Hippo Size Jumbo Root Beer

Orca Beverages, bottlers of many retro labels, also bottles this lineup of Hippo Size sodas in different flavors. Despite the name, the bottle is still a very normal 12 ounces. I don't really know what to say about this bottle... it's a very average root beer. There's a decent level of carbonation with a smooth root beer taste. I keep waiting for something else to punch up the finish but I'm not getting anything. It's probably just a basic line to fulfill some sort of regional soda customers. Not much I can add here. 

Oogave Root Beer

This is the second tasting for Oogave, an organic and caffeine free soda line using agave nectar as its sweetener. I'm picking up notes of cinnamon in the smell from the bottle. The actual flavor I get from this however, I feel is lacking. It's kind of like tasting that vegan alternative of one of your favorite foods... the basic gist is there, but somethings just off. It's actually a little bitter to me, but the one thing it has going for it is a lot of carbonation. I just think the flavor needs some work. 

Private Selection Irish Cream Soda

One more from Kroger's Private Selection label. This bottle has a nice vanilla smell to it. I would not say that this bottle is all that different to your standard cream sodas. I find it has a slightly more creamy flavor with a hint of vanilla and possibly the tiniest bit of mint hiding way in the back of the rich flavor profile. It's certainly tasty, probably the best flavor I've had from this label since most of the others are a bit out there. All in all, it's a tasty drink and I'd recommend as a nice after dinner dessert beverage.

Pepsi Wild Cherry

Just a short time ago I finally posted on classic Pepsi cola here. Now we come to Pepsi Wild Cherry... released in 1988, though for some reason I recall the novelty of tasting a Pepsi Cherry my mother brought back from Canada around or before that time that was not labeled "Wild". In any case, this was a catch-up effort three years after Coca-Cola had launched Cherry Coke in 1985. 

What I'm most excited about was that I was able to find this in a glass bottle. As mentioned in the original Pepsi post, it's much harder to find Pepsi in glass bottles than Coke products, though a lot of that is due to infiltration of so-called "Mexican Coke". So it was something of a small victory for me when I found this. 

Most of these well-known flavors from already popular brands don't really need a taste review since most people know what they taste like. This bottle has a light cherry scent, carried by heavy carbonation. The carbonation consists of pleasantly tiny bubbles, unlike some of the big bubbles you often get from soda fountains. It's been a long time since I tasted Pepsi Wild Cherry... and it's a more subtly cherry flavor than I remember, and I like it. 

Mountain Dew Black Label

With this can, we can close the door on the hat trick of the White Label, Green Label, and Black Label series from Mountain Dew. Seeing as Mountain Dew has not been shying away from experimenting with many different flavors as of late, I'm unsure why this three flavor series was packaged so differently. They list them as "crafted" as if they are attempting to attract a more artisanal customer with these, but the ingredients are nothing special. Maybe the tall-boy cans common among energy drinks is trying to straddle the line between the two?

The smell from the can is very faint, but a little bit like berry, which the can describes as the flavor. However, my mind keeps seeing this black can and almost wants it to be a black licorice flavor out of my sheer curiosity of what that might taste like in a soda. The drink is dark purple in color, and the taste is like a raspberry and blueberry lemonade. There is not a strong sour bite, but it does seem a tiny bit like lemon. Half way through the ingredients, orange juice concentrate is listed. This is probably what is adding that twinge of citrus flavor. I'd give this a middling grade. It's a decent drink but might benefit from more carbonation. It's a decent flavor to mix up your day if you're looking for something a little different. 

Boylan Shirley Temple

Legend has it that the child star of the 1930's was with her parents and annoyed at not being able to drink the same adult beverages they had, so the staff whipped up this drink to please her. Of course a classic Shirley Temple is a non-alcoholic drink that includes ginger ale with a splash of grenadine and lime. But there have been many adaptations, Some folks will just mix grenadine and sprite or 7-up and call it the same thing. Some recipes include lemon juice rather than lime, some are served with maraschino cherries and others aren't.

