Poppi Cherry Limeade

Next up from Poppi is this can of Cherry Limeade. This particular can also lists agave inulin among the ingredients which makes me wonder a bit why this is included in some flavors but not others. Once again, they've nailed the scent... but what about the taste? Strangely, this flavor is better than the others I've tried so far from Poppi. It's not great mind you, but it's at least approaching the flavor it's labeled and drinkable. The cherry flavoring isn't very strong though. I find cherry up front but it dissipates quickly leaving a limeade-like aftertaste. As mentioned, it's an improvement from the previous flavors tasted, but I'm questioning the taste buds of the celebrities endorsing this product. The best thing this can has going for it is the colors and finish. That deep red with eggshell finish paired with a bright yellow-green makes an attractive combination.

Poppi Grape

Noticeably, this can contains agave inulin in addition to several of the previously listed ingredients found in Poppi. I can say that the delicious grape soda smell emanating from this can after the scent that came from my previous taste of Poppi tells me that they can nail an attractive scent. By scent alone you might mistake this for any regular grape soda on the supermarket shelf. But once again, the flavor is not nice. It's very astringent and tastes nothing like grape soda in my opinion. 

Poppi Strawberry Lemon

Poppi began in 2018 under the name 'Mother', founded by Stephen and Allison Ellsworth. After securing venture capital investment Mother underwent a rebrand to Poppi. Aside from a stint on Shark Tank they've secured endorsements from several celebrities whilst gaining shelf space in practically every grocery store I visit. I've recently picked up a few flavors from Poppi to give a try. Poppi contains apple cider vinegar, which contains acetic acid prebiotics and supports probiotic growth and is sweetened with stevia and cane sugar. 

I like the scent from this can. It's very much like fresh sliced strawberries. Unfortunately, the taste isn't very pleasant to me. While I'm picking up the lemon, the primary taste I get is more "green", sort of like chewing on the green leafy part of a strawberry top that wasn't removed. After this passes I'm just left with a bitter lemon juice flavor in the mouth. So... not a great first experience.

Olipop Dr. Goodwin

The next Olipop up for tasting is this supposed knock-off of Dr Pepper. Everyone that tries to make a Pepper knock-off seems to stick to the "Dr" theme. In this case, they've used the name of one of the founders, Ben Goodwin. Unlike their cola offering this one at least smells a little like a Dr Pepper, if not a little more floral. And... as a gulp down a swig, it tastes floral too. It's like chewing on potpourri with a little cherry added in, but nothing like Dr Pepper. Also unlike their cola flavor this one at least grows on me a little with each sip starts to take on a taste of medicinal candy bottlecaps. This can has an extra gram of sugar over their cola and steps up to 45 calories per serving, but the taste a decent trade off over their cola. 

Olipop Vintage Cola

Olipop was founded in 2018 by Ben Goodwin and David Lester, who had sold their previous venture with an probiotic soda called Obi. Olipop is a prebiotic, so I guess they chose make a change with their new soda. The prebiotic ingredients used include cassava root fiber, chicory root inulin, Jerusalem artichoke inulin, nopal cactus, marshmallow root, calendula flower, and kudzu root. I'm always a bit skeptical about claims of "miracle health products" and maybe rightly so when I find that Gwyneth Paltrow was an early investor since I've heard of many of the bizarre claims made from her Goop brand. It seems there have been some recent lawsuits against multiple brands of these prebiotic sodas suggesting that the health benefits they promote can't be achieved with the small amount of inulin they include. However, if nothing else, I've taken note that a single serving (12oz. can) is listed at just 35 calories with a grand total of 16g of sugars and is low in sodium... all improvements over your standard, big name sodas. Jonathan Limehouse author of USA Today's recent article, provides a good summation of this...

"Dietitians agree that Poppi, Olipop, Culture Pop and other prebiotic sodas are healthier options compared to traditional soft drinks, but they are weary about how beneficial these brightly colored canned alternatives really are due to their lack of effect on gut health. Coke, Sprite and other common sodas have "tons of added sugar" and are "pretty calorically dense," which is the opposite of most prebiotic sodas on the market, Jessica Alfano, a clinical dietitian at Huntington Hospital in New York, told USA TODAY on Thursday during a phone interview."

But since I'm really more about seeing what sodas taste like, let me crack open a can of this cola flavored option from Olipop. Cracking open the can gives a light cola scent, but also a scent similar to some of the sodas I've has using tea as an ingredient and I wonder if a little of the chicory isn't in that smell as well. After taking a first swig, I'm super unimpressed. It has a taste that reminds me of making pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread... a mix of canned pumpkin, flour, and granulated sugar. I would not classify this flavor as cola. Even with the low sodium listed as I drink it there's a bit of a salty tasting finish. All in all, I'm not enjoying it and still have at least one other flavor waiting for me in the fridge. Regardless of the gut health claims, it's a healthier option than regular soda so if you can handle the taste, or maybe let it grow on you, then it seems a decent alternative.

Gut Health Sodas - What are they?

There's been a lot of marketing, and growth of store shelf space, the last few years by a variety of drinks, including sodas, labeled "prebiotic" and "probiotic" With the growth of the kombucha trend also came probiotic yogurts, and pre- and probiotic sodas and teas. It's probably time I review at least a few of these but before that I thought I'd discuss... What's the difference between prebiotic and probiotic drinks?

