Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer

Those of you who are fans of the Larry Potter books will be familiar with this delectable treat.  Today’s entry is from the Flying Cauldron on Dragon Alley… Butterscotch Beer!  I’m sure you were jealous when Larry, Jon, and Calliope enjoyed this brew in the Four Broomsticks, The Hogs Shed, or the previously mentioned Flying Cauldron.  Be jealous no more, because the Flying Cauldron has broadened its sales region to include us Huggles… that’s humans to you non fans.  There’s even a brief history on the back of the bottle.  It reads:

Since 1374, the Flying Cauldron has been making this magical brew for under aged wizards or wizards who are young at heart at their brew pub in Hogsbreath England.  The recipe has changed little over the centuries.  It has the perfect combination of spells and quality natural ingredients.  Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to create our Giggle Potion.

Then it’s signed by one Reed’s Inc.  I must say that their inclusion of the Giggle Potion is highly irresponsible as you may know with the wrong dosage you could easily laugh yourself to death which is no laughing matter… after you die… from laughter.  Well I won’t be creating any of the dangerous Giggle Potion today; I’m just going to drink this straight out of the bottle.  Upward!

Remember that candy jar your grandparents used to keep all their butterscotch in?  As far as you know it was filled with butterscotch for its entire existence.  That’s what this brew smells of… a very potent butterscotch aroma hits you in the face like a troll.  Since butterscotch is one of my favorite candies, hopefully this will be one of my favorite sodas.  Accio-Butterscotch Beer!

Liquid butterscotch.  The review is complete.  Buy all of it.  No, I mustn’t do that to my readers or my editor Rita Skeeta would hang me with a wizard rope or something.  Seriously though, this tastes like liquid butterscotch.   When it first hits your tongue, as I’ve now said twice, you get the taste sensation of butterscotch except the flavoring of the brew isn’t quite as rich as the candy.  I’m curious if that’s because it’s in liquid form.  The flavor seems watered down a bit, but I’m unsure if it’s even possible to achieve 100% butterscotch flavoring in a liquid with this viscosity.  Let’s see how much sugar is in here.  Wait… what black magic is this?  There’s stevia in this brew and I didn’t even catch an aftertaste?  I see that it’s also sweetened with 30 grams of cane sugar, but I would never have expected stevia.  At least they were smart enough to not sweeten with the sweetener that shall not be named. 

Butterscotch Beer carbonation levels are medium and it isn’t really noticeable until midway through my sip then it ramps up just a bit as the beverage completes consumption.  Thankfully it’s not a very heavy beverage so this “Reed’s Inc.” did a good job in what I believe would be a difficult task.  If I had to compare it to a Huggle beverage it would most compare to a rich cream soda that you’ve dropped several butterscotch in.  Maybe those of you who hate wizards, or wizardists as I call you, should try that approach instead of making trouble in Dragon Alley… OH WAIT, you can’t even go to Dragon Alley!  Incendio! 

So a big thanks to the folks at the Flying Cauldron for creating this soda.  Your spells were on point and though you endangered millions by leaking the Giggle Potion recipe I’ll buy from you in the future.

~A

One of Twist's middle names is Advada Kedavra

Kutztown Red Cream Soda

Mike used to be the one that reviewed Kutztown beverages.  Sigh, I remember Mike.  Anywho, he’s unavailable for this review so I guess the boy from Texas will have to review this northern delicacy of Kutztown Red Cream Soda.  As I’m sure we’ve mentioned before, Kutztown is indeed a town… in Pennsylvania.  It’s made at the Kutztown Soda Works, which was established in 1851.  The “go ahead and buy this” sentence on the back of the bottle reads as such.

“Sweeten your day with an old-fashioned mug of Kutztown Red Cream Soda!  So velvety smooth, it’s good for any occasion… or for just nutzin’ around!  Drink ‘til it’s all!”

Let’s avoid the obvious jokes that we might think of using “nutzin’ around” and just agree that they were using their name as a verb.  I don’t understand the last part of the paragraph, “Drink ‘til it’s all!”.  Maybe it’s some sort of Pennsylvanian colloquialism.  So if any of you could please explain this to me that’d be great.  Anywho, this is a sugar sweetened soda and I’m tired of not drinking it so we’re going to move on to that portion of the review.

Ah, the sweet smell of red cream soda.  It reminds me of a day my father and I wandered through Leonard’s Grocery Store and he picked up a bottle for the family movie night.  Of course he picked up the generic two liter bottle of red cream soda, but I still had no idea what it might taste like at that stop in my life.  The memory scent I get from this, which is much like a normal cream soda with a little more tang, will hopefully not sway me in a positive direction based on nostalgia alone.

