Oogave Root Beer

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

Rocky Mountain Soda Company Pike's Peak Prickly Pear

Rocky Mountain Soda Company was opened in 2009 by Chris Koons, Rory Donovan, and Drew Fulton to make unique sodas/mixers for their distillery. They also now own Oogave sodas. Rocky Mountain Soda Co. makes small batch non-GMO, gluten free, kosher, and vegan sodas. 

Prickly Pear is made with beet sugar and it had a really nice fruit aroma that is mostly pear but with a hint of citrus. The carbonation is thin. The fruit flavor of the drink is short lived. It tastes very pear-like but the flavor disappears quickly. I like eating pears and drinking squeezed pear nectar but this soda is so light I was hoping for more. I feel like it's closer to sugar water. I think this particular offering from them would be better as a drink mixer than as a straight soda.

Oogave Cola

Oogave is a line of certified organic, caffeine-free soda made with agave nectar. There seem to be a number of sodas these days using alternative sweeteners. It hails from Denver, Colorado, where it began in a natural food restaurant in 2005. 

It's strange how natural sodas of the cola flavor generally have a much stronger kola nut, cinnamon and nutmeg smell to them. That smell doesn't appear at least in the same way with major brands. The drink itself tastes like a bottle of nutmeg. It's not to say it's bad, but it conjures a winter holiday feeling in my mind. It's like it should be served with gingerbread cookies. It's a decent cola, but be prepared for the difference in flavor due to the use of the agave nectar compared to cane sugar or corn syrup.

Zuberfizz Cola

This is the third soda from Durango Soda Company, out of Colorado to appear here. The last one, being their Key Lime soda. As this one is plain cola, I'm hoping for a marked improvement over the past flavors I've tried from them.

The scent is reminiscent of Pepsi, with a tinge of cinnamon. For a company that prides itself on small handcrafted batches I would really expect more. This cola falls short of the mark for me. It tastes very much like the cheap off-brand sodas you'd get from a wholesale warehouse, or cheap knock off of RC Cola. The flavor is not crisp and overly sugary. I'm not fond of panning any sodas but there's just no reason to seek out this cola or pay more than you would for something mass produced. Moving, right along...

Zuberfizz Key Lime Cream Soda

This soda comes from the Durango Soda Company in Colorado. I'm hoping that this will be much better than the Coco Fizz I tried from them in the past. 

It has a very light smell when I open the bottle. For just a moment I thought I smelled a scent of cocoa but that may have been from any cream flavoring added and it dissipated quickly. I find the coloring a bit off putting because it is bright green like mouth wash. It is well carbonated but for some strange reason this leaves my tongue feeling vaguely numbed. This soda has more cream than key lime in it. One of my favorite summer sodas is Stewart's Key Lime, but this drink from Durango falls short of enjoyable for me. 

Coco Fizz

Coco Fizz comes from the Durango Soda Company in Durango, CO, which has been operating since 2002. The company makes a line up of various flavors under the name Zuberfizz and also makes the Coco Fizz drink seen here. I am making an assumption here, but due to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory logo on the bottle I gather they helped to create this flavor.

This is a lightly carbonated chocolate drink with a heavenly cocoa aroma upon opening. A quick look at the ingredients shows it is made with cane sugar, but no milk products. I was not sure what to expect with this drink as it is a translucent soda with a color akin to that of an apple cider, unlike a thick creamy looking Yoo-hoo. Oddly, if you let this drink hang on your tongue you can't taste the chocolate, but the flavor appears as you drink it. It is a milk-chocolate taste with creamy tones, but not as terrific as the initial aroma. It is an odd sensation because I am used to chocolate drinks as milk, that is thick, milky and non-carbonated. Several minutes after tasting I still have the after-taste of what I can only liken to the aroma of my younger brother's old Hershey Chocolate teddy bear he had when we were very little that smelled of chocolate no matter what other mess it was covered in... a sort of "chemical chocolate". I won't be adding it to my regular line up, but tasting this is a whole different experience.