Coca-Cola Peach

Now I know that I posted about Coca-Cola's Georgia Peach on this previous post, but this can doesn't specifically appear to be labeled as "Georgia Peach" so it could be different. The fact that this can is from China also piqued my interest. The scent from the can is like that of ripe peach skins. I don't think it smells a bit like cola. Upon tasting it, I think it does indeed taste different than the Coca-Cola Georgia Peach mentioned earlier. In fact I taste no cola from this soda. The bottle of Georgia Peach was a blend of peach and cola flavors. This can tastes only of peach soda. As I can't read the text, perhaps it was only meant to be a plain peach soda. However, when you slap Coca-Cola on something there's a bit of expectation of cola even though it hasn't stopped Mountain Dew from creating all manner of flavors that have nothing to do with the traditional Mountain Dew flavor. But if I were to judge this merely as a peach soda, it isn't bad. I've often been surprised by peach flavored sodas as I don't particular enjoy eating peaches.

Coca-Cola Strawberry

This can is from Coca-Cola, imported from China. The sound of the can opening sounds like it has the expected level of carbonation and it releases a sweet strawberry scent, maybe even a bit like Twizzlers. So, I don't taste any cola in this beverage. I think this is meant to specifically be a strawberry soda from Coca-Cola because I'm just not picking up any hints of cola in it. The strawberry taste is like fresh fruit up front but I find the the aftertaste is more like that strawberry pie filling jelly they sell in a bag at the supermarket. 

Barq's Root Beer

I can't believe I found Barq's Root Beer in a glass bottle. What a find. I think until now I've only ever seen it in cans and plastic bottles and have had it most of my life. Brothers, Edward and Gaston Barq founded Barq's Brothers Bottling Company in New Orleans in 1890. They were mostly known for their orange soda, Orangine, but also sold soda water. When Edward moved to Mississippi in 1897 he started a new company, the Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works. Recall from prior posts that this period in history saw a boom in bottling the waters from natural artesian sources. The exact date appears to be disputed, but sometime between 1898 and 1900 he introduced his root beer soft drink, simply called Barq's at the time. The Barq's company in Biloxi was sold by Edward's descendants in 1976 and began to be marketed more widely around the U.S. Many years of legal battles ensued among various Barq's family business entities. Coca-Cola has owned the Barq's brand since 2000.

Note that this bottle also has an older style of labeling, likely hand in hand with the fact that they have a throwback glass bottle. Labeling as far back as I can recall from my childhood is silver and black. As much as I enjoyed Barq's growing up I always disliked the silver and black because it resembled the Raiders team colors. It also has the embossed diamond pattern around the neck that was used many decades earlier. I love the vanilla scent. You can always tell from a sip of Barq's root beer what they mean by the slogan, "Barq's has bite" because there is a signature crispness in the finish that I always look for from any root beer I taste. This "bite" is often what I think my friends from the U.K. and Ireland are describing when they complain that root beer tastes "minty" and reminds them of the dentist. I never felt that way but I can understand what they are trying to get across. Just as expected, this bottle has the high level of carbonation you expect from them. Barq's is a solid root beer choice and I would always be willing to recommend it to someone that wants to try root beer for the first time.

Wild Bill's Black Cherry

Following up on yesterday's choice from Wild Bill's Craft Beverage Co., I have this black cherry soda from them as well. This one has a nice dark cherry scent and colorful red hue. It's well carbonated and very tasty. Though I do feel this is closer to sweet cherries in taste. It reminds me of Cheerwine, but slightly more robust in flavor. 

Wild Bill's Root Beer

While in Texas I came across a brand I hadn't seen before, Wild Bill's Craft Beverage Co. This seemed quite fitting for Texas, though apparently the company is located in Millington, New Jersey. They craft a variety of soda flavors, many classics as well as a few more peculiar flavors. One of the more unique features of the brand is a traveling soda truck. Wisely used as a great word of mouth advertising tool, the truck appears at many events, shows, and conventions selling custom mugs that buyers can use for unlimited refills, even years later.

