Jack Black's Blood Red Cola

It has been sometime since I last reviewed a soda from the Jack Black's line up. This brand is made by the Real Soda group, which produces many soda labels. This bottle smells like a number of craft soda maker's colas and the color of the liquid isn't actually blood red either but a very normal amber cola color. I have to say there's nothing remarkable about the flavor. It's a very average cola though I thought the "blood red" aspect in the name might have meant it had a twist to the flavor or they'd at least dyed it red. Its really just a marketing thing and there are better colas that provide more pep than this one. But hey, the cap is kinda cool. 

Pepsi Nitro Vanilla Draft Cola

Following on the heels of today's earlier post on Pepsi's Nitro Draft Cola, is this second Nitro option with the addition of vanilla. Just as mentioned previously, these sodas are aerated using nitrogen rather than traditional carbon-dioxide. As expected, there's a vanilla scent emanating from this can that the other one didn't. Similar to the regular draft cola version the extremely tiny bubbles made by the nitrogen provide a very smooth experience. The vanilla isn't too heavy handed but artificial tasting, not like a dollop of vanilla ice cream or anything. Its good but my personal choice would be to prefer the regular draft cola offering out of the two of them. As a side note, I do like the metallic, copper lettering with the choice of navy blue and cream colors of the can. 

Pepsi Nitro Draft Cola

I'm glad I grabbed these when I did as it turns out that Pepsi has recently discontinued their Nitro beverages. Available in both draft cola as well as vanilla draft cola flavors, these cans contain a "widget" which infuses the drink with nitrogen when opened. This is similar to the widget pioneered by Guinness for their stout beers. The idea seems to be that the nitrogen creates a smoother texture to the drink, probably owing to smaller bubbles than those made by carbon-dioxide. 

I happen to be traveling at the moment so I don't have any glassware available, but I've just noticed that the can advises to "pour hard" the chilled soda into a glass after opening. Since I've no glassware on hand, I'm going to be drinking these straight from the can. Cracking the top startled me with the sound from the widget. I thought the can was going to fizz out and spill all over the place, before realizing it was just the sound from the widget. There's a definite frothy head to it, very similar in texture and color to the head of a properly poured draft of Guinness. Wow, I would not have thought simply changing from traditional carbon-dioxide to nitrogen would have such a remarkable difference. The drink does taste creamier and silky in texture. It's a mellow, creamy cola flavor, but not in a vanilla or ice cream float sense. I wish I'd tried this sooner so I could have enjoyed it more before Pepsi discontinued. Hope they'll reconsider someday and bring them back. Maybe we should try aerating sodas with other inert gases too!

Jones Soda Zero Cola

I've reviewed a number of flavors from Jones Soda over the years but recently came across a "special release" from them in the form of this zero calorie cola. Rather than the traditional cane sugar used in many of their beverages, this is sweetened with sucralose. The cola scent is slight from this bottle. I find it has plenty of carbonation and does taste more like the kind of everyday cola you might expect. It might be a tad sharper than normal despite sucralose supposedly being many times sweeter than sugar. In terms of the diet and "zero" soft drinks on the market though, this can still hold its head up because I think in a group taste test against Diet Coke this one would fair pretty well. 

Nixie Classic Cola

You'll have to forgive me for seeing this can on the shelves of a grocery store in Texas as I perused the aisles looking for unknown treasures and thinking it was a store brand. Being both unknown, available in single cans, and having a somewhat generic label it was easy to be confused. It doesn't look entirely different from a can of Big K in Kroger particularly with everyone releasing zero sugar versions these days. But I quickly found out that this was not the case. Nixie was founded in 2019 by Nicole Bernard Dawes. Nicole's parents worked in two very different industries, one in natural foods and the other in junk foods. In 2003 Nicole founded Late July Snacks, which produces organic, non-GMO snack foods, mostly a variety of corn chips and salsa. Nixie began in 2019 as a socially conscious drink company with the aim of removing sugar and single-use plastics from its products. It would then make sense that "Nixie" owes its name to the term to "nix" something, or cancel something out. They make many flavors of sodas in classic and slightly off beat flavor combinations. This 12oz can is certified organic, has zero calories and includes ingredients such as stevia extract, Himalayan pink salt, and organic caffeine from tea leaves. 

