from clothing to beauty products and food items, similar to Target in some ways but more posh. 

I find the scent to be smooth but not a strong cola scent, with the tiniest hint of vanilla in the background. I don’t get the impression of much carbonation just by hearing the cap open or seeing any bubbles in the drink. A draw from the bottle presents a little bit of carbonation, but not that much. The cola flavor is seriously lacking in my opinion. It’s very subdued and I think the Madagascar vanilla is tainting the flavor. This soda isn’t very pleasant to me so I recommend a pass. 

Fanta Peach

A new Fanta flavor for the blog found on my recent trip. Other flavors from Fanta can be found going back quite a ways on the blog here. 

This particular can is caffeine free but does have high fructose corn syrup. It certainly smells like cutting into a ripe peach. I can practically taste the skin of a peach and picture the flesh and pit when I sniff it. After a healthy swig I’m amazed that Fanta created something so faithful to the flavor of the fruit. I’m not normally into the taste of peach but this is very good and very fruity. This would make a great refresher on a hot day and/or at a cookout or picnic so I'd hope to find it back home in the US eventually. 

Paisley Drinks Ginger Beer

Launched in 2018, by founder Brian O'Shea, Paisley Drinks produces craft sodas using unrefined sugar and are listed as being gluten free and vegan friendly. The sodas are produced in Paisley, a town to the West of Glasgow in Scotland. I wished I had been able to find some of their other flavors on this trip.

There is a very pungent ginger aroma. Each sip has an almost medicinal quality to the level of ginger flavor. It’s very strong. The liquid is clear, but lightly cloudy, not golden in color. While the taste is bold it is less "fiery" than expected. Many ginger beers can be almost hot when sipped. This one is very strong but tolerable, unlike some ginger beers I’ve had. So if you like ginger beer but want something a little easier on the palate give this is try. Being a smaller label though it may not be found outside of the Northern UK. 

Tango Orange

Tango has been around since 1950 in the UK and Ireland. Although I've had this before on previous trips to the UK, it struck me that I hadn't done a post on it. The beverage group Britvic has owned Tango since 1987. While orange is the go-to flavor for Tango, over the years they've added some additional flavors as well.

This soda is not to be mistaken for some more common orange sodas. I find it has a bit of an orange zest flavoring to it while simultaneously tasting just a touch chemical in the way that Sunny D beverage does. However, unlike Sunny D which pretends to be orange juice, this orange soda is drinkable. I actually picked this up at the station with a bit to eat for breakfast and enjoyed it. 

Jones Soda Key Lime 3.14

On the footsteps of another Key Lime flavored soda, I'm tasting another special release from Jones Soda. Based on the label, I'm guessing this was a release for Pi Day, (March 14th, 3/14). 

A nice loud crack from the escape of carbonation when opening a bottle is always satisfying. I'm a little more concerned though about the radioactive green color of this soda though. I find the bottle has very little to smell. I've really got to inhale deeply to try to sense it. Tipping back the bottle really releases a lot of carbonation bubbles despite looking flat when it just sits on the table. The carbonation really comes alive on your tongue. This bottle tastes nothing like a key lime pie to me, or even like other key lime sodas I've had. This is a very puckering sour lime taste. If you like sour, and some folks do this might be for you. I however, don't really enjoy this bottle and wouldn't want to sip it on the deck on a warm night and suggested giving it a pass. 

Fitz's Key Lime Soda

It seems absolutely wild to me that this is the first time Fitz's is making an appearance on my blog. Living in the Midwest, I have seen them for years. Subconsciously I must have just been putting them off. Fitz's hails from St. Louis, MO. But as I've mentioned before, some time in the late 1990's or early 2000's they has a small bottling operation viewable through a window at Kansas City's Union Station, which only lasted a few years as it's no longer there. They began in 1947 producing root beer for the Fitz's drive-in, a burger joint. Both sodas and burgers ceased to be made any longer when they closed shop in 1976. Fitz's sodas made a return in 1985, but I don't know if the ownership of the brand had traded hands by then or not. 