This 12oz. can weighs in a 170 calories per serving and 43g of sugars. The root beer is made with can sugar and is caffeine free. The can offers up a traditional creamy root beer scent akin to an A&W. I find it has adequate carbonation. What strikes me about it is how classic it tastes when so many other newer soda brands end up making root beer tasting a bit herbal. It's crisp for a soda with cane sugar instead of corn syrup. It may be the slight hint of licorice in the finish that maintains that faint bite you want from a root beer. This could easily be mistaken for an A&W root beer despite being small batch, craft-brewed. I'm pleased with this soda so will look forward to tasting some of their other flavors, at least one of which I have on hand for an upcoming post. 

Dublin Vintage Cola

Another bottle from Dublin Bottling Works in Texas. This time I've got their classic Vintage Cola to taste. I can smell a rich kola nut aroma. This truly does taste like a classic cola. The cane sugar rounds the sweetness nicely, but I'd love it if the flavor hung longer on the tongue. I find it dissipates rapidly with next to no aftertaste. With a flavor like this I want it to last longer. All that said, it's a good tasting soda and you really can't go wrong picking a cola if you're not interested in some of Dublin's more unique flavors. 

Fanta Watermelon

I came across this can in the refrigerator of a foreign foods market. I couldn't read it, but the style was clearly Fanta. Despite the incredibly tiny text on the English language label, my guess as to the origins appear to be confirmed. It looks as though this flavor is from China. In previous posts I've mentioned how Fanta has many flavors that are regional in nature, not offered in other countries or sometimes even regions of the same country. 

The soda has a pinkish-red color but I smell nothing from the top of the can. A first sip makes me reel a little. The taste is very pungent, much more so than the Japanese watermelon ramune I tasted just a short while ago. This has Fanta's candy-like fruit flavoring all over it. Its made with high-fructose corn syrup as is typical for countries where Fanta can get away with it in place of real sugar. If you really dig watermelon or you want a watermelon hard candy in a can to drink this is for you.

Gross Gus's Pimple Pop

Gross Gus is a series of different flavors of disgustingly named sodas produced by Indian Wells Brewing Company. Indian Wells creates craft beers in addition to sodas and is located in Inyokern, California, situated halfway between Bakersfield and Death Valley. The Indian Wells Brewing Company URL is failing a DNS lookup, but a search reveals a new URL for the company. Unfortunately, at the time of this post their website is not functioning, displaying a "maintenance" message. According to their Facebook page, they were still posting a couple of months ago, so must still be operating. While other searches state they have over 100 flavors of soda, it might appear that they sell a number of other novelty sodas rather than actually produce that many themselves. However, these Gross Gus flavors actually have the Indian Wells name on the label. 

The smell is reminiscent of coconut. It tastes sort of creamy, but not like a cream soda. It's very sugary tasting. I tried to place what the taste was in my mind and was avoiding searching the label for a hint. In the end, my eyes wandered and I located the words "marsmallow soda" printed up the side. I hope that spelling is intentional, but it really does taste like marshmallow. For a novelty flavored soda they've really nailed this flavor and yet it's not a sickening flavor like so many of the novelty sodas are. This one is actually drinkable, even if very sweet to the taste. 

Mountain Dew Citrus Blackberry

The next Mountain Dew I have is also a tie-in with the World of Warcraft campaign mentioned in yesterday's post. Is there some sort of food flavoring fad going on right now that I've missed? I'm encountering a lot of blackberry stuff lately, both in the soda world and in other foods. I don't know if most of these companies are using real blackberries for their flavor extracts or if they are completely artificial, but a search online shows the U.S. gets most of its blackberry crops from Mexico. Will we see the end of this blackberry trend staring down the tariff trade wars in recent news?

