C&C Lemon Up

Lemon/lime is an odd duck.  It is one of the most popular flavors of beverages, but at the same time rarely tastes radically different from “the other guy’s” lemon/lime.  People tend to demand excellence in their colas and root beers, but seem rather “meh” when it comes to looking for a lemon/lime that stands out.  Stand out lemon/lime beverages do exist, they’re just hard to come by.  While I’m pretty sure I know what camp C&C Lemon Up is going to fall into I’m going to do my best to stay as neutral as possible.  At the very least it will hopefully taste like 7up instead of Sprite.  That alone would be worth some points in my book.

The can houses a very faint citrus scent that upon further inspection seems very clean as well.  Only upon huffing the opening of the can do I begin to notice a slight citrus aroma.  I’m curious to see if the flavor is as light as the smell.

Well the flavor is lighter than your standard lemon/lime mash up and seems to have the mouth feel of a Sprite/7up hybrid.  The somewhat syrupy after taste of Sprite is present, but thankfully cut in half by the sharpness of 7up.  All in all this tastes like you would think it might if you saw it on a store shelf.  C&C Lemon Up tastes like a “store brand” soda with no real faults or strengths.  The somewhat watery nature of it keeps me from wanting to drink more than a can of it and explains to me where I think lemon/lime soda falls in the list of concerns for C&C.  It honestly feels like they created this just to have a lemon/lime soda since it seemed natural to have one with all the other flavors they have available.  So if you’re looking for something that tastes like something you can find in any gas station, grocery store, or dollar store then check out C&C Lemon Up.  You won’t be disappointed.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C

Twist the plastic iguana has taken more chances in life than this lemon/lime soda

C&C Orange

Cutting right to the chase, today’s offering that’s up on the ice block is C&C Orange.  Ah, orange soda.  So simple.  So easily figured out.  So delicious.  There are rarely any twists and turns when dealing with orange.  Sure some might be fizzier, some might be fruitier, some might be tart…er, but the underlying flavor is always orange.  It’s a familiar taste that most anyone can gauge.  C&C Orange will hopefully be stacked within column “B” instead of column “A”.  “A” is for awful and “B” is for best, right?  That’s why you have all of column “B” and only some of column “A”.  I’d have to consult my VHS copy of Aladdin to double check, so I’ll just assume I’m correct and that I didn’t just make up an extra lyric to “Friend Like Me.”  I think that’s enough loose references for the first paragraph.  Let’s just drink, shall we?

From the smell of things I’d say C&C Orange is going to stab me in the mouth with orange flavor.  The scent is chock full of citrus which blasts my olfactory glands sending signals to my mouth that it’s about to enjoy a tasty orange treat.  I promise you this, olfactory glands.  If you so much as lie to me this time I’m going to cause you pain.  I’m going to inhale my cat rendering you useless for the next week.

OK, so I wasn’t stabbed in the mouth with orange flavor, but I wasn’t betrayed so much by my olfactory glands (the most you’ve seen this word typed in a non-medical article) that I feel it necessary to murder them.  The orange flavor that greeted me was about a 7 on the strength scale, but could be improved with a touch more carbonation.  The bubble level present is higher than what you would find in many other sodas, although I personally feel that a good orange soda needs almost a caustic feel on the back of my throat.  My reasoning for this is that if you don’t commit to the bite that an orange naturally gives you then the soda can taste like orange sugar water.  Thankfully C&C Orange’s fizz is strong enough to differentiate it from said sugar water; I just think it could be increased for the better.  The orange flavoring is fairly standard among orange sodas; there’s not really a “natural orange” taste, but it’s not so sweet that I would label it as candy in a bottle.  Overall I’m not wowed by C&C Orange, but at the very least I can say it’s comparable to Orange Crush.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C

Orange you glad I didn't say banana confused me for 28 years until Twist explained it.

Jeff's Chocolate Soda

So our washing machine started leaking a little bit last week and it was time to put the old biddy down.  It wasn’t a serious leak as the drain pan easily contained all of the water, but we’d had trouble before with this machine and the repair gnomes wouldn’t touch it because of how poorly it was made.  Fast forward to today where the new fancy machine was delivered.  It was all shiny and great and I couldn’t wait to test it out.  After I put my clothes in it I stood back and looked through the glass top marveling at a washing machine doing its job.  Satisfied I step away to play some Minecraft.  Twenty minutes later I hear a noise that sounds like a lot of water hitting the floor.  I run in and find out that as amazing of a washing machine as it is it does no good if the owner of said washing machine doesn’t put the drain tube down the drain.  Long story short, always bring a towel… and maybe a bucket. 

This has nothing to do with Jeff’s Chocolate Soda, but I don’t have a diary or a journal so this occasionally becomes my place to vent.  I picked this beverage out of my fridge for two reasons.  Reason one is that chocolate soda has a decent chance of being fantastic if not diet.  Reason two is that this is the first bottle of soda I’ve seen that classifies itself as an “Egg Cream”.  Looking at the ingredients milk, cream, and cocoa are all indeed in this bottle potentially making this a fantastic tasting soda.  The label is comprised of various shades of brown making my mouth crave the taste of chocolate even more.  Time to follow the instructions on the label and “Get Creamed!”

Oh sweet heaven that smells amazing.  It smells like I just buried my face into a pile of hot cocoa powder Tony Montana style.  To paraphrase, this smells like paradise, I’m tellin’ ya.  This Jeff’s Chocolate Soda is like a great big refreshing soda just waiting to get drank.  Now that I’ve taken an incredibly vulgar line out of Scarface and made it into something that isn’t even an analogy anymore it’s probably time to drink.

