100 Flavor Fountain Machine

I just returned from lunch and was excited to finally use one of these machines. I had heard about this a few years ago but had not encountered one in person until today at one of the franchise locations of the regional deli chain Mr. Goodcents.

These machines operate similar to a printer in that they store several cartridges, which are filled with flavored syrups rather than printer dyes. A computer lets you choose from a multitude of flavor varieties, some of which are not found anywhere else, like Grape Sprite. They can do this because the computer mixes the flavor syrups only as needed instead of in mass batches like the familiar soda fountain "bag-in-a-box" concept which is a large bladder of one flavored syrup a standard soda fountain just mixes with soda water at the time it's pressed.

I of course opted to chose a variety of flavor I had not had before, Raspberry Coke. It was a nice change up. The raspberry flavor remained true to the fruit taste, however I felt it the mixture was too heavy on the raspberry. Because I could almost not taste the Coke, it could have easily been just a raspberry soda. I'll have to try the orange cola next time. This machine will probably keep me coming back to that location for some time simply for the novelty of some new flavors.

Jarritos Mandarin

Jarritos was founded by Don Francisco Hill in 1950 in Mexico City. It was not sold in the US until 1989 and of course is popular with US Latino customers. 

This mandarin soda is quite clean, and refreshing with a natural mandarin flavoring. It's well carbonated but not bubbly when sitting still. Although it's made with actual sugar instead of corn-syrup, I think they could stand to include some caffeine. All in all, it's an enjoyable drink but not memorable. 

SodaVie Mojito

SodaVie is the result of the combined efforts of Sean Henry and Benjamin Topel of Get Real Food and was released to the local Kansas City market in 2010. Benjamin was looking to brew some classic sodas and found a few formulas which were refined with Sean's input. Made in the kitchen of Big City Dogs, these sodas are brewed in small, hand-crafted batches. Just like traditional sodas, the carbonation is a byproduct of fermentation and so is very similar to producing beer. 

In my opinion, one of the great draws of this brand is the old-style bottling, with beautiful indigo glass. Aside from an old stand-by flavor of ginger beer, the offerings from these two sound more like cooking ingredients than sodas. Other flavors I have yet to try are citrus chili, thai basil clove, strawberry lavender, pineapple cilantro, and strawberry mint, blueberry tarragon, as well as seasonal flavors honey apple and spiced apple.

Now, truth be told I have had this bottle stashed in the back of my fridge for a year because I had hoped to try an honest to goodness mojito first for a comparison. Alas, I'm not much of a drinker, hence why I have never tasted one, and so still have not tried one but felt the need to move on and get this thing out of there. So the fact that it is now a year past the "drink by" date on the bottle and the fact that the carbonation is a natural byproduct of it's fermentation would explain why it burst out with a force greater than any champagne bottle I've ever seen. But what a show it was! It also released a lovely aroma in the kitchen. The smell was like lime and mixed with a hint of yeast. A peek inside the dark blue glass bottle also showed a couple of whole mint leaves floating about. It actually tastes as though it was a hand-mixed drink from a bartender. It has robust weight to it, but the flavor is mild and finishes cleanly. I can honestly say I've never had anything like it. It would pair wonderfully with a nice fat pork or chicken burrito, which is fitting since the mojito is originally a latin american beverage. Cheers for now and if you are in the Kansas City area look for one of the very few niche locations to pick one of these bottles up.

Jones Soda Fufu Berry

This is the third Jones soda tasted for this blog, so see my earlier post here, for more about the history of Jones Soda. 

Right off the top it's got a higher than average amount of carbonation and the pleasant aroma of strawberry jello. It also taste like jello. It reminds me of a mix of strawberry and raspberry jello. I've had Jones soda's prior to beginning this blog and never really found any of their drinks enjoyable. Thanks to Fufu Berry I can say that stretch is over because I like this bottle and might even try it with vodka someday. 

Thomas Kemper Orange Cream

Thomas Kemper Brewing began in 1985 as a microbrew company in Washington. In 1990, the company created a hand-crafted root beer for their annual Oktoberfest. In 1992, the beer business was sold off, but Thomas Kemper Sodas is later also bought by the same company, Pyramid Breweries. In 2007, Thomas Kemper Sodas is made independent again when it is purchased away from Pyramid. 