The bottle's aroma is similar to that of a grape, not particularly "berry-like", but there's a tinge mixed in with the scent. I repeat my sentiment from yesterday's citrus cherry... they are making the most imperceptible changes to the flavor, or maybe not changing the flavor at all!, then slapping a new name on the bottle as a marketing gimmick. This bottle doesn't taste that far different from their Pitch Black. It's time for Mountain Dew to get more creative or I'll start skipping their new and limited flavor releases. 

Mountain Dew Citrus Cherry

Diving back into the world of Mountain Dew... as I've mentioned, it's nearly a full-time job keeping up with their releases. It seems they have a marketing tie-in with World of Warcraft, an online multiplayer role playing video game. The subtitle says "Game Fuel," as if sitting in a chair for hours playing a video game was the equivalent of playing a full 90-minute soccer match. Before I taste this, I'll point out that the label states that a serving size is one bottle (20fl.oz.) at 290 calories and a whopping 77g of sugars, for 153% of the RDA of sugar and 28% of the RDA for total carbohydrates. Oof! I hope you're playing from a standing computer desk.

After opening, I take a good sniff from the top and I smell something citrus along with a scent that, for some reason, reminds me of a new carpet showroom. I don't think the flavor is that far distant from their Code Red flavor, but then its been some time since I've tasted Code Red. It seems like in an effort for their "flavor scientists" to keep up with the number of flavor variants each year they simply alter existing recipes by a tiny amount and slap a new name on it. It's getting tiresome to keep up, but I wouldn't want to miss an entirely new taste experience by passing them up. Something they count on I'm sure. If you like some of their classic taste experiments, like Code Red and Live Wire, I think you'll like this one as well. 

Bazooka Bubble Gum Soda

This is another novelty soda from Rocket Fizz. However, this one has the weight of a well-known pop culture brand name on it with Bazooka. The bottle reminds me of classic pink bubblegum in both color and smell. The taste is a bit wonky though. There's a strong taste of cheap bubblegum like the sticks found in baseball cards and Bazooka wax paper but its also a little like licking a petri dish. There's a weird chemical flavor at the end of each sip. Interesting, but I don't find it enjoyable. If they really wanted to complete the nostalgic feel they should have made the label peel off with a Bazooka Joe comic strip on the back. 

Canada Dry Black Cherry Ginger Ale

This was a surprise find on a road trip. I've not seen a black cherry ginger ale before from Canada Dry or anyone else. I like ginger ales and black cherry sodas so I had to grab this one. On top of that, its made with cane sugar. While Canada Dry does bottle within the U.S., based on the fact that the URL printed on the bottle is a .ca top-level domain and there is French text in addition to English, I wonder if this flavor is only sold in Canada. It might explain why I've never seen this flavor before. 

It has excellent carbonation. Despite being a single use bottle, it's thick and hefty glass feels closer to a returnable. I find that it is cherry forward in flavor. I think it tastes more like a standard cherry than your typical black cherry. The ginger ale taste hides in the background but I can taste it coming through in the finish. While not as complex a flavor as I'd hoped for, its a good soda. 

Red Rock Frambuesa

The second Dominican Red Rock soda for me to review is this bottle of Frambuesa, which is Spanish for Raspberry. It smells of strawberry candy and appears to have ample carbonation. The taste is not quite strawberry or raspberry. I find it's quite a mix of berry flavors. Luckily, it doesn't leave a lingering aftertaste but I do think it's too candy-like for my liking. I would have to nurse this for a long time to avoid feeling sick to my stomach after a bit. 

Dublin Texas Root Beer

A new flavor to try from Dublin, this time a classic root beer. I've discussed Dublin sodas a few times now, so refer to prior posts for more about them. I happened to pick up this bottle at a Buc-ee's outside of Waco somewhere. 

