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

Cheerwine

It’s Friday which means it’s time for a bottle of wine… CHEERWINE that is!  I’ve had many a folk suggest and laud Cheerwine over the past several years and finally I have a bottle in my possession thanks to the Dublin Bottling Works.  When you break the name down it does seem that Cheerwine is the perfect Friday beverage.  Both “cheer” and “wine” are things that people might experience upon arriving home from their week at work.  Since I would avoid the wine filled Friday I’m thankful that Cheerwine is a cherry soda, or at least I assume it is because there’s a tiny cherry on the bottle with the words “Unique Sparkling Soft Drink” surrounding it. I’m not sure how unique a cherry soda can be, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.  Before I go on any further I must write this sentence where I happily inform you that Cheerwine is sweetened with cane sugar.  They opted to not write “Pure Cane Sugar” and went with the less popular, but Aaron preferred, “Real Cane Sugar.”  Enough of this chatter, let’s find out exactly what Cheerwine is together (but mostly me).  Onward!

A deliciously rich wild cherry scent greets my nostrils and pats them on the back as if they’ve been buddies for years.  Hopefully this experience won’t strain that relationship.

There is way more carbonation in this than I was expecting.  Each sip fills my mouth with a multitude of bubbles to the point where I have to initially search for the flavor.  After the search has ended and all parties are accounted for I’m greeted with a pleasant cherry burst that has little medicinal flavoring… which is always a risk in cherry flavored beverages.  The cherry scent isn’t overpowering nor is it as sweet as its scent might suggest.  Cheerwine is comparable to a muted Cherry Crush and before you take that as a negative give Cherry Crush a taste and you’ll realize that you can have less cherry flavor than that and still produce a good beverage. 

Since the flavor is somewhat subdued the drink becomes more refreshing than I would have predicted.  It’s not something that I would chug after a marathon or anything, but I could see enjoying a bottle of Cheerwine under the ol’ shade tree with your best gal/guy.  The two of you waxing poetic on if you should try to sell your stallion out to stud or if you should just keep working at the market where you know everyone’s name.  She’d/He’d, listen to your story and stay silent because it’s not up to them and y’all haven’t been dating long enough that they feel sure enough to help you make such a decision.  Instead to break the silence you reach for your cool bottle of Cheerwine and take a swig, only to notice out of the corner of your eye that your belle/beau is doing the same.  Just another small moment in life you’ve now bonded over… maybe you’ll marry her/him one day.

With that all said and the last paragraph doing its best to be more story than review here’s the true true on Cheerwine.  Even though it’s flavored with artificial cherry, Cheerwine delivers a pleasant flavor that would be great if it wasn’t for the overabundance of carbonation.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by The Dublin Bottling Works

Twist literally puts the cheer in every bottle.

Dublin Vintage Cola

At this point I have two remaining bottles given to me by the fine folks at Dublin Bottling Works and of those two only one includes the Dublin name in its title.  Dublin Vintage Cola is what’s on tap today, but actually in a bottle in front of me thus rendering the first half of this sentence false.  For many soda companies “cola” is where you start.  If you have a good cola people will trust your brand more than say if you have a good lemon/lime beverage, but a so-so cola.  Curiously this is the first Dublin soda I can remember seeing without its traditional green “Dublin” bottle cap.  Apparently for Vintage Cola they went with the standard and logo-less gold cap.  Hopefully Dublin will deliver a solid entry in the cola genre with its cane sugar sweetened soda.  Onward!

A noticeable cola scent, not unlike RC Cola (the superior of the three main colas in my opinion) casually leaves the mouth of the bottle upon opening.  It’s a very nonchalant aroma that doesn’t get my hopes up, nor dashes them upon smelling it.

The carbonation is just a notch too high for my liking as it somewhat masks the cola taste with each sip I take.  Apart from that one complaint the overall mouth feel and flavor of Dublin Vintage Cola is pleasant, but not outstanding.  Compared to the three main sodas that use HFCS as a sweetener I would put this over HFCS Pepsi in terms of flavor and overall enjoyablity.  If compared to the Mexican or sugar sweetened versions of those colas, I’m sad to say that this would fall to fourth as the cola flavoring in Dublin Vintage Cola doesn’t sizzle as much on your taste buds as big boys on the block.  While there’s nothing wrong with Dublin Vintage Cola there’s nothing aside from the fact that it’s sweetened with sugar that would make me pick it over RC Cola or Coke.  When I started this review that last sentence was something I didn’t want to have to write, but sadly there it is.

Dublin Vintage Cola is a fine soda, but sadly it just blends in with so many others.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by the Dublin Bottling Works

Twist wishes you a happy birthday!