Wonderful.  The chocolate taste is rich like syrup, but the fizz is strong enough to keep it bubbly and fun as it crosses my taste buds.  A smooth creaminess is ever present with each sip combining my love of chocolate with my constant want of a good soda.  If you’ve never mixed chocolate syrup with coke go do it right now and drink it as we enjoy similar tastes together.  This soda tastes nothing like that per say as it’s much heavier on the chocolate, but once you realize how good chocolate syrup and coke is together you can begin to figure out how delicious Jeff’s Chocolate Soda is. The “soda” portion of it has hints of cola, but honestly the soda flavor is so faint it’s almost there for texture alone which is fine.  Now I wouldn’t want to pair this with any particular food as it’s more of a dessert beverage that you’d have after a long day of battling a stupid amount of water from a stupid washing machine that’s stupid because the stupid me forgot to stupid. 

This is hands down the best chocolate soda I’ve ever had; there is no question in my mind at all about that. The only downside to it, and it’s a small one, is how heavy it sits in my stomach.  Yes, I’m aware that by looking at the ingredients for a split second I should expect that… it’s still worth telling you.  I don’t care though as Jeff’s Chocolate Soda just removed several of my issues for the day.  Want the best chocolate soda I’ve ever had, try Jeff’s.  Want a dang good soda, try Jeff’s Chocolate Soda.

~A

Twist is stunned in amazement.  Can't you tell?

C&C Draft Root Beer

It was inevitable that I would make it to a staple flavor of the C&C brand.  I’m not saying that Draft Root Beer is a staple flavor of theirs, but a staple flavor…of America.  Cola, root beer, and lemon lime are arguably the three main soda flavors that companies make.  They are a great (but not perfect) litmus test into what kind of quality you’re dealing with in a soda manufacturer.  Root beer has the most diversity of these three flavors followed by cola and then lemon lime.  So today’s review may very well be a summary of all C&C soda reviews.  Hopefully they take their root beer seriously, because I will.

While I’m not wowed by the generic root beer scent that came wafting out of the bottle I am at least now under the impression that the aroma is strong enough to warrant a decent taste.  Hopefully the smell is masking some sort of hidden awesomeness.

My first impression is that C&C Draft Root Beer is a fairly refreshing beverage.  The syrupy mouth feel found in many other root beer is absent, instead a delightfully light flavor (in comparison to other root beer) takes its place.  Carbonation is light to the point of almost not being discernible.  I don’t mind root beer having a little less carbonation than other sodas so that they can keep their smooth feel, but take away too much of the fizzy stuff and the soda my start to seem flat.  C&C Draft Root Beer is walking a very fine line between flat and “just fizzy enough”.  With that said I won’t be writing home about the flavor of this root beer unless of course my mother is reading this right now.  The flavor is very simplistic with very little character.  You could probably find a similar flavor in a store bought root beer kit.  So does this mirror what I’ve experienced with C&C sodas so far?  Yes, it really does.  While I haven’t made it through the 24 flavors sent to me I’ve already seen a theme amongst most of what I’ve tasted.  C&C Draft Root Beer, much like so many of their other flavors, is safe.  It’s Honda Civic of root beer.  I used to drive a Civic and enjoyed my time with it, but I was always looking for something with a bit more character.  Now Honda makes a few models that will turn some heads just like C&C makes a few flavors that make me want to buy multiples, but overall it’s safe and safe can be boring if it’s not handled just right.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C

So safe that Twist keeps his money in it

C&C Watermelon

Short history of my opinion of watermelon… I hate it.  On the flipside of the previous statement I tend to like watermelon flavored things.  It’ll be interesting to see which column today’s soda falls.  Oh, by the way, today’s soda is C&C Watermelon.   That was kind of like the hit TV series Flash Forward wasn’t it?  You saw the thoughts that should have come after the soda reveal BEFORE the soda reveal and yes I know that Flash Forward was not a hit TV series.  Aerosmith would do well to mention C&C Watermelon in their radio hit “Pink” as the label, soda, and label again are all varying shades of half of the color of watermelon.  The label even has cute, I guess fruit can be cute, little watermelons on it that make me want to drink this just a bit more.  Onward!

A watermelon/grapefruit smell punches me in the nose as soon as I twist the cap.  Thankfully watermelon is the clearly dominate scent as the grapefruit seems to just be there for a little filler.  Hopefully the flavor will mirror the aroma.

C&C Watermelon is much fizzier than I expected as the bubbles seem to run with razor blades down my throat.  This is a good thing even though it sounds horribly painful.  Just like the scent the watermelon flavor takes charge as his tiny buddy grapefruit holds on for dear life just hoping to not get noticed.  If you’ve ever had a watermelon Jolly Rancher then you’ll be familiar with the taste of C&C Watermelon.  While the sweetness level isn’t quite that of hard candy it’s still plenty sugary and very enjoyable.  Each sip I take begins with a quick burst of what I would consider a fairly authentic watermelon taste which thankfully (in my opinion) is covered up by the safer candy flavor previously mentioned.    I have to give credit to C&C for even trying this flavor.  So many companies could be making watermelon soda, but don’t because it’s too high risk.  C&C, with their myriad of flavors, thankfully decided to include watermelon in their arsenal.  This soda is different enough, bubbly enough, sweet enough, and tasty enough for me to recommend you give it a try.  Of course if you don’t like any kind of watermelon then you may want to sit this one out, but if you’re a fan of the fruit or the candy fruit then I definitely think it’s worth a shot. 

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C.

Although you wouldn't think it, Twist hates any pink and green color combo.  He's more of a blue and white kinda guy.

C&C Red Pop

As I continue down this road filled with C&C reviews (occasionally taking a detour or two) I stumble upon a flavor I don’t remember cataloging when I took all of the C&C pictures for the site.  C&C Red Pop is what I’ll be drinking today and I haven’t the foggiest idea of what “red pop” tastes like.  The picture on the bottle seems to resemble a red raspberry, but if that were the flavor then I assume it would say so on the bottle.  The only “flavor” listed in the ingredients is an “artificial flavor” which should be expected when your labeled flavor isn’t something you’d find growing on any tree.  I also see that my refrigerator is set fairly cold as there are bits of frozen red pop floating at the surface of this beverage.  In the “What?  No?  Really?” category the beverage itself is a bright red much like red Kool-Aid.  Ok C&C Red Pop, you’ve piqued my interest and now I shall drink you.  Onward.