This particular soda does have an air of cherry to it. This soda may be the closest thing to that original description I've ever had. It does indeed taste of a light ginger taste and has a smooth grenadine essence. The finish is also just a touch sour. Traditional grenadine syrup was made from pomegranate, but some used in bars may also use cherries or be artificially flavored. Overall, not a bad soda. If they hadn't used cane sugar and instead used high-fructose corn syrup it would probably be too sugary. This edges right on that line. 

Private Selection Creamy Ginger Root Beer

The first Private Select soda I reviewed was way back in 2017. This is a private label of soda flavors from the Kroger grocery chain.

I find that it has plenty of carbonation. The bizarre thing to me, as I hold it under my nose, is the smell. It smells like a jar of Vick's VapoRub. Something about this combination of flavors has created a scent that makes my brain immediately imagine that oily mentholatum rub. The flavor is strange as well. When it hits my mouth I pick up the creamy sort of taste you'd expect from a cream soda. But it quickly switches to an aromatic blend of root beer and ginger. This after taste makes me think it isn't the cream flavoring but the unique mix of ginger and root beer providing that methol-like smell. I don't particularly care for the taste, but it's so uniquely bizarre. 

Hank's Gourmet Grape Soda

 

From Hank's Beverages is another flavor, following on the footsteps of a previous post on Hank's here. 

Always nice to hear a crisp release of pressure when cracking open a bottle. I'm getting a level of carbonation, which helps the flavor dance across the tongue. I'll say that I usually have high expectations of quality from anything called "gourmet", and really how "gourmet" can it be if it's in most of the stores of a huge grocery chain? The taste is grape, yes, but it's a taste that dies off quickly in your mouth and becomes more like raisin. You could do worse, but is it something I'm going to look forward to getting more of? No, not really. Its a middling grape soda. 

Mountain Dew Baja Gold

Another interesting flavor from Mountain Dew. This one, a bright yellow color, and named Baja Blast. 

This bottle has an intense sugary, candy-like odor. It's a very sweet pineapple flavor, but it's 'soda genealogy' as a descendant from Mountain Dew certainly lingers in the background. There's a tingly zest I can feel on the tongue which is reminiscent of classic Mountain Dew. Overall, I don't think it's terrible, but I tend not to want to finish drinks this cloying because they start to make me sick to my stomach after a bit. The label says, "Grab all the Baja flavors", but I didn't see any others at the store when I picked this up so I may have to hunt a little more to find them if they are still available. 

Mountain Dew Major Melon

 

We're on a roll with Mountain Dew flavor off-shoots, so here we are with Major Melon, branded as a Watermelon flavor variety. 

I won't say it doesn't smell like melon, it does... but it's sort of like a watermelon blended with a bit of berry. It does have a decent watermelon taste. As with many things cold and watermelon flavored it makes for a nice summer refresher. Again, I wish it had a little more carbonation, but I enjoy the artwork on the bottle and the color of the drink. 

Mountain Dew Flamin' Hot

Here we go again from Mountain Dew. Obviously I had to get this to review it, but I'm not a fan of spicy foods and drinks. I can't even imagine tasting Flamin' Hot Cheetos, yuck. I know that probably offends some of their fans out there who are probably pooping red from them as you read this. 

Well it doesn't smell much different than classic Mountain Dew. There's no taste of ginger or cinnamon, and I can't see an ingredient that spells out what they've added, but sure enough there's a heat that warms the through and back of the mouth from this. It kind of boggles my mind why anyone would enjoy drinking this even if you like spicy foods, but there it is. 

 

Mountain Dew Spark

 

Another one of many Mountain Dew derivatives, Spark is described on the bottle as a raspberry lemonade. 

It does have a fruity lemonade scent. Drinking it, I can say that there isn't very much raspberry in the flavor, just a very tiny hint. It tastes like a spiked Mountain Dew at the front. Once it washes to the back of the tongue I pick up that sort of sour lemonade flavor you expect from fresh squeezed. Overall, it isn't terrible, perhaps a bit too sweet like many of the flavors Mountain Dew has tried. I wish it had a bit more carbonation though.