Both prebiotics and probiotics are aimed at improving your gut biome, which supposedly provides the benefit of enhancing your digestion and immune system. 

Probiotics contain live bacteria to aid in food digestion and provide vitamins. The human digestive system contains so-called "good" bacteria like these that replicate and grow to continue helping you but the health of this bacterial biome can be damaged. Ingesting probiotics is designed to help bolter the health of this biome by replenishing their numbers.

Prebiotics, on the other hand, contain fiber with carbohydrates that feed the "good" bacteria in your digestive system. The fatty acids that result from the bacteria breaking down these carbohydrates purportedly help with bowel movements, controlling blood sugar, and absorbing minerals and vitamins. So the general idea is that prebiotics feed your bacteria and help to keep them healthy, while probiotics replenish their ranks. 

Sprite Ginger

Sprite Ginger has been discontinued, but I feel it's death was premature. I think it was a bit a of an early foray leading up to Sprite's more recent limited edition flavors. One can contains 34g of sugars and 130 calories. 

The drink has the same level of carbonation you'd expect from regular Sprite, which is to say an ample amount. The reason I think its death was premature was that I think it's a good soda. It makes a good compromise between the sweeter lemon-lime and a ginger ale. As a fan of ginger ale I might be a bit biased in that regard. All in all I hope they'll re-release this flavor in the future. 

Fentimans Pink Ginger

It's been too long since I've partaken of Fentimans. If you haven't read my previous posts, they can be found here. I like their products and the old fashioned style they adhere to.

The aroma of this bottle is ginger heavy when opening. I thought this might be a little more like pink lemonade, but the scent is giving me ginger beer vibes. It has nice carbonation, but it has no real pink lemonade flavor and only a tiny hint of citrus. The ginger wins over everything else in this drink and if you've not had ginger beer before, the ginger is heavier than in ginger ales. I enjoy a lot of ginger ale, but don't like ginger beers. At best I have found one or two that were tolerable. This one isn't so harsh that the ginger burns the palate but I think makes a better mixer than a drinkable soda. 

Coca-Cola Spiced

I bought this bottle a few weeks ago holding onto it for a bit because I wasn't sure if I'd like it. But being on a recent tear of reviews its the perfect time to crack it open. The scent is unique. I bit cinnamon-like, but there's also this sort of liniment or medicine quality to it. Sniffing it a little longer brings out more cinnamon and pine... reminiscent of the potpourri in a christmas shop. Tasting gives me more of a mixed berry flavor than raspberry as they indicate on the label. Of course there's a complete lack of any indication of what's in it based off reading the label... Coca-Cola gets a wide berth in this realm in the interest of protecting their sacred recipe so all we get is "natural flavors" as an ingredient. It's decidedly less berry flavored than I'd expected and based on the correlations the flavors spark with the holidays its interesting they launched it mid-year rather than towards the holiday season. It also makes me curious if serving it warm would kindle something like some of the European julmust beverages or mulled wine. I may have to try that later with an extra bottle. I think it's a better overall tasting drink than many of the other limited edition flavor released Coca-Cola has had the last couple of years. 

Stubborn Orange Hibiscus

Another bottle of the Stubborn brand. I'm picking up more of a ginger scent from this bottle than orange. The carbonation is good, but I really don't pick up orange flavor. It's citrus-y but closer to lemon than orange. Hibiscus is supposedly tart and floral, which I sorta of get. There's an obvious sourness to this soda but I'm just not getting anything I would call floral. Depending on the area it hits on the tongue it feels like a muted ginger combined with citrus. 

Spring Grove Soda Pop Black Cherry

This marks the second Spring Grove soda for the blog, the first being their Lemon Sour. It seems to be pretty hard to screw up a Black Cherry soda and they're so tasty its a wonder they aren't everywhere. This bottle is chock full of carbonation. While it opened normally, the first knock back of a sip caused it to nearly overflow as the carbonation riled it up. I think the fact they use cane sugar seems to come through in the taste... very similar sense as tasting a fingerful of granulated sugar. It has an expected black cherry flavor, though there's an odd quality about it. It's almost a chalkiness. I don't know if it's caused by their water source or something particular about the flavoring. As if to totally throw my earlier words back in my face, this is quite an average black cherry soda. There are plenty of better ones to choose instead. 

Sprite Lymonade

This seldom seen flavor from Sprite is purportedly still lemon-lime, but mixed with lemonade. It states that is contains "1% real juice"... which sounds paltry, but lemon juice can be strong so I'm curious how discernable the taste difference is. 

When I first opened it I smelled like plain old Sprite. But after a moment that scent was gone and now it only smells like lemon juice. It's also noticeably cloudier than standard Sprite. Tasting it, I'd say it's not that different from regular Sprite. There is a pinch of that sour lemonade taste, but it's sort of dull. Personally, I feel it needs more lemon juice.

Dublin 1891 Grapefruit

Recently, I covered the history of Dublin Bottling Works and I've got a few other Dublin sodas to work my way through. There aren't tons of grapefruit sodas out there, but I take a liking to many grapefruit and grapefruit/citrus fruit mixes like Ski, Fresca, etc. so I'm hoping this will be in the same vein and I'll like it. 