C&C Red Pop smells like liquefied red and purple Skittles.  My excitement is climbing as the last beverage I had that resembled Skittles in any way was Sprite Tropical Remix (you know… the good Sprite.  Burn.) and I love, love, loved S.T.R.  I don’t think that C&C Red Pop will taste anything like S.T.R., but the fact that it has one thing in common with it pleases me. 

Sigh.  Sorry, the flavor isn’t bad it just didn’t live up to what my mind wanted it to be. C&C Red Pop has the flavor of a weakened Cherry Icee.  I wonder if I could get any cash under the table for mentioning three large brands in this review.  The Kool-Aid/Skittles/Icee people should just be throwing money at me at this point.  With that said I believe this could be an outstanding beverage if the flavor was just a bit more pungent.  Thankfully the cherry flavoring is somewhat enhanced by the carbonation.  It’s just the right amount of fizz so that I can feel it throughout the entire drinking process.  All aspects of my mouth cheer as they are greeted by the enjoyable bubbles that carry C&C Red Pop from “meh” to “pretty tasty”.  The sweetness factor really surprised me as it’s not nearly as sugary as I supposed it would be.  I was looking for a tasty red syrupy mess of sucrose when I first smelled it, but overall it seems to find a pretty good balance with the other aspects of the soda.  In my time writing this paragraph I think my feelings for C&C Red Pop have grown.  I was just going to tell you to buy a bottle, but at the last minute I feel it snuck to gain a bit better rating.  Try it and see if you agree.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C.

Twist was once called the Duke of Pop

C&C Champagne Cola

I reached into the fridge today and pulled out a flavor of soda I’ve had so many times, but that doesn’t seem to matter since I can never pin point the flavor.  C&C Champagne Cola is at hand and once again I’ll assume it’s going to taste like cream soda.  I’m not sure why that’s my first assumption; it could taste orange for all I know.  No matter how many times I drink it I end up forgetting what it tastes like before I drink it again.  Even the label art isn’t all that helpful.  I’m given what looks like a cross between snowflakes and hashtags on a yellow background.  Good think I’m a soda expert.  I have ways of figuring out what this tastes like that few others have even considered.  Onward!

The scent is that of a cola/cream soda hybrid.  Perhaps this is the flavor I’ll soon be partaking in.  Honestly I hope this tastes like grasshoppers or something completely off the path on which I’m being lead.  That would just make it all the more fun.

Bubble gum, cream soda, and GRASSHOPPERS… I mean cola.  The majority flavor in C&C Champagne Cola is certainly bubble gum followed somewhat distantly by cream soda and bringing up the reariest of rears is the cola.  If you assumed that the combination of those three flavors would give you a super sugary soda that sticks to every part of your mouth with ferocity you are correct.  The syrup takes residence in your yapper and refuses to leave for even the best of friends.  Bubble gum flavoring creeps its way onto your lips so that you have no possible way of escaping the sugary nonsense that you just imbibed.  While the flavor isn’t awful this beverage is just far too sweet for me to drink any more.  Of course I could power through it and spend the next few hours wishing I hadn’t, but I think you’ve got the idea of what C&C Champagne Cola tastes like.  Ok, ok, I’ll tell you about the carbonation.  Bubbles frolic by the thousands only to be masked by the heavy syrupy curtain that is everything else.  I’m sure I’d be breaking some champagne cola rule by decreasing the sugar and increasing the fizzy mouth feel, but I honestly think that would help quite a bit.  Ah well, I’ll forget what this tasted like before my next adventure into champagne cola.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C

Twist prefers the High Life.

C&C Red Candy Apple

Welcome to 2013!  It’s a new year so that means it’s time to review new sodas.  Of course that’s the philosophy that I live by every day.  Why wait for a new year to review new sodas?  Why not review new sodas every time you get a chance to?  So you see the hidden mantra of The Soda Jerks is a simple one.  Live every day like it’s your last day to review sodas.  With that said I’ve gone back to a familiar brand of soda and an unfamiliar flavor.  The brand is C&C of which we’ve reviewed several with several to go.  The flavor is Red Candy Apple and while I’m familiar with all three of those words I’ve never had the triple combo in soda form.  The label art is pleasing to my eyes as all the shades of red, mostly pinks, prepare my mind for the taste I’m about to consume.  A picture of three candy apples also entices my brain into wanting to try this soda even more.  Onward, I say.  Onward.

The scent does remind me a bit of apples, but the “candy” essence isn’t found as easily.  I was hoping for a very sweet apple aroma.  It seems I’ll have to wait and see if the taste of C&C Red Candy Apple will reveal a sugary treat.  Enough waiting.

I didn’t get the sugary flavor the coating of a red candy apple would normally deliver, but it seems I did get a decent apple soda.  Flavored much like a red delicious apple, C&C Red Candy Apple soda is immediately refreshing and lightly carbonated.  With each sip I take a slight harshness begins to build in my throat; it’s not unwelcome as it adds to the overall mouth feel of the soda.  For being sweetened with HFCS there isn’t much of a syrupy essence at all.  Overall C&C Red Candy Apple is pleasing in most aspects.  I would hear the argument that it tastes a bit watery at times, but I think watery works (to a point) in apple sodas.  Over flavoring an apple soda may give you a powerfully delicious concoction while removing its ability to be light and fruity, two very important characteristics of apples.  C&C Red Candy Apple doesn’t really deliver on its name and for that I’ll have to deduct points.  Don’t finish this reviewing thinking it’s not good though, it’s just mislabeled. 

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C

Twist was candied once... ONCE!

C&C Green Apple

Today I pulled from my fridge one of my favorite flavors of fluid… green apple.  Now I’m not sure how C&C Green Apple will fare against the others, but I have high hopes for this brand that has already surprised me a few times.  I’m pleased that it’s “green apple” soda instead of “apple” soda because I feel that green apple gets looked over a bit more while regular old apple just hogs the spotlight.  The soda itself is a vibrant green (as it should be) and the label contains three pictures of green apples sliced vertically down the center.  Time to crack open this delicious looking manzana verde soda.  Onward!

