Sour Puss Fruit Punch

The team at Avery Beverages has a few flavors they've named Sour Puss. I'm not a big fan of sour anything, but willing to give it a taste for the sake of science. I find little in the way of a scent from this drink. If anything I might describe it's smell similar to that of cherry cough syrup. While I've had some sour sodas in the past, this might be one of the most sour I can remember. I would describe this as the equivalent of making a soda out of Sour Patch Kids candy. Luckily the tartness doesn't linger too long. The initial swig doesn't do much, but give it a second and then you feel the puckering punch. I can imagine this is a hit with kids that seem to be really into all the sour candies these days. Not bad overall, but not something you drink with a meal or for refreshment. 

Coca-Cola Zero Oreo

This scary looking can is a limited edition from the folks at Coca-Cola. This caught my eye at the store because I first thought it was a canned version of the Fanta Haunted Apple, which was also in the store and with only a cursory glance they both feature black and white stripes. However, my double-take confirmed it was something wholly different. Now, there is a lot going on here. Firstly, an Oreo flavored beverage??? Who came up with this? It's such an odd concept for a beverage flavor at all... but then to pair that with cola? Secondly, Oreos are basically empty calories in the form of a sugar and fat biscuit... so they said, "Let's make it without sugar!" My guess is someone said, "No one will buy it because they will think it's a can of pure sugar. Parents will never let their kids try it so it has to be diet or with artificial sweeteners." But the entire thing from start to finish had to have been approved by heaps of people at Coca-Cola and it was just too bizarre to pass up. Ironically, I also have found some Coca-Cola flavored Oreo cookies at a snack shop. Although this isn't a place I would normally discuss non-soda things, how can I pass up reviewing them side by side, so lets crack on!

This can is 12 fl.oz. and listed at 0 calories with ingredients such as aspartame and sucralose. However, it does contain 34mg of caffeine, which is on par with the amount of caffeine in regular Coke. Opening the can releases a satisfying crack of carbonation releasing. The aroma coming off the top of the can is very vanilla scented. It smells more like a can of vanilla cake frosting and I don't think Oreo filling has much of a scent. Taking a swig, I find that this is very reminiscent of Vanilla Coke. I'm searching for the slightest hint of the chocolate wafer you get when eating Oreo cookies but not finding it. The vanilla is strong and overtakes the entire experience. I'm picking up little to no cola flavor. In fact, I'd say the vanilla might be stronger than that in your average Coca-Cola Vanilla bottle. A couple of sips in, I think I'm sensing the faintest hint of chocolate, if you can call it that, on the back taste buds to the sides of my tongue, and only in the finish of the sip. It's certainly a unique experience to taste. 

While the can is entirely in English and found in the U.S., leading me to believe it was bottled in the U.S. or Canada.... the cola flavored cookies are a different matter. I found these in a foreign import snack shop. The kind of shop that only has the uniquely flavored snacks found outside the U.S., primarily the U.K., Latin America, and East Asia. This box appears to come from Korea based on the type, and then which seems to be confirmed once I finally located a .kr web URL printed on the box. 

This box has two sealed bags of cookies inside, which is nice if you want to save the rest for later. But each bag only contains four cookies. So this entire box contains just 8 Oreo cookies! When opening the bag a sugary mix of vanilla and spice scent wafts out. The taste is something different to be sure. I really only got the taste of the chocolate biscuits. It wasn't until well after I swallowed the chewed cookie I finally picked up a very tiny taste of something which could be akin to cola, but it also felt a bit pepperminty. There's also an unrecognizable chemical-like tang I'm getting before and after. While chewing, I don't sense it, but when putting the cookie in my mouth and after ingesting it I find it to have a weird essence.

Louisburg Sparkling Apple Cider

I love all the flavors of autumn... pumpkin, apple, cinnamon, and nutmeg. On a recent trip I grabbed this bottle of sparkling apple cider from the folks at Louisburg Cider Mill. Louisburg is a short drive south of Kansas City, on the Kansas side of the state line. Louisburg Cider Mill has been making mostly apple-related food products since 1977. Open year-round, they have pumpkins, and other outdoor activities and a giant corn maze in the Fall. 

The bottle offers a rich cider scent. The clarity of the beverage itself goes hand in hand with the taste in that I would personally categorize this along the lines of a sparkling apple juice and not a cider. It tastes very much like apple juice and has none of the pulp or any of the spiced flavors you expect from cider fresh out of the apple press. That's not saying the drink is bad, it's perfectly fine, but I think it should be called what it is... sparkling apple juice.