It has a light citrus aroma and I like the carbonation. Taking a few draws on the bottle I find it has a sort of musty flavor to it. It's certainly grapefruit, which I mostly feel in the middle of a tasting. At the front its less flavorful... a moment later the grapefruit kicks in, but then there's a lingering finish like the stale air of an attic mixed with a just a touch of stale, cheap baseball card bubblegum. Despite this strange finish, I've found I'm already through half the bottle just because I enjoy the bite from the grapefruit. The combination of the two however would leave me rating this as a sort of average soda in the realm of citrus-based drinks. 

Mtn Dew Star Spangled Splash

A 4th of July themed Mtn Dew flavor release, this is labeled as a "red berry." Like the previous few Mtn Dew choices it contains a load of sugar, a full 72g per bottle or 144% of the daily recommended intake.

I'm starting to find that all these Mtn Dew varieties just sort of run together. The smell and taste of them are all just varying degrees of each other. This one is a tad more fruit punch, pretty similar to the smell of Hawaiian Punch mixed with Mtn Dew's Code Red. It has loads of carbonation but the flavor is quite generic and candy-like. Being Mtn Dew and the height of the summer, I'm sure they'll sell plenty but I think it's kind of boring, particularly side by side with other Mtn Dew limited edition varieties. 

Fitz's Voodew

Based on the play on words, it seems apt that this is Fitz's approximation of Mountain Dew (Mtn Dew). I don't find that it's terribly well carbonated, but it doesn't quite match the zip that Mtn Dew, if that's what they were aiming for. It's more lime than Mtn Dew but with an almost clinical feeling as if I'm drinking it from a stainless steel pot rather than a glass bottle. But I think if they tripled the amount of sugar and added more carbonation it would come closer to Mtn Dew. 

Dublin Tart -N- Sweet Lemonade

Another bottle from Dublin Bottling Works. This bottle has a nice sour scent to it, the kind of sour lemon that's expected, not bad. It's puckeringly lemon-like with each sip, yet sugary. It isn't heavily carbonated. This is basically a lemon-ice in a bottle. I do like this a lot, but I get the feeling this will leave me more thirsty by the end than I was before I opened it. It reminds me of a ginger-ale and lemonade drink that was addicting enough to want to keep drinking more, but just made you thirstier and thirstier. I do like it though. 

Fitz's Hip Hop Pop

Returning to Fitz's sodas, I've found this bottle of "Hip Hop Pop" to try. It's giving off a raspberry smell to me but the color is no different than s regular cola. It's a confusing mix of flavors. It comes across as primarily berry-like despite the indication of a "berry cola" flavor seen if you look closely at the label. Only in the aftertaste well after downing a nip does the cola peek out. I'm not generally a fan of the berry flavors but this one is gentle and I feel the profile mix makes it easier to sip on. But its unique and interesting flavor. 

Mtn Dew Purple Thunder

I had hoped this flavor mutation from Mtn Dew was going to be something along the lines of a grape, but in fact the label says this is "berry plum". Which is both a disappointment and intriguing because I can't recall anyone else working with plum in the soda space. Keeping in line with my last couple of posts I'll report that this bottle is listed as a single serving at 270 calories and 73g of sugar, which is 146% of the recommended daily allowance.

It's definitely a mixed berry aroma, not sure I can pick out anything plum-like. It has good carbonation. The taste is interesting. It doesn't come across as anything very natural. I've only ever eaten yellow plums so I can't be sure how close it comes to attaining a plum taste. It may be entirely imaginary but my tongue feels ever so slightly numb after tasting a few swigs. Overall it's a decent flavor but I'm not sure the sugar levels and artificial everything make it worth more than a small tasting unless you're already a regular Mtn Dew fiend. 

Mtn Dew Baja Point Break Punch

This is a 20th Anniversary of Mtn Dew's Baja Blast and part of celebration is a number of "Baja" themed flavors, including this one. 

The drink's color is very similar to several other flavors they've made in the last several years, all in the orange-red range. This one takes on a sort of pink highlighter color when backlit from my computer screen. On opening, it does have a sort of fruit punch smell, but also a little musty and I'm not sure why. It reminds me of the combination of smelling fresh fruit, but then smelling the fruit rind. Unfortunately, I'm not digging the flavor. It's reminiscent of medicine, like a cheap cough syrup. And if you thought 44g of sugar for a can was a lot, this bottle states that the serving size is the full 20oz bottle with a whopping 74g of sugar! I'd just skip it if I were you. 

Mtn Dew Baja Passionfruit Punch

As I've said, keeping up with the slew of flavor mixes the major brands have been disgorging in the stores is practically a full-time job. So I'm going to be on a roll here of several Mtn Dew varieties. 

This can features an almost psychedelic motif and an emanating aroma of the tropics. The color is that of a transparent lavender. Its very tasty but should probably come with a tiny umbrella in it. Its less of a Mtn Dew variety than an entirely new drink. There's a tang like that of Mtn Dew, but the passionfruit gives it an entirely new profile. Unfortunately, a single can carries the debt of 44g of sugar! I do give a recommendation to try it though. 

Pepsi Lime

Pepsi has a couple of recent entries into the arena of flavor varieties of cola, hand in hand with Coca-Cola's flavor shenanigans. 

