Steve's Root Beer Journal: Sweetener: Sugar

Showing posts with label Sweetener: Sugar. Show all posts

Sunday, December 29, 2024

Northern Soda Company Cherry Lime Soda

I opened this with supper last night, as the 2nd in the pack my wife picked up from Remix:

Brand: Northern Soda Company Cherry Lime Soda,

Origin: Arden Hills, MN.

Purchase Place: Remix Popcorn and Delights, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was good! Flavorful! The cherry was a bit tart, but with plenty of sweetness to balance it out. And then there's a nice kick of lime as well. This was a classic flavor that both my wife and I loved. A REALLY good soda!

Score: 9 out of 10.

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Northern Soda Company Sweet Liberty Blue Raspberry Lemonade

My wife and youngest son stopped by Remix over the weekend, and they came back with a 4-pack of Northern Soda for me:

4-pack on the counter.

The first one we tried!

Brand: Northern Soda Company Sweet Liberty Blue Raspberry Lemonade.

Origin: Arden Hills, MN.

Purchase Place: Remix Popcorn and Delights, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was (unsurprisingly) unnaturally blue. It didn't have much lemonade flavor at all, as it was mostly "blue raspberry." I thought it tasted like a melted blue raspberry Icee, and my boys said it tasted liked a melted Freezee. It tasted good, but those thoughts made it a little more depressing to drink: we WANTED it to be a Freezee or an Icee, and it wasn't. It was just soda. So I have to rank this a little lower than I'd initially rank it because it WANTS US to WANT IT to be something else. But the flavor IS good if you're interested!

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Saturday, November 30, 2024

Root Naturals Root Beer

I tried this with my boys tonight:

Brand: Root Naturals Root Beer.

Origin: Cincinnati, OH.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Caramelized Cane Sugar.

Review: This had a relatively strong anise flavor, and it was a BIT too anise-heavy for me. But the root beer flavor was pretty herby, deep, and tasty. There's a bit of of a fruity / berry flavor as well. It was a pretty unique root beer, and I like what they were trying. It wasn't amazing, but it was quite decent.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Monday, November 4, 2024

Dr. Enuf Soda

I'm currently sipping on this soda that I got on my trip to Yellowstone last month (where I also had this slightly sub-par root beer):

Brand: Dr. Enuf Soda.

Origin: Johnson City, TN.

Purchase Place: Cracker Barrel, Billings, MT.

Sweetener: 100% Pure Sugar.

Review: As you can see on the front of the label, this says "rich in vitamins" and that it's the "original energy booster." Apparently it says that because it has added vitamin B1 and B3. Big whoop. That's not that impressive.

And it basically tastes like 7Up or Sprite - it's a pretty generic lemon lime soda. It has a slightly different after taste, and maybe that's from the B vitamins. So I think 7Up and Sprite are both better because they don't have that slightly "off" taste. It's OK. It's fine. Basic lemon lime.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Thursday, October 24, 2024

Pearson Bros. 1986 Root Beer

Last week, my family and I took a 6 day road trip through Yellowstone National Park! (I posted just a little about it on my other blog, but will be sharing more photos shortly.) We stopped at a Cracker Barrel right off I-90 in Billings Montana on our 2nd morning heading out there. And I found a big selection of sodas in their "country store:"

There or 4 sodas in this small collection that I haven't had!..

... including this root beer! (Being enjoyed outside of the Old Faithful Snow Lodge in Yellowstone.)

Brand: Pearson Bros. 1986 Root Beer

Origin: Newport, VT.

Purchase Place: Cracker Barrel, Billings, MT.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: So I grabbed that root beer (and another soda to try shortly) and we threw it in our fridge at our next hotel. It was cute at just 11 oz (that extra oz was noticeable!). Then my family and I cracked into it the following evening in Yellowstone, just about 1000 feet from Old Faithful!

My wife liked it, my boys thought it was OK, but I just thought it was decent. It was a bit too "sharp" and caramel-heavy for me. It wasn't my favorite. The root beer flavor was OK, but overall just not a great drinking experience. I have to rank this just a bit below average.

Score: 4.5 out of 10.

p.s. Here's my first post about our trip on my other blog.

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Galvanina Organic Cola

On a camping / mountain biking trip recently, I found this fun bottle of cola - I loved the "embossed" glass:

Yes, that's my boys eating ice cream in the background!

A good head!

Brand: Galvanina Organic Cola.

Origin: Remini, Italy.