The bottle has a nice old-fashioned creamy smell to it so I'm anticipating good things. After a couple of draws off the bottle I'm feeling underwhelmed. I know they use cane sugar, which typically gives a rounded sweetness in comparison to high fructose corn syrup, but this just seems rather weak. The level of carbonation is right, but I want something more of a root beer flavor "snap" and this is a bit soft. Don't get me wrong, it's a fine root beer, but when I consider the number of other root beers I've tasted I don't think this is one I'd reach for over the others if they were all stocked together in my fridge. So, my recommendation would be to skip over this and grab one of Dublin's other flavors. 

Dry Cucumber

I've reviewed multiple flavors from Dry in the past. They've always left me disappointed but being that their initial target was for use in cooking, and then as mixers, I suppose it's to be expected. I continue for the sake of curiosity when I come across another flavor from them but in all honesty, I may have a slight bias by this stage going in that I probably won't like it, so there's my disclosure. 

I've never had a cucumber soda to my recollection, but I imagine this will approximate something like carbonated cucumber water found in spas or nail salons. It takes a moment after opening and a very strong whiff, but it does smell like freshly sliced cucumber. After a draw off the bottle, I think it's quite like a cucumber that hasn't yet full ripened. I can get used to the cucumber melon flavor from Gatorade because the melon sweetens and mellows the cucumber flavor, but this bottle is strong. That's actually saying something for a drink from Dry because I've always felt flavors, I have tasted from them in the past were far too weak. This one has a punch, unfortunately I think you need to be a bigger fan of cucumbers to enjoy it. I understand there are some alcoholic cocktails that use cucumber water so this may also be of use for those. 

Dr. Wells

Ludford Fruit Products, incorporated in 1928, in Los Angeles, created Dr. Wells in 1935 as an alternative 'pepper' brand soda, like so many Dr Pepper clones. As noted in many other posts, the 1960's and 70's saw a lot of consolidation of soda brands as larger companies swallowed up smaller operations. In 1970, the Rheingold Corporation purchased Grapette. Having introduced flavors other than grape, Rheingold decided to change the name from Grapette to Flavette. This seems like a poor attempt to work in the word 'Flavor' into the branding but comes off rather hacky sounding. Flavette then purchased Dr. Wells as well as Mason's Root Beer. According to FTC papers Flavette purchased something like 81 independent bottling companies during the 1970's. PepsiCo ended up buying Rheingold, triggering the Federal Trade Commission to force PepsiCo to release some of its brands to encourage market competition since PepsiCo and Coca-Cola combined for about 58% of the soft drink market at the time. The Monarch Beverage Company purchased the Dr. Wells brand in 1987 and later sold it along with some other notable soda brands to Hedinger Brands in 2007. Today, Dr. Wells is produced by Dad's Root Beer Company, based in Jasper, Indiana.

I think the scent of this bottle is slight, but I'm picking up faint notes of cherry. There's a noticeable kick of carbonation churning up to the top with each swig, sometimes nearly overflowing from the bottle. I've also spotted that they include cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. It has a smoother flavor than Dr Pepper but the "spices" or "pepperiness" is too weak, closer to drinking a cherry cola. 

Twig's Sour

Twig's Beverage has been a family-owned company in Shawano, Wisconsin, Northwest of Green Bay since it was founded by Floyd Hartwig in 1951. The next time I'm up around central Wisconsin I may have to try to carve out some time to make a visit. I like the style of their logo and labeling. Although they use real sugar as their sweetener, I noted that the serving size marked on the bottle is 1.5 servings rather than the usual 1 as most bottles, which makes it look like it has fewer calories and sugar than other sodas.

While "sour" could mean many things I assumed this means something like a lemon-sour flavor. The scent when opening the bottle is indeed lemon-like. It has a decent level of carbonation and it's certainly pucker-inducing. I'd venture to say this is almost like carbonating a bottle of lemon juice extract or dissolving a pouch full of lemonhead candies into a soda. Its tasty, but I often find that sour flavors like this leave me feeling thirsty afterwards and I need some water to quench that thirst. I think kids that like sour candies would enjoy this one. 