You'll probably need to pay very close attention to pick up the tiniest hint of lime in the smell off of this, it mostly smells like plain Pepsi cola. I've only taken a few swigs to contemplate it, but it's not coming across very well. It's got the taste of cola mixed with household cleaner. As I continue to taste it, it grows on me in a very small way. The lime isn't heavy-handed, but I just don't feel like lime and cola are the greatest flavor combination. It would probably take me an entire day sipping away on this to finish an entire bottle. That tiny tinge of lime does have a lingering aftertaste that reminds you of lime again. I'd say as a limited edition its worth trying, but I doubt it could stand as a regular flavor. Thankfully, I was able to find this flavor available in single bottles. Unlike Coca-Cola they haven't learned that its harder to get people to drop $10 on a 12-pack for a new flavor they may not like. If you're interested in trying this hopefully you'll be able to find a single bottle too. They've released a peach flavor too but I've found no single bottles of it around yet.

Schnucks Soda Shoppe Root Beer

I grabbed a couple bottles of this root beer on a recent soda hunting expedition through Illinois. Schnucks is a grocery store chain founded in 1939, based out of St. Louis, Missouri and many stores can be found in Illinois. I really should try to review more store brand sodas since there are so many of them.

Opening the bottle releases that cellar-like root beer scent with a hint of cedar. I pick up a decent amount of carbonation, more than I would have ventured based on the lack of much release when the cap came off the bottle. It has a bit of creaminess to it, but only a tiny amount. One of the reasons this stuck out at me on the shelf was the label illustrations. For a grocery store brand its really unusual to have so much design work. Store brands typically feature such generic block coloring and little else so I was hoping for a magical discovery. The use of cane sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup softens the drink nicely. This is a good tasting root beer, but not so unusually good as to make it all that memorable.  

Sprite Chill

The history of Sprite has been discussed before on this previous post. But clearly Coca-Cola isn't satisfied by making endless varietals of cola and will continue making untold numbers of flavor changes to their other intellectual properties as well...

Sprite Chill is labeled as a "cherry lime" flavor. The aroma off the bottle gives the light essence of cherry with a hint of powdered donut. Like normal Sprite it has carbonation by the ton, which makes it dance on your tongue more than sodas with less aeration. You know... I don't hate it. As much as I get tired of keeping up with these incessant "varieties" and "limited edition flavors" this one isn't all bad and its a light handed touch allowing you to still taste something resembling regular Sprite. That touch of cherry with the lemon-lime reminds me of a mix of syrups on a sno-cone. I'll give it a thumbs up for hot summer days. 

Dublin Texas Sweet Peach

I could have sworn I'd reviewed previous sodas from Dublin, but as it turns out the only one I seem to have mentioned in this blog before was Doctor Dublin, which at the time appeared to have no relation to the folks at Dublin Bottling Works. Dublin Bottling Works is said to have been founded in 1891 and reportedly the first bottling plant in Texas. It was around this time that Sam Houston Prim, probably named after another Sam Houston associated with Texas history but of no relation, had ventured to Waco and enjoyed a Dr Pepper. Sam would go on to become the first licensed bottler of Dr Pepper after cutting a deal with Robert Lazenby, mentioned in my post on Dr Pepper. In those days most bottling was done by local bottling companies that licensed the right to sell it and purchased the syrup to be mixed and bottled in their facilities. This often meant the local bottlers sold many different flavors and brands. As the 70's and 80's saw most sodas switching from the use of sugar to high fructose corn syrup, the Dublin Bottling Works became known as the home of "Dublin Dr Pepper" because they stuck to using the original cane sugar recipe rather than changing sweeteners. Sam's daughter, Grace, inherited the bottling company on his death in 1946 and continued to run things until her death in 1991, the 100th anniversary of the company. As she had no children to pass the company on to, she willed it to Bill Kloster. Bill had been plant manager since the passing of ownership to Grace. The Kloster family still owns the lion's share of the company but ceased bottling Dr Pepper in 2012 after a lawsuit with Dr Pepper Snapple Group and changed their name from Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company to just Dublin Bottling Works. Since the mid-2000's I've encountered the Dublin brand much more often as they've stuck out with a wide variety flavors under the Dublin brand name and have reached a pretty wide distribution area. 

As mentioned in a previous post, I find a lot of peach sodas to be hit or miss so I'm curious how this one will taste. I like that the bottle had a loud crack of air release when opening, but the smell of the drink is a bit on the comical side of peach and the color is closer to orange than anything. It has good carbonation and the smoothness of the cane sugar working for it, but the taste is still too candy-like to my senses as I prefer fruit flavored sodas that try to recreate the fresh fruit, which is much rarer than the ones that go all in on that candy-like flavoring. It's not terrible by any means, but just sort of a "meh" from me. 

Pistons -N- Pop Root Beer

This is one of those sodas that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. I stumbled on this bottle in a local antique shop that had a corner filled with various sodas. I'd never seen or heard of it before so picked up a bottle. It's bottled in Bonner Springs, KS, a suburb of Kansas City. I had assumed from the label that it might have been a private label from the folks running the Boulevard Drive-In Theatre in KC, but there's no mention of the soda on the Drive-In's website. Pistons -N- Pop don't appear to have a website, just a Facebook page... so you can see why this is confusing and begs the question... "What does this soda want to be?" Is it just some side experiment by someone at the Drive-In, a hobby for someone that got the Drive-In to give a little tie in promotion, something else entirely? They have more than one flavor but not an actual website, so do they plan to make a go of it as a business in the soda market? Hard to tell, but let's see how the soda tastes.