While I wouldn’t call it velvety smooth it still has a nice mouth feel.  Kutztown Red Cream Soda has a very soft carbonation feel, almost like having a tiny kitten snuggle down upon your taste buds.  That description should really go at the end of this review as it’s the final sensation your mouth experiences when your sip of soda is complete.  I guess I should start with the negatives, but it’s a bit too late for that so here’s the point where I get to it eventually.  Initially the taste isn’t what I’d associate with a smooth cream soda, but it’s only slightly off putting and for only a split second of the drink experience.  Another thing is that the cream soda flavor isn’t all that rich, but it still might get the job done for most. 

My mind keeps going back to the words “velvety smooth” and my tongue keeps searching for said texture with no luck.  I think if the vanilla level was raised just a bit they’d have quite the beverage here.  As it stands now they have an above average red cream soda with a unique mouth feel.  Of course this is something they should be proud of, but I bet with just a tweak more it could be outstanding.  I do like the fact that the flavor doesn’t hang onto the walls of my mouth like many creams sodas would do.  While I’m not sure if I just got done “nutzin’ around” (and I’m pretty sure I would know if I had been), the bottle is now empty and I’m satisfied with what I consumed.

~A

It's only so red because he's so green.

Grand Teton Brewing Company - Cream Soda

We rush back to the mountains to review Grand Teton Brewing Company Cream Soda today.  We’ve already reviewed, and enjoyed, their Mountain Berry Soda and root beer so hopefully the cream soda will stand equally as tall as its brothers.  As I’m writing this review I’m realizing that I have very little opinion when it comes to cream soda.  Cream soda is something I enjoy as it reminds me of my childhood for some reason, but I’m just not very passionate about it.  Maybe I just haven’t had a terrible enough cream soda to be disappointed to the point of passion.  I’m a very opinionated person when it comes to very trivial things like Pizza Hut commercials, the pronunciation of particular tree nuts, and the state of Texas A&M football… therefore it’s not like me to just let cream soda slide.  I’ve probably bored most of you out there so I’m going to drop this and continue on with the review of Grand Teton Cream Soda.  DRINK ON… but seriously when’s the last time Pizza Hut had a good commercial?

That is a sugar filled scent attaching itself to the inner workings of my nose.  The scent itself is smooth, buttery, and very enticing.  Maybe, just maybe, today will be the day I become passionate about the taste of my cream sodas.  If today is indeed that day please believe me when I tell you that the first paragraph was not a “lead in” for the rest of this review that I wrote after consuming this beverage.  All of my reviews are consumed in the same order the reviews are written, from staring at the label, to opening, to consumption.  I’m over explaining a lot today, hopefully I just need a good cream soda to shut me up. 

This, my friends, is a good cream soda.  It doesn’t invoke passion in me, but that bridge may never be crossed.  That said, Grand Teton Cream Soda is a solid entry into the cream soda market.  The aroma inhaled earlier is an honest representation of the taste I’m experiencing now.  It has a very smooth, creamy mouth feel that any cream soda enthusiast would enjoy.  The carbonation adds a fleeting bite to the back of my throat upon each gulp which is something I’m not quite used to in a cream soda, but it’s only worth noting not complaint.  One small thing irks me though, the finish.  Completing each sip I’m left with an aftertaste that starts off just fine but ends on an artificial note.  It’d be like having a delicious sundae in front of you, but instead of a cherry on top you have a cherry made of wax.  Sure you can take it off, but you aren’t going to be as happy as you would be with an actual cherry.  With that said, Grand Teton Cream Soda is good enough to purchase multiples and my rating will say the same.

~A

(This beverage was supplied to us by Grand Teton Brewing Company)

Twist was just spotted peeping over the fence.  Stay cool, stay cool.

HEB Wild Red

Today’s review puts me in a weird place.  Not “sitting-in-your-boxers-writing-a-review-on-soda-while-a-plastic-iguana-stares-at-you” kind of place, but you get the idea.  The soda up for review today combines the known excellence of an HEB Store brand soda (HEB is a grocery store chain in Texas) with my less than favorite flavor of Big Red.  HEB Wild Red – Red Soda is indeed what’s in front of me to be reviewed.  I’ve only done one other HEB soda review and it was their cola, and my love of it should be apparent since it’s currently in my fridge for consumption.  HEB brand sodas are sweetened with pure cane sugar thus immediately boosting their flavor and mouth feel.  Wild Red is no exception to this rule so at least I know it was made with some sort of thought behind the manufacturing process.  Since the flavor is called “Wild Red” I can only assume that this is their version of a Big Red type beverage.  I wouldn’t call what I feel for Big Red “hate” as that’s way too strong a word.  I would however say that it ranks just above Twizzlers in my “favorite things” department… and they are pretty far down.  Enough babbling though... let’s do this.