The can pops open as any can of cola would, but the scent is not that of classic cola. In fact I find the aroma rather sterile. The soda is also of a more orange color than I'm used to seeing in a cola. I can say after tasting this as well as several other sodas using stevia that it imparts a somewhat odd and bitter flavor to every drink that uses it. Some of them even end up making me feel more thirsty after tasting them. Despite often being used in organic drinks it ends up tasting more chemical than the everyday sodas we're used to. Unfortunately, I can't really taste a cola flavoring from this either. It's not the worst cola I've had, but it falls short of being a healthier daily replacement for those who enjoy colas. If, however, you simply want a healthier, more socially responsible option for a decent price it is a valid option. I'll have to find some of their other flavors to weigh in comparison and see if they can provide more of the intended flavor than this one did. 

Coca-Cola Energy

Similar to the yesterday's post, this was soda was a foray by Coca-Cola into the energy drink space. However, Coca-Cola Energy ceased production in North America but is available from other parts of the world. This particular can is original cola flavored in a zero sugar variety. A regular sugar version and cherry version were also available. Among its ingredients are vitamins that regulate electrolytes as well as guarana which is a fruit bearing plant from South America that is commonly used in energy drinks in combination with caffeine. Although it has zero calories, this can contains more than three times the amount of caffeine of a similar size (12oz) can of normal Coca-Cola. 

The drink smells very much like normal Coke. There's a faint difference in the aroma which could be from the guarana, but it is very slight. It still tastes of cola but it is a much different taste than regular Coca-Cola. The guarana, used in many energy drinks, provides a fruitiness and even bit of herbs to the taste. It does indeed taste like someone spilled a touch of Red Bull into a Coke. It tastes fine, but as mentioned, it isn't going to taste like normal Coke. 

Northern Soda Cola

I previously discussed the history of the Northern Soda Company on this earlier post. This time around I've got a can of their cola flavor. A nice sounding crack when opening a can is always a good start. The aroma isn't strong but you can't mistake it for something other than cola. It's a solid tasting cola. It's only slightly more expensive than your main stream soda brands that use high fructose corn syrup, which I'd say is a good trade off for a small batch, cane sugar sweetened, independent brand cola. 

Sprecher Cherry Cola

This selection from Sprecher is not in their typical glass bottles but in an attractive can that stood out to me on the shelf. I'm not certain what "fire-brewed" is supposed to add to the flavor here. Is there a char that affects the soda's flavor like it's a piece of sirloin steak? Sprecher is of course a Wisconsin company, but I've noted that ingredients of this cherry cola list cherries sourced from Door County as well as raw Wisconsin Honey. I would have thought honey as an ingredient may have been used as a sweetener but they also list glucose syrup. 

A cherry scent is present, as expected, though it isn't very strong. I think it has a very unique flavor profile for a cherry cola. I do taste the cola hiding in the back because the cherry takes center stage. I'm also picking up a soft and pleasant sweetness that tastes like it could very well be from the honey. Wirth each sip I'm mentally trying to isolate this and it does remind me of honey. In my opinion, this is a pleasingly unique cherry cola and the sort of craft soda you could splurge on from time to time as a nice treat and not tire of it. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

Coca-Cola Vanilla

While I've discussed Coca-Cola many times on this blog, I haven't gotten around to reviewing their vanilla Coke before now despite the fact that Coca-Cola Vanilla was first released back in the Spring of 2002.

Over the years I've tasted this soda many times. When it first came on the market I thought it tasted quite good. While true soda jerks in pharmacies regularly mixed vanilla with Coca-Cola many decades ago, the fact that old-fashioned soda fountains don't really exist anymore meant I'd not had the pleasure until this product came about. It was new and exciting to me. It also marked the beginning of the many flavor varieties, including limited edition flavors, that Coca-Cola and Pepsi have continued to this day. But personally I felt like it became a bit trite over time and I just didn't enjoy it after a while. Could it even be possible that Coca-Cola changed the recipe? In any case, these days I find the vanilla too overpowering and sweet. I rarely drink Coca-Vanilla these days, usually only imbibing when it's the only option. 