Purchase Place: Victual, Crosby, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was a deeply flavored cola. The first part of the sip tasted like any regular cola, but the end of each sip had a deeper and herby flavor. It was very unique, and all of my family who tried it thought it was good (both my boys, along with my sister and my nephew). But we also all agreed that we wouldn't regularly spend $5.50 on this soda like we did at Victual in the cute mountain biking town of Crosby, MN. Fun, unique, and a quality cola.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Thursday, July 11, 2024

Moneybag's Creme Soda

I was recently "up north" with family in a cabin, and I brought this to enjoy:

Under the bottle cap.

Wait... Gene Simmons?

Brand: Moneybag's Creme Soda.

Origin: Niagara Falls, NY.

Purchase Place: Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: First of all... yes, this is put out by Gene Simmons of KISS fame. I enjoyed the design on the front of the bottle, but didn't spot Simmons's name until I took off the cap. It's a pretty smooth cream (or "créme" as it's spelled on the bottle) and it went down easily. Nice and sugary. There's a BIT of a chemically aftertaste, but it's not bad. I'll rank this just a bit over average.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Saturday, July 6, 2024

Buddy's Strawberry Soda

I opened this yesterday afternoon:

Brand: Buddy's Strawberry Soda.

Origin: Sleepy Eye, MN.

Purchase Place: Kowalski's Market, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was classically good! It had a strong strawberry flavor (like "candy" strawberry and not "real" strawberry), and it was really creamy - not creamy enough to be a "strawberry CREAM," but nice and smooth. This went down easy and had the perfect amount of sweetness - it was really sugary, but not TOO sugary. This was a treat.

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Sunday, June 2, 2024

Lester's Fixins Horchata Soda

I opened this yesterday as it didn't seem to be too "risky" of a novelty soda:

Brand: Lester's Fixins Horchata Soda.

Origin: Incline Village, NV.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Something felt "wrong" about drinking a horchata from a guy named "Lester." (It's a drink that originated in northern Africa before settling in Spain and often being thought of as a Mexican drink today.)

The first sip was odd because the flavor was about right on (including a cinnamon-like hit at the end like Mexican horchata has), but it was a bit strange with the carbonation.

I actually let it sit in the fridge open for a while, and I think it got better - I like this more with a "softer" carbonation. Overall, it tasted pretty right on and nicely sweet, but the carbonation added a sharpness to it that wasn't as great.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Sno-Cap Root Beer

I opened this while making some ribs the other night (to help baste the ribs, and to also enjoy as a drink):

Brand: Sno-Cap Root Beer.

Origin: Green Bay, WI.

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

Sweetener: Granulated Sugar.

Review: This was pretty smooth, creamy, and tasty! My wife said it tasted like A&W, but it was a bit more unique than that - there was a lot of vanilla flavor, and just a HINT of caramel as well. I don't really care for caramel in root beer, but this is subtle enough that it doesn't ruin it.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Saturday, May 4, 2024

Premium Fitz's Pumpkin Pop

I cracked into this at work:

Brand: Premium Fitz's Pumpkin Pop.

Origin: St. Louis, MO.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: I was leary about this from the start. If I hadn't read "pumpkin" on the label, I would NOT have known it was supposed to be pumpkin! It was very heavy on the cinnamon - like baking cinnamon and not "red hot" cinnamon. I think they were going for like a "pumpkin spice" but made it very "spice"-heavy. In this case, it tasted all of cinnamon spice.

Now, all that being said, it was GOOD! It still tasted good. It was sweet and dessert-like. This one surprised me!

Score: 8 out of 10.

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Appalachian Root Beer

I opened this at work today as another soda from my Grandpa Joe's grand opening stash:

Yes, my desk is messy... it's the end of the semester...

Brand: Appalachian Root Beer.

Origin: Mechanicsburg, PA.

Purchase Place: Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar and Honey.

Review: This was OK. I don't mind honey as a sweetner in soda (as I LOVE honey), but it sometimes sits as a strange combo with root beer, and it's doing that here - the honey comes on too strong. The root beer is deep and pretty tasty with a hint of wintergreen and a lot of herby notes, but I just don't care for how much honey flavor there is on top of that. Nice and smooth overall. Not bad, but not great.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Unicorn Magic Honeydew Soda

I cracked into this at work earlier today:

Brand: Unicorn Magic Honeydew Soda

Origin: Incline Village, NV

Purchase Place: Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: I didn't know what this would taste like... like I wasn't sure what to expect for a "honeydew" flavored soda. And after my first sip, I STILL didn't know what it tasted like. It was like a slightly muted extra sweet Mountain Dew flavor (and I don't think that was just because it was about the same color).

I kept sipping, and I kept liking it less and less. It had an off flavor to it. I enjoy honeydew, but it SURE wasn't honeydew. I thought this would be decent, but it wasn't. It was like sweet wet cardboard. The score I'm giving it is only as good as it is because it was sweet.