Foxon Park Gassosa

Italian immigrant, Matteo Naclerio, founded Foxon Park Beverages in 1922 and it is still operated by his descendants. In addition to a wide variety of traditional soda flavors they also produce some unique flavors, such as this Gassosa flavor, and Iron Brew, their own take on the Scottish Irn Bru.

When uncapped, I get a light lemon scent. The soda is effervescent with delicate carbonation. Each and every tip of the bottle releases a tiny roar of bubbles rising to the surface inside the bottle. The lemon taste is slight, not overpowering. "Gassosa" is a type of lightly lemon flavored Italian drink, sometimes used as a mixer. It lives up to its name because it does provide a slight bitter bite to it but not pucker inducing. It's very much like a faint tasting lemon ice. 

Hosmer Mountain Sarsaparilla

Hosmer Mountain has existing in Connecticut since 1912, established to deliver bottled water. Arthur Potvin purchased the company in 1958 and turned to bottling sodas. Their many flavors are all said to be developed in-house as well.

An old-world scent of sarsaparilla wafts out of the bottle. The carbonation is adequate but I prefer a lot more from my sarsaparillas and root beers. It's a good, but average tasting sarsaparilla. I'd recommend giving it a try if you find it, but that doesn't mean it's knocking my socks off. That said, I'd like to try some of their other flavors in the future. 

Jones Soda Pineapple Cream

Back to a new one from Jones Soda. I've had many pineapple sodas over the years. I usually enjoy them. But I've never come across a pineapple cream before, which makes this one interesting. The aroma is very fresh, both pineapple and melon-like. The pineapple flavor comes across well and tastes nice. The creaminess takes a moment to develop though. It slowly emerges in the finish and towards the sides of my tongue and mouth. Overall a nice tasting soda with a good level of fizz. 

Spezi

A couple of years ago I reviewed Mezzo Mix and Schwip Schwap, two German cola and orange soft drinks. I also remarked at how the orange and cola combo were unusually popular in Germany but not much of a think elsewhere. Recently, I encountered yet another German orange and cola soda in Spezi. The Riegele Brewery in Augsburg, Germany created the Spezi name in 1956 and it was originally the name of a beer. Many American breweries got involved in bottling soft drinks during the prohibition era, but Germany never had such a period. Although Riegele owned the Spezi name they did not enter the soft drink market until many years later when they discovered that pubs were making cola and orange soda drinks mixed to order. Because this was inefficient for bartenders Riegele decided to bottle pre-mixed cola and orange sodas with the Spezi name. Spezi ColaOrange grew in popularity as the so-called "original" orange cola. But soon demand outpaced supply and Riegele spun off Spezi into a separate company in the 1970's and licensed the bottling rights to local breweries all over.

It's an attractive looking bottle at just a quarter-liter, or about 8.5 ounces. The pleasant orange aroma is not unlike the other orange cola sodas tested previously. Carbonation levels are light. I find this flavor a pretty even mix between the orange and cola, however I think the orange tastes more like orange juice than an orange soda which is interesting. It also doesn't leave much of an aftertaste. All in all its not unpleasant but not surprisingly great either. It's a fresh option and I'd recommend giving it a taste if you are lucky enough to come across it on your journeys. 

Australian Style Hot Ginger Ale

This soda isn't actually from Australia. Instead you'll find that it's created and bottled by Rocket Fizz in California. There's a fresh herbal smell to this bottle when opened. It does carry a ginger essence but in a conversely cool manner. There's plenty of carbonation too. When taking a swig you've got to give it a moment but then the heat begins to build in the back of the throat. Unlike some "spicy" ginger beers I've tried which tend to build heat more forward in the mouth, this heat concentrates in the back of my throat. It isn't an unbearable heat, but you definitely feel it there. But now that I've tasted it, my job is done. I'm not a fan of hot or spicy beverages, though I'm sure there are many who would enjoy this more than me. 

