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.