Score: 2.5 out of 10.

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Inotea Brown Sugar Bubble Tea

I grabbed this while shopping with my son at Aldi recently:

Brand: Inotea Brown Sugar Bubble Tea.

Origin: Newark, NJ.

Purchase Place: Aldi, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar and Brown Sugar.

Review: The tea was quite good! I shared a sip with my boys, and they both loved it. It was what I'd expect from a boba tea store when I order a "Milk Tea" or anything along those lines. (One store near us calls it a "Royal Tea Latte" even though it doesn't have any coffee flavor.) I had no complaints about the tea!

But the tapioca pearls were another story. They were kind of pasty and hard. They weren't "chewy" in a good way, but in a bad way. They almost wanted to disintegrate when bit down on, but only after a fair amount of force. I like tapioca pearls, but apparently they need to be fresh. The drink ("pre-pearls") would have earned about an 8.5, but I had to knock it down after having the pearls.

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Thursday, April 4, 2024

Wild Bill's Root Beer

Last night, I cracked into my first soda from the Grandpa Joe's grand opening a few weeks back:

Cool skinny "wrapped" can.

Brand: Wild Bill's Root Beer.

Origin: Millington, NJ.

Purchase Place: Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: Maybe it was just the fancy can that "woo-ed" me, but this was good from the first sip. It wasn't trying too hard to be something new - it was just good. It had a bit of an herby bite, but not too much. It had the perfect amount of sweetness, and the flavor was decent - it MAYBE could have had a bit stronger flavor. All-in-all, a very good root beer! I'm excited to try more "Wild Bill" sodas from Grandpa Joes!

Score: 9 out of 10.

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Dr. Wells Soda

This had no "flavor" listed, so I assumed it was Dr. Pepper rip-off:

Brand: Dr. Wells Soda.

Origin: Jasper, IN.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: I was right. This is a lot like Dr. Pepper, just a bit worse. It really tastes similar, but just has an extra "artificial" flavor at the end that makes it not as great. It was OK... I'll rank this right in the middle.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Northern Soda Company's Vanilla Bean Root Beer

I opened this during class today:

Brand: Northern Soda Company's Vanilla Bean Root Beer.

Origin: Arden Hills, MN.

Purchase Place: Remix, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was interesting from the first sip. Something about "vanilla bean" made me think it would be a bit smooth and creamy, but it wasn't - there's a slight sharpness to it. It made me pause, but it's not bad! There's also a slight fruitiness to it as well. This was very unique!

In the end, the "vanilla bean" flavor DOES come through, but not before a fruity flavor as well. At VERY first sip, I thought I wasn't going to like this, but even by the end of that first sip, I was on board. This is unique, both smooth and sharp, and has a great flavor.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Dublin Texas Founder's Recipe Cola

I brought this to work with me this morning:

Brand: Dublin Texas Founder's Recipe Cola

Origin: Dublin, Texas.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This had a deep, rich flavor from the first sip! There was a unique sweetness to this, and then I realized it was the "cinnamon flavoring" in the ingredients list - it had a very smooth and rich cinnamon flavor (not like a sharp "red hot" flavor, but like deep baking cinnamon taste). A bit unique, and quite good. I enjoyed this!

Score: 8 out of 10.

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Whirly Pop Juicy Grape Soda

I opened this between classes today:

Brand: Whirly Pop Juicy Grape Soda.

Origin: San Bernardino, CA.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This was both pompus and child-like at the same time. The first ingredient was "carbonated artesian spring water" (which I've seen before, but not in a drink that seems really marketed towards kids), but there's a big kid-friendly lollipop on the front of the label. So it seems it's somewhere between being marketed to adults who want fancy ingredients (at least "fancy sounding") and kids with it's fun label.

Anyway, on to the flavor. It's not GREAT. It's not the strongest or the sweetest grape flavor - which I think means that even though there's a big lolli on the front, it seems to be marketed to adults. The flavor is a little fake and off. Not great, especially for a grape soda (which I think is a hard soda to screw up).

Score: 4 out of 10.

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Bigga Orange Soda

My family recently got back from Jamaica, and this was in the fridge of our hotel room:

On our hotel balcony with the waterpark in the background.

Brand: Bigga Orange Soda.

Origin: Spanish Town, Jamaica.

Purchase Place: Unknown (came in our hotel fridge in Riu Ocho Rios).

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Sucralose.

Review: This was very sweet! And not in an overpowering way. It had a bit of a crispness/sharpness to it that was classic and tasty. Nothing wrong with this! Just a decent orange soda!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

(See more pics from our trip here.)

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