O-So Butterscotch Root Beer

Among the many retro soda labels revived and continuing to be produced by Orca Beverage, whose name has come up several times in past posts, is the O-So label. O-So soda began in Chicago, Illinois in 1946 gaining popularity based on their grape flavored soda. The traction they gained grew their network of bottlers as well as the variety of fruit flavors they offered. From what I can surmise, they shuttered production in the early 1990's before the label was picked up by Orca, which operates out of Washington state.

This bottle comes in at 170 calories and is made with cane sugar. Unlike the last butterscotch root beer I had, this one is more root beer scented, but their butterscotch flavoring must be what gives it a slight smokiness. It isn't heavily carbonated but the cap was extremely difficult to twist off and seems to have left some sort of coarse residue around the bottle opening which isn't ideal. While the scent leans more towards a root beer, the taste leans more towards that of butterscotch. I'm not really getting much in the way of the root beer until the aftertaste of a swig. The butterscotch flavoring is adequate but not all that smooth.

Jelly Belly Lemon Drop

The folks that make the famous gourmet jelly beans have a few flavors of soda as well. Something key to Jelly Belly's success is how they can seemingly encapsulate about any flavor into a jelly bean. And, yes, they do make soda flavored jelly beans, including A&W Root Beer and Dr Pepper. 

Gustav Goelitz was a German immigrant in who started a candy business in Belleville, Illinois in 1869. The Goelitz Confectionary Company was successful enough to open factories in Cincinnati and Chicago by 1904. In 1913, the company moved from Belleville, just east of St. Louis, to Chicago. Gustav's son, Herman, opened his own candy business, the Herman Goelitz Candy Company, in California. It was in the 1960's that they began producing jelly beans. In 1976, Herman Rowland, who was Herman Goelitz's grandson, worked with David Klein to create naturally flavored jelly beans. The Jelly Belly was born and named in tribute to blues musician Lead Belly. So while there is a long history of the companies behind Jelly Belly jelly beans, the first actual sale of Jelly Belly beans wasn't until 1976. Herman Goelitz Candy Company remained the company behind the Jelly Belly until 2001 when they renamed to form the Jelly Belly Candy Company. Since 2023 Jelly Belly has been owned by the Ferrara Candy Company. Ferrara brands include Lemonheads, Chuckles, Pixy Stix, Spree, Fun Dip, and Nerds. 

The soda itself smells lemony like a can of lemon Pledge furniture polish. The taste isn't anything great in my opinion. It's basically a lemon sour with a puckering tartness but not overly tart. They've opted for cane sugar which is a surprise to me since I always picture jelly beans as being made in a chemistry lab with corn syrup. 

WBC Black Cherry

WBC began in 1988 in a pub on Goose Island, a little spit of land in the North branch of the Chicago River a stone's throw to the Northwest of the Loop in downtown Chicago. The Mars Wrigley offices are on Goose Island today. In 2021, Wisconsin-based Sprecher Brewing purchased WIT Beverages, which owned WBC and Green River.

This is a heft 16oz bottle and it provides a rich black cherry aroma when opening. I'd say this bottle provides an average level of carbonation. As far as black cherry sodas go, it's ok. I've certainly had better, but I will say it's very smooth, probably owing partially to using real sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners. However, beware that a full 16oz serving contains 60 grams of sugar. It does taste a bit "old-worldly" as though it was poured from a wood barrel, so it's got that going for it. 

Capone Family Secret Root Beer

Well, this company doesn't appear to exist any longer, yet here I have a bottle of Capone Family Secret Root Beer. Did they have other flavors? Based on an unmaintained Facebook page, that hasn't been updated since 2013, they had a few standard flavor options. I have no idea where I picked up this bottle but it must have been around a while. The print on the side of the bottle isn't legible to read any date. Oh well, glass bottled sodas can last for ages when they are well sealed since glass is not gas permeable, which sounds like a topic to address in a future post. 

I don't know if it's just past its prime or it wasn't a good root beer to begin with. It tastes old and stale but with a slight metallic taste. Oh well, it made the post, but I'm dumping the rest of it. If the label is any indication, it was probably a pretty generic tasting root beer even at its best. 

Cicero Beverage Co. Caramel Apple

West-Southwest of downtown Chicago, Illinois is the neighborhood of Cicero. My grandfather was born in Berwyn directly next to Cicero and later lived there as well so I had to pick up this bottle when I found it, though I can't even recall where I found it. Unfortunately, the website for the company is no longer active and the domain name appears up for grabs so I fear they've gone belly up. 

This drink smells of candied apples alright, like a sweet hard candy version. The more I inhale it the more I pick up the faint notes of caramel. Whether that translates into the taste is yet to be seen. That first swig is a punch. It's quite sour, but I think the taste is much more like candied apples than caramel apples. There's little carbonation, but it's clearly visible. It's just not very appetizing, perhaps that is why their web domain is no longer in use.

