Pig Iron Cola

   Today’s installment is Pig Iron Cola, another soda given to me by Dustin H.  Had you listed to Episode 6 of the Popcast, you'd already know this.  I really don’t know what to think about this beverage.   I can tell you that it’s produced under the authority of Pig Iron BBQ.  I can tell you that their website is www.PigIronBBQ.net.  I can also tell you that their logo is certainly unique.  Now that you have all the knowledge I do, it’s probably best we look a little closer.

   Looking at the ingredients I’m pleased to find that they use cane sugar to sweeten it.  While that’s pretty much the only ingredient that sets it apart from “standard” colas, I’m still happy to see it.  The coloring of the soda itself is a dark brown, with faint red highlights when held up to a light.  The bottle cap adorning the top is your standard black top.  I prefer designs on bottle caps; it makes them stand out more.  Some people collect them, and if yours is a standard color what sets you apart?  Pig Iron Cola could easily do this, if it fits into budget of course.  Maybe one of the stars that circle their pig mascot would work something simple.   Now that I’ve broken down the bottle, it’s time to drink.

   Before I go on I must say that this has a very strong cola scent, one of the most powerful I’ve ever inhaled.  My expectations have gone up considerably.  I would almost recommend this cola on smell alone, but let’s taste it just in case. 

   This is certainly a cola, and a good one at that.  Just so you know what to base its flavor on, I would say that it most resembles RC Cola.  While it does taste like RC, it’s most certainly a stronger version of it.  This is potentially one of the strongest colas I’ve ever tasted.  Personally I think it has a strong amount of carbonation, Mike does not agree.  The cola flavor sticks in your mouth too, but you won’t have a problem with that as it’s quite pleasant.  If you’re like me some sodas affect the way your teeth feel.  In this case my teeth grind together a bit more easily after drinking Pig Iron Cola, not something I’m fond of but it’s a small complaint.  This is still a solid cola in my opinion, very strong, very brash, but the cane sugar still delivers a crisp feel to it.  I would score this higher, but other than being strong it doesn’t stand out to me in any other way.  If they changed the bottle design some, maybe added more natural ingredients, then I could see buying a case.  I realize that this is probably the second thought of someone running a BBQ, but our grading scale eases up for no one.  Still, I know nothing about Pig Iron BBQ, but I would assume that if their cola is this good, their BBQ must be great!  If you happen to stop into Pig Iron BBQ, I might just have the drink to compliment your meal.

~A

Twist likes BBQ too... crickets mostly

Sjampie

   I asked a friend of mine who lives in the Netherlands to suggest a drink for me to review.  His response was the Dutch beverage Sjampie.  Fortunately he’s the kind of guy that will pick me up an extra bottle, and then take the effort to get it to me.  Thanks K!  Enough chatter, time to review me some Sjampie.

   Before I go any further I feel obligated to give you the correct pronunciation of Sjampie.  It’s pronounced  Shahmp-ee.  That’s not exactly how I would say it, mostly because Sh-jamp-ee is so much more fun to say.  Moving along.  The bottle art is quite plain; it has a few yellow/green bubbles adoring the top and bottom of the beverage, but nothing all that elaborate.  The name of the beverage, Sjampie, sits on the neck of the bottle, while Corvo (which I can only assume the manufacturer) rests on the base.  In-between the two brands read the words “Limonadegazeuse Sjampie”.  This, from my best guess, is the flavor I’m about to consume.  While I associate Limon with lemon/lime, the color of the soda is brown… which leaves me a bit perplexed. 

   Silly me, I tried to twist off a foreign cap forgetting they usually need a bottle opener, time to get my flip-flops. (My mom purchased me some flip-flops with a bottle opener on the bottom… she’s the best)  Wow… upon opening it I get the smell of egg-nog cola, with maybe with a just a hint of chocolate.  I know there is no possible way for that to be the flavor, but needless to say my curiosity keeps going up the longer I hold this bottle in my possession.  Let’s Drink.