A sour/sweet candy scent greets my nose from the open bottle.  The sour aroma is what I was looking there as you can’t have a proper green apple soda without some pain in the back of your cheeks.  Bubbles are now collecting at the top enticing me to chug this entire bottle right now, but I mustn’t as it’s my duty to weakly describe C&C Green Apple soda to you as I sip it.

Well my tongue is now crying tiny tears of letdownness.  C&C Green Apple isn’t all that sour so my cheeks are cheering with joy.  It’s different enough in flavor that I can still differentiate it from regular apple flavored soda, but it could be so much more.  This soda should have popped me in the mouth, but instead it delivers a pleasant green apple taste followed by a watery chaser.  C&C Green Apple soda is the equivalent of getting a great green apple soda, putting a large amount of ice in it, and then consuming it 4 hours later.  CURSE YOU C&C FOR GETTING MY HOPES UP SO HIGH!  Every sip I take makes me so angry for what could have been.  Do something that makes my taste buds remember you.  It seems now with my ranting I’ll remember them forever, but ask me in a year to name some green apple sodas and I can almost promise you this won’t be one of them.  Jones Green Apple blew me away to the point where I used it at my wedding.  Romano’s Sour Apple was average, but the fact that it tried to burn out the back of my throat made it memorable.  C&C Green Apple is a watery mess that I will not recommend to you.  Good day, Sir!

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C.

I forced Twist to be in this picture... you can tell by the grimace

C&C Strawberry

I often leave the soda I’m reviewing up to my fridge.  What I mean by that is sometimes a soda is sitting awkwardly alone on a shelf and I feel it needs to be reviewed to feel love one last time before an overwhelming emptiness overtakes it.  Ok, so I’m not that crazy, but my fridge did seem to guide my hand toward the C&C Strawberry soda that now sits in front of me.  What can I say about the design of this particular bottle?  It’s fairly generic looking and in no way (other than a tiny picture of strawberries) would tell me at a glance that this was a bottle of strawberry soda.  Sure I could guess “red label, red fruit”, but cherry, cranberry, and watermelon might get angry.  Honestly I didn’t have much to write about in terms of the way this looks.  I’m pretty much just padding this review with words right before I hopefully enjoy this soda. 

The scent that leaves the top of the bottle is a level of sugary that reminds me of cotton candy.  If you’re a long time reader of the site and have a memory for things I type then you’ll remember I don’t like overly sweet strawberry sodas.  Strawberries are a complicated fruit and too often their soda counterparts are just red sugar nonsense that tastes like an over powered strawberry Jolly Rancher.  Hopefully my nose is lying to me as it’s been known to do.

While not as sweet as it could have been C&C Strawberry soda does fall into the category of sugar nonsense with a red hue.  The carbonation level is high which I fell is helpful in darting past some of the negative traits of an overly sweet soda.  Bubbles tend to take your mind elsewhere when sipping on a beverage and in this case distract you from the syrupy mouth feel for at least the first half of your journey.  Now the taste is fake strawberry all the way, but honestly I’m far from surprised as I haven’t seen anything that would make C&C Strawberry soda stand out from the norm.  My comparison to Jolly Ranchers seems right on the money so I don’t feel there’s any reason to continue. 

Again I must mention that the strawberry is a complex fruit, more so than an orange, apple, or grape in my opinion and so many soda manufactures take the easy way out when it comes to producing a quality strawberry soda.  Does this soda carry a poor taste?  No, not at all, but it’s not hard to make a soda “consumable”.  C&C Strawberry soda doesn’t deserve all the flak I’m giving it right now, but it just entered my life at a time where my patience with this particular flavor of soda has run thin.

~A

This beverage was supplied to us by C&C.

Don't worry, Twist calmed me down with his rousing rendition of Let it Be.

C&C Vanilla Cream

I’m finally starting to make enough room in my fridge for other sodas now that I’ve reviewed seven (including this one) C&C products.  It’s not that I need more soda to review (as I have 17 more of these bad boys), but the fact that I feel if I review the same brand for too long I may start to tire of it.  Today we’re giving our full attention to C&C Vanilla Cream.  Cream soda, while simple, can have many different variants of flavor.  Will this one be vanilla heavy/carbonation light or will it be fizzier with more of a crisp taste?  I’m not sure, but I can find out for you.  Onward!

From the scent I deduce that C&C Vanilla Cream will be heavy on the vanilly.  I’m aware that “vanilly” isn’t a word, but it sounds like so much more fun than vanilla.  Hopefully the powerful vanilly scent my nose just experienced won’t translate into an overly sweet soda.

C&C Vanilla Cream is about as good a balance of vanilla/carbonation/sweetness/and aftertaste as I would have expected.  They definitely went for the smoother variety of cream soda, but the light fizz of carbonation still greets your taste buds like whatever friendly relative (that you’ve only met twice) your family has sentenced to door duty so that they might let you in upon your arrival home.  The vanilla grabs hold of your mouth and doesn’t let go for the duration of each sip.  It’s not an overbearing hug, say from that aunt with too much perfume and giant sweater, but it’s still something you’ll remember pleasantly as you think about this soda as it does a fair job resembling the flavor of vanilla ice cream. 

Everything about this soda is slightly above average in the taste department minus one aspect.  Occasionally I get the hint of a flavor that reminds me this is made with chemicals and HFCS.  It doesn’t happen so often that I’m distracted by it, but it has happened enough that I felt it necessary to put it in the review.    With that said I’d still recommend C&C Vanilla Cream to anyone who was looking for a good cream soda.