As the weather is finally beginning to warm up, this feels like a good time to review some refreshing flavors for summer. This bottle features a wonderful lime scent on opening the bottle. Owing to the cane sugar, the sweetness is rounded nicely and I get a nice sweet citrus pop of flavor when taking a swig. It has a subtle amount of carbonation. I feel like the tartness appears closer to the finish. Overall, this is a nice soda with good flavor that doesn't become too tart and also isn't overly sugary. Definitely a good choice for some summer cookouts. 

State Fair Mini Doughnut

I came across this bottle on a trip to Kansas City and needed to give it a try. This comes to us from a company called Blue Sun Bottling in Spring Lake, Minnesota. These folks have a series named State Fair Soda with some interesting flavors. Although this bottle is supposedly mini-doughnut flavored, the series also consists of chocolate chip cookies, rocket bomb pop, cotton candy, and kettle corn flavors. Hopefully, I'll be able to find each of these flavors to try in the future because they sound interesting. 

I really like the scent wafting from this bottle after opening. Mini Doughnut could be a number of different flavors since they come in a wide variety of options. The scent however makes me think of cinnamon sugar mini-doughnuts. It's a heavenly scent and now I'm wondering if the taste will be able to meet that. Mmm... it's not really cinnamon flavored, but tastes like freshly made cake doughnuts, without any real powder or frosting... much more like plain cake doughnuts with a slight buttery or fattiness. The taste is something else, very original and delicious. This would make a great dessert drink. 

Ale 81 Orange Cream

Ale 81 has traditionally been well known for their ginger ale-like soda, so I was a little taken aback when I learned they had released additional flavors for the first time around 2018. This orange cream was initially a limited edition release, but brought back as a permanent flavor to their line up. 

The bottle has a crisp carbonation release and presents the aroma of those orange cream sherbet push-pops that I always remember when I smell a nice orange cream soda. It does have a decent orange cream flavor, though it feels a tad weak. Frankly, for a bottle that reads "no artificial flavors" the finish of a swig tastes a bit chemical. So while I consider it a decent effort, in my opinion there are better orange cream sodas if that's the flavor you're after. 

Pepsi Mango

Now we move on to another flavor variation of Pepsi cola with this interesting mango blend. Some of these flavor combos fall flat on their face and I feel like after the years of Pepsi and Coca-Cola both releasing vanilla and lime versions, they both kind of went wild with flavor options. 

It definitely has a citrus rind scent. I would actually venture to say it's less like a refreshing smell and more of a musty smell... but then I can't recall having smelled mango outside of a mixed melon tray. As someone who doesn't eat a lot of melon, I find this drink interesting. It has a pleasant amount of carbonation, which I'm sure helps disseminate the fruit smell. The flavor of mango is strong and hits you right up front. There is still a cola taste but it follows at the end. I could see pairing this with breakfast, as just about any citrus or fruity soda goes well with breakfast dishes in my opinion. Overall it's quite flowery but not unlikeable. It's intriguing and one I'd recommend trying if possible. 

Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Soda

I picked up this generic bottle of soda on a trip to a soda shop in Kansas City. It's produced by Rocket Fizz, who also operate a chain of soda and candy stores in North America. 

I honestly always have pretty low expectations from these sort of novelty flavored bottles, particularly the more generically labeled ones. The soda itself has a bit of a cloudy light-brown color, while the scent of it gives me butterscotch vibes. The taste is very off-putting. I immediately get the taste of wet cardboard flushing through my mouth. Only the aftertaste, a few seconds after finishing a swig, gives the slight hint of peanut butter. I have to recommend steering clear of this soda unless you're very curious. 

Fanta ? #WhatTheFanta

A mysterious, radioactive blue option from the folks at Fanta comes to me in this bottle. A variety of Fanta flavors have graced the blog before but this is something unexpected in a mystery flavor. 

Unsealing the cap a strong whiff gives hints of both powdered sugar and something akin to the smell from a bottle of chewable vitamins. I think the flavor is like a blueberry/citrus-cream, though not very nice. Something about the Zero sugar sodas from Coca-Cola always taste off to me. After getting my own impression, I decided to search Twitter for the hashtag on the label... #WhatTheFanta and see that there are different colors available in different areas. I would think perhaps they used the same flavor but just colored them differently? One post mentioned rhubarb, and they might not be incorrect there. It's not forthcoming, but that combined with a cheap cream soda flavor could be a good description. In any case, its not a pleasant flavor in my opinion.