At only 150 calories for a 12oz bottle, there are certainly brands with worse calorie counts and they list cane sugar rather than corn syrup as their sweetener, which is always good. It has a pleasant root beer aroma, but the sound of uncapping it doesn't scream much carbonation. After a couple of healthy swigs and pondering the flavor on my taste buds I find it sort of limp for a root beer. I think it could use more carbonation and a bit more bite to give it a little something extra. The "root beer-iness" is pretty good though, just missing something to make it sing. If you're at a local event and see this, give it a try particularly if you're after some "All-American" nostalgia, but don't expect to be wow'd. 

Fitz's Peach Pop

Another flavor from Fitz's Bottling Company, whom I've discussed before. This one's a peach... which is a flavor I've found tends to either end up rather good or very bad. 

The smell is nice. A bit artificial but still nice. The flavor of this bottle is sort of middling. Kind of odd that I just mentioned how peach sodas tend to be very good or very bad... then crack open one that seems to flat somewhere in between. Peach makes for a nice summer refresher and this one is a good option that it's hard to find in the Missouri/Illinois shops spreading out from their base in St. Louis. It's not stellar, but it's not terrible. Had they used corn syrup as a sweetener I think it would have verged towards the cheap, candy-like flavor, so the cane sugar used may have saved it. I'd definitely lean more towards suggesting you give it a try. 

Jolly Good Old Fashion Cream Soda

Found this at a Hy-Vee in Kansas City, though as you can tell it hails from Wisconsin. It was actually canned north of Milwaukee in Random Lake. 

Regular readers probably know I don't care much for canned soda, but sometimes there's no other choice. I was expecting a true cream smell, but found the aroma more reminiscent of a red cream style soda. Funny that it has a light yellow color and says it is an "old fashioned cream soda" but smells and also tastes like red cream sodas. Think more like Big Red, less like A&W Cream Soda. Red cream sodas are not my style, but if you like them then you'll probably enjoy this. 

Jones Soda M.F. Grape

Another choice from Jones Soda. This seems to be a newer flavor from what I can tell. They have a grape soda, but this is specifically labeled "M.F. Grape". The Jones Soda company also produces a line of "carbonated candy" and this name seems to originate from their M.F. Grape candy, so there must be some distinction between the two. 

I really like taking a whiff off this bottle. It's very reminiscent of grape candy, or perhaps even grape drink mix powder. It looks positively black in color, but with a little back lighting it reveals a deep purple color. I'm actually a little let down by the taste. I was expecting something like grape Faygo but with a kick but it falls flat. There's not enough grape flavor to it and what is there dissipates quickly without leaving much of a trace of any grape flavor on the tongue. Sadly underwhelming.

Jones Soda Watermelon

A summertime quaff from the folks at Jones Soda. Since I've discussed Jones Soda before, I'll get straight to the tasting. 

This soda has a surprisingly fresh and accurate smell of watermelon. I think if you were blind folded the smell would fool you into thinking someone was holding a slice of melon in front of you. The color is a bit cartoonish though, almost a bubblegum pink. I'm a little let down by the flavor. It has plenty of carbonation but the front side of a healthy swig is somewhere between flavorless and bitter like a tonic water. Washing it further over all parts of my tongue I get more bitterness, but the finish is where the watermelon flavor comes through. So it's not very satisfying with each sip, instead you've got to live with more of an aftertaste than enjoyment of the drink itself. Nonetheless, it's not as if it's a gross flavor but one I'm not wild on. It will make for an interesting beverage to include at a summer picnic or cookout. 

Fanta Berry

Another flavor from the Fanta line. As I've mentioned in the past, not all Fanta flavors appear in all regions, but I'm not quite sure of the availability of this flavor. It has an unnatural blue-ness to it though. 

It has a saccharine-blueberry smell to it similar to the smell of opening a giant bag of sugar, but with blueberries. As for the taste, it's more like a mixed berry. You'd expect a strong punch of flavor from such a strongly colored beverage, but you'd be wrong to do so in this case. Yes, it's sort of amalgam of berry flavors but there's not much of it. The strongest bit I feel is from the sides of my tongue, but it's weak and dissipates rather quickly. Rather odd considering how strongly flavored most bright colored sodas are in the States. Overall, I think its very safe to give this a pass for something better if you have the option.

Darkest Hour Black Cherry

Excel Bottling, in Breese, IL has released this limited edition Black Cherry soda for the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8th. I've reviewed a few of their other sodas over the years. The next total solar eclipse visible in Indiana or Illinois won't be until Sept 14th, 2099... although there will be others visible in other states before then. I drove about four hours round trip to be sure to pick some of these bottles up for event. A cool extra feature of these bottles is the glow in the dark label.

The bottle gives off a wonderfully rich black cherry aroma. I might love the smell of black cherry sodas more than the taste. This has a nice level of carbonation to it. Thankfully, they did a great job with the flavor. It's rich but not cloyingly sugary. The finish is smooth too. The taste gives memories of ice creams or popsicles. If it weren't a limited edition I would find this enjoyable as a treat any time.

