Virgil's Orange Cream Soda

  TheSodaJerks love of Virgil's brand soda is well documented on this site.  Virgil's Real Cola is the highest rated soda on the site, and Virgil's Root Beer is what gave us the idea to start the site.  Anytime I go into a grocery store I look for a label with "god giving soda to kids" as my counterpart would say.  I'm sure that's not what the label is, but it's more fun to pretend. 

  I must apologize to Virgil's for taking so long on this review.  Back when Virgil's Orange Cream Soda was first released it was sadly not in our area, it still isn't from what I see.  Virgil's sent us a package of it for review, and we initially were going to give it the treatment of a king.  That is to say we were going to do a pod cast about it.  Well life happened, and schedules never matched up, and I moved...needless to say the pod cast never happened.  Now that I'm settled I felt it was time to review Virgil's Orange Cream Soda.  This review will be a bit different as I've tasted this before.  In fact I've had several of them, it was only through the strongest of will that I was able to keep 1 or 2 for review purposes.  I can say that throughout all the bottles my opinion stays the same.  So here I go, opening a bottle, enjoying the orange-cream aroma, and taking a sip.

   The initial taste is a nice orange flavor, as it should be.  The finish of this soda is a smooth cream, again as it shoud be.  The transition between the two flavors is a bit awkward though.  It's like your taste buds can't decide if they should stick with the citrus orange, or move on to the smooth cream.  When my fiancée tried it she said it tasted like it was missing one thing that kept it from being awesome.  I believe it's that transition of flavors that caused her to birth that remark.  My father, and stepmother gave it a two word review "ummmmmmh YUK".  The only reason I mention both of those is that I want this to be an awesome drink.  This should be rocking my world right now, and while it's above average, my world is not rocked.  I feel that I unfairly hold Virgil's to a higher standard than most sodas.  Their product always has great ingredients, with a good flavor all around, and ample carbonation.  Virgil's Orange Cream Soda is excellent, but you can taste that something is missing, and that's where I must detract.

Better resolution + Marilyn Monroe + Virgil's Orange CreamSoda = Happy Twist

(Note:  This beverage was provided to us by Reed's)

Romano's Vanilla Bean

  Ok Romano’s let’s not mess this up.You and I have been all over the board on previous sodas; let’s get some consistency going on here.What I have in front of me is Romano’s Vanilla Bean soda... which I am going to assume is a fancy way of saying Cream Soda.The only reason I doubt myself in this assumption is the picture of an ice cream cone on the front of the bottle.Yes I realized that cream soda is usually vanilla, much like the cone on the front, but for arguments sake I’m just gonna ignore that.

  With the first whiff I’m very excited to try it, as it smells like a delicious cream soda.I can’t drink it yet... I must first remember that with previous Romano’s beverages the smell is always delectable.Ok... I’ve readied myself.Time for drinkin’.Very nice.This is Romano’s strongest drink to date, and since I’m one away from finishing the line of drinks, that’s saying something.I never thought I’d say this, but it’s a very powerful cream soda.Most cream soda’s are quite smooth, which this one is, but they don’t affect your nose.After tasting this cream soda you get the sensation of vanilla throughout your nostrils.It works like Vicks Vapo-Rub, but less intense, and vanilla... which is a plus.On the negative side, it might be hard to drink more than a bottle of this in a given time period.It’s pretty sweet as far as sodas go; so if you don’t think that sweetness will bother you, then jump on in.To put it simply it tastes like intensified cream soda.If you enjoy a healthy dose of cream soda, you’ll love Romano’s Vanilla Bean.

~A

(Note:  This beverage was provided to us by Romano's)

Spicewood Blue Creme Soda

   This next beverage comes from a co-worker of ours; it is one Spicewood Blue Crème Soda.Now I’ve never tried a blue crème soda before.Red, yes.Sparkling, yes.Blue, no.He says he got this at a gas station near his house, so who knows... maybe it’ll be near you too.The label art really seems quite random on this bottle; nothing is quite lined up right. Three types of font are represented in the drink name alone. There’s a pitcher of, what I can only guess is, vanilla spilling out.The words “Blue Crème” are even excreting some sort of liquid as well.Just for good measure there are some random bubbles in the bottom left corner.I don’t think I need to say this, but I will just as well.This drink is artificially flavored.GASP!Let’s drink.

