I had one other GuS "Grown-Up Soda" last year and it wasn't the best, so I took a risk trying their root beer:



Brand: GuS "Grown-up Soda" Dry Root Beer.

Origin: New York, NY.

Purchase Place: "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store," Jordan, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: The initial flavor was pretty good, but it was thin and watered down. There was a bit of a strange aftertaste that didn't feel natural. The other GuS "Grown-Up Soda" that I had had SOME potential, but I just didn't care for this. The birch oil was an interesting touch, but it just wasn't for me.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Time to pull something interesting out of my dwindling stash from "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store." The brand is "Dry," and I just tried their Vanilla Bean Soda.



"Dry" is right. The soda was VERY dry. But it had a good vanilla flavor. I like how they point out that there are only 4 ingredients: purified carbonated water, cane sugar, natural extract, and phosphoric acid. Their website has other "Dry" sodas listed, and they note what their sodas pair well with. I'd be willing to try some of their other flavors, which are all a bit "odd:" wild lime, blood orange, cucumber, rhubarb, etc.

Brand: Dry Vanilla Bean Soda.

Origin: Seattle, Washington.

Purchase Place: "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store," Jordan, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Honestly, a bit too dry for my taste. The vanilla bean flavor was great, but I actually wanted the soda to be sweeter (but that sort of goes against "dry," so I don't know what I was hoping for). It was OK, it was unique, but it wasn't fantastic.

Score: 4 out of 10.