~A

This beverage was supplied to us by C&C

The soda is even smoother in this picture due to its proximity to Twist

C&C Ginger Ale

This is review 6 or 7 of the very extensive C&C line of sodas.  Today I decided to dial it back a bit.  What exactly I’m dialing back I don’t know, but since I’m reviewing C&C Ginger Ale it seemed to work in my brain for at least 15 seconds which is why I ended up writing it down.  So yeah… C&C Ginger Ale sits in front of me in a bottle with a green color theme as so many ginger ales seem to sport.  I’m not really sure why ginger ale is associated with the color green.  Perhaps it’s to give the consumer the feeling that they’re buying something natural.  Perhaps the first truly successful ginger ale was in a green container and the others just followed suit.  Perhaps the ginger ale people just wanted to stick it to Kermit the Frog and prove to him how easy it is to be green.  With a 22% chance that one of those theories is even in the ballpark of being correct I feel it’s time I moved on to the drinking portion of this review.  Onward!

A stronger ginger scent that I expected escaped the 7/8ths of an inch opening at the top of the bottle.  Granted, the word “ginger” is nowhere to be seen in the ingredients and I must assume that they would have prominently displayed it instead of the incredibly vague “natural flavors” which has unfortunately become a staple of soda ingredients.    Shall I drink?  Yes I shall.

With my first sip I realize that C&C really tried to make a decent ginger ale here.  They certainly did not give minimal effort in its creation which is nice seeing as ginger ale is a soda many just phone in.  A pleasant burst of ginger flavor rushes across my taste buds in a flurry of excitement.  The carbonation levels are just perfect for ginger ale, giving you some substantial fizz for the upset stomach it may be curing.  C&C also avoided making their ginger ale too sweet, but kept it sweet enough that I want to go back and drink more of it.  Other than being made with chemicals the primary downside to C&C Ginger Ale is the fact that the finish is a husky shadow of what my mouth first experienced.  I say a husky shadow because it’s not a slight drop off, yet it’s also not a giant drop off from where I started.  The finish is a bit more watery than I’d like and it’s the unhappy memory I’m left with at the end of each gulp.  With all that said I still feel that C&C Ginger Ale is as good as the mainstream ginger ale’s out there (maybe even better than some) and will rate it as so.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C.

Twist and Kermit have an ongoing feud on the ease of being green.

C&C Mountain Chill

Though it’s debatable I feel the most amusing “knock off” names are for sodas that you might find similar to Mountain Dew.  Dr Pepper knock off names are a close second, but I feel with entries such as Heee Haw, Hillbilly Holler, Mountain Drops, Mountain Lion, Mountain Yeller and so many more that the “Dew’s have it”.  Today we’ll be trying C&C’s entry into the Dew market with Mountain Chill.  Now don’t get this confused with Mt. Chill which is made by SuperValu foods.  C&C pulled out all the stops and cut down abbreviations by 100%.  Honestly I can’t be sure this is a Mountain Dew-esque beverage until I taste it, but it identifies itself as a “Citrus Soda” and seems to have a coloring that likens it to the dew.  Let’s see how it stacks up against “The Man”.  Onward!

My nose ended up searching for the scent of this soda as the aroma is far from powerful.  Once it was forced up into my olfactory glands it was none too pleased.  Oddly enough I’m getting a sickly sweet smell much like cantaloupe each time I inhale.  My opinion, nay the fact about cantaloupe is that it was made by the devil.  Cantaloupe is causing all of the world’s poverty, disease, and overall bad joojoo.  I hate it.  So here I sit with a beverage that smells like cantaloupe to me and I’m expected to drink it.  Since my nose lies to my taste buds 6/10 (made up ratio) times I feel safe in assuming that C&C Mountain Chill will taste more like Dew and less like Ew.  Let me find out for you.

I’m somewhat pleased to say that the taste isn’t all that dew-esque.  I’m somewhat less pleased to say that the scent I wanted to avoid tasting is sitting upon my tongue at about half strength.  While this bottle of C&C Mountain Chill says it has “a little kick!” I have to disagree.  This is a rather smooth beverage that tastes like a combination of grapefruit, grapes, and cantaloupe.  Now I’m pretty sure if I told someone from C&C that their beverage tasted like those three things combined they’d laugh me out of the building and take back what I haven’t reviewed, but I’m just saying what my mouth is saying to my brain so it can say it to my fingers so they can say it to you.  Sadly the carbonation levels are lower than ideal for a beverage of this nature so the syrupy soda just sort of sits sullenly leaving me unsatiated.  I was going to give this a higher rating, but each sip just makes me wish I didn’t have to drink any more.  With that I bid C&C Mountain Chill ado and hope that if you pick up a bottle it treats you more pleasantly that I.

Now for the sentence that renders the previous three paragraphs foolish to read.  C&C Mountain Chill is a beverage you might think similar to Mountain Dew, but upon tasting I found that its smoother taste, lack of strong carbonation, and questionable flavors left me trying to wash my own tongue with my tongue.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C.

Twist is an excellent tongue washer

C&C Tropic Punch

I was limited to which C&C flavor I could drink today by the amount of Thanksgiving food stuffing my refrigerator.  Actually I was thinking about not writing a review today based on how full/busy the last week has been.  Well fortunately for “Creative Me” I’ve found some stomach space and time for a cool red bottle of C&C Tropic Punch.  I picked the tropical punch today because it’s non-carbonated and that will allow a bit of a reprieve from the pressure that has been abusing my stomach walls.  Without looking too much into this I’m going to go ahead and guess that this is C&C’s version of Hawaiian Punch.  While I’m a fan of Hawaiian Punch I’ll be even more impressed if C&C came up with something more original in flavor.  Onward!

My noses recognizes a mixture of citrus, pineapple, and cherry with the later ingredient being a slight favorite in terms of how much is there.  The scent that wafts from the top is indeed similar to Hawaiian Punch which worries me that I’m dealing with a copycat drink.  Let’s find out if I’m counting my chickens before they gather moss.