Thomas Kemper Sodas introduced their orange cream flavor in 1997. The bottle carries a delicious push-up popsicle smell. It has a very pleasing flavor. It's rich and sweet, but is thick. Not thick in a syrupy sense but with a heaviness I would pair with something like a heavy omelet. 

Cherry Ski

Unfortunately I have never found Cherry Ski in a glass bottle like it's namesake Ski, which I have previously discussed here. 

It hasn't got much of a scent at all but is adequately carbonated. I like Ski and thankfully, they brought the Ski citrus blend to the table with this drink and added the cherry flavoring to top it off. It's sweet like cherries and tart like grapefruit all at once. A good drink I'll recommend tasting. 

HeySong Sarsaparilla

Today's HeySong Corp. began with a man by the name of Wen-Chi Chang. He and several of his cousins created the Jian Hsin Corporation in 1925 to buy an existing beverage manufacturer in Taiwan. At the time Taiwan was under Japanese control, and so they bought Japanese brand Nikoniko. For several years they made sodas under various names. They created the HeySong brand for HeySong Soda, released in 1931. HeySong Sarsaparilla did not come about until 1950. In 1959, they installed the first neon sign in Taiwan at the Chiayl Rail Station. The company would later change it's name to HeySong in 1970 recognizing the popular brand. In 1984, they suffered a major blow when a massive recall was made due to concerns around safrole, which is banned by the FDA. This is why all modern root beer/sarsaparilla use artificial flavorings. 

When cracking open a can it smells like minty candy; sweet, but with a minty overtone. It has a very odd flavor to it. The "rooty" flavor a westerner is accustomed to with, say, an A&W or Barq's is very faint. There is also a minty taste in it as if someone accidentally poured barbicide or a touch of Scope into it. I find it to be a very strange flavor, however popular it may be in asia. I had higher hopes for this when I discovered it but won't be indulging in it again anytime soon. I could not even think of a meal it might pair well with. My bottom line is that you should probably let it be unless you're simply too curious. 

World Market Orange Passion Mango

This is another in a string of sodas made and sold at World Market. You can read up on the Blood Orange review here.

A crisp orange and mango scent accompanies this bottle on opening. What I enjoy about these sodas from World Market is that they are all natural, made with real fruit and containing actual pulp. They are very refreshing and terrific for a breakfast or early morning snack. This particular flavor is a healthy combination of fruit flavors with one not over powering the other. It would even make a nice mimosa variation if one so desired. The carbonation is low enough to make you forget you're drinking a soda but just enough to tingle the mouth. 

Crush Lime

This is the second appearance of a Crush brand soda on this blog. You can see more about the history of Crush on my earlier entry here. 

I'm excited to try this bottle because not many lime flavored sodas are on the market. For some reason the bright green color is giving me a psychological impression that it will be thirst quenching, but we all know that's the role. It has a fair level of carbonation and a quaff similar to Green River. The flavor settles nicely on the tongue and comes close to that lime found in Green River, if only a tad shallower which really hits once it touches the back of my tongue. I find many fruit inspired sodas overly sugary but this is nice. I could drink this while hiking through a city or with a burger.

Mizuho Mango Flavor Ramune

Here's a bottle of mango ramune I found a local asian supermarket. This is sort of an off-brand variety or the popular Japanese beverages in the distinctive Codd bottles. Read more about the bottle on my earlier post, here.

It has a distinctive melon tang to it, again it appears the Japanese markets prefer a taste more natural to the real fruit than the American counter part market which seems to go for sickeningly sugary beverages. As someone who loves gadgets and machinery, I still get a joy from opening these bottles. As expected from an knock-off brand of drink however it has that lingering chemical tinge to it I do not enjoy. 

Big Peach

Big Peach was released to the market in 1994 by Big Red. 

Although they've tried to evoke the flavor of peach in the artificial coloring, it's got a pink/orange hue. In my opinion they would be closer to a natural coloring by giving it a yellowish coloring instead. The scent is  a closer approximation to the real thing. It's a strange flavor combination to me. I think it's too sugary and tastes most like the peach skin than the inner fruit. I could at least understand some people enjoying this drink, particularly in the south where peaches reside. In regards to my own opinion of this however, I'm giving it a thumbs down. 