Dublin Retro Creme Soda

With my computer now updated from Vista to shiny new Windows 8 I figured it was about time to write a review.  How those two things correlate I have no idea, but I’ve been fiddling with my computer for the last few hours and just wanted to work it into the review.  Today’s soda installment is Dublin Retro Crème Soda.  In case you weren’t aware, retro crème soda = red crème soda in the eyes of the Dublin Bottling Works.  Even though I have a seasoned palate I’m not quite sure what makes the red version the “retro” version, but life would be rather boring if we knew everything.  It’s time to taste this sugar sweetened treat.  Onward!

I do enjoy the look of red crème soda over its many brothers and the smell always seems a bit sweeter.  Is it?  Probably not, but in this case Dublin Retro Crème Soda delivers in the memory department and sends me back to enjoying a bottle with my dad.  I’ve told the story before somewhere on this site, so hopefully I’ll link it and we’ll all remember together.  Drinkin’ time!

With a nice punch to the tongue the Retro Crème Soda fizzes and bubbles throughout my mouth.  It’s not as smooth as your standard light brown cream soda, but the vanilla taste is unmistakably there.  While sweeter than many other beverages, Dublin Retro Crème Soda doesn’t overdo it and allows you to enjoy the entirety of the bottle without getting overloaded with sugar.  As I’ve said in other red cream soda reviews it’s hard for me to shove nostalgia out of the way so that I might accurately rate this beverage.  Since I’m paid the non-existent big bucks I guess I’ll just have to give it a go in one fatal sentence.  Dublin Retro Crème Soda is a tasty entry in the cream soda department and while it does nothing to stand at the top of Cream Soda Hill it camps somewhere about halfway.

~A

This was beverage supplied to us by Dublin Bottling Works

Twist is the only thing over the age of 30 that's not "retro"

Triple XXX Root Beer

Today’s fantastic voyage into my fridge paid off with a bottle of Triple XXX Root Beer and until this point I thought it was “Triple X” Root Beer or “XXX” Root Beer… you know, three X’s.  Upon looking at said bottle I see that it’s actually “Triple XXX” Root Beer which actually means we’re dealing with nine X’s here.  Now I’m not sure where that rates in terms of root beer, but I do know that you’re one X away from having a pretty nice Stetson hat.  The slogan of Triple XXX Root Beer is that it “Makes Thirst a Joy.”  I must say that this is one of my favorite slogans to date as its simplicity is perfect for an “old school” beverage such as itself.  Upon writing that last sentence I felt it was imperative to look up the history of Triple XXX Root Beer and was surprised to see that it’s “roots” (haha) stem from Galveston, TX which is right down the road from me.  If you’re interested at all in soda lore I recommended checking it out on the Triple XXX website.  Don’t worry; we’ll explain it to your parents when it pops up in their history.  Enough of the non-tasting portion of the review, it’s time to hopefully enjoy some cane sugar sweetened Triple XXX Root Beer.  Onward!

Oooh, I like the smell of this.  A rich rooty aroma escapes from the mouth of the bottle enticing me to drink its contents.  Normally smelling root beer doesn’t make me thirsty, but I can honestly say that the scent of Triple XXX Root Beer has me salivating a bit.

Upon first drink several thoughts fill my head about Triple XXX Root Beer.  First off the carbonation levels are higher than I expected, but not so much that the somewhat creamy mouth feel is completely lost although it’s walking a fine line.  Secondly, the root beer flavor is unoffending.  It’s not amazingly powerful nor is it weak and watery nor is it filled with numerous spices and flavors.  In fact with each sip I take I’m realizing how “normal” this root beer is.  There’s nothing really about Triple XXX that sets itself apart from other root beers, unless you count the fact that it could be the root beer baseline.  Fortunately there is a bit of caramel taste at the end of each sip which pleasantly lingers in my mouth.  This “Grand Finale of Flavor” if you will, is the highlight of Triple XXX Root Beer.  Personally I like IBC Root Beer better even if it is sweetened with HFCS, but then again I have a bias towards IBC that delves into the world of nostalgia.

Now for the sentence that makes the previous three paragraphs pointless.  Triple XXX Root Beer has no obviously faults or victories in terms of root beer taste and aside from a pleasant caramel finish just doesn’t make itself that memorable.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by The Dublin Bottling Works.

Twist was valued at over 9000 x's

Dublin Tart n Sweet Lemonade

When I blindly reached into my fridge today picking out the soda I would review imagine my surprise when a bottle of lemonade came out.  I wasn’t all that surprised mind you, as I knew the lemonade was one of five beverages I could have grabbed.  You all know that we rarely review non-carbonated beverages, but of course I’m going to give a pass to Dublin since they (1) Sent us a bunch of free beverages for the sole purpose of reviewing and (B) probably make some dang good lemonade.  Like all the Dublin drinks this one is sweetened with pure cane sugar so hopefully it utilizes it well.  Before I begin I must tell you about this tiny elf-like man on the bottle greeting me amongst the retro art, as if to welcome me into his lemonade home.  Thanks, Elf-man.  Thelfman.