I’ll be the first to admit that I was wrong about it being a copycat and happily so.  Where Hawaiian Punch likes to brag about hitting you in the mouth with the fists of its mascot, C&C Tropic Punch is a smoother concoction that seems to focus more on the pineapple and cherry flavors.  All the familiar flavors that I listed are there, but how easily it’s ingested is what’s the most surprising to me.  There’s no assault on your throat that some punch might treat you to, in fact it’s a fairly relaxing drink.  C&C Tropic Punch is noticeably sweet, but not so much that you it would overload whatever meal you might “pair” it with.  I must say that I find it amusing to picture someone pairing C&C Tropic Punch with a roasted duck or grilled squirrel, but different strokes for different folks. 

While the ratio of fruit flavors is divvied out skillfully, some may be put off by the syrupy mouth feel you get at the finish of each gulp and ultimately (other than being primarily made with chemicals and HFCS) that’s the weakest limb on the body of C&C Tropic Punch.  This isn’t a stand out beverage, but it is a beyond decent tropical punch.  Give it a shot, you’ll probably like it.

~A

How about a nice Hawaiian Twist?

C&C Banana

From the icebox a new flavor appears.  A new flavor of soda my taste buds haven’t experienced.  Brought to you by C&C Cola it’s the yellowest fruit, Donkey Kong’s projectile, and the worst tasting Runt.  Ladies and gentleman…. Banana Soda!  Honestly I’m a little bit scared to try this as I’m not sure how liquid banana is going to go over with my flavor sensors.  Here’s the short history of me and bananas.  I love bananas.  I’m allergic to bananas.  The end.  I’m not deadly allergic mind you, they just make my mouth and throat itch to high heaven.  Thankfully(?) this doesn’t seem to have any banana in it at all, unless it’s in stealth mode under the title “natural flavors”, but I doubt it.  Let’s find out shall we?  Onward!

I expected a very strong banana scent to be waiting for me on the other side of the cap, but found a rather mild somewhat creamy aroma bashfully waving hello.  Smelling this quelled some of my fears, so there’s no time like the present to get on with it.

Well that’s weird.  C&C Banana soda tastes like box made banana pudding sans vanilla wafers and banana slices.  The carbonation level is low allowing for a mouth-feel of maximum smoothness which I must say is very pleasant.  I thought that no matter what C&C Banana tasted like that the banana flavoring would make it feel like someone lowered a heavy yellow velvet curtain in my mouth after every sip.  Surprisingly, the heavy curtain is never lowered so I was able to watch the finale which was a cute baby banana gracefully tap dance off stage.  This adorable dance was a fantastically light and fun way to end my experience with this soda.    Overall C&C Banana challenged my every preconceived notion about what I thought it might be.  I expected a loud and brash tasting banana soda that lived in the pores of my mouth for hours after drinking it.  Thankfully I was wrong about how “bad” it was going to be, which is one of my favorite things to experience when I write these reviews.  Did my head explode?  Will I buy banana soda after banana soda now?  No, but I can very honestly suggest you pick up multiples of this if you ever run across it.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C.

Over the course of this review Twist kept asking me "is that a banana soda in your hand or are you just happy to see me."  It was creepy and didn't make a lot of sense, but I told him if he didn't stop I'd write this about him.  Now hopefully the joke will end and he'll GET OFF THE WASHING MACHINE LIKE I TOLD HIM A THOUSAND TIMES!

C&C Orange Pineapple

Drink #2 out of 24 in the C&C collection I have chilling in my fridge.  Today’s flavor, or flavors as it seems, is Orange Pineapple.  Now these two flavors fill my mind with tropical fun and should play well together, given their sunny history.  While I find the artwork on the bottle to be a little cluttered it does somewhat remind me of a tropical locale… maybe a dollar store in Hawai’i.  The soda itself, HFCS and all, is a bright inviting orange color which is telling me to stop writing about the outside of the bottle and start writing about the inside.  Onward!

I thought that the orange flavor would overpower and mask all that the pineapple could give, but if the scent is any kind of road map to what I’m about to experience then I’d say the flavors are represented 50/50.  Wow, that last sentence was a doozy.  Drinkin’ time!

Thankfully my nose did not lie to me.  Both the orange and pineapple flavors are represented with each taste giving a pleasant smooth yet tart mouth feel.  Of course the orange isn’t a natural orange flavor, but I wouldn’t call it “sugar water orange” either.  The carbonation is lower than expected, but still gives C&C Orange Pineapple enough fizz to make it interesting.  If I could single out each flavor (and maybe I will when I get to try C&C Orange and C&C Pineapple, but I seriously doubt they just mixed the two sodas and made this.) I would tell you that they are both slightly above average.  After each sip my tongue’s memory bank has more orange in it than pineapple and is excited to try it as a standalone beverage.  Will this beverage change your life to the point where all you’ll buy is C&C Orange Pineapple?  I don’t know, but if it does maybe you should get an endorsement deal.  As for me it sits as probably the only orange/pineapple beverage I’ve tasted and left me pleased.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C

Twist is half mango

C&C Black Cherry

If you follow us on Facebook then you know that I received a rather large shipment in the mail from C&C Cola.  I’m not sure I’ve prepared myself for the 24 flavors sitting in my fridge ranging from Banana to Watermelon and everything in between.  Ok, so maybe “everything” is a bit of an overstatement, but it’s still 24 flavors no matter how to slice it.  I thought a good way to start out our journey through C&C would be to review black cherry first.  Black Cherry is a good mixture of the weird and common that most can still relate to in terms of flavor.  With all of that going for it, it seemed the perfect jump off point.  Honestly though I just happened to pull it out of the fridge first and my brain thought of better reasons than just happenstance.  Let it be known that it seems most all, if not all, C&C creations are a conglomeration of HFCS and chemicals.  As sad as this makes me it doesn’t mean they’ll taste bad since a couple of our top drinks use the HFCS… just more of an FYI for your tongue.  Onward!

An incredibly deep cherry flavor oozes its way out of the mouth of the bottle.  It’s such a deep flavor that one might mistake it for grape upon a quick whiff.  Black cherry should be on the lower levels of cherry in terms of taste so I’m optimistic to see where this is going.

