Happy (day after) Thanksgiving!  I thought I'd try an appropriately seasonal soda today:

I let my son try a sip.

He thought it was good. (But he never gets soda, so that's not worth much.)

Brand: Maine Root Pumpkin Pie Soda.

Origin: Portland, Maine.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Fair Trade Certified organic cane juice (sheesh).

Review: I was ready to not like this. I mean, it sounds kinda gross. But I was intrigued because it only had 3 ingredients: carbonated water, Fair Trade Certified organic cane juice, and spices. Turns out, it was OK. It didn't REALLY taste like pumpkin pie, but it was herby and spicy like a real flavorful pumpkin pie is. It SMELLED really like pumpkin pie. It wasn't bad. I mean, it wasn't GREAT either, but it was one of the better "novelty" sodas that I've had. And, as seen above, my 5-year-old liked it.

Score: 6 out of 10.
 

My wife told me this would be the best or the worst root beer we'd ever have - it was the most expensive root beer she'd ever purchased.



The bottle boasted all kinds of natural and fair trade ingredients. Their website says "Handcrafted soda made with Fair Trade Certified organic evaporated cane juice.  Open a bottle and taste the flavor of extracts of wintergreen, clove and anise.  Our recipe combines these ingredients with FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED ORGANIC SUGAR to allow the flavor of each of these extracts to come through."


Brand: Maine Root Root Beer

Origin: Portland, Maine.

Purchase Place: Lunds Grocery Store, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Fair trade certified organic cane juice (that's a mouthful...).

Review: The first 2 things I noticed was that it was quite watery, and it had a very herby and spicy flavor (not "hot" spicy, but "spice shop" spicy). The carbonation was a bit too weak. The spices were a bit much, but at the same time, the flavor was weak and watery. It needed MORE and LESS at the same time.

Score: 4 out of 10.