Oh, HEB soda… I always forget that you up your legitimacy by using non-screw caps for your bottles.  Yup, it smells like Big Red.  If you’ve never had a “red soda” then let me try my best to explain the scent.  There’s not really a fruity scent at all, just the scent of sugar, cream soda, and bubble gum.  If you disagree with my scent assessment feel free to leave a comment below.  On with the drink!

HEB Wild Red soda doesn’t pack the same punch of flavor that Big Red does.  It’s not flavorless by any means, but it’s a lot less “in your face” than Big Red.  Well technically it’s very “in your face” but that’s on a literal level only.  HEB Wild Red holds the same cotton candy/bubble gum flavor that other red sodas do, but doesn’t improve on it at all.  The fact that it’s made with pure cane sugar is a plus as the soda doesn’t appear to cling to your mouth making each sip a bit cleaner than its HFCS counterparts.  The carbonation level is just a step below tingly, but it’s not something that you’re going to notice and complain about.  Overall HEB Wild Red is an average red soda with an above average sweetener.  To be honest with you I think my apathy toward red sodas might be affecting my rating this time.  If you’re a fan of red sodas at all you should probably go out and try this.  If you are indifferent like I then just go try their cola.

~A

For some reason I wanted Twist to don a cowboy hat for this picture

Jones Soda Orange & Cream

Another Jones flavor I probably should have tasted years ago is the victim today, to be more specific the flavor at hand is Orange & Cream Soda.  Orange & Cream is a flavor I’ve liked in the past so I can only assume that I’ll like it in this instance as well.  For those of you wondering who can’t see the picture under the article, which should be none of you, this label of Jones Soda has one of those merry-go-rounds you’d find on a playground.  I was that kid who liked the effects of getting dizzy a bit too much, so naturally I loved these whirl-a-ma-gigs.  Hopefully this Jones Orange & Cream Soda won’t make me as nauseous as a spin-a-ka-doodle in the park, but there’s only one way to find out.

It certainly does smell both orange and creamy so I guess we can say the flavor is truth up to this point.  The orange aroma is slightly stronger than the creamy, but I think the flavor will prove otherwise… or at least I hope it does.  Another odd flavor wafts from the top of this bottle, and maybe it’s just me here, but it smells a bit like stewed baby carrots.  I’ve had this “problem” before in sodas where I could taste cooked baby carrots (something I’m not fond of) so this may just be a mental issue of some sort.  Nevertheless, I must truck on regardless!

First off, upon drinking Jones Orange & Cream soda I do get a slight baby carrot taste.  This taste is nothing compared to the one I first tasted in Blue Sky’s Dr. Becker, so it won’t be considered the lone downfall of this beverage.  Secondly, this is one of the least creamy sodas I’ve had that included the words “CREAM SODA” in its flavor description.  This mostly tastes of orange which I understand since it’s the primary flavor of the soda, but it could be improved so very much if it were considerably smoother.  Each sip I take in leaves me with an aftertaste I’m not thrilled with as well.  The carbonation plays a larger role than I’d like, taking away from even initially taking away from what could be a decent orange flavor.  This is the point in the review where I tell you how surprised I am at how little this is blowing me away.  Where Jones Green Apple is a torrential hurricane, Jones Orange & Cream would sadden a kite flyer of any age.  I thought about giving this a lower rating, but my opinion of Jones Orange & Cream at this point is very much “meh”.  Not negative mind you, just… meh.

~A

Twist is creamier than this.

Deerfield Vanilla Cream Soda

Walgreen’s is capable of making great soda!  Yes it’s true, folks.  Now that the initial shock of that statement has hopefully worn off, and you’ve read the reviews I linked proving such a statement, let’s move on.  Today’s review is of Deerfield Vanilla Cream Soda brought to us by one Dan Dub.  Dan actually brought us a bottle of this a year or so ago but it got lost in the wibbly wobbly timey wimey.  So I made my way to the local Walgreens and picked up a bottle for myself.  For those who didn’t read the linked reviews let me tell you that Deerfield sodas are sweetened with sugar and not HFCS.  Nuff said?  Yes, nuff said.

Oooh.  The scent off the top is like amazing butterscotch.  As mentioned before butterscotch is a love of mine and this wafting scent is going to cut short its own description.