The flavor is not unlike that of sno-cone/snow cone/sno-ball syrup, but not nearly as thick.  The rich flavor the smell promised is there in a somewhat limited amount and lingers in your mouth for a few moments after ingestion.  Bubbles fizz their way around your teeth at the perfect level, in no way interrupting the taste or drinking experience to make themselves noticed.  Even though C&C Black Cherry is sweetened with HFCS I don’t get a syrupy mouth-feel at the end of each sip.  Is it as clean as something sweetened with Pure Raw Real Cane Sugar?  No, but it exceeds the limitations that HFCS can sometimes put on a beverages mouth feel.  With all that said the flavor of C&C Black Cherry could be stronger with a bit more “pop” (haha, the only soda joke I know) and occasionally a hint of chemical taste shines through, but this is not the norm.  C&C Black Cherry comes off as IBC Black Cherry’s little brother.  Not quite as strong or as memorable a drinking experience as IBC and their parents always blame him when a lamp gets broken.  As far as black cherry flavored beverages go this one is alright, but there are higher end sodas out there with a better taste.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by C&C.

Twist used a stunt double for this picture

MTN Dew Game Fuel 2012 Citrus Cherry

I received an unexpected package the other day, but like anyone who loves presents I threw all caution into the wind and opened it expecting only awesomeness.  Perhaps it was something I forgot about ordering on Amazon.  Perhaps it was a surprise gift from my wife.  Perhaps it was Halo 4 Mtn Dew Game Fuel Citrus Cherry.  Ok, so I didn’t actually think it was the last one until I opened the box and saw that it was.  This particular version of Mtn Dew Game Fuel should be hitting store shelves today, so keep an eye out for it if your interest is peaked after reading this review. 

I’ve never actually had any version of Game Fuel before.  Heck, back when I was a kid my version of “game fuel” was a can of Surge and some powdered donuts.  I’m not really sure why I thought those two things went together, but in my mind it was like peanut butter and jelly.  Thankfully Mtn Dew has created an official “Game Fuel” whose flavor seems to be, and I quote, “Dew with a Blast of Citrus Cherry Flavor with other natural flavors”.  They probably didn’t want to include the “with other natural flavors” line as it seems to take away from the intense nature of Dew, but it’s there so what can you do?  Answer, drink it.  Onward!

Once the plastic cap was twisted and the first burst of carbonation escaped a whiff of cherry dew ran screaming into my nostrils.  Now the scent I get when I actually try and smell the soda itself is a bit more subdued.  Sorry this is Mtn Dew we’re talking about here… nothing is subdued.  Let’s try that sentence again from the top.  Now the scent I get when I actually try and smell the soda itself is a bit more SUBDEWD TO THE MAXX!  Better.  Hopefully the flavor will be equally strong and radical as the initial burst I experienced.  Yes, radical.

While not a full on “punch to the throat” the taste is slightly stronger than the scent my nose pulled from the mouth of the bottle.  I’ve got to be honest with you though.  My initial impression of Mtn Dew Game Fuel is that it reminds me of a neutered Mtn Dew Code Red (The best Mtn Dew flavor in my opinion).  It’s like I’m visiting Code Red in prison.  I can only interact with him on the phone through the glass window between us.  Our hands touch the equivalent sides of the window as we stare longingly at each other, but unable to truly reach one another only to be left in sadness.

Don’t misunderstand, it only “reminds” me of Code Red in a few aspects.  The most obvious being the red color and cherry-esque flavor.  Where Game Fuel Citrus Cherry goes wrong is that the initial flavor isn’t the main performer on the stage.  Yes you’re greeted with a somewhat tropical cherry taste that I would rate as pleasant and nothing more, but the cough syrup after taste is the last thing you see before the curtain comes down.  So now I’m sitting here trying to think of good things to say about the first three seconds of each sip while the last three seconds of cough syrup flavor are still staining my taste buds.  I’m sorry to say, but I just can’t do it.  If you enjoy ingesting large amount of caffeine with no care for taste then this is a great soda for you to pick up.  If you don’t mind a soda with three fourths the amount of caffeine and a great taste to boot, the you should probably just pick up some Code Red.

Now for the sentence that renders the last five paragraphs pointless.  Mtn Dew Game Fuel Citrus Cherry is an appealing beverage while you’re looking it at it, but delivers only minimal cherry flavor with maximum medicinal taste.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by Mountain Dew.

Twist's version of game fuel is a handful of flies and a glass of tonic water.

Koma Unwind

We air a show where I work called Chris Lafferty’s Motorsports TV.  Now that’s not something you have to remember, except for Hannah’s corner… that’s fairly entertaining.  The important thing about that show is that it is home to a fantastic commercial for the beverage up for review today, Koma Unwind.  I don’t usually put a lot of multimedia in my reviews, but I must share this commercial with you.

Ok, now that you’ve (hopefully) watched it you should be able to see why I was drawn to Koma Unwind.  This is obviously not a big budget commercial and honestly the first time I saw it I thought it was for wine in a can.  Who knows, maybe this will taste like wine in a can.  That would be unfortunate, but at least I would be understanding about it. 

The enduring aspect of the commercial is that we’ve all been there.  You open the door and you’re greeted by your two kids, your dog, a basketball and a skateboard.  In fact this family has three skateboards which seems a bit overboard (pun intended) to me.  You just want to relax, but alas there is no time because now you have to cook dinner.  All you want to do is wind down over a hot stove, but your two daughters come calmly walking in with the dog on a leash.  What can you do except over emphasize the fact that you don’t want them anywhere near you?  You could scream, curse, throw up your hands and just walk away… or you could drink.  That’s what is implied initially, that the average stressed out mother would go straight for the bottle.... AHA!  Herein lies the twist (not the iguana).  You push the bottle out of the way to reveal a room temperature can of Koma Unwind and you pour THAT into your chalice. 