The lemonade is titled Tart n Sweet and I must say the “tart” comes out in droves in the smell department.  It’s not cleaning product strong, but I found my taste buds flinching in anticipation of the sour nectar that’s about to envelop them.

Well it’s not as tart as I thought it was going to be, but I’m not disappointed as it still packs a pinch.  On the “tart-scale” from 1-10, with 1 being a nun and 10 being that ex-girlfriend you were too good for, I’d give this about a 6 which means nothing to you.  Even though it’s not shocking my ‘buds, Dublin Tart n Sweet Lemonade is still sour enough to resonate in my mouth after each sip.  Oddly, this is what I would imagine the lemonade at a lemonade stand tasting like.  Now sadly I’ve never tasted any lemonade stand lemonade, but now I can play the home version and it’s almost as good.  I’m pretty sure the kids running the lemonade stand wouldn’t use Ester Gum or Sodium Benzoate though.  Ignorant Children. 

The sweetness factor is noticed and appreciated as it doesn’t mind playing second fiddle to the tart mouth-feel.  If you’ve ever had lemonade that was too sugary you know that it doesn’t take much for that experience to start going downhill in a hurry.  Dublin Tart n Sweet has a fantastic bland of its titular adjectives.  Thankfully it’s not a very syrupy drink.  I find that it sits a few pounds heavier than light upon my tongue as I finish each gulp.  As far as lemonades go it’s about one step better than your standard fare.  Overall a pretty good showing.

Now for the sentence that renders the last four paragraphs pointless.  Dublin Tart n Sweet Lemonade tastes like you made it at home with its tart lemon flavor and a sweetness that can only be described as simple.

~A

With Twist in the picture it's Tart n Sweet n Sweet... D'awwww

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.

Dublin Vanilla Cream Soda

Now that I’ve taken a four soda detour I feel it’s only right to get back on the road to Dublin and finish up the last six sodas they sent me.  The first landmark I see on the ol’ dusty trail is this bottle of Dublin Vanilla Cream Soda.  Cream soda is one of those beverages where it seems to be harder to differentiate the good from the great.  Hopefully since Dublin uses pure cane sugar I’ll think it’s the latter, but my mind is telling me this is like most every other cream soda out there.  Let’s find out shall we?  Onward!

The scent that wafts from the mouth of the bottle is one riddled with sweet vanilla.  Its smells so much of vanilla that it approaches the intensiveness of a product you might purchase from the Yankee Candle Company candle.  Why I name dropped Yankee Candle Company and didn’t just type “scented candle” is a mystery to me.  Perhaps I’ll get some kind of endorsement deal.  Time for a taste.

My initial opinion of the taste isn’t really a fond one.  As soon as the Dublin Vanilla Cream Soda hits my tongue I’m sadly greeted with a brief bitter flavor followed up with your standard cream soda fare.  Even though this is made with pure cane sugar the “artificial flavors” make themselves known right away and throughout the entire drinking experience.  It makes me sad to say that I’d rather drink an A&W Cream Soda than this and I can’t recommend that you purchase it.  The flavor isn’t gross mind you; it’s just inferior to several othercream sodas out there in this wonderful world.  You’d pick this up and finish the bottle with little problem, but I don’t think this soda would bring much more fun to your life. 

Thankfully it has the correct amount of carbonation in my opinion.   It’s not so fizzy that it takes away from what smoothness is there, but also not so flat that you feel like you’re drinking artificial sugar.  With all that said my Friday has turned sad as I was looking forward to my Dublin treat today.  Fortunately I have 5 different flavors in my fridge and I just know they’ll be better. 

To summarize in a sentence that renders the last four paragraphs pointless… Dublin Vanilla Cream Soda smells like a great cream soda, but tastes slightly below average.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by Dublin Bottling Works.

Twist was the 8th Beatle for 2 months.

Mountain Dew - Johnson City Dew

Yesterday a package arrived at my door filled with hay and Mountain Dew paraphernalia.  It was a promotional kit telling me that I had the ability to choose the name and label art of Mountain Dew’s new malt flavored soda.  The soda was released in Johnson City, TN (the birthplace of Mountain Dew) as Mountain Dew Johnson City Gold, but now that it was going nationwide they needed a few new regional names and can art to go along with their product.

Anytime something is packaged in "hay" you know you're in for a treat

Here’s what it had inside.