While not as amazingly butterscotchy as I thought it could be there are definite tones of it.  The scent portrayed an amazing level of butterscotch while the consumption gives you about half that.  Deerfield Vanilla Cream Soda starts off smooth, but then its mouth feel falls short.  About halfway through the drink experience the smooth just cuts off.  It’s like that feeling when you just got through with the main part of a roller coaster and you’re taxiing back to the load/unload part.  There you are laughing, having a good time, remembering what you just experienced and BAM the roller coaster stops abruptly waiting for the next coaster in line to be loaded.  Your harness is now digging into all the wrong regions, and for that brief moment you don’t even remember having a great time on the ride… just how uncomfortable you are.  That’s how my time with Deerfield Vanilla Cream Soda is going.  Obviously it’s not uncomfortable but the experience feels incomplete.  During the first, more enjoyable, half of this beverage it compares to A&W Cream Soda in its smooth factor… actually surpassing it.  The carbonation is quite subtle allowing for such creaminess to exist.  When that comes to a grinding halt you’re left with what tastes like the aftertaste to an inferior product.  “Well of course it’s like an aftertaste… that’s what comes after the taste right?”  Yes, Timmy… the after taste comes after the taste, but not when there is still soda in your mouth.  Even though Deerfield Vanilla Cream Soda uses sugar I can’t excuse it’s lack of a second act.  With that said know that its rating could have been higher.

~A

It's impossible for Twist to only do things half way.

Henry Weinhard's Vanilla Cream

Remember that last Henry Weinhard’s beverage we reviewed that was so very GROSS?!  No?  Me neither as they’ve all been pretty dang good.  Hopefully today’s entry into our journal, or as it will be known in the future after excavation our lore, will be just as fondly remembered.  Henry Weinhard’s Vanilla Cream is most definitely a cream soda with a draught style head.  It’s loaded with the same great ingredients (minus the fact that they use HFCS), so it should be loaded with the same great taste!  Let’s find out.

Oooooweeee!  That is a vanilla packed aroma.  It smells like they jammed so much vanilla in this bottle that it runs to the safety of the outside world to keep from overcrowding.  You know the fire marshall has really been eyeing them, trying to ticket them on any little charge.  Let’s help our vanilla friends out with their problem by consuming their souls.

Fortunately I am consuming another quality product from the shelves of Henry Weinhard.  This soda is smooth, but nothing I’m going to write more than this sentence about.  Initially I’m finding the taste to most resemble a high quality A&W Cream Soda, but with a sharper feel on your tongue.  Odd, the soon-to-be-aftertaste and the aftertaste both have hints of Big Red.  Now, I’m not the biggest fan of Big Red so it’s breaking my brain since I’m now experiencing its flavor in something I like.  Remember when you were a kid and your parents threw you that awesome dinosaur birthday party?  Of course you do, it was SO AWESOME!  Your cake was a dinosaur, your hats had dinosaurs on them, and you even got Jurassic Park on VHS/DVD/BluRay.  To top it off all of your friends were there!  All of them, even that guy that moved away last year!  Everything is coming up dinosaurs... until the doorbell rings and THAT GUY is standing there waiting for you to let him in.  You don’t like THAT GUY, you didn’t even invite him.  Who did?  It was probably your mom trying to be “polite”.  You open the door, THAT GUY has brought you nothing.  He looks around at all the dinosaur awesomeness.  “Dinosaurs, hmm?  I had a dragon party last year and everyone knows that dragons can beat up dinosaurs.”  You’re brain quickly learns your first curse word but doesn’t teach your mouth to say it.  From that point on the party never reaches its full potential.  Every fun thing that happens goes through a THAT GUY filter, diluting the ‘could be greatness’.  That’s how I feel about the Big Red taste appearing in my Henry Weinhard’s Vanilla Cream.  Ahhh that felt good.  I haven’t had a good pointless rant in a while.  Big Red taste or not this is still a better than average cream soda and it’s rating should reflect just that.

~A

Twist was never THAT GUY.

Zevia Cream Soda

Zevia.  They don’t use sugar.  They use the stevia leaf to sweeten.  They’re all natural.  They have zero calories.  They have simple but enjoyable can art.  Most every flavor we’ve tried has had a horrible aftertaste completely negating the awesomeness of the previous sentences.  With that said I’m going to try Zevia Cream Soda and hope, hope, hope, that it doesn’t follow the formula of its bretheren.

The scent is that of a cream soda so my mind has already partially forgotten about the aftertaste that I will more than likely find at the end of each sip.  If I could just enjoy this by smelling it then I’d be a happy camper up to this point.

So close.  The cream soda flavor held on for as long as it possibly could until giving way to the ogre that is the aftertaste.  As the old saying goes “once you let an ogre in your hut there’s an ogre in your hut.”  That’s not an old saying or even a saying for that matter but it still rings true in the case of any Zevia soda.  Once you taste the slightest bit of that aftertaste it just builds upon itself until it has ruined the entire experience.  The first half of each sip tastes like a decent cream soda… nothing special but nothing I’d turn down.  The amount of carbonation you experience is light but that’s to be expected with any cream soda.  I will say that the aftertaste is more muted in Zevia Cream Soda than it has been in any of the previous flavors I’ve tried.  That’s not to say that it isn’t there but that it’s much more bearable.  “Oh!  He said it was bearable!  That must mean it’s going to get a better review than the other flavors!”  Nope.  I don’t look for drinks that are bearable.  I look for drinks that are good… drinks that I can recommend to others without being chastised later.  If you can’t have sugar or you’re on a diet of some sort then this is the cream soda for you!  I agree with that statement 100% because I don’t want you to think that there isn’t a place in the market for Zevia brand sodas.  They are very healthy sodas (as sodas go) and shouldn’t be ignored just because I’m not a fan of them.  On the flip side… even though there’s a place in the market for them there is not such a place in my fridge.