Then with dinner presumably cooking itself on the stove you wander into the living room and just relax.  Your kids, dogs, and presumably their skateboards, have vanished.  You no longer have a care in the world as you’re left with the slogan “RELAX NOW YOU CAN KOMA UNWIND”.  So as you see the commercial is a little cheesy, but I enjoy that “local TV” aspect of advertising.  “Wine in a can”, as I thought at the time, would be a fantastic review.  So I asked the nice people at Koma Unwind if they wouldn’t mind sending a few cans out for review and they happily obliged. 

Koma Unwind is indeed a relaxation beverage that includes the ingredient Melatonin.  Melatonin, as you might know, is a key ingredient in sleep aides.  This also has HFCS and Grape Juice concentrate in it.  Now many of the “relaxation beverages” have names like Purple Stuff and Sippin’ Syrup.  Here is where I must salute Koma Unwind for not trying to pander to the youth of (insert country here) by naming their beverage after an illegal substance.  No, Koma Unwind took the high road and simply named their soda the two words that would describe what it intended to do to you.  Sorry, I must correct myself.  Koma Unwind is listed as a Chillaxation Drink on its own label.  Fun fact, I made up the word “Chillax” close to 15 years ago; unless you’ve heard it prior to then you might as well believe that as well.  Ok, I’ve rambled enough… it’s time for a taste.

The aroma the snapped out of this ice cold can (I didn’t want to try it at room temp) is that of a grape soda.  No one should be surprised by this since the ingredients on the side of the can listed grape juice concentrate as an ingredient.  I am taken a back a bit on how sweet it smells.  I think it lists 31 grams of sugar, but I can’t really tell because the font is a bit fuzzy.  Drinkin’ time!

Well that’s delightful.  Koma Unwind tastes like liquid, carbonated, grape Nerds candy.  The grape flavoring is just about perfect and the carbonation packs a bit of a punch as well.  Well color me surprised.  Koma Unwind is one of the better grape sodas, if it can fit that description, I’ve had to date.  Yes I know that it’s full of chemicals, but if you know me then you know the more “fake” a grape soda is the more I’ll probably like it.  For the most part each sip stands alone, meaning the flavor doesn’t build upon itself.  The aftertaste I get from each gulp, and I am gulping this, is sweet and light.  I think the carbonation level is what surprises me most.  It’s not an intense tingling sensation, but I can feel the whispers of the bubbles in my mouth long after I’ve consumed the beverage.  I think that Koma Unwind did a great job in making a relaxation beverage on multiple fronts.  First and foremost the taste could be that of a “normal” grape soda.  It’s fruity and fun, with good fizz to boot.  Secondly, as I stated before, they didn’t give this drink a name associated with cough syrup.  Finally they have an amusing commercial that I’ve seen over 40 times thanks to work.  Now Koma Unwind isn’t the best relaxation drink we’ve ever reviewed.  That honor would have to go to Mary Jane’s Relaxing Soda… yes, yes, I know, the name thing, but they get away with it for being truly different.

~A

Twist cannot get any more relaxed

Brain Wash

Picture a skull and crossbones staring at you from the label of your potential beverage.  Now picture the top of the skull cracked open exposing the oddly fresh brain inside of it.  That my friend is what is currently staring into my soul on this label of Brain Wash.  Brain Wash is made from the same fine folks that brought us Black Lemonade, one of the harshest beverages my throat ever dealt with.  Just like Black Lemonade, Brain Wash has amusing blurbs on its label like “This may be your only way out!” and “May cause special effects”.  Navy blue isn’t a color you usually associate with soda, but they’ve put enough Blue Dye #1 in this bad boy to reach that level.  It has a lot of the same ingredients that Black Lemonade has with a few exceptions.  Brain Wash sadly uses HFCS instead of Cane Sugar, but on the plus side also uses Sage and Jalapeno Oil.  I’m not sure how the sage will play a role in this performance, but I’m hoping the jalapeno oil is at least noticeable.  Since Brain Wash isn’t exactly a flavor I’m a little curious as to what this will most taste like in the realm of real tastes.  My initial guess is going to be a fruity ginger beverage that’s about to scald the back of my throat through the act of chemical warfare.  Let’s find out, shall we?

The initial odor I’m getting is that of green NyQuil which isn’t what you want to smell when you first open anything… except NyQuil of course.  I will say that the bubbles forming in the neck of the bottle look rather nice when contrasted against the dark blue soda.  Will they keep this from tasting like carbonated NyQuil?  No, but hopefully something else does.

A barrage of pain shoots through my sinuses as the spice/carbonation combination reaches my nose with ease.  With my mouth a bit more acclimated the second sip is much more tame allowing me to properly review this beverage known as Brain Wash.  Right off the bat I can tell you that the jalapeno oil is indeed noticeable as the back of my throat now has a (nice?) continuous burn going.  The flavor of the drink itself is rather vague, honestly it tastes like a generic blueberry soda you might find anywhere.  My brain may have just associated this vague taste with blueberry due to the hue, but it’s all I’ve got to go on right now.  Even though the base flavor itself is vague and unspectacular the experience of drinking Brain Wash is so far one I’ll remember for a long time.  Each sip assaults my mouth in every way possible.  The ginger/jalapeno/capsicum combination proves volatile at first, but calms down a bit once you’re throat learns how to cope.  The strongest of these, as mentioned before, is what I assume to be the jalapeno oil as my throat feels like it would after enjoying a spicy plate of nachos.  While this is very similar to the mouth feel of Black Lemonade I find that Black Lemonade at least had a purpose.  It was a harsh lemonade unlike anything you’d had before.  Brain Wash is a harsh… fruity… blue… drink that in my opinion the gimmick of destroying your mouth becomes nothing more than just that… a gimmick.  It’s not original because Black Lemonade exists.  It’s almost like they said “hey, Black Lemonade is doing ok… how else might we ruin someone’s vocal chords (which of course it does not do)” so they invented Brain Wash because they could.  I need more of a reason than the one I just made up for them to promote this beverage.  If you want a throat conquering soda then purchase Black Lemonade, as for Brain Wash...

~A

Twist mocks you're extreme label with his own extreme...ness?