1893 Original Cola from Pepsi

 

Here's the final flavor in the 1893 series I was able to get. Unfortunately the Black Currant Cola was not easy to locate. I imagine if they released this series at all in the UK it would have been a popular flavor there because there are a number of popular drinks with currant flavoring there. 

So this particular can describes a "dark brown malt flavor" as well as "a touch of aromatic bitters", both of which are already giving me some ideas of what to expect. Of the flavors in this 1893 series this one has that smell of Pepsi cola. I would not say it has a very malt-like taste. However, the bitters a very forward but not too strong. It does conjure an "old-world" feel to it. I think this would be a really nice permanent flavor. 

1893 Ginger Cola from Pepsi

 

Another selection from this 1893 series... 

This one has a very sharp aroma of ginger. A little like the smell of fresh cut cedar mixed with an antiseptic. It reminds of some very strong ginger beers I've had in the past. Though I often find ginger beers over powering the scent is enticing.

I would put the taste of this drink on par with a light ginger beer. As I've said, some ginger beers are very strong and leave your mouth burning. This one provides a little of that "heat" and is stronger than a ginger ale, but is lighter than those types of suffocating ginger beers. There's really almost no cola flavor though. If you wait long enough after a imbibing a mouthful the ginger starts to fade and the back of your tongue might pick up subtle notes of cola, but that's about it. So it's a strong one to be prepared for if you want to give it a try. 

1893 Citrus Cola from Pepsi

 

A little while ago Pepsi created a craft series of sodas named 1893. There were four flavors including Original Cola, Citrus Cola, Ginger Cola, and Black Currant Cola. This can of Citrus Cola contains the same number of calories, 150, as a can of classic Pepsi cola. 

I do find the packaging of this series very nice. An elegant touch in tall, slim cans for a craft experience. Interestingly, they chose orange for the color of this Citrus Cola can, which made me think it would be imbued with an orange flavor, but the can mentions grapefruit essence. I do quite like that the label states the ingredients are Fair Trade Certified though. Opening the can does reveal a grapefruit-like aroma. Though the can does not mention cane sugar, based on the softness of this I think it may in fact use cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. Cane sugar being far superior in my opinion and often, I find, giving a softer sweetness. What I like about this is how rounded the overall taste is. There is no overt cola flavor and yet the fruitiness is light and unassuming. You'd be forgiven for even believing this was a cola drink at all, let alone something from Pepsi. So far it has my endorsement and makes me look forward to some of the other flavors in this series. 

Coca-Cola Cinnamon

 

It only seemed fitting to review Coca-Cola Cinnamon after Pepsi Fire, which was Pepsi's attempt with cinnamon. 

The cinnamon scent is much weaker than expected upon opening. Is that because it is from a can rather than a bottle? I can't be sure, but could not locate this drink packaged in a bottle anywhere. Unlike Pepsi Fire, there is absolutely no heat felt from the cinnamon when tasting it. I immediately get a strong cinnamon taste as soon as it hits the front of my tongue. That cinnamon taste dissipates quickly though, and quickly tastes more like furniture polish. 

Mixed with some alcohol, it might be more popular in Nordic countries during the winter holidays since that reminds me just a little of the some of their more herb-like drinks.

Pepsi Fire

Now that I've finally got a post up on regular Pepsi, I can turn some attention to some of their interesting flavor combinations. 

Coke may have released a Coca-Cola Cinnamon flavor, but Pepsi was a little more inventive with their take on a cinnamon cola by naming theirs Pepsi Fire, invoking some of that heat that cinnamon can bring. Side note... unlike many spices and herbs used in food, cinnamon is actually the ground bark of a bushy evergreen tree grown in southeast Asia, primarily in Sri Lanka. It's a little humorous to me that these companies are now experimenting with cinnamon and cola. When I was a kid I would experiment with drink concoctions in our kitchen, often adding cinnamon. Though I do not think there is any actual cinnamon spice added to this, but probably more to do with some artificial flavors. 