Today I learned that Mystery Can + Free Awesome Markers make me giggle out of happiness

Now the contest ends today and I didn’t feel up to the task of creating amazing label art, but I did what I could.  If you’re a talented artist, or just bored, head on over to YourMaltDew.com and submit your entry.  As for the names they’ve already held the first contest for those so the job I was tasked with was to choose the best of three for my region.  Being from Texas I’m bundled into the “South” region where my name choices were the following:  Mountain Dew Southern Pride, Blue Ridge Dew, and Mountain Dew Southern Gold.  I don’t particularly like any of those names, but I have no one to blame for myself since I didn’t submit a name of my own.  Overall the best name in my opinion comes from the “Southwest” region with Mountain Dew Miner’s Malt.  I eventually chose Blue Ridge Dew as my name of choice for my region and started to think about my label art which you can see below.  With my terrible version of Twist scrawled in Sharpie on a can label a question popped into my head.  “If this soda doesn’t have a name, what do I call it in my review?”  Well I figured the best thing to do in such a unique situation was to use the original name for it, Mountain Dew Johnson City Gold (which honestly is better than ANY of the regional names in my opinion since the name holds a history.)

The likeness is so... so... so... so-so

I must be up front with you and say that I’ve yet to drink a “malt” soda that I enjoyed at all.  Now I will say that I’m more optimistic towards Mountain Dew Johnson City Gold just because it carries the “Dew” moniker, but still quite skeptical of the equation Malt + Dew = Tasty.  Since the can I received has no label, besides the amazing one I made, I can’t tell you what the ingredients are so you’ll have to research that on your own as it’s about my bed time.  Pretty much everything else you need to know was covered above so I figure it’s time to take a swig.  Onward!

The first time I smelled it I immediately thought of a Beer/Mtn Dew combination.  Frankly this scared me a bit since I hate the taste of all alcoholic beverages so I took another whiff and this time inhaled a lime/Mtn Dew scent with a hint of skunk.  Needless to say I’m not running down “Excited Lane” at this point, more like a cautious stroll down “Worried Blvd.”  My nose has told me a few white lies in the past so I’m just going to hope that’s what it’s doing now.

Congratulations to Mountain Dew on making the best tasting “malt soda” I’ve had to date.  The “Dew” flavor is thankfully the lead in this eclectic play with malt starring as the plucky sidekick.  While my nose is reminded of the skunk it smelled a paragraph ago every time I take a drink, my taste buds quickly erase that memory and replace it with an interesting hybrid.  This tastes like they took Mountain Dew and combined it with the flavor of lemon peel and beer.  It’s a little bitter, but nothing that will keep you from coming back for another drink.  Mountain Dew Johnson City Gold does remind me of beer, but not so much that I’m turned away by it.  Like I said earlier, I never got a taste for it, but the citrus “Dew” taste beats out the flavor of beer.  That and the fact that it’s non-alcoholic helps out as well. 

Is this a soda something I’ll buy once it hits stores in my area?  No, probably not, but I am excited that a soda company is doing something daring and different.  I can definitely see a market this will succeed in even if it might be niche.  If you like mountain dew or beer (not necessarily combined, but it wouldn’t hurt if you did) then I’d give this a shot.  Heck, if you’ve never had a “malt soda” and always wanted to try one I’d say this is the best starter “malt soda” available in terms of taste.  Look for the one with the lizard on the can… and then get out of my house.  Oh, and remember if you want to try your hand at label making head on over to YourMaltDew.com

~A

This beverage supplied to us by Mountain Dew

Like looking into a mirror

Sodafruit- Boysenberry Soda

With my “sick mouth” fully gone now that I’ve been to the dentist I believe it’s time to start up the reviews again.  My smell-o-meter is functioning at a near peak level of 70% (peak for me is probably around 80%) and I’ve got one last bottle of Sodafruit to hopefully enjoy.  Today’s version of Sodafruit is Boysenberry Soda.  I chose to review this last because the last 30 years of my life have left me with little information on the taste of boysenberries.  The closest I’ve had to actual boysenberryies are dewberries, black berries, and raspberries.  Since a boysenberry is the child of a few of those I listed I feel that I can still give an accurate taste assessment, but you won’t be seeing the sentence “this tastes exactly like boysenberry” at any other point in the article.  Before I begin I’d like to list the ingredients of Sodafruit Boysenberry Soda because they are worth mentioning:  Carbonated water, cane sugar, boysenberries, lemon juice, citric acid, preservative (202).  Now that you know we’re dealing with some top notch ingredients (sans mystery preservative) I’ll continue.  Onward!

Before I opened the bottle I upended it and saw a large amount of seed/pulp floating around.  This may be a rather intense texture situation or I won’t notice the pulp at all, either way I’m excited.  The soda has a robust blackberry cobbler smell to it that’s very rich on even a scent level.  While I know this usually equals greatness I’m a little concerned about how rich Sodafruit Boysenberry is going to be.

The first thing I notice is that its mouth feel is a bit thicker than your regular soda.  Not V8 thick by any means, but its viscosity is a bit higher than Soda-X.  Sodafruit Boysenberry is also a bit harsher on the throat than Apple Crumble and Strawberry were and I think that’s to be expected due to the tart nature of the fruit used for flavoring.  The taste is rich, much like biting into a juicy dew/blackberry as the sweetness overcomes how sharp the soda’s flavor is about halfway through each gulp.  Much like when I reviewed the strawberry soda, the pulp I was worried about becoming a distraction has done nothing but blend into the background only to be seldom noticed. 