~A

That's the closest Twist could bare to bring his tongue to the can for fear of aftertaste

Sioux City Cream Sod

Yee haw, Buckaroos!  What I got here is the rootin-ist, tootin-ist bottle of cream soda this side of the Mississip!  Sioux City Cream Soda!  Of course anything associated with the old west is gonna be made with cane sugar!  Good, simple, old fashioned cane sugar… and sodium benzoate like mom used to make!  Gracing the label art of this cool clear bottle is a real deal cowboy riding his horse to the west… or east… or north… or south… well it really just depends on how you hold the bottle.  Personally I think they missed an opportunity to call this Cowboy Cream Soda because I’d have bought a pack of it off the name alone.  Anywho, I’m powerful thirsty so let’s get this going.

Ahh the sweet smell of cream soda!  While cream soda isn’t my favorite beverage to consume I will argue with just about anyone that it has one of the best aromas out there and Sioux City doesn’t disappoint.   If someone disagrees with me I just might have to hobble your lip.  With that said, it’s time to bend an elbow!

The initial taste of Sioux City Cream Soda isn’t as sweet as I thought it might be but it doesn’t let you down either.  For just a split second I taste what seems like a diet drink only to be quickly covered up by the smooth texture/taste of what should be expected of a cream soda.  The diet flavoring really dry gulches you before giving way to its smoother brethren.  It’s as if you’re watching a magician get ready to pull something out of his hat and you see what you think is a rabbit tucked down in there.  You’re disappointed of course but you still feel the need to see the trick through.  Blammo the Magician then reaches into his hat and pulls out an iguana.  You’re not stunned but you’re left surprised by the outcome.  The smooth mouth feel of Sioux City Cream Soda is nice but it’s not as fine as cream gravy… I’ve had better.  The carbonation level is right where it should be but I find myself not caring that much about it anyway for some reason.  I really thought that since this was made with cane sugar and overall good ingredients I’d be a bit more impressed.  When it comes to figuring out why it didn’t quite do that… well, I’m at sea.  I’m not saying this is shoddy by any means but as far as cream sodas go this one is between hay and grass.

~A

Twist is wanted in over 2 dozen counties.

Henry Weinhard's Orange Cream

   Good ol’ Henry Weinhard is back in my grasp, except this time he’s the flavor of dreams…icles.  That’s right the same Henry Weinhard that makes Henry Weinhard’s Black Cherry Cream Soda also makes Henry Weinhard’s Orange Cream.  Who’d have guessed?!  The ingredients on the side say that this beverage has a “blend of select oranges, mandarins, and real vanilla”.  Well that’s good enough for me… oh wait.  The added “complexity and character” comes from “a blend of lemon, lime, Chinese ginger, nutmeg, lemon grass, and angelica root”.  This is some pretty fancy-dancy orange cream soda.  Way to many words, not enough drinking.  It’s time to move on

   The orange cream aroma is not a shy one.  Once I opened the bottle my nostrils were treated with a barrage of orange and vanilla.  Pretend its April Fools’ Day but you’re heading off to bed.  You’ve manage to go all day without getting tricked.  Sure enough before you head up the stairs your doorbell rings.  “Well who could that be?” you ask aloud, only to be answered by the meow of your cat.  You cry a little inside thinking of what might have happened if, JUST IF, you had talked to the girl at the gas pump.  Maybe you wouldn’t be so lonely.  Maybe Snugglepuff would like her new mommy for once.  Maybe you’re going a little crazy.  Opening the door you look around for who might have come calling for you.  The black night sky greets you, and nothing more.  “Heh,” you chuckle to yourself, “I guess I did get fooled after all.”  Before you can turn around you hear a rustling in your bushes.  You squint your eyes making out the faint outline of a man.  POW! A peeled orange hits you square on the nose; your nostrils now filled with the scurvy fighting juice.  Before you can react to the citrus onslaught, the guy that didn’t bring oranges runs up to you and rubs vanilla scented potpourri all over your face.  “THAT’S NOT EVEN A TRICK!” you yell into the night upon uncaring ears. 

   That is what I imagined when I first opened this bottle.  I never do my pointless rants during the smell portion of the review, so I figured I’d mix it up a little.  Anyway, I should probably drink this now.