Tomomasu Watermelon

Masukichi Tomoda began producing ramune sodas in Ogi City, Saga, which lies on the western side of the Japanese island of Kyushu. The original building has now become a museum dedicated to the story of Tomomasu beverages. The folks at Tomomasu Drink Co. Ltd. have been creating a variety of sodas for over 120 years now. 

Uncapping this tiny "grenade" style bottle unleashes a healthy watermelon scent. It literally smells like a fresh cut slice of watermelon under my nose. It has ample carbonation and the watermelon is just right for my liking. It's light handed and I think making fruit flavors in soda is something the Japanese always seem to do so well. They have a knack for really nailing authentic fruit flavors unlike the candy-like fruit flavors made in the U.S. This one is nice because while you get a good sense of the watermelon flavor it doesn't linger in your mouth making you sick 5 minutes later. The lightness of it makes is close to those fruit flavored sparkling waters, save for the fact that this contains high fructose corn syrup. I like the bottle as well. These little "grenades" always take me back to my childhood drinking Canada Dry from their little green hand-sized bottles. I'll keep on the look out from other flavors from Tomomasu to taste since this is the first time I've had one of their drinks. 

Q Kola

When I saw this bottle I had to question if it was really a soda. The picture may be deceiving but this is basically a wine bottle filled with 24oz of cola. It's thick glass, hefty weight, and haughty label immediately give it an air of a decadent soda. I would love to discover a bottle of this in the future to bring to a dinner party instead of wine just to see what people thought. Unfortunately, I doubt I'm ever going to see this particular packaging again as they seem to have shifted to cans and smaller bottles. Q seems primarily focused on the mixer market for upscale cocktails. 

The carbonation is average in intensity with fine aeration bubbles similar to what you might see in a champagne glass, while the cola aroma is light. The flavor gives green tea vibes... similar to some of the colas I've had in the past with green tea or a mixture of various herbs. It tastes of a touch of cinnamon and maybe coriander. With further inspection of the label I wasn't too far off. They list cinnamon, cloves, coriander, lemon, lime, orange, and nutmeg in addition to kola nut as ingredients. Noticeably they use organic agave as their sweetener. 

Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut

This is a limited edition flavor from the Dr Pepper label. Truth be told, I've never been a fan of coconut in anything so I don't have high hopes for this drink but I'm willing to give it a try in the name of science!

It doesn't smell that different from run of the mill Dr Pepper. I had imagined it smelling like some kind of pina colada. Oof!!! The first sip hit me like a truck. Plenty of carbonation in the drink but this "creamy coconut" flavor of theirs is so heavy handed. You can still pick up some of the traditional blend of Dr Pepper flavor but it tastes and feels like I'm drinking hand lotion. Thank goodness this is a limited edition. I appreciate the desire to experiment but this is a big swing and a miss in my own opinion. I think to enjoy this you'd really have to love coconut.

Caruso's Maraschino Cherry Cola

Caruso's falls under the WBC soda line currently produced by Sprecher. This bottle has a rich cherry scent. It reminds me of cough syrup. Upon tasting it, I'd say it's much more of a cherry soda than a cherry cola because I'm not really tasting much in the way of cola. It's heavy on the cherry though. I'd safely put it slightly above average for a cherry soda. If I'm judging it as a cherry cola, then it's pretty awful based on the previously mentioned lack of cola flavor.

Country Club Raspberry

I've heard of Country Club soda for many years but the history seems to be a bit fuzzy and I can't seem to find details online. There was a Country Club Soda company in Springfield, Massachusetts from the 1920's. This bottling plant was razed in the 1970's. However, there is also a Country Club Soda brand being produced by Refresco in the Dominican Republic and imported and distributed through New York City. Refresco appears to have only existed since 1999, but was the Country Club brand acquired through one of their many business acquisitions? Maybe I'll find more information about this from someone in the future. 

This particular bottle doesn't give off much of a scent. The taste is overly sweet and very much like drinking pure syrup. The raspberry flavor comes through but I find that the syrupiness hides what otherwise might be a more enjoyable beverage. I do wonder why we don't see more raspberry flavored sodas on the market though. 