It's got that sweet cinnamon scent I like. I don't actually feel any heat from this in my mouth. There's a tiny tingle well after taking a drink, but nothing like I would expect from something with Fire in its name. The more I drink of it I do get a little better sense for it and it grows a small bit. The smell and taste seem very reminiscent of an alcoholic beverage with ginger. In fact, I bet someone who enjoys a variety of cocktails or ginger beer would probably find this to be an adequate mixer. 

Pepsi Blue

Pepsi Blue was originally sold in the early 2000's but was re-released for a limited time last year when I tossed this bottle in the fridge. Thankfully, despite the plastic bottle it seems to have held its carbonization pressure just fine. Pepsi Blue is a "berry" flavored soda.

It smells of a blend of blueberry and raspberry. Having tasted a number of different berry flavored sodas over the years I can see why this flavor didn't last as anything more than a novelty. It's overly sugary to begin with, but the "berry" flavor rings both unnatural but too front forward as well. It probably doesn't help matters that human brains aren't readily prepared for foods that are such a shade of blue outside of some candies for kids. 

Mountain Dew Dew.S.A

 

This Dew.S.A flavor, was a sort of summer celebration flavor marketed as a mix of three of their spin off flavors, namely Code Red, White Out, and Voltage... a blend of red, white, and blue. 

This blended drink turns out to have a berry-like smell, while the purple color makes you think more along the lines of a grape. The actual taste does feel like a mix of the mentioned flavors rather than a totally new drink. I might even imagine if a kid at a soda fountain filled their cup with each of those it would probably taste a lot like this. I was struggling for a bit with how to describe this but I think the best way to explain this flavor is like if you had a blueberry and raspberry sno-cone and drank the last of the syrup at the bottom of the cone, very sugary. 

Aaaannnndd... now I'm seeing that I actually posted about this flavor once before. Reviewing my previous post is interesting because I think I came about pretty much the same conclusion each time. I'll try not to make this mistake again. 

Jones Soda Crushed Melon

Jones makes a splashy return to the blog with another special release flavor, this time in the form of Crushed Melon, no mention of what kind of melon. The first Jones appearance was back in 2010 with this entry. 

This one gives the aroma of a ripe, overly sugary, cantaloupe. There's plenty of carbonation. It might be the citric acid in the drink, but I get a sharper taste on the back of the tongue that I don't usually get from drinks with cane sugar, even the citrus flavored ones. It's not an unpleasant drink. I think most folks might tire of the flavor by the end of a bottle. This is another flavor I think should have been seen on shelves at the beginning of the summer rather than appearing at the end of the season. Give it a try if you come across a bottle. 

Sipp Sparkling Summer Pear

Sipp does not have a long or detailed history, but had some interesting flavor combinations released a little while ago. It seems they have already shifted their brand, as only three new flavors are now shown on their website and all in cans rather than glass bottles. They offer organic beverages, this one sweetened with agave. 

While this bottle is labeled Sparkling Summer Pear, they also mention green tea and honey. My guess, prior to opening, is this will taste more like a tonic water with very light flavoring. There's a strange scent coming from the bottle upon opening that is hard to place. The smell of tea leaves is definitely hidden in that scent if you give it a few deep whiffs. The taste is quite noxious to me however. The taste of green tea is overwhelming and there is nothing pear-like. As I'm not a tea drinker I find this taste unappealing and won't finish the bottle. 

Crystal Pepsi

 

The infamous Crystal Pepsi. Originally a short-lived marketing effort from Pepsi in the early 1990's (1992-1994) competing with other clear and lighter colored soft drinks like Clearly Canadian. Caramel coloring was added after all, but the clear color was thought to also give an appearance of a "healthier" alternative at a time when consumers were paying more attention to such things. This actually prompted a Clear Tab from Coke as a rebuttal. 