While delicious on many levels some might find this a bit too rich for their liking.  Each drink coats your mouth in boysenberry goodness, but it can feel a bit heavy at times.  If I could change something about it I’d maybe make it a bit lighter with a touch more fizz.  I know that adjusting the carbonation levels on a soda like this can be tricky, but I’m not dealing with science in my requests… I’m just waving a magic wand around without care.  Oh look at that, Stephen Moffat has gone back to writing individual episodes of Doctor Who instead of running the series and I’ve brought back Surge.  Now that I suddenly have the need to change a few things I’ll leave you with a sentence that you could have read instead of this review. 

Sodafruit Boysenberry Soda is full-bodied soda with a succulent taste that permeates every crevasse of your mouth and while it isn’t syrupy a nudge toward the lighter/fizzier side wouldn’t hurt.

~A

This soda supplied to us by Sodafruit

Twist spend 7 years on Knott's Berry Farm

Sodafruit - Strawberry Soda

I even licked Twist to get the flavor off of him

So the last review I did was for Sodafruit Apple Crumble and it blew me away.  Today we take another look at Sodafruit, but this time the cards aren’t in their favor and here’s why.  Apple is one of my favorite flavors of soda… strawberry is not due to the fact that strawberry soda is usually over sweetened to the point of being sickly.  I’m not saying that there aren’t good strawberry sodas out there; I’m just saying that there aren’t many that agree with my palate.  Hopefully my concerns are nullified due to Sodafruit’s simple ingredient list which is as follows:  Carbonated water, cane sugar, strawberries, lemon juice, citric acid, and preservative (202).  With an ingredient list as simple as that (minus the preservative of course)  I’d say Sodafruit Strawberry Soda has a decent chance of setting itself apart from the sticky sugary soda I associate with strawberries.  Onward!

Upon opening I get a very natural smelling strawberry scent and understandably so since there are bits of strawberry floating around in the bottle.  The scent also reminds me of one of those real fancy strawberry lemonades you might get from one of them sit down eateries, the kind you don’t get free refills on.  There’s only one way to figure out if my nose is telling my tongue the truth… well there’s probably a few, but drinking seems the best at the moment.

That’s damn good.  The natural strawberry taste shines through like gangbusters and it’s been sweetened to just the right amount.  A light fizz is ever present keeping the drink fun with every sip.  I find myself licking my lips to get every last bit of flavor I possibly missed during the initial swig.  The floating strawberry bits I mentioned earlier are noticeable, but unobtrusive.  If you’ve ever had natural strawberry lemonade with chunks of strawberry you know that despite its name strawberry doesn’t play well with straws as it keeps getting stuck within them creating “lemonade rage”.  If you were to consume Soda fruit Strawberry soda via straw you would have no such “rage”.  Since I’m on the topic of strawberry lemonade once again I must mention that the lemon juice used in the making of this soda can be seen in the shadows if you look hard enough.  If you’re a fan of Seuss then just picture the strawberry soda as Horton while the lemon juice sits atop the clover he protects with his life. 

With that last analogy being average at best and my Sodafruit Strawberry Soda bottle sadly empty it’s time to wrap up.  Sodafruit Strawberry is a wonderful experience of natural strawberry taste.  While noticeably sweet it’s not so much that you’ll regret coming back for more as the light carbonation keeps you interested.  I have no problem saying that at this point in time it’s the best strawberry soda I’ve ever had.

~A

This soda supplied to us by Sodafruit.

A “Twist’s Choice” Recipient

Sodafruit - Apple Crumble

Twist is mostly fruit juice

Now that my vacation is over it’s time to take a break.  Take a break from Dublin Bottling Works soda that is!  While I still have 6 or so more DBW flavors to go I recently received 3 bottles from Sodafruit that require my immediate attention as they’re made from an upstart brewer in New Zealand.  If you remember our reviews of the Hotlips brand of sodas I have a feeling that Sodafruit will be similar in taste and quality.  The ingredients of Sodafruit Apple Crumble are as follows:  carbonated water, cane sugar, apple juice, lemon juice, spices, and preservative (202).  While I’m not a fan of numbered preservatives, since I have no idea what they mean, I’ll stave off judgment until consumption.  I especially like that the nutrition label separates the amounts of cane sugar and fruit sugar.  The label itself is very simplistic, but it’s a simplistic soda so I honestly have no beef with this.  So there you have it.  Sodafruit is from New Zealand and seems to favor simple ingredients.  Why did I write a paragraph on a description I could have done in a sentence?  Onward!