Jones Soda Sugar Cookie

Jones Soda strikes again with another Special Release flavor, this time in the form of Sugar Cookie. This is a bit fitting based on the taste of yesterday's selection. 

A frosty, powder blue color seems fitting for this drink. The scent coming from the bottle isn't that unlike the Coca-Cola Move reviewed yesterday, but there's also the tiniest dash of something that I can't quite place. Is it the smell of a buttercream frosting? It definitely smells like a sugar cookie with frosting on it. The taste on the other hand is almost citrus-like to me. There's something tangy taking over the front of it's flavor. The sugar cookie-like taste is hidden in the background only peeking out in a flash during the finish over the tongue. For that reason, I think this is a bit of a swing and a miss. It was a valiant effort, but the taste can't quite keep pace with the aroma. 

Coca-Cola Move

Following on the footsteps of some of their other recent flavors with mysterious sounding names, such as Dreamworld, I stumbled on this release a few weeks back. I had intended to review it then, when it was first released, but wasn't able to get around to it. There are many other Coca-Cola posts and flavors to be found on this blog as well. Move is a limited edition flavor with the tagline, "Transformation Flavored." So let's see what this flavor has to offer...

Immediately upon opening the lid I get a waft of powdered sugar, like that from biting into a sugar cookie, with a hint of vanilla. The taste does bring to mind a vanilla-like feeling, but it's delicate and slight... not at all like the heavy vanilla flavor of Coke Vanilla. I would even venture to say the finish is a little bit buttery in taste. It isn't at all like what I might have expected from Coca-Cola, but it's a pleasant flavor so would recommend trying a bottle if you can find it before its gone. 

Mountain Dew Ice

Another variation out of the lab at Mountain Dew. Labeled lemon-lime, it smells quite a lot like a typical lemon-lime soda, like you might expect from Sprite. There's a normal amount of carbonation for a two-liter bottle, but like many two-liters I find they often have less carbonation than smaller bottles and cans. With a word like 'ice' in the name I was expecting some of that frosty, almost lemon and mint, flavor many other beverages that use the term 'ice' have. Unfortunately, I'm not tasting that. It's a bit syrupy for my liking, but I expected stronger, bolder flavors from Mountain Dew and this particular bottle doesn't have it. I'd recommend skipping this one. 

Appalachian White Birch Beer

This soda comes from the Appalachian Brewing Company, a craft beer and soda brewer based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They operate several brew pubs in the state. They currently bottle five different soda flavors, but offer three more on tap at their locations. 

This bottle carries the smell of a fresh winter snow. Birch beers have a certain woodsy scent combined with that of a soft creaminess. The carbonation is just about right here. The thing I notice about the flavor is that the typical "birchiness" is kind of muted here and I taste a different kind of sweetness. Taking a look at the ingredients they list both cane sugar and honey. I wonder if that strange sweetness is imparted by the honey. Overall, I think this is an okay soda, but not great. I'll be interested to see if I can find any of their other flavors to try in the future. 

Sprite Winter Spiced Cranberry

Today I'm taking a taste of a Sprite varietal called Winter Spiced Cranberry. Yesterday's post delved into the history of Sprite, but like many sodas in the last several years, Sprite has introduced a host of flavor mash-ups under its brand name. 

While I rarely eat cranberries themselves, I do enjoy cranberry juice and the flavor of cranberry in other things so I have some high hopes for this one. This bottle has good carbonation but the scent is a little hard to place. I do smell the tiniest inkling of cranberry with a healthy whiff, but also some lemon. It's got a subtle flavor. The sides of my tongue pick up a tart berry flavor, but it feel more like a slight berry blend than straight cranberry. The rest gives me a cool winter-like feeling without being able to tell exactly what that flavor is, but reminds me of potpourri and not in an unpleasant way. Overall though, I think you might be better served just mixing actual cranberry juice with a bottle of regular Sprite and get more of that cranberry goodness.