   This, my fellow jerks, is excellent orange cream soda.  The orange has the citrus tart you want to find in an orange soda but there’s a bonus this time that your normal orange soda doesn’t have.  As long as you swish this around you don’t lose the great orange flavor, which would be a good flavor for a soda all by itself.  The moment you stop the smooth vanilla begins to dissipate the once tart orange.  Eventually the orange is overtaken by the vanilla giving Henry Weinhard’s Orange Cream a delightfully smooth finish.  The mouth feel changes so much from initial sip to finish I’m a little bit amazed.  The aftertaste you’re left with is that of the smooth vanilla, the orange is almost nowhere to be found until you burp.  I know that’s a bit crass, but the duality of this beverage is very unique.  To be honest with you I was a little hesitant to try this because I was slightly let down by the black cherry cream soda.  Henry Weinhard did not disappoint this go around though.  This is honestly the best orange cream soda I’ve had to date.

~A

You can almost see the resemblance

Colombiana

   Dan W. gave me this very exotically named drink that I will be reviewing today.  The name of the beverage at hand today is Colombiana, so I could be taking a trip to Mexico, Brazil, Chile, or so many other fanciful places.  Let’s see what the side of the can says.  Looks like that it was bottled by the find folks at Brooklyn Bottling of Milton, NY.  Oh, how very exotic!  This is defined on the can as a Kola Flavored Soda… which I can only assume is flavored like kola champagne (similar to cream soda).  The can is brightly colored with everyone’s favorite primary colors.  Accompanying the name of the soda are two phrases in Spanish.  “La que tomamos en casa”, which according to Google roughly translates into “The one you take home.”   The other phrase is “la nuestra”, which again according to Google translates into “ours”.   Sadly the ingredients aren’t nearly as interesting.  They are just a collection of chemicals that make up this sugary drink.  Alright, it’s time to stop reading… me, not you.  I’m going to stop reading the can while you continue to read this review. 

   Yup, this smells like Big Red/Cream Soda/Kola Champagne.  If Colombiana has half the following that Inca Kola does then I’m probably in for a barrage (2 people) of criticism.  Let’s take a sip shall we?

   While you might think of cream soda when you first try this, if you study it for just a moment you’ll find you’re just enough off base to be called out.  The flavor starts off like a lighter version of Big Red with the slightest of hints of tea.  The fizz Colombiana hits you with has more of a punch than a cream soda, and that sets it apart from your basic Kola Champagne.  What you’re left with after drinking this is a lighter version of the flavor you started with.  To put that into a more comprehendible sentence:  The aftertaste is true to the taste.  To be honest I liked this more than your typical kola champagne but it still tastes like your basic sugary drink to me.  There is nothing that truly sets Colombiana apart from the soda herd.  So, if you see a red, yellow, and blue can that catches your eye, then give it a go.  If not, then don’t go crazy looking for it.

~A

The eagle and Twist had a staring contest.  Do you need to even ask who won?

Henry Weinhard's Black Cherry Cream Soda

   A citizen of the Carbo-Nation suggested that we try out Henry Weinhard’s Root Beer.  Well no such luck as they were out of root beer when my good friend Dustin arrived as a location that sells Henry Wienhard products.  Thankfully Dustin was able to procure some Henry Weinhard’s Black Cherry Cream Soda!  The label has a nice old timey feel to it, and the literature on the front of the bottle makes it seem like they use high quality ingredients.  Let’s check it out!  It seems that the flavoring they use is high quality as they include the all natural flavors of black cherries, black raspberry, and bourbon vanilla.  Deeee-lish!  Once you look past the flavoring though you get HFCS and sodium benzoate, bringing this soda a little bit closer to the realm of “nothing special”.  Hopefully the top notch natural flavors will push it to the top of the heap.  Let’s see what Henry has to offer.

   Wow, this is one of the most delicious smelling sodas I’ve had the chance to inhale in a long time.  The odor is rich combination of vanilla and cherry.  It does worry me a bit because it likens itself to sno-cone syrup in that it seems concentrated to the point of being overly sweet.  This will either work very well for Ol’ Henry Weinhard, or be his undoing.

   Well that’s a little disappointing.  The hype the odor created only set me up for sadness.  Don’t get me wrong, this will end up being a positive verdict for Ol’ H.W.  If they had been able to make the taste as rich as the smell… we’d probably be talking about a serious top soda contender.  I’ve whined enough, so  it’s now time for the actual review.  You’re initially greeted with a punch of black cherry, which is a pleasant way to start.  The “punch” lingers for a bit, and then cross dissolves (I work in television, so forgive the lingo) to the vanilla cream promised in the soda’s name.  I originally described the vanilla cream as “smooth” but realized I’d be lying as the finish on this drink isn’t as smooth as you might predict… and I think I know why. 