I actually swore when I smelled this soda for the first time.  It smells like Apple Crumble.  It doesn’t smell like chemicals made to smell like Apple Crumble; it straight up smells like Apple Crumble/Pie.  If you’re an avid citizen of the Carbo-Nation then you know that Reed’s Spiced Apple Brew is my favorite beverage of all time due to its apple pie aftertaste.  Will Sodafruit Apple Crumble fall in the same delicious category?  The hype has started to build.

Apple Juice soda with a dash of cinnamon to boot!  Sodafruit Apple Crumble has a low level of carbonation that allows me to easily brush the bubbles aside and really taste the apple.  Speaking of the apple, the apple flavor in this is amazingly honest.  Sodafruit Apple Crumble is apple juice 2.0.  It may not have the nutritional values of apple juice, but it’s improved on the taste.  I do wish the “spices” were a bit more prevalent in their taste although the amount that’s used is still plenty to alter the flavor pleasurably.  I’m surprised at how refreshing an apple crumble flavored soda can be actually.  I was expecting a sweeter concoction that sat a little heavier in my mouth, but throughout the drinking process was delighted to find a lighter soda with a fairly clean finish.

 Overall Sodafruit Apple Crumble is one of the best sodas I’ve ever had the pleasure of drinking.  It doesn’t unseat Reed’s Spiced Apple Brew as my favorite, but its simple ingredients, refreshingly light mouth-feel, and glorious flavor have made me a fan for life.

~A

This soda supplied to us by Sodafruit

A “Twist’s Choice” Recipient

Dublin Retro Grape

Today’s entry into the eternal realm of soda review lore is Dublin Retro Grape.  I’m not sure if it’s retro in flavor, ingredients, or just as a sales technique.  The bottle art and the fact that it uses pure cane sugar as a sweetener could be construed as retro, but the flavor has yet to be tested.  Fortunately for this bottle, or unfortunately depending on if you believe bottles of soda to be self-aware, I’m going to unravel this mystery now.  With my trusty love of grape soda by my side it’s time we dive into Dublin Retro Grape. 

The aroma is rich and gets right to the point.  Currently my only fear for Dublin Retro Grape is that it might be too sweet for complete consumption based on how sugary it smells.  Fortunately I’m not one to shy away from too many grape sodas so let’s just move on.

While delicious, Dublin Retro Grape feels incomplete… let me explain.  The carbonation my mouth is initially hit with is a fantastic amount of fizz.  There’s just enough to create a mild burn with each swig.  This is something I feel all grape sodas should have as it adds to their character.  The grape flavoring is indeed sugary, but not so over the top that I won’t be able to enjoy this bottle all the way through.  In fact this particular grape flavoring might rank in a top 5, but definitely top 10 of grape flavors I’ve experienced in a soda.  The finish is where I start to have problems with Dublin Retro Grape. 

Let me start off by saying that at no point does this soda ever taste bad, it’s tasty throughout the duration of its consumption and will be graded accordingly.  To fully explain this I need to rewrite a classic movie scene.  Even if you haven’t seen The Shining I’m sure most of you are familiar with the scene where Jack Nicholson breaks down the bathroom door with an axe and says the ever famous line “Here’s Johnny!”  Now the entire time he is chopping at the door Shelley Duvall is screaming on the other side in the bathroom knowing full and well who is breaking through that door and what he’s going to try and do to her.  Jack Nicholson is going to try and break down the door, get inside, and murder her.  There’s very little assumption going on here.  Let’s now picture an alternate dimension where Jack chops down the door, looks inside with the same crazed eyes, and then just stands there without saying a word.  Maybe he’ll cough politely to imply that he’d like to be let in, but he’s not even remotely aggressive about it.  Oh, and then the movie ends.

That is what Dublin Retro Grape tastes like.   Here it comes through the bathroom door with its wonderful carbonation.  I’m screaming on the other side fully aware that a grape soda experience is getting closer to me.  Dublin Retro Grape chops a hole in the door with its grape flavor and gives me a crazy eye.  Still on the other side I now see the potential grape goodness that should be wrecking its way through the door any second.  Then it just stops.  It feels unnatural.  You gave me all this build up to the end, but it never follows through.  It just stands there so you can still enjoy its company through the door, never realizing its full potential.  Dublin Retro Grape never evolves to the next step of chopping down the door and murdering my taste buds with delicious and that’s really too bad because it’s a potentially great grape soda.  I’ll still rank this fairly high, but just know that it could have been even better had anything happened at the end.

~A

This soda was supplied to us by Dublin Bottling Works

Twist was originally cast as Tony in The Shining

Ski

I’ve been recommended a handful of sodas to review over the past few years and by far the most popular suggestion is Ski.  Well fortunately for those wanting me to review it I just happen to have a bottle sitting here next to me courtesy of the Dublin Bottling Works.  It’s no secret that I enjoy lime soda and it’s following my lime soda reviews that I usually end up with the suggestion to try Ski.  Looking at the bottle I see that Ski is not a lime soda like I initially though, but a citrus soda.  That’s all fine and dandy as the simplistically-retro bottle art makes me happy to even have this bottle in possession.  I’m also pleased to see that it’s sweetened with Pure Cane Sugar which is another point for this boxers corner.  Enough chitter-chatter, onward!