Thums Up

Let's begin with this post with a short history lesson, because the history of Thums Up is about more than just soda. But everyone I meet from India seems to light up when I ask them about Thums Up. I learned about the history of Thums Up several years ago, but wasn't able to get my hands on any until more recently.

India gained independence in 1947, which looked like a big opportunity to Coca-Cola for post-WWII global expansion. Coca-Cola India began in 1950 as a subsidiary of parent company of Coca-Cola. While Coca-Cola was digging in, India was still building its government and recovering from the divide from the British, led by their first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The Indian government was focused on developing it's own industries and promoting business from within. Coca-Cola wanted to blitz the country so heavily that the government would feel powerless in the face of their market dominance and financial importance. Pepsi could not achieve the same since they arrived late to the game, just two years after Coca-Cola, in 1952, the Indian government by then was successful in preventing Pepsi from ever gaining much traction to establish a "beach head" within the country. Pepsi would end up leaving India just 10 years later. 

Indira Gandhi would serve as Prime Minister of India twice, the first time coming in 1971. In 1973, the Indian government passed the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. Under this act, subsidiaries of foreign companies were required to limit foreign equity share to 40% or less and convert themselves to Indian companies with at least 60% ownership by Indian interests. While this was going on, a national emergency took place over accusations of corrupt election practices, against Indira Gandhi, which the courts upheld. Morarji Desai would emerge as the new Prime Minister of India. George Mathew Fernandes served as the Union Minister for Industries under Desai and claimed companies such as Coca-Cola were violating the laws imposed by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. Fernandes demanded that Coca-Cola India give 60% of its share to Indian interests, but that they also divulge their secret recipe to its Indian shareholders. Recall from my post on the World of Coca-Cola about the vault where the recipe is stored. Coca-Cola considers the recipe a trade secret and they along with several other companies decided to simply leave India altogether in 1977.

After Coca-Cola's departure, the government took control of more than twenty of Coca-Cola's bottling facilities. Coca-Cola left a huge gap in the market and government controlled companies produced Double Seven cola to fill this gap. Double Seven was also known as Sarkari Cola and Sattatar, which was a play on the year 1977, which they removed Coca-Cola from India. Double Seven would be a failed product and Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1979. While other startup cola brands were launched, such as Campa Cola, the most popular of these was Thums Up. After previously finding success with Limca and Gold Spot sodas, brothers Prakash Chauhan and Ramesh Chauhan, from Mumbai and owners of the Parle company, launched Thums Up in 1977. Thums Up proved popular and they snapped up most of the cola market in India through the 1980's. 

By the end of the 1980's India's economy was stagnant. Pepsi was permitted to return if they "Indianized" their name. They became Lehar Pepsi in a joint venture with a government owned company until 1994 when they simply became Pepsi again. Pepsi was then battling cola-wars on two fronts, against Coca-Cola in North America and against Thums Up in India. In 1993, Coca-Cola was able to return to India without having to reveal their secret recipe. The franchise bottling system used by Thums Up meant that their bottlers chose to sell out to Coca-Cola. This meant Coca-Cola now owned the Thums Up, Limca, and Gold Spot brands. Coca-Cola ceased production of Gold Spot despite a loyal fan base, opting to replace the orange soda with their Fanta brand. Siddhartha Khosla would name his L.A. based band, Goldspot, after the drink. Coca-Cola attempted to shift Thums Up drinkers to the Coca-Cola brand, in an effort that failed because the branding and tastes were not alike. So today, Thums Up is still a market leader for cola in India, even though it is now owned by Coca-Cola. 

With that little history lesson provided, I can get on with the drinking. I've managed to get my hands on a glass bottle of Thums Up from a local Indian market. This bottle has seen better days and that's because it is a deposit bottle, with thicker glass, they are designed to be returned to be washed and reused again and again. I've also found a canned sample from a nearby middle-eastern market. 

I'm starting with the glass bottle and it provides a smell like that of Pepsi. Oh, I can definitely taste the difference and understand why there would be market differentiation among drinkers in India. The cola flavor is like that of Pepsi, but with a big difference... it's got a herbal quality to it, a bit leafy like tea and maybe cumin and cardamom. I find often that those sodas with herbal notes are a little off putting to me, but this one isn't. I quite like it. Opening the can, the herbal aroma is stronger than I found from the bottle. I also find that herbal flavoring is stronger from the can and I don't care for it as much as from the bottle. I'm not sure if this is due to inconsistent bottling, age of the drink when bottled/canned, or from light affecting the bottle through the clear glass, but I know I prefer the bottled version. I'd certainly recommend giving it a try if you come across it. 

Limca

Limca is a lemon-lime soda created by what was then known as Parle Bisleri, headed by Ramesh Chauhan. The story has it that Chauhan asked for the recipe for Duke's Lemonade from Duke and Sons, a well-established Indian beverage company. When Duke and Sons turned him down, Chauhan had Parle Bisleri introduce their Limca brand in 1977. In 1992, Limca was later bought by Coca-Cola in a story, I'll discuss in my next post. 