   While I’ve had drinks that felt much more syrupy in my mouth, this definitely lines the inside of it much like the smell of fast food lingers in your car hours after you’ve taken the bags out.  The aroma just sits there like a heavy cloud of sadness in your car, waiting for the next potential passenger to enter your car and be instantly depressed by the death gas your fries have created.  The HFCS is going to be the bane of Ol’ Henry Weinhard.  If they’d just replace the HFCS in this soda with sugar we’d be talking about a potentially amazing beverage.  I think the longer I drink this the more average it tastes… so I’m going to stop now before I go away from my initial score.

~A

Twist was unable to review this weeks beverage as he is part of the Weinhard family... not the soda making Weinhards, but a completely different unassociated Weinhard.

Thomas Kemper Vanilla Cream

   It seems that when you drink a Thomas Kemper product you’re probably not going to regret your choice.  Hopefully today’s installment follows that particular path.  In front of me sits a bee.  The bee in front of me sits on a bottle of Thomas Kemper Vanilla Cream.  As you probably know Thomas Kemper has both Northwest honey, and cane sugar included in the ingredients… so we may be in for a sweet treat here.  Let’s take a whiff.

   It smells like a cream soda flavored Dum-Dum brand sucker… which is certainly not a bad thing, but I can assume (yes I know what happens when you assume) that this is going to be incredibly sweet from the aroma alone.  I wasn’t really feeling a cream soda today, but this may get me to change my tune.  Time for a drink.

   Well oddly enough it’s not a sweet as I thought it would be, nor is it all that creamy.  While the bite you feel before the cream is weak, it’s still stronger than something you’d normally find in a drink as smooth as cream soda.  The vanilla flavoring can’t be missed as it jumps in behind the initial fizz.  Since I enjoy giving random analogies, and it seems a few of you enjoy them too, here’s one describing the relationship between the fizz and vanilla flavoring.  Picture that you’re walking through an empty castle; you’ve been there a week exploring with your best friend, so you kind of know your way around.  Turning through the corridors you hear the laughter of children coming from around the corner.  Poking your head around you only see a deserted hallway, but no sooner do you turn back around that someone jumps out in front of you and gives your heart a slight rush.  Don’t worry; it’s your best friend Fizz.  Why his parents named him Fizz we’ll never know.  It only takes a split-second to realize this and begin to calm down, but then a tiny deformed version of Fizz jumps out from behind him and screams at you.   Thankfully tiny deformed Fizz is wearing a shirt that reads “Vanilla” so that this analogy would make more sense.  That was just a fun way of saying, first you’re hit with fizz, then a dose of vanilla you can’t ignore… but the vanilla isn’t very smooth.    This is an ok Vanilla Cream soda… but there better ones out there.

~A

Twist is afraid of bees... hence the shaking

IBC Tangerine Cream Soda

   It’s not Orange Cream, it’s Tangerine Cream.  It’s not Orange Cream, it’s Tangerine Cream. It’s not Orange Cream, it’s Tangerine Cream.  I’m going to have to repeat that mantra to myself as I consume this IBC Tangerine Cream Soda.  Something tells me though that it won’t make a bit of difference, hopefully they’ll prove me wrong.  I enjoy the IBC brand, and I’d like to add another horse to their stable of sodas I would purchase.  Here goes nothing.

   Hey guess what?  This smells a lot like orange cream soda, only a bit lighter in the ‘orange’ part.  The creaminess is definitely noticeable in the aroma, which makes me believe this will be very sweet.  Too bad there is no way we could find out if it is too sweet… oh wait, I have an idea!

   Drinking this was a great way to figure out the sweetness of IBC Tangerine Cream Soda!  I’m a genius!  Well I would be a genius if I had trusted that IBC knew what they were doing when they place the words Tangerine Cream Soda on their bottle.  This does taste differently enough from orange for me to make that apology.  Could someone trick you into believing it was orange cream soda?  I’m sure they could, but what kind of lame trick is that.  “We replaced Don’s orange cream soda with new IBC Tangerine Cream Soda… let’s see if he notices.”  Don might notice, but you’re not going to get a face full of knuckles for your prank.  Don would more than likely thank you for slightly broadening his horizons on the soda frontier.  The cream actually overpowers the tangerine flavoring they’ve chemically added to this soda.  If that were switched I’d give it a higher score, but since IBC didn’t travel into the future and read this review they’re stuck with…

~A

Twist is allergic to Tangerine flavoring... hence the reason he looks so green

Old Town Root beer Company – Sarsparilla

   Today’s installment, also found on Popcast Episode 11, is Old Town Root Beer Company – Sarsparilla.  It’s spelled “sarsparilla” on the bottle even though Word wants me to spell it sarsaparilla.  First off this has to be one of the most generic bottle labels I’ve ever seen.  Oh look it’s font with a root beer mug.  What’s this?  The bottle cap is a solid gold color... how fancy can you get?  Oh look their website is @msn.com.  Seriously, this is one of the most boring bottles I’ve seen in a long time.  It’s like when you create a team on a video game, and you end up with a two colored clip art image of an exploding basketball/football/baseball/soccer ball/hockey puck/lacrosse ball?/Frisbee/bowling ball/badminton bird/tennis ball/curling stone/rugby ball/fishing rod.  Let’s just open this up with hopes that the aroma can woo me.