   It has the essence of a cola, the bite, the color… but it also seems to have a citrus flavor hiding within.  This is remarkably hard to attach a flavor to it.  It’s almost like a lemon cola with something else going on inside of it.  There is very light carbonation, but that seems to work with Sjampie.  In fact the smell, taste, and light carbonation of Sjampie make it seem like a drink that would normally house alcohol.  The flavor is not overpowering, in fact it’s quite mellow; almost like a flat, slightly watered down RC cola with a handful of lemons dropped inside of it.  I will say that it leaves a film on my teeth, much like drinking a warm Coke would.  Ok… the word “Limonadegazeuse” on the side of the bottle is mocking me… therefore I must look up what it means.  **Time Passes** Oddly enough as one word I couldn’t find a translation, but when I separate them into “Limon” and “Gazeuse” I get Lemonade – Soda Water.  This is a very rough Dutch translation of course, but I’m happy that I was able to at least guess the flavor. 

Twist is 1/128th Dutch

Moxie

   Well here we are at review 100.  First off thanks for your readership as we moved from our humble beginnings on livejournal, to the multi-million dollar corporation we are today.  Oh wait… we haven’t made a dime, but we’re millionaires at heart.  Today’s beverage was the most suggested beverage when we asked our readers what the 100th review should be… Moxie.  If you listened to the Popcast you'd know that.

   Moxie is one of the oldest sodas out there, some say THE oldest.  Really it’s very close between Moxie, Vernor’s Ginger Soda, and Hire’s Root Beer.  Looking upon the label I can tell you right away that this is no longer the original formula.  Replaced with chemicals I assume, with one exception that reads “Gentian Root Extractives”.  I’m pretty sure that one ingredient is going to give off a very unique flavor.  Before I go any further I just want to mention how much I enjoy the label art of Moxie.  The label is a man in a business suit pointing at you… it’s amazing.

   Upon opening up the bottle, with a rather bland cap I might add, it smells like it’s going to be one of the most awesome, unique root beers you’ve ever had.  I would even go so far as to say that it smells like a root beer/cola mix.  Let’s drink.

   The initial taste of moxie is great!  It has that root beer cola flavor you thought you would taste after smelling it.  It’s cool, refreshing, unique… something you could really see yourself buying from here on out.  “To Hell with Coke!” you’d say “I’m a Moxie Man now!”  Then something would go wrong in your mouth.  That sweet root beer/cola taste would fade away as the Moxie started its journey down your gullet.  What was once good, would now be replaced with evil.  The taste of pennies, dirt, and un-sweetened envelope glue now dance upon your tongue.  Your first reaction is to drink some more.  “This can’t be the aftertaste,” you’d say, “More Moxie should fix this right up.”  It won’t.  Sure, as long as the liquid stays in your mouth you avoid the horrible aftertaste, but who’s going to walk around with Moxie constantly swishing around their teeth.  While I don’t agree with pouring sodas over ice, this (ironically our 100th review) is a soda which must be.  Fortunately, pouring Moxie over ice cuts the horrible after taste in half.  It’s like watching your favorite sports team do really well against someone they weren’t supposed to beat, only in the 2nd half to have your entire team break their legs.  This is such a historic drink, with such a unique flavor that I have to recommend you try it.  So there you have it, one of the oldest sodas available, and our 100th review.  The next milestone is probably 250, so be patient, and keep reading.  Thanks!

 ~A 

Thank goodness Twist's taste buds aren't real

Oogave Esteban's Cola

   I’m very excited to try this next soda, Esteban’s Cola by Oogave.Before I begin, here’s a little history on the naming of Esteban’s Cola straight from the maker himself.

“We did the sodas in our restaurant for about four months before someone came up and said "you need a name." Funny, it never occurred to us to name it. And we decided to name the rootbeer after me with a Spanish flare because of how difficult the rootbeer was to achieve. The citrus flavors.......pretty much made themselves, but when you get into savory flavors like rootbeer and cola, you are taking on a whole world of possibilities. Incidentally, the only reason the cola has my name is because "Cola" is so short a word it looked strange on the packaging.”