The scent from this can is very much like a cleaning product while the color is best described as an icy or cloudy white. I'm definitely picking up the lemon and lime flavors, but I find them muted. A friend said this would have a strong flavor but I'm not getting that. There is a strong forward flavor but it isn't lemon or lime. It's almost herb-like at the beginning and for some reason reminds me of the smell of the bottom of a woman's purse. And the taste you pick up from candy your grandmother pulled out of her purse. It's such a unique profile, but nothing like the lemon-lime sodas I'm used to. 

Hajoori Kashmira Jeera Masala

Before I go into the drink itself, I thought I'd take a look at the Hajoori brand that bottles, this beverage. The history of the brand is a little bit confusing, but the story goes that Abba Hajoori invented a carbonated juice drink he called Socio. The dates vary between 1923 and 1927. Supposedly this was a local beverage intended to compete with Vimto, a UK beverage sold in India flavored with blackcurrants, grapes, raspberries, and spices. Socio was derived from Latin, for member or friend. The drink was introduced to in the Gujarat region where people referred to it as Sosyo in their regional dialect. By 1953, they officially changed the name of beverage to Sosyo and the company became known as Sosyo Hajoori. Sosyo Hajoori Beverages Pvt. Ltd is a leading beverage maker in India, akin to a Coca-Cola or Pepsi in that they have a plethora of beverages under their corporate umbrella. 

Kashmira is the brand label that falls under the Hajoori company. Masala Jeera is the type or flavor of the drink. My Indian friends that brought me this beverage tell me that this is a common drink hand mixed by many street vendors there. I think of this as sort of analogous to soda fountains in the US that mixed sodas, that were also eventually sold by various bottlers that ended up putting the old fashioned soda jerks out of business. The drink is described as a cumin flavored with a blend of other spices. Much like some of the traditional Western sodas that began as "digestive aids" or "energy tonics", this drink is supposed to be beneficial to digestion as well, but I have no idea what to expect from a cumin flavored soda. 

The smell from the can is very strong, and reminds me of the overwhelming spices, mostly paprika, used in Spanish rice. It has a slightly thick consistency, as if it were a little oily and the color is a translucent amber-brown like cola. The taste is strong at first, then quickly dissipates to a milder aftertaste. I don't quite know what to make of it. It's practically savory, which is not something I tend to look for in a soda. I find it quite bitter on the tip of my tongue and want to swallow it quickly to get it off of those particular taste buds. I think this particular drink does not suit me no matter how much I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt. It's got to be some sort of acquired taste. 

W.T. Heck Waffles & Syrup

So here's a strange one. W.T. Heck sodas come from the Blue Sun Bottling company out of Spring Lake, Minnesota. They also make the State Fair sodas, as previously mentioned in State Fair Mini Doughnut. I didn't find anything on when they started making the W.T. Heck labeled drinks, but it's an odd flavored lineup, including flavors such as Spaghetti, Blue Cheese Dressing, and Dill Pickle. Those sound sickening, but waffles and syrup sound like it could be half decent. So let's give it a shot. 

Strangely, in addition to the smell of maple syrup as I give it a good sniff, my brain is painting a picture of a diner with coffee in the air in addition to waffles and syrup. That mix of coffee with the other scents is such a mind meld because I doubt they included anything meant for that to happen but smells are strange in how they can link to memories. It's not very carbonated at all. I wonder if it wasn't well capped and the gasses leaked because it's not an old bottle. It's pretty dead on in terms of matching the taste of syrup covered waffles. Not a rich quality made syrup mind you, but nonetheless this company has impressed me with their ability to match flavor profiles to non-beverage foods. It's still bizarre to taste in a drink though, which is what will make this remain a curiosity. It's worth a taste if you come across a bottle. 

Shirakiku Ramune Yuzu

Its been some time since I had ramune, particularly from Shirakiku. Frankly, I think Shirakiku makes the best ramune drinks. This is a new flavor I haven't seen from them previously. Yuzu is a yellow citrus fruit that resembles a very bumpy, rotund lemon that is popular in Japan. Supposedly, it has floral notes in addition to the tart citrus flavor. 

After the gratifying pop of the marble-closed opening of the Codd-neck bottle, it has a wonderful lemon scent. Strong like a lemon-scented cleaner, but sweet. The taste is pretty unique. It's citrus alright, but very distinct from plain lemon and lime. It has notes of grapefruit and even the slightest tinge of melon. This would make a good pairing with breakfast due to the citrus nature of it. 

Jones Soda Orange Chocolate

A new bottle appeared at the grocery store yesterday. I've reviewed plenty of flavors from Jones Soda, some okay and others appalling. Of course I had to pick up a new flavor, but I'm not looking forward to tasting it. I think I have some PTSD from some of the horrendous chocolate sodas I've had before. 

Upon opening it, the smell of chocolate powder is overwhelming. When drinking, I pick up orange notes first, followed by chocolate, but then a sort of sourness in the finish. The chocolate tastes as a cheaper powder you'd expect from inexpensive candies, not like that of a rich cocoa powder. It's not abhorrent, but I remain unconvinced that anyone should be putting chocolate flavor in a carbonated beverage, let alone mixed with orange. Yes, it's novel, but I'd give it a skip. 