While the bottle may say “citrus” the scent that came wafting out of the neck was a strong lime with vague citrus undertones.  A quick glance at the ingredients tells me that Ski has both lemon and orange juice concentrate.  This probably just means my smell-o-meter is off and I’m mistaking the lemon for lime.  To be honest my allergies are acting up quite a bit today so if I was a reader I might just ignore this paragraph all together.  Good thing smell isn’t a large part of taste…sigh.  Drinking time!

Ok, allergies or not I still taste more lime than lemon within my first sip of Ski.  The beverage is smoother than I thought it would be, but has a medium amount of carbonation to keep it from being boring.  In fact the bubbles fizz for the duration of each sip which is a simple treat for your tongue.  While it has many similarities to other citrus drinks like Mountain Dew and Sun Drop, Ski’s attention to lime seems to be more noticeable.  Each taste begins with a rush of the aforementioned bubbles then a conglomeration of citrus flavors washes over your teeth.  It’s at this point where you don’t really see much of a difference between Ski and Sun Drop.  Sure, Ski is a little smoother, but the difference is minimal.  It’s only when you reach the finish of each sip that you are greeted by lime.  Lime is like an awesome Wal-Mart greeter.  Any Wal-Mart greeter will say hello as you enter the store (be-it orange, lemon, or lime), but only the best greeters will make sure your trip was pleasant enough that you’ll return again smiling.  That’s what lime does; he waves as you pass letting himself be known to you then as you’re leaving gives you a wink and wishes you well.  Here’s the part where I say that Ski didn’t live up to the hype I’d created for it in my mind, but that’s not the fault of Ski.  Even though I created this disappointment for myself I still am happy to have finally tried it and I think you should too.

~A 

This soda was supplied to us by the Dublin Bottling Works

Faux Fact:  Twist in Russian is Twistski.

Blueberry Breese

I opened my fridge and looked skeptically at the bottle of Blueberry Breese staring back at me.  It wasn’t because the name of the beverage is whimsically spelled or the fact that the label displays an abnormally strong breeze blowing blueberries across a park.  The reason I’m not so sure I’m going to like this is because it looks like the main flavor of Blueberry Breese is going to be candy.  As you may  know I really enjoy a good blueberry soda, but the ones I do like taste the most like real-deal blueberries and not some confectioners creation.  Blueberry Breese is from the Dublin Bottling Works which already gives it a good starting point, but the fact that is looks as if it’ll taste like blue sugar water scares me a bit.  Looking at the ingredients I see no mention of blueberries, blueberry juice, or boo berry cereal.  What I do see is that lemon and lime oils were used in the making of Blueberry Breese… this confuses me even more.  Now that I told you what concerns me let me finish on an up note.  Even though I knocked the label art earlier I really do like it.  It looks super retro and the smiling berries on the front make me smile back.  Hopefully this good feeling will continue on into the review.  Onward!

The scent does nothing to quell my concerns as a fruity bubble bath is the first aroma memory (aromemory?) to come to mind.  The plus side to this is that it doesn’t smell overly sweet either, something that will hopefully help in the taste department.

I’m pleased to say that it doesn’t taste like blueberry candy.  I’m not so pleased to say that it does have a bit of a bubble bath taste to it, but more on that later.  Upon my first sip my mouth told my brain it was drinking a diet beverage.  I’m not sure why this initially tastes like a diet blueberry soda, but it’s fortunate that it’s not a flavor that lingers.  After the “diet” wears off I’m left with a brief glimpse of what could have been.  For a fleeting moment Blueberry Breese becomes as fun to drink as it is to look at.  Its carbonation is fizzy, the flavor (while not the flavor of blueberries) is enjoyable, and it’s even kind of refreshing.  This is all erased from your tongue soon thereafter and replaced by the aforementioned bubble bath.  The final taste I get each time I take a swig is that of bubbles.  Story time.

When I was a kid I, like many children, liked to blow bubbles.  Well when I was at home I only had your standard bubble wand.  You’d dip it in the bubble liquid, purse your lips and blow through the wand creating bubbles.  Pretty standard fare.  When I went to my Granny’s house… that’s where things got crazy.  While she had the standard wand what made the best bubbles were the bubble pipes.  These bubble pipes worked my like a tobacco pipe would in the fact that you’d put the stem in your mouth and blow out amazingly shaped bubbles.  There was a blue pipe that made giant bubbles and a red pipe that made quad-bubbles and a few others that were equally amazing to 8 year old me.  The red quad-bubble pipe was my favorite as it created giant clusters of bubbles with each puff.  Much like the standard wand you’d have to swirl said pipe in the bubble mixture to fuel it.  The red pipe used a bit more mixture than any of the others, but the payoff was worth it.  Wanting to produce the most bubbles possible with each blow I often made the mistake of inhaling deeply while still “attached” to the stem of the pipe.  The result was usually my mouth receiving a coating of bubble mixture and my granny giving me a cookie to remedy the situation.  As delicious as the cookies were the bubble mixture never became something I ingested purposefully… and that’s what the aftertaste of Blueberry Breese is like.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by Dublin Bottling Works

Twist lived in a bubble for 8% of his life.