Bruce Cost Passion Fruit Ginger Ale

In 1984 Bruce Cost issued a cookbook of recipes using ginger, called "Ginger: East to West". Beginning in 1989 he started using his own ginger ale at his restaurants in California. Operations then moved to Chicago and later to New York. 

Unfiltered is listed flat out on the label, but it should be evident by the large amount of pulp in the bottle. I'm a fan of ginger ale so quite curious about a passion fruit ginger ale. This soda is made with cane sugar, ginger, passion fruit, and turmeric. There's a unique scent from this bottle. It has a smell like that of opening a drawer in a centuries old desk found in the back of an antique shop. Turmeric is related to ginger and both have been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years in Asia. This bottle has a great deal of carbonation, releasing a hiss with each sip from the bottle. The flavor is a bit medicinal. I don't really get much of the passion fruit flavor. Instead it has much more of the ginger and turmeric flavor. The drink straddles a bit of a line between main stream ginger ale like a Canada Dry or Schweppes, and the stronger, sometimes hot ginger beer. I like the nostalgic, apothecary-like aura this brings, but it isn't something I'd be drinking every day. It would probably make a very cook cooking ingredient or act as a good mixer for some drinks, especially a Moscow Mule.

Cicero Beverage Co. Lime Soda

Cicero Beverage Co. is located in Chicago, IL. My grandfather grew up in Cicero, when it was still populated heavily Czech/Bohemian residents. 

St. Patrick's Day is the perfect day to review this soda. Although Cicero Beverage makes several sodas of different colors, Lime was the best choice for today because the river on the label changes color based on the soda. For those outside of the U.S. that read this blog, Chicago, which has historically had a large Irish population, dyes the river green on St. Patrick's Day.

The soda itself is well carbonated. The flavor is a bit lacking though. There are some good lime sodas, but I often find bottlers that create a very hard-candy type of lime flavor. It's not a bad lime, I've had much worse I think. But it's not amazing either. I am interested in tasting some of their others in the lineup because they do offer several flavors and some are intriguing.

Excel Black Cherry

Starting the new year off with another flavor from the folks at Excel Bottling in Breese, Illinois. Regular readers will be familiar with them, my last post featured their Orange Pineapple soda.

Over the years I've taking a shine to the flavor of black cherry sodas. No major soda lines produce it in volume. Maybe the largest maker of a regular black cherry I can think of would be Stewart's. Black Cherry can be a bit strong so it's a nice treat once in a while. This selection from Excel is decent. It has nice aeration and a pleasing black cherry flavor. However the after taste reminds me of a black cherry Hi-C or black cherry Jell-O. Still, all in all it isn't so bad as to ignore and could simply be a slight dip in quality control. I'd still venture to say I wouldn't mind sipping this by the side of a pool in the summer with a burger and fries.

Excel Orange Pineapple

Excel Bottling was featured in one of my earliest posts, back in 2010, when I discusses Ski. They've been bottling sodas since 1936, but also started making beer. I used to visit Excel once a month or so when I lived out in St. Louis. It made for a nice drive through the country to a small town, called Breese. I liked that they still operated on returnable bottles with the locals, although they've moved to throw-away bottles in order to distribute farther and keep costs down.

It has a light pineapple scent with light carbonation. They use cane sugar, which I usually prefer since it offers a rounder sweetness to the taste. Despite the neon glow it's a nice refreshing beverage. The flavors are not overpowering and it's not too sugary. Don't ignore bottles like these because the decals aren't as flashy because you could be missing out on a good drink. And if you're ever near Breese, I always recommend a stop in to see their operation.

R-Pep

The history of R-Pep seems a little interesting. While I was unable to determine the definitive inventor of the drink, it appears it may have been a creation of Clem Bottling Works in Malvern, Arkansas. Clem Bottling Works began back in 1907, founded by J.M. Clem. The year the R-Pep formula came into existence is unknown at this time. This was a family run business until 1972 when it was sold to Dr Pepper. Harold Clem, J.M.'s grandson, then went to work for Dr Pepper. In 2011, Excel Bottling from Breese, Illinois obtained the trademark to R-Pep and resumed bottling it with the original formula. Regular visitors to this site may recall reading about Excel in this previous post.

A bottle with adequate carbonation, it doesn't have much of a scent. The soda itself is not an analog of Dr Pepper as some web hits mention. To me this tastes less of spices you feel in Dr Pepper. Instead what I taste is cherry with traces of chocolate. It's also has a soft sweetness from the cane sugar used. It's a good drink, but I'd like it to have more carbonation.

Dream Lode Golden Ginger Ale

Here's a conundrum... The label of this ginger ale lists Cripple Creek Brewing, which seems to have no discernible web site. The cap lists Filbert's Beverages out of Illinois. So it's hard to say where this came from.

It does have a nice carbonation ratio and a beautiful label. It carries a nice ginger ale flavor but almost seems as if it's been mixed with apple juice even though no juice is listed as an ingredient. It's a fruity ginger ale taste. You'll also find it leans slightly more towards the ginger beer end of the ginger ale spectrum, in so much as it has a bit of a bite towards the finish. 

Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer

Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer was created in 1937 by Ely Klapman and Barney Kerns in the basement of Ely Klapman's home in Chicago. This drink grew quickly in popularity in the American Midwest and in the 1940's was the first drink sold in six-pack format. During the 1940's the brand was sold as a "family" of sizes with the Papa being a full half-gallon bottle. Dad's was purchased by the Monarch Beverage Company, of Atlanta, in 1986.  In 2007 the beverage returned to it's Midwestern roots when it was purchased by Hedinger Brands, based in Jasper, Indiana. Like many drinks with regional beginnings you can find loyal Dad's fans around the Midwest.

This soda is caffeine free and made with cane sugar, and yes, bottled in Jasper, IN. It has a pleasing, old-fashioned root beer fragrance. As much as I was hoping to like this root beer, I found it to have a distinct chemical overtone to it. I found it to be too much for me to enjoy sipping it.

Green River

Green River was created in 1919 by Schoenhofen Brewery in Chicago, IL. Schoenhofen had been around since the late 1800's but made Green River to continue sales during prohibition. Green River was a very popular soft drink during the prohibition years and is said to have trailed only Coca-Cola in market share at the soda fountains. But Green River began to fade after prohibition when Schoenhofen returned to making beer. The Schoenhofen Brewery closed in 1950, but Green River was still produced by other companies. Today Green River is produced by the Clover Club Bottling Co. back in its home city of Chicago.

My first taste of Green River was actually from an old fashioned soda fountain in Greenup, IL. It isn't exactly lime-flavored. It smells like lime Jello and has a unique flavor all it's own. I liken it to the very essence of the color green, or even pure leprechaun urine. I recommend trying some, if your lucky enough try to get it at a soda fountain for the old-time experience.

Ski

The other day I made a trip out to a little town in southern Illinois called Breese. Here in this small town sits the Excel Bottling Company. Excel is a soda bottler in the good old fashioned sense. Locals here put down a deposit on a wooden crate of 24 bottles which they can mix with whatever combination of flavors they want. When the bottles are empty they return the bottles for a refund on their deposit or pay for another round of full bottles. The empty bottles are washed and refilled with any of a number of flavors. Not many bottlers exist like this anymore. I've personally tasted most of their offerings. Among flavors such as grape, root beer, pineapple, orange, cream soda, and strawberry, Excel licenses and bottles regular Double Cola as well as the Double Cola-owned Ski soft drink. 

Ski has a fanatical following and was created in 1956 by the Double Cola company. I will have to address Double Cola on its own entry someday but Double Cola began in 1922 as the Good Grape Company in Chattanooga, TN. 

Ski has a unique citrus flavor and is made with orange and lemon concentrate, a little of which is visible in the bottle. The taste of ski is one of those which is difficult to describe. It smells like lemon and orange and has a good carbonation level in that it tingles when held in the mouth. The lemon flavor is more noticeable than the orange. I think some of the difficulty in describing the flavor comes from the confusion that it looks like the lemon-lime flavors most people are more familiar with so when their palate gets a hold of Ski it doesn't quite know what to make of it. The orange in it is what I think lends the "frosty" overtone to it. What I mean by that is that there are some new drinks out there of various chemical origins which have "ice" or "frost" in their name to smooth the flavor and this soda reminds me of that albeit with natural flavors. Ski is primarily made by smaller, regional bottlers like Excel to the point that some think their local area is the drink's origin, but in fact it's just a highly regionalized offering. So if you stop in a small town in one of the Southeastern states look out for Ski signs, I definitely recommend giving it a go. 

Mason's Root Beer

First introduced in 1947 by Mason & Mason, Inc. of Chicago, Mason's Root Beer is one of a handful of classic American root beers. In the 1970's the Rheingold Corporation purchased Mason & Mason, Inc and in 1975 was Rheingold was acquired by Pepsi Co. The Federal Trade Commission forced Pepsi Co to sell off some of it's holdings and so in 1978 Mason's was sold to Monarch Beverage. Monarch had purchased Dad's Root Beer in 1986 and subsequently ended the production of Mason's Root Beer.

Although shelved by Monarch, it is possible to to procure Mason's from a company called Real Soda which licenses and recreates some older brand sodas. Danny Ginsburg started collecting bottle caps much like me as a kid and in his efforts to collect more caps began traveling around buying bottled sodas. Danny founded Real Soda as a distributor of bottled sodas and grew to the point that he began licensing older brands to recreate, bottle and sell as well.

The aroma of Mason's is rich and bold with a lower carbonation level than usual for a root beer. It tastes like an old-fashioned root beer and would be more at home in a root beer float than some root beers I've tasted. I can pick up a small hint of a licorice-like finish but it doesn't ruin the flavor. Over all it's a good root beer, not great, but good.