Doctor Dublin

There is practically nothing out there about this imitation version of Dr Pepper. But it appears to be bottled by a Dublin, Texas bottler who wished provide a drink closer to the original formula of Dr Pepper than it's current incarnation. 

Once the cap has been removed it brings the scent of a cherry cola to mind. The flavoring is less sharp than standard Dr Pepper which today is primarily made with high-fructose corn syrup. This is something I have discovered time and time again, in that sodas made with cane sugar have a smoother sweetness and less acerbic bite to the tongue. It has a cherry overtone with a slight chocolatey finish at the back of the tongue. I'm not going to judge this against Dr Pepper, but on it's own accord. On it's own I find this to be a pleasurable soda and a perfectly acceptable alternative to other "spiced" sodas.

Mountain Dew SuperNova/Pitch Black

Today I'm sampling two variants of Mountain Dew. 

Mountain Dew Pitch Black was released as a limited edition in 2004 for Halloween, but re-released in 2011. It has a candy-sweet grape aroma... sweeter smelling than a plain grape soda. The label states it has a blast of black grape. I've heard of black cherries, but not black grapes. However, it is a dense grape taste very much like the difference between cherry and black cherry. I quite like it, and think it great for a Halloween party. 

Mountain Dew SuperNova was originally released as a limited edition in 2008, and also re-released in 2011. Strangely, this soda comes with a touch of ginseng added in. What their intentions were with the ginseng I don't know. It has a translucent purple coloring of a gummy worm and actually smells like a fresh gummy worm too. Now the label says its a strawberry melon flavor. The strawberry is very hard to detect, it's much more citrusy flavored and does remind me of those gummy worms I used to enjoy as a kid. It's not a bad flavor but one I would only drink a little of on any occasion.

Mountain Dew White Out

In 2007, Mountain Dew, began a promotion known as DEWmocracy, in which they introduced three limited edition flavor variants for which the general public could vote on becoming a permanent addition to the Mountain Dew family. The campaign was considered a success and so DEWmocracy 2 was released in 2009. Mountain Dew White Out was the winner from the second campaign.

The smell of this soda has the faint hint of grape, and indeed, it has the taste of shaved snow cone ice with that slight grape finish. I don't think it's a bad drink, but the flavor is so lacking to me that it's sort of like drinking unflavored sugar water. I did not partake in DEWmocracy 2, but the other options must have been pretty bad to lose to a flavor that lacks so much flavor.

Mountain Dew

Ally and Barney Hartman, brothers who ran a bottling company in Knoxville, TN, starting making a lithiated lemon-lime mixer for their hard liquor. They called it Mountain Dew after a term used for moonshine. In 1946 they meet Charlie Gordon of Tri-City Beverage at a convention in Gatlinburg, TN and he begins selling Mountain Dew in 1955. By this time the brand was co-owned by Tri-City Beverage and The Tip Corp. In 1960 the original flavor of the drink was altered by adding orange flavoring into mix, more sugar was added to the formula as well. During this period Mountain Dew competed with a similar drink by Pepsi Co. called Teem, but in 1962 Pepsi Co. began licensing Mountain Dew for bottling. Pepsi Co. went on to gain ownership shortly after and has remained under Pepsi Co.'s guardianship ever since.

Seen here are two bottles recently purchased. In 2008, Mountain Dew's name was shortened to simply, Mtn Dew. Although the formula has contained high-fructose corn syrup for many years, Mountain Dew Throwback was introduced in 2009 with sugar replacing the standard corn syrup. Originally, the Throwback variant was intended to be a limited release but has seen multiple short production releases since it's initial introduction. The label also features some of the earlier artwork from the brand.

Mountain Dew has never been massively infused with carbonation, nevertheless it is on par with many large production sodas, particularly those found in plastic bottles which are permeable to air over extended periods of time. Mountain Dew's flavor is a unique blend of citrus flavors with what I believe is lead by grapefruit and touched with others. Interestingly enough, I do pick up a slight difference between the standard offering and the Throwback formula. The real sugar seems to give a smoother edge to the sweetness in the drink, while the regular formula has a hint of acrid sharpness to the sweet flavor. If you can find a bottle of Throwback try a blind taste test yourself and see if you agree?