Coca-Cola Orange Cream

A new flavor is out from Coca-Cola. I've previously tasted some of the cola and orange combination sodas from Germany that don't seem to be marketed elsewhere. Now they seem to be bringing this to the U.S., though it is listed as orange cream so I'm expecting some vanilla in there and something more akin to stirring your Coke with an orange dreamsicle. This latest flavor replaces the Coca-Cola Orange Vanilla flavor that was discontinued in 2022.

I didn't even have to put my nose close to the bottle to pick up a strong cream scent when I cracked the cap off. I'm not getting too much citrus from the scent, but the creaminess comes across strongly. The taste is interesting because unlike some of Coca-Cola's other flavor combos I can still taste the cola well. Then I taste a vanilla cream flavor but it's a much better level than the vanilla flavoring in Coca-Cola Vanilla. Somewhere in there I get a faint orange taste, but it gets quickly overcome by a cream flavor again. Washing it over the side of my tongue gives me a touch more of the orange flavor. I think it might be one of their more complex flavor combinations but I still find it to be a bit of a novelty and I wonder what sort of food this would pair well with, if anything. 

Jones Soda Zero Calorie Pomegranate

Lots of Jones Soda reviews here, so I won't rehash any of that. I wish there was a fruitier aroma from the top of this bottle when opening it but it smells a tad of fruit scented cardboard. There's slighter amount of carbonation than I would like from it. I think this could definitely use some of that old fashioned sugar in it because it actually tastes a tad bitter. For pomegranate I think there are better options on the market. I'd be interested in trying the same flavor from Jones with their normal calorie-laden sweeteners.

Fanta Lemon

I've had many varieties of Fanta over the years but Lemon is a new one for me. The closest being the Fanta Icy Lemon I had many years ago in Ireland. I picked this can up in a foreign foods shop. I can't read everything on the back of the can since much of it is in cyrillic characters, but I picked out the "Ckonje" in the bottling address and the URL as Fanta.mk which tells me this can originated in Macedonia.

Cracking open the can reveals a familiar citric acidity. It is tart like lemon juice, but the sugars take the bite off of it so it is not unpleasant. Think, fresh squeezed lemonade with a good deal of sugar. I think it's quite tasty, but then I also like a number of grapefruit and citrus sodas.

Boots Dewberry

I recently discussed the history of the Boots Beverages label on a prior post, so now I'll feature another flavor from the brand. I specifically picked up this bottle because I have never heard of a dewberry. Apparently it is closely related to the blackberry. 

Depending on the light, the soda in this bottle can take on a light purple hue or a color more earthy and dark reddish-brown. I quite like the aroma of this bottle with its deep berry scent like that of currants and sweet blackberries. It reminds me of fruity jams and even a bit like heavily scented moisturizing lotion (in a good way). As a flavor it is something unique. It's a mélange of the flavors of various dark berries like blackberries, blueberries, grapes, and currants. There's a tiny, tart bite in the finish that lasts a mere moment then vanishes. I was fully expecting this to be some strange flavor that only locals grew to like, but I'm pleasantly surprised and wondering why I've never come across this flavor profile before. It's very nice and so I'd recommend trying it if you can. It would make an excellent choice as a dessert soda. 

Mountain Dew Infinite Swirl

As I've said before, keeping up with Mountain Dew flavor variants is practically a full-time job. My most recent travels led to the discovery of this bottle with its bright sea blue color. It carries a tropical fruit and pineapple scent. The flavor itself is a tad unnatural. I do pick up a hint of pineapple but most of the pineapple flavor comes in the back of the throat in the lingering aftertaste. The forward flavors on each swig are much more like that of blueberry or mixed berry flavored Jell-O. It's a tad on the juvenile side in terms of taste complexity but it's decent enough. I think this is another flavor that would fare better with drinkers during the hot summer months than in the colder, darker winter and early spring months.