Crystal Pepsi would eventually fail to win much favor, and was discontinued, but it entered the zeitgeist, capturing the imaginations of young millennials in no small part due to advertising and comedic parodies of the product. In the middle of the 2010's a limited re-release of the product appeared and went just as quickly. 

Sadly, while I may have found this bottle, it's too old to be any good. The carbonation is gone and it tastes much more like flat Sprite than a Pepsi cola. 

Pepsi Cola

Long overdue, I'd been putting off this post just because I know the drinks that have been around longer have more history to cover, not out of any sort of preference. In fact, I sit firmly on the fence between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. A lot of people have hard stances one way or the other, but I find them equally enjoyable as regular colas. I have stronger opinions though when comparing Diet Coke to Diet Pepsi, or Caffeine Free Diet Coke to Diet Caffeine Free Pepsi. 

I've discussed in the past that the birth place of many sodas were in local drugstores, and Pepsi is right in there too. Caleb Bradham, of New Bern, North Carolina, was creating his own cola concoction at the end of the 1800's. In 1893 it was first known as "Brad's Drink". Did he think "Bradham's Drink" was too much of a mouthful? The name changed five years later, when in 1898 it became known as Pepsi-Cola. The popularity of the drink grew, but Pepsi-Cola fell on hard times after World War I due to the cost of sugar. The brand would trade hands to Charles Guth in 1931. Guth hired someone to improve the recipe, and as it so happened was the president of the Loft, Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of candy in the 1920's. Loft had a chain of Happiness Candy retail stores with soda fountains in them. Guth used his new Pepsi-Cola acquisition to replace Coca-Cola in the candy stores. In 1941, the previously separate Pepsi-Cola Company, merged with Loft under the Pepsi-Cola Company name. The current landscape of food and beverage might look very different had Coca-Cola purchased Pepsi-Cola on one of the many occasions they reportedly had to do so in the 1920's and 30's. 

In 1961, the name of the drink was shortened to simply, Pepsi, and then the Pepsi-Cola Company merged with snack maker Frito-Lay in 1965 to become just PepsiCo. Pepsi would go on to create a number of unique ad campaigns, most-notably they kicked of the Cola Wars of the 1980's with the Pepsi Challenge, a guerilla marketing effort based on blind taste tests showing people preferred Pepsi to Coke and later leading to the debacle of New Coke from Coca-Cola. Today Pepsi's beverages place second in market share to Coca-Cola, combining for 30% of soft drinks globally. 

It's fairly difficult to find Pepsi in a glass bottle. As you should know by know I prefer soda in a bottle if possible. Unfortunately, the particular curves of this bottle needs a cloth to pick up the drips like you'd use on a wine bottle. This particular bottle tastes of a little more cinnamon than you normally expect from a new can of Pepsi. Otherwise, I think everyone knows what Pepsi tastes like so I'll skip over other details. 

Diet Coke Feisty Cherry

 

The last flavor I have from this series from Diet Coke is this can of Feisty Cherry. 

Now, I like the deep black cherry aroma from opening this can. It's much nicer than the smell from the others in this series. I had high hopes from the smell, but it's another fail for me. Weak on the cherry flavoring, and the artificial sweetener leaves a bitter flavor. Similar to the Zesty Mango, there's a spice that brings up the rear. Not a fan of this one or the others in this series. 

Diet Coke Ginger Lime

 

Another selection from this series from Diet Coke is this Ginger Lime flavor. Based on the last couple posts, I'm expecting a sharp lime taste with a trailing heat of ginger following. 

The can offers tiny whiff of lime, but very little scent otherwise. Now, I'm surprise by how weak the flavor actually is. This takes a departure from the last two flavors I've tasted in this series. There's a very weak cola flavor, like that of a coke that was finished and all the ice in the glass melted... but with the hint of a slice of lime in the glass. I find it underwhelming. Overall, this series of drinks seems more like Diet Coke trying to offer a competitor for all the flavored seltzer waters on the market. But I find them lacking. 