   There, don’t you feel smarter?By the way Oogave soda is also USDA Organic, and Kosher... I think that’s pretty much everything that we may have previously missed on the label.Bonus information, the caffeine used in Esteban’s Cola is from green tea leaves... ok less typing, more drinking.

   Here goes.First off it has a good cola smell. I know that probably sounds weird, but smell is a big part of your taste.Now I sound like a 2nd grade Science teacher.The first thing I notice is how smooth this cola is.There’s not a lot of carbonation, so it’s not really fizzy.I can’t really compare it to another well known cola, which is good on their part.Since you’re forcing my hand to compare it to something I’ve had before, it would have to be Health Cola.Stop wincing at the name Health Cola btw, if you read that review you’ll know it scored well.While Health Cola was also low on the carbonation scale, it tasted a bit flat.This does not.Just because something doesn’t have carbonation doesn’t make it “taste flat”.This cola tastes very fresh actually, and every time I drink it I taste the slightest bit of cherry.Now there are no cherries to be seen in this beverage, I’m just saying what I’m taste.

   Not that you really wanted to know this, but Esteban’s Cola produces very clean burps.No “wow that root beer tasted better the first time” moments to be had.While I haven’t had all of the Oogave products yet, this is my favorite to date.If I had to improve it in some magical way, I would add a little more carbonation.I like my drinks a little fizzier... fizzyer....fizzier?Anywho, if you see Esteban’s Cola just buy it.

~A

Doesn't Twist look dapper in his black hat off to the side?

Tab

---

To bust into year two of The Soda Jerks, not only do we have a soda which both of us reviewed, I decided to do something out of the ordinary and review a drink which is:

a. Name brand

b. In a can (although it’s happened before)

c. Diet

That’s the big one. Diet. Honestly I thought if a diet soda was going to be reviewed that it would be, what else, a Virgil’s product, but no, I decided to try the granddaddy of them all, Tab.

Anyone who watches The Sarah Silverman Show knows that Tab is delicious, or at least sarcastically delicious. This is one of those things that every soda sommelier, professor of pop or cola connoisseur has to try once in their life.

It’s actually not that bad, although it’s 99% chemicals. This is probably the best diet soda I’ve ever had. Note that best diet soda doesn’t mean it’s anything great, it’s just the best of the diet sodas I’ve had.

I really don’t know what else to say. Tab is something you have to experience yourself. The best way I can describe it is Diet Coke but not anywhere near as awful. It’s cheap and still readily available so go get yourself one for funsies.

-Mike

Health Cola

When I first eyed Health Cola on the shelves at my local market place I knew I was going to end up drinking it. I thought "Wow 'Health Cola' can it sound any worse." Then I looked on the back label and saw that it had 150% of the Vitamin C I needed in a day. Wow, this has gotta be like drinking mud. I had already been jaded by other "healthy cola's" such as Diet Coke Plus... which is horrible. Never in the history of earth does sweet + healthy = tasty. Diet Rootbeer is a perfect example as well, as it is a hell-spawned beverage. Health Cola looked like it would be following those examples perfectly. With its name, somewhat boring package, and boring tag line of "Real Cola Taste". Let me just get this out of the way now. I was wrong to judge it. I'm so very sorry Health Cola, I'm so very, very, very, sorry.

Health Cola has a pretty good taste, nay, a GREAT taste. If you are a fan of RC Cola in the slightest, just improve that flavor in your mind a bit, and remove some of the carbonation, and you have health cola. The sugar used is from fruit, so it has a slow burn which keeps the 'crash' after consumption from happening. The caffeine used is from coffee beans. Now listen to me coffee haters, I am one of you. I HATE coffee, and this tastes nothing like coffee, I wouldn't drink it if it did. This is the best all around cola I think I've had to date. Just for kicks, here's the nutrition label.

Usually when I buy a four pack of soda's it costs me over $5, but Health Cola ran under that, which is always a plus in my book. It's not the easiest cola to find, but if you can, give it a try. If I had to pick a negative, it's the lack of screw off cap, but really I don't care that much. I know there is better stuff out there, but I haven't tasted it yet.

~A

(Note:  This beverage was provided to us by Health Cola)