Hosmer Mountain Black Cherry

I first introduced readers to Hosmer Mountain Beverages in this previous post where I reviewed their Sarsaparilla. I've come across a bottle of their black cherry soda this time around and I'm always jazzed to taste black cherry sodas. This 12 oz bottle comes in at 180 calories and uses cane sugar. The scent is not very heavy but definitely a black cherry aroma. I like the carbonation level. I think the taste of this is biased a little more toward a traditional cherry soda rather than a black cherry. The flavor is just okay, not as deep and rich as I'd prefer and I find that the finish comes across syrupy like that of a cough syrup. This is pretty disappointing as black cherry sodas go but still good enough to drink without hesitation. 

Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer

The folks at Reed's have created this Harry Potter themed butterscotch and cream soda concoction that I guess is supposed to approximate the butter beer popularized by the Harry Potter stories. Both this bottle and the butter beer mentioned are non-alcoholic drinks.

This has a very rich butterscotch scent to it. The scent is much stronger than that from butterscotch root beer's I've tasted. It really reminds me of the butterscotch pudding from my youth. The carbonation is a touch on the lower side, but I find the taste intriguing. It's smooth and buttery. The finish is definitely bringing forth the vanilla cream soda aspect. I'm not sure it would be as rounded without that creaminess so I think it makes for a good combination. The richness and smooth taste make this an excellent choice for an after dinner dessert beverage. 

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. 

Reed's Harvest Spiced Apple Cider

Reed's began business back in 1987 and is mostly focused on ginger-based drinks, such as ginger ale and ginger beer. It makes sense then that this Harvest Spiced Apple Cider contains ginger as well.

With a quick look, you can clearly observe fruit or ginger pulp in the drink. It's labeled as containing 60% juice, which is far more than your usual sodas in America. I find that it's quite heavily carbonated but whereas I was expecting the scent of crisp apple cider, instead it smells heavily of pumpkin. Imagine opening a can of Libby's pumpkin puree to make a pumpkin pie and getting a good whiff of it and you'll be able to experience what this smells like. To be honest, it's so full of spices that I really don't get an apple cider taste profile. What I pick up is more akin to pumpkin, nutmeg, cloves, and a very tiny touch of cinnamon which leads me to argue that this is much more like a drinkable pumpkin pie than any apple cider I've known. It's not bad but it's quite unique. It would be interesting to try tasting this warmed up, but that may have to wait until I find a new bottle next autumn. 

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. 

Fungal Fruit

The second of Avery's "SODAsgusting" series to appear here, the first being "Dog Drool." This series of drinks made by Avery was inspired by kids, so the names should not surprise you. 

Fungal Fruit smells a bit like pink lemonade, but its actually a mixture of lime and passion fruit as the label would indicate. The flavor doesn't really do anything for me. There are more refreshing fruit flavored sodas and the sweetness is a little too much for me. I think finishing a bottle of this would make me ill.

Freaky Dog Soda Barkin' Birch Beer

Freaky Dog Soda is the creation of brothers, Tom and Jim Magli, after working in various roles in the beverage industry for several years. The brand name is an homage to Jim Magli's dog, Eddie, who stole and hoarded all manner of items from their neighbors. As such, the flavors have been given canine-themed names like Grrrrape, Howling Black Cherry and Rooffbeer.

It has the odd aroma of cream and pepto. I imagine this particular flavor from Freaky Dog is an acquired taste because it's a bit strange. It's creamy but indeed tastes like pepto-bismol, not something I'm very fond of drinking for enjoyment. Alas, sometimes novelty beverages cannot live up. Perhaps their other flavors will improve my opinion of the brand, but this is not a flavor I'd recommend. Although they've done well with the concept and packaging design.