Olipop Vintage Cola

Olipop was founded in 2018 by Ben Goodwin and David Lester, who had sold their previous venture with an probiotic soda called Obi. Olipop is a prebiotic, so I guess they chose make a change with their new soda. The prebiotic ingredients used include cassava root fiber, chicory root inulin, Jerusalem artichoke inulin, nopal cactus, marshmallow root, calendula flower, and kudzu root. I'm always a bit skeptical about claims of "miracle health products" and maybe rightly so when I find that Gwyneth Paltrow was an early investor since I've heard of many of the bizarre claims made from her Goop brand. It seems there have been some recent lawsuits against multiple brands of these prebiotic sodas suggesting that the health benefits they promote can't be achieved with the small amount of inulin they include. However, if nothing else, I've taken note that a single serving (12oz. can) is listed at just 35 calories with a grand total of 16g of sugars and is low in sodium... all improvements over your standard, big name sodas. Jonathan Limehouse author of USA Today's recent article, provides a good summation of this...

"Dietitians agree that Poppi, Olipop, Culture Pop and other prebiotic sodas are healthier options compared to traditional soft drinks, but they are weary about how beneficial these brightly colored canned alternatives really are due to their lack of effect on gut health. Coke, Sprite and other common sodas have "tons of added sugar" and are "pretty calorically dense," which is the opposite of most prebiotic sodas on the market, Jessica Alfano, a clinical dietitian at Huntington Hospital in New York, told USA TODAY on Thursday during a phone interview."

But since I'm really more about seeing what sodas taste like, let me crack open a can of this cola flavored option from Olipop. Cracking open the can gives a light cola scent, but also a scent similar to some of the sodas I've has using tea as an ingredient and I wonder if a little of the chicory isn't in that smell as well. After taking a first swig, I'm super unimpressed. It has a taste that reminds me of making pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread... a mix of canned pumpkin, flour, and granulated sugar. I would not classify this flavor as cola. Even with the low sodium listed as I drink it there's a bit of a salty tasting finish. All in all, I'm not enjoying it and still have at least one other flavor waiting for me in the fridge. Regardless of the gut health claims, it's a healthier option than regular soda so if you can handle the taste, or maybe let it grow on you, then it seems a decent alternative.

Pepsi Lime

Pepsi has a couple of recent entries into the arena of flavor varieties of cola, hand in hand with Coca-Cola's flavor shenanigans. 

You'll probably need to pay very close attention to pick up the tiniest hint of lime in the smell off of this, it mostly smells like plain Pepsi cola. I've only taken a few swigs to contemplate it, but it's not coming across very well. It's got the taste of cola mixed with household cleaner. As I continue to taste it, it grows on me in a very small way. The lime isn't heavy-handed, but I just don't feel like lime and cola are the greatest flavor combination. It would probably take me an entire day sipping away on this to finish an entire bottle. That tiny tinge of lime does have a lingering aftertaste that reminds you of lime again. I'd say as a limited edition its worth trying, but I doubt it could stand as a regular flavor. Thankfully, I was able to find this flavor available in single bottles. Unlike Coca-Cola they haven't learned that its harder to get people to drop $10 on a 12-pack for a new flavor they may not like. If you're interested in trying this hopefully you'll be able to find a single bottle too. They've released a peach flavor too but I've found no single bottles of it around yet.

Thums Up

Let's begin with this post with a short history lesson, because the history of Thums Up is about more than just soda. But everyone I meet from India seems to light up when I ask them about Thums Up. I learned about the history of Thums Up several years ago, but wasn't able to get my hands on any until more recently.

India gained independence in 1947, which looked like a big opportunity to Coca-Cola for post-WWII global expansion. Coca-Cola India began in 1950 as a subsidiary of parent company of Coca-Cola. While Coca-Cola was digging in, India was still building its government and recovering from the divide from the British, led by their first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The Indian government was focused on developing it's own industries and promoting business from within. Coca-Cola wanted to blitz the country so heavily that the government would feel powerless in the face of their market dominance and financial importance. Pepsi could not achieve the same since they arrived late to the game, just two years after Coca-Cola, in 1952, the Indian government by then was successful in preventing Pepsi from ever gaining much traction to establish a "beach head" within the country. Pepsi would end up leaving India just 10 years later. 