   Upon opening it I smell a very nice vanilla fragrance, kind of how red crème soda smells in comparison to a normal one.Bottoms up.My first thought while drinking this is that it’s a lot smoother than I thought it would be, surprisingly smooth even.I know that crème soda isn’t known for having a strong bite, but the fact that this was from a gas station store, is from a brand I’ve never heard of, and is blue... some part of me saw it being a bit harsher on the throat.Other than that it tastes like crème soda... I really wish there was more I could milk out of this.I don’t have an A&W cream soda nearby to compare it too, but if this is to be considered the “off brand” I’d definitely give it a try.One more thing before I give up on trying to tell you what cream/crème soda tastes like.The Spicewood Blue Crème Soda isn’t overly sweet.I mention this because a lot of people don’t like crème soda due to its overly sweet taste.While sweeter tasting than many cola’s, Spicewood Blue Crème Soda stays right where it needs to on the range o’ sweetness.

~A

Sof Drink Kola Champagne

Another drink in the 'what my co-workers give me' file is Kola Champagne. The bottle is pretty plain, the drink a light orange, but the cat mascot sipping the named product is fantastic. Upon opening this I realize it smells a lot like cream soda. I was told it's a sugary drink, but lets find out.

It's not nearly as sugary tasting as I thought it would be, but it is pretty sweet in flavor. The bottle claims the drink has it's 'Original Jamaican Flavour' and I can't argue that it doesn't, as I'm not sure what that was. Kola Champagne has a cream flavor about it, with a nice little buzz of carbonation. I'd even go so far as to say it has a hint of citrus in it. It does leave your mouth feeling pretty clean, doing an excellent job of removing the flavor of whatever food you may be eating. You mouth does have a bit of a sugary flavor though after every drink, this could get annoying to some.

I like this drink, quite a bit actually, but I can't seem myself seeking it out. I prefer a standard cream soda to this, but it's nice to try something different every once and again. Kind of like Dr. Pepper Berries and Cream, you enjoy it, but you always go back to Dr. Pepper.

~A

Mike Update - 09/01/10

Combining two things I've reviewed recently, this is kola champagne from Sof Drink.  Unlike the kola champagne from Ginseng Up, this one has HFCS and sodium benzoate instead of Korean ginseng tea.  Goodie. 

Drinking it I can also tell you another difference:  this is horrible.  My brain did this when taking the first sip "okay this is kinda like cream soda too...okay now it's like dirt."  I think I'm going to keep this one short.  I mean, do I really need to go on?  I just compared it to dirt.

Iron Beer - Original 1917 Flavor!

Recently a co-worker of ours learned of our beverage review site, and brought me 3 sodas of foreign origin. The first that I will review is IRONBEER. For those who are unfamiliar with Ironbeer, it's not a beer; in fact the ingredients read as follows: Carbonated water, fructose, caramel color, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors. So it seems that the drink will taste pretty bland to me, but that's ok because the can art has already scored this beverage at least a 0.5.

Opening the can now. Wow! It's much sweeter than I thought it would be, and has a good combination of flavors. The combination seems like Dr. Pepper, Rootbeer, and a strong Red Cream Soda. It also goes down very clean, with very little aftertaste. The can boasts that what you are drinking is the 'Original 1917 Flavor!' and if this is so, I can see why it's been around so long. I'm going to conduct a cold pizza test, and see how it compliments a cold pizza (toppings: Cheddar Cheese, Pepperoni, and Green Olives). Very impressive, the Ironbeer flavor washes away 98% of the pizza flavoring from your mouth, and still leaves it very clean feeling. Overall I'm very happy with this drink. It's not the best drink in the world, but it's one I wouldn't mind owning a few 12 packs of.

Btw, I spoke of the can art earlier which is displayed below. The origins of Ironbeer are also on the can, and are as follows.

On a summers afternoon, in 1917 a mule-drawn, wooden wagon arrived at a popular cafeteria in Havana, Cuba. It delivered the first four cases of a new soft drink that would soon be called "The National Beverage". Now more than 80 years later, IRONBEER is still enjoyed for its refreshing flavor with just a hint of island spices. A lot can change over the years - but not the original flavor of IRONBEER!

~A