7 Up Tropical

Everyone is releasing the flavor varietals these days, whether they are limited editions or permanent, including 7 Up. This bottle gave a nice crack of gas upon opening and the aroma of peaches. I wouldn't normally consider something "tropical" peachy. When I think of "tropical" I think of citrus or melon. I guess that slice on the label is supposed to be a slice of peach. This drink does taste peach-like, but not as strong of a peach flavor as those drinks I've had actually labeled as a peach soda. I'm picking up no lemon-lime, which begs the question I've been asking for decades... at what point does it become a different product? As an example, once you start putting pretzels in an M&M, is it really still an M&M? So I'd ask, in what way is this 7 Up? It's a decent soda. No real wow factor to speak of, but nice enough to drink. It would probably be nicer on a hot summer day though. 

Reading Draft Honey Pear

This is the first Reading Draft I'll have had since the first one back in 2014, you can find here. Honey Pear is a more unique flavor, so I've been looking forward to trying this one. I'm not picking up much in the way of a pear scent from the bottle. Instead it smells a bit like a fresh or crisp cough syrup. My first impression was underwhelming, but that's because the initial sip was on the end of my tongue. Once it hit the rear sides I got a tart punch of flavor. I like pears and I have to say I think this soda is pretty faithful to the flavor of a honey pear. It's fresh, sweet, and just a touch sharp all at once. I really like this drink.  

Fanta ? Zero Sugar #WhatTheFanta

One more for the Fanta fans. All cards on the table, I picked up this bottle just before last Halloween, hence the label design, but had forgotten it in the fridge. I would hope that it would be a different flavor than the last 'Fanta ?' I reviewed, but they can pretty much color them however they like without affecting the taste so who knows. Regardless of the flavor, this one is different in that it is the zero sugar sort, so even if they've flavored them alike they'll probably be a difference simply because the sweeteners they use affect the taste too. Let's open it up and see what this one's all about then.

It has a faint blueberry-like smell and although it looks positively black, when I pour a bit out, it's a very, very dark blue. Still plenty of carbonation in it. It's easy to tell that it's a zero sugar drink due to that chemical-like change you get from the flavor. The same quality found in zero sugar Canada Dry Ginger Ale. This is the very reason I don't care for the drinks labeled "zero" or "zero sugar". I usually find drinks labeled "diet" more enjoyable. As for the berry flavoring, I'd describe it as a sort of mixed-berry flavor, but heavy on darker berries like blueberry and blackberry. If it used high-fructose corn syrup or cane sugar it would be more likeable in my opinion.

Coca-Cola Y3000

Here we go with another limited edition flavor variety from Coca-Cola. While I look forward to trying to flavors, I absolutely hate these abstract names they give them. Of course that's part of their marketing, an undescriptive name means almost anyone would be willing to try it because they don't know if the flavor is off-putting or not until they taste it. 

This bottle has a herb-like scent to it. I'm having trouble placing what it is. It reminds me of tea, it's both a bit woody and a bit flowery? Taking a swig, it's odd to me that a drink with the text "Futuristic Flavored" on the bottle the name Y3000, as if it were some sort of robot, has such an old-world taste. The more of it I drink, the more it conjures imagery of cedar. Regardless, I find it pleasing. I think this would actually be nice to have as a permanent flavor. I find Coca-Cola varietals are often too strong. This is nice enough that it still tastes like a cola and is nice to sip on without getting sickening, nor bored of it. 

Mountain Dew Baja Blast

One of Mountain Dew's earlier flavor varieties, Baja Blast was originally available only at Taco Bell as a brand tie in. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Baja Blast flavor which is spread into things besides drinks in over the last two decades. I once saw a shop with a Baja Blast flavored sorbet.

It has a citrusy-lime scent that also strangely reminds me of cheap cologne whenever I smell it. Depending on the way the light strikes, it may appear light green or with an unnatural teal tint. These sort of "lab-grown" flavors can always be difficult to describe. It's "tropical" like mixed drink you'd expect from a Caribbean resort with a bunch of fruit and umbrellas sticking out of the glass. I find in addition to a frosty-lime flavor I get hints of cucumber and watermelon at times. It's not a bad flavor, but isn't the kind of thing I normally seek out. When you taste it you understand why it quickly became a mixer for alcohol. 

Orangina

I always associate Orangina with Europe, mostly because it's rare to see it around the states. I haven't had it in some time, so when I came across a bottle in an international grocer I had to grab it. The dates on its origination seem to vary depending on where you look. Some places mention 1933, others 1935, or 1936. The official site of Orangina says it was introduced in 1935 at the Marseille Trade Fair. It was created by Austin Trigo and originally named Naranjina... a slight adaptation of the Spanish word for orange, Naranja. Just like Coca-Cola, they have a distinctive bottle shape that helps you identify it even far away, and just like Coke, it's evolved over time. Leon Beton, a frenchman bought the recipe prior to WWII stifling the brand until the war ended. After the war, the drink spread throughout Europe and North Africa. In 2000, Orangina was nearly sold to Coca-Cola, but the sale was blocked and instead wound up under the Cadbury Schweppes group.

One of the interesting things about Orangina is that is contains some orange pulp. In fact, the make a point of making sure you shake it before drinking, but you'll notice it creating a little orange ring in the bottle neck prior to shaking. Orangina also has a very light amount of carbonation for a soda. It carries such a fresh aroma when you open it, a mix of orange and lemon. The mix of citrus flavors is very close to a grapefruit juice and provides a tartness like a glass of squeezed juice. It accompanies breakfast nicely.