   Wow, surprisingly good aroma this drink has.  This sarsparilla has a noticeable sweet vanilla scent when you first open it.  I’d say it’s inviting, but I was going to visit regardless of the smell.  Time to drink.

   I know sarsparilla isn’t the same thing as root beer, but it’s hard for me to convince myself it’s really something else.  Thankfully this has a flavor that differs a bit from root beer… a cream soda/root beer hybrid if that makes sense.  Drinking it creates such a smooth sensation, which I would have to attribute to the vanilla, that I actually enjoy the mouth feel of this drink equal to the flavoring.  I normally like to have longer reviews, but this drink is pretty simplistic.  It won’t wow you in any way, but it’s a very enjoyable beverage.  If you see some, pick it up, it’s that simple.

~A

Twist decided it was time to don his trademark hat again.  Very dapper!

Jones Zilch - Vanilla Bean Soda

   As previously stated in the black cherry review, Jones sent us a pack of their new Zilch brand sodas.  Today’s installment is Jones Zilch Vanilla Bean Soda.  The first thing I notice is the color of the soda itself.  It looks like dirty water, which isn’t very appetizing.  Had it been a little darker I think I would have been fine with it. The fact that it looks like a liquid that’s supposed to be clear, but is not, is a bit off putting.  My bottle picture today is a skateboarder in mid air over some rather sharp looking steps, God speed my good man.

   Upon opening this bottle I had to press my nose against the top, (don’t worry it’s clean), to get any kind of vanilla aroma in my olfactory glands.  As always this scares me that the flavor I’m about to ingest is going to be so faint that I won’t enjoy it.  Fears aside, it has to be consumed… bottoms up.

   I’m happy to say that you can taste the vanilla in this soda; although much like the black cherry, the best part of the flavor is in the aftertaste.  The taste that occupies your mouth prior to the vanilla aftertaste is one of seltzer water.  I really wish the initial taste was the best part of this drink, as it’s no fun waiting on an aftertaste to enjoy something.  Oddly enough the more I drink this the less I taste the slightly sweet vanilla aftertaste I initially did.  The bottom line is that this is a drinkable soda, but that’s about it.  Sadly it’s very bland, and reinforces why we rarely do “diet” reviews. 

Verdict: Buy a Bottle!

 ~A

Twist used to skateboard, until the incident

(Note:  This beverage was provided to us by Jones)

Frostie Blue Cream Soda

   Whenever I travel to College Station I always make a point to stop at one of my favorite farmer’s markets, DiIorio Farms.  They have a good fruit, and vegetable selection, but I usually go for the cane sugar sweetened sodas they sell.  Usually I pick up something different every time I go, but once I stumbled onto Frostie Orange Soda I never really wavered… until now.  You see this isn’t a review on Frostie Orange Soda (you’d know that if you read the title), but this review is written only because of my experience with the Frostie brand.  I picked up a Frostie Orange Soda once on a whim.  The first sips tasted like cardboard, but as the orange soda disappeared the taste kept improving to the point of awesome!  This coupled with the fact that I enjoyed the “Frostie Face” on the label made Frostie Orange Soda a great pick up for me.

   Well the last time through I brought my fiancée, and asked her to pick out a soda for me to review.  Thankfully she picked out Frostie Blue Cream Soda.  So here I am, about to try my second Frostie beverage, and you’re here to read all about it. 

   Frostie Blue Cream Soda is a very nice shade of blue, so I’m glad they opted for the clear bottle.  Sadly though the “Frostie Face” as I’ve now dubbed him is absent from the labeling.  It doesn’t have a very strong odor upon opening either… which I think is a bit of a letdown.  The faint odor you do get is a bubble gum smell, which seems to be synonymous with Blue Cream Soda.  Frostie Blue Cream Soda is very smooth, with very little carbonation attacking your tongue.  This may be a plus or minus for you, but I like a little fizz.  The easy way out of this review, which I will now take, is that it tastes like bubble gum and cream soda mixed together.  Since I only have one other blue cream soda to compare this too I will mention that the Frostie Blue Cream Soda is a bit too sweet for my liking; the sugar is coating my mouth.  I have to say that I prefer the Spicewood Blue Crème Soda to this one due to Frostie’s overly sweet flavoring.

 ~A

Twist can't get the sugar off of his tongue!

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)