Coca-Cola Dreamworld

 

I found this yesterday at the grocery store. My first impression when walking by was that it was just another limited edition bottle design, but then I noticed it says "Dream Flavored". I have no idea if that's some stupid marketing thing or if they've actually done anything to the flavor so of course I had to pick up a bottle. 

Right off the bat I could smell something different. Taking in a big whiff, at first I though bubble gum, but no, it's more like melon. Now I'm not a big melon eater so I'm not exactly sure what melon this is I'm tasting... cantaloupe maybe, or perhaps honeydew? It's not a bad flavor combination to be honest. I think it would have been better released during the summer, perfect to drink at the State Fair. As it is September now, most of the State Fairs have ended and this flavor profile doesn't conjure autumn in my mind. Nevertheless, I'd recommend giving this a try. 

Diet Coke Zesty Blood Orange

Next, in this series of flavors from Diet Coke is this Zesty Blood Orange. I've liked a number of Blood Orange sodas over the years, though I'm not sure I've ever had one blended with cola. 

Unlike the Twisted Mango, this can presents a sharp orange scent. There's really no cola flavor present as it's overwhelmingly orange in flavor, though somehow thinner than traditional orange soda. I wasn't sure what they meant by "zesty" but trailing the aftertaste you do pick up a little spice in the back of the throat. It's not heat, but more like a tingle you might get from trying an exotic pastry.

Diet Coke Twisted Mango

 

Diet Coke has experimented with a few flavors over the last few years and I've gathered some interesting offerings to try, starting with Twisted Mango.

This has a strange flavor to it and very little scent at all. I was expecting something closer to a melon-like taste, but it's like tasting a carbonated vegetable. The flavor is almost like that of green stalks than that of a sweet fruit. I don't find this pleasant. 

Fest Pecan Root Beer

I don't recall where I picked up this bottle from Fest. They are supposedly a company out of New Orleans, but their domain (festcola.com) seems to be vacant at the present time, so I'm not sure if they are still bottling or not. Their Instagram and Twitter accounts are still up, but as of today, neither has had any new posts since 2019, so that does not bode well. Unfortunately, that means I may never get to taste some of their other flavors such as Peach Ginger Ale or Almond Cola. What drew me to this bottle was the styling. The font and swooping parallel lines give me a 1970's aesthetic. 

The soda has a rich golden brown color, not as dark as a typical root beer. It's smell is not just nutty, but earthy, almost smoky. The flavor is complex, almost bourbon-like with the slightest hint of caramel. It has a decent amount of carbonation, but I think it's right. Too much carbonation can sometimes make a soda a bit sharp and distract from the flavor. I can appreciate the use of cane sugar as well, which as I've mention in previous posts provides a softer, more "round" sweetness than corn syrup or artificial sweeteners. Just half way through this bottle and it's won me over and makes me a bit disheartened about the possibility of not being able to try their other flavors. Kudos to the folks that created this recipe. 

Dry Vanilla Bean

I've featured some other flavors from Dry Soda on this blog before, such as their Juniper flavor here. 

A crisp hiss of pressure when twisting the cap releases a bright smell of vanilla. While this has a wisp of vanilla on the front end of a sip, it's followed by a more chemical taste like a seltzer that I don't particularly find enjoyable. This is a noticeable trend to me among the Dry Sodas in that they are not exactly in the realm of other sodas, but very specialized to a niche drinker or someone looking to use them for meal preparation purposes. I've got another flavor from Dry to review soon, but expecting I'll probably feel the same way.

Mountain Dew White Label

Mountain Dew continues its exploration of flavors with this White Label flavor blended with a citrus flavor. This flavor was released in the same time period as their Black Label and Green Label. History on the original Mountain Dew can be found in this previous post. 

It has a grapefruit-like aroma when opening. The flavor is like that of a blend of Fresca and Squirt, not unpleasant to me at all, albeit with more caffeine. Interestingly it lists white grape juice high on the list of ingredients. I think the carbonation level is just right. One of the thinks that strikes me though about this drink is the beauty of the matte white can.