Indira Gandhi would serve as Prime Minister of India twice, the first time coming in 1971. In 1973, the Indian government passed the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. Under this act, subsidiaries of foreign companies were required to limit foreign equity share to 40% or less and convert themselves to Indian companies with at least 60% ownership by Indian interests. While this was going on, a national emergency took place over accusations of corrupt election practices, against Indira Gandhi, which the courts upheld. Morarji Desai would emerge as the new Prime Minister of India. George Mathew Fernandes served as the Union Minister for Industries under Desai and claimed companies such as Coca-Cola were violating the laws imposed by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. Fernandes demanded that Coca-Cola India give 60% of its share to Indian interests, but that they also divulge their secret recipe to its Indian shareholders. Recall from my post on the World of Coca-Cola about the vault where the recipe is stored. Coca-Cola considers the recipe a trade secret and they along with several other companies decided to simply leave India altogether in 1977.

After Coca-Cola's departure, the government took control of more than twenty of Coca-Cola's bottling facilities. Coca-Cola left a huge gap in the market and government controlled companies produced Double Seven cola to fill this gap. Double Seven was also known as Sarkari Cola and Sattatar, which was a play on the year 1977, which they removed Coca-Cola from India. Double Seven would be a failed product and Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1979. While other startup cola brands were launched, such as Campa Cola, the most popular of these was Thums Up. After previously finding success with Limca and Gold Spot sodas, brothers Prakash Chauhan and Ramesh Chauhan, from Mumbai and owners of the Parle company, launched Thums Up in 1977. Thums Up proved popular and they snapped up most of the cola market in India through the 1980's. 

By the end of the 1980's India's economy was stagnant. Pepsi was permitted to return if they "Indianized" their name. They became Lehar Pepsi in a joint venture with a government owned company until 1994 when they simply became Pepsi again. Pepsi was then battling cola-wars on two fronts, against Coca-Cola in North America and against Thums Up in India. In 1993, Coca-Cola was able to return to India without having to reveal their secret recipe. The franchise bottling system used by Thums Up meant that their bottlers chose to sell out to Coca-Cola. This meant Coca-Cola now owned the Thums Up, Limca, and Gold Spot brands. Coca-Cola ceased production of Gold Spot despite a loyal fan base, opting to replace the orange soda with their Fanta brand. Siddhartha Khosla would name his L.A. based band, Goldspot, after the drink. Coca-Cola attempted to shift Thums Up drinkers to the Coca-Cola brand, in an effort that failed because the branding and tastes were not alike. So today, Thums Up is still a market leader for cola in India, even though it is now owned by Coca-Cola. 

With that little history lesson provided, I can get on with the drinking. I've managed to get my hands on a glass bottle of Thums Up from a local Indian market. This bottle has seen better days and that's because it is a deposit bottle, with thicker glass, they are designed to be returned to be washed and reused again and again. I've also found a canned sample from a nearby middle-eastern market. 

I'm starting with the glass bottle and it provides a smell like that of Pepsi. Oh, I can definitely taste the difference and understand why there would be market differentiation among drinkers in India. The cola flavor is like that of Pepsi, but with a big difference... it's got a herbal quality to it, a bit leafy like tea and maybe cumin and cardamom. I find often that those sodas with herbal notes are a little off putting to me, but this one isn't. I quite like it. Opening the can, the herbal aroma is stronger than I found from the bottle. I also find that herbal flavoring is stronger from the can and I don't care for it as much as from the bottle. I'm not sure if this is due to inconsistent bottling, age of the drink when bottled/canned, or from light affecting the bottle through the clear glass, but I know I prefer the bottled version. I'd certainly recommend giving it a try if you come across it. 