Dublin Orange Cream

It feels like a good day for a quick review.  Today’s bottle once again comes from the Dublin Bottling Works in Dublin, Texas.  The flavor housed within its glassy walls is that of Orange Cream.  While a somewhat Frankenstein creation Orange Cream usually has the best of both worlds that its coupled flavors have to offer.  From their home planet of Apfelsine the orange usually brings the tartness and punch that you would expect.  To counter this they brought the smooth taste one can only find on Rahm and mixed them together… thus bringing us the best of both worlds.  I know I said it was going to be a short review, but I think that plan is already failed.   Onward!

The scents mix nicely in this bottle of Dublin Orange Cream.  With each whiff I’m greeted with a smooth yet tart aroma.  Based on scent alone I just might love this soda.  Only one way to find out.

Not quite as good as the smell, but still a tasty drink.  Immediately the orange zaps the tip of my tongue and begins an awkward wash throughout my mouth.  What I mean by “awkward wash” is that the tangy orange started to transistion to the cream flavor about midway through my sip.  This transition wasn’t nearly as smooth as I thought it might be… much like puberty.  Around 10, some earlier some later, you think how cool it’s going to be once you’re a teenager.  You just figure you’ll wake up one day and be cool.  It’s only when the process begins and you’re stumbling over your oddly large feet that you realize becoming a teenager just might not be as simple as you once thought.  The orange flavoring is that ten year old taking on the world, wanting to show that it can grow up and be smooth and cool.  That’s when the transition period hits.  I can taste the changes from orange to cream and they aren’t all that smooth… lots of acne and growing pains to swallow. 

After the “change” has happened it still follows the same life lesson.  That cool teenager you thought you were going to be?  Yeah, now that you’ve grown into your body you’re no smoother than you were before.  The cream never really takes over in Dublin Orange Cream.  When I read “FlavorX Cream” I expect a somewhat creamy mouth feel… creamier than this at least.  The orange never lets go and doesn’t allow you to experience the full “orange cream” that you were promised.  Now I could make the comparison that this is your 10 year old self trying to fight back through all the nonsense adulthood you probably go through on a day to day basis, but this is a soda site not your psychologist.  Overall Dublin Orange Cream is still a tasty soda it just needs to work on a few things.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by Dublin Bottling Works

Twist has been through puberty at least 12 times by now.

Rummy Grapefruit Soda

I used to think that Fresca was a joke soda that only old people consumed.  Never in my young life could I understand why someone would enjoy a grapefruit soda.  Somewhere in my maturing I began to warm up to them more and more.  Eventually I found them quite refreshing and got to where I enjoyed the taste… not so much that I’d seek it out mind you.  Today’s review is of Rummy Grapefruit soda which best I can tell has been around forever.  With a red and white logo on a green glass bottle even this current version has an antique feel to it.  The slogan printed on the bottle reads “Get Chummy with Rummy”.  Without going back over my reviews I’m going to guess that this is the first time a friendship with a soda has been suggested to me.  The “My Buddy” jingle is now looping in my head with “My Rummy” having replaced the standard lyrics.  Hopefully as I consume my new buddy I’ll not regret letting him into my life.  Onward!

Ah, the grapefruit scent is strong with this one.  As I look at the ingredients to see if I missed reading the word grapefruit (I didn’t) I see an old favorite… Ester of Wood Rosin.  Even with all the chemicals that find their way into some sodas Ester of Wood Rosin might be the least appetizing one to read.  I don’t want to see “wood” anywhere in an ingredient list even if wood isn’t an ingredient.  Time to drink.

I was moderately thirsty before opening this bottle so I’m really hoping for something that will quench my mild desire.  Rummy is much smoother than I anticipated it being.  I associate a rough citric acid and sharp mouth feel with grapefruit sodas, but rummy has none of these.  While there is a constant tingle of carbonation throughout the grapefruit flavor has lost a lot of its bite.  This is like if 7up and Mountain Dew had a baby that rolled around in a grapefruit patch. 

Another thing I was surprised about was how sweet Rummy tasted.  Now maybe that’s because they used cane sugar to sweeten it, but once again my mind had an incorrect preconceived notion about Rummy due to the fact that I expected a straight up grapefruit soda.  I guess I really shouldn’t have expected it to taste a lot like grapefruit once I saw that it wasn’t listed in the ingredients.  So if you’re looking for a good