Mezzo Mix

What an interesting find at the World Market this was. This can of Mezzo Mix is made by Coca-Cola and is canned and sold in Germany. Back in May I posted about Schwip Schwap a German made cola and orange soda from PepsiCo. It would appear this is Coca-Cola's answer to that. Just like in America, Pepsi and Coca-Cola battle each other for market share often with their own takes on the same flavors. As I remarked before, it's a little weird though that us Americans get cola with lemon, cola with lime, but Germans get cola with orange. Since it is so difficult to find cola with orange here, it makes me wonder if it is equally as difficult to find cola with lemon or lime there. I certainly don't recall coming across lemon or lime variations in the UK on any my trips there, nor did I come across either such drinks in Austria. 

I'm a little off topic so let me return to talking about Mezzo Mix. Apparently, this brand from Coca-Cola was released back in 1973 in what was then West Germany. However both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are copying an earlier cola and orange soda, named Spezi, introduced in the 1950's. There are also generic or store-brand versions as well. The tagline pictured at the bottom of the can, "cola küsst orange," translates as "cola kisses orange." 

A crack of the can shows good carbonation, but there's very little scent. A tinge of orange in the air but hardly any cola scent. I've got to say that I personally favor this one over the Schwip Schwap option. Whereas Schwip Schwap gave me a more powerful orange flavor, the orange in this drink is more subtle. It's much more like a cola with an orange garnish rather than mixing equal parts cola and orange soda, so I'm giving the edge to Coca-Cola on this one. But if you favor stronger orange, opt for one of the other cola and orange brands. 

Green Cola

While they've been around since 2011, I only recently came across this cola beverage from the Green Cola Company. They state their goal is creating healthier refreshments. The can lists it as having no calories, no sugar (they use stevia as a sweetener, no aspartame, no preservatives, no phosphoric acid, and apparently natural caffeine from green coffee beans??? I think coffee bean use in a soda is probably a first for me. A 12oz can of regular Mountain Dew has 54mg of caffeine, while this can of Green Cola has just 37mg. The amount of sodium is on par with other sodas at 40mg per can. While Green Cola appears to be their flagship, they do apparently have other flavors. 

I don't readily smell much when cracking open a can of this stuff. Well it certainly tastes different. If you can adapt to the change in taste from the giant mass market of sodas this seems like it would make a healthier alternative, but to be clear... it does taste different. It has a cola flavor, but its light handed and that flavor quickly dissipates from the tongue. But I think the stevia and other flavorings they use make the biggest difference. Its not quite as smooth as you might wish for it to be. There's an almost tea-like quality to it. The flavor itself has a bit of "grittiness" to it, not the liquid. I think that might be the best way to describe it. To be fair it can be a challenge to describe flavors that are created with out of the norm ingredients. I am delighted to say however, that it's totally drinkable. Just typing the first paragraph above about it made me cringe to think what it might actually taste like. As I've said it's not the normal cola flavor, but why should it be? With a few minutes you quickly get used it and its not bad at all but you will pay a little more for this than your Coke or Pepsi. It gets my thumbs up enough to encourage you to try it if you should find it. 

Schwip Schwap Cola & Orange

Here's an interesting find I came across in London. From PepsiCo Deutschland comes this interesting flavor combo. I can't find evidence of other flavors from the Schwip Schwap label, so it may only be the cola and orange option. It sounded intriguing and there are certainly precedents for it where both Coca-Cola and Pepsi have released lime and lemon combinations with cola. 

It does smell like a glass of cola with a slice of orange added for garnish. However, I find the orange flavor is overpowering the cola taste. This is much more like an orange juice with a touch of cola added than the other way around. The concept seems solid, but the taste isn't really there, in my opinion. Nonetheless its supposedly popular in Germany. 

M&S Very Interesting Cola

Found this bottle in the Marks & Spencer Foodhall on my recent trip. Marks & Spencer is an upscale retailer with everything from clothing to beauty products and food items, similar to Target in some ways but more posh. 

I find the scent to be smooth but not a strong cola scent, with the tiniest hint of vanilla in the background. I don’t get the impression of much carbonation just by hearing the cap open or seeing any bubbles in the drink. A draw from the bottle presents a little bit of carbonation, but not that much. The cola flavor is seriously lacking in my opinion. It’s very subdued and I think the Madagascar vanilla is tainting the flavor. This soda isn’t very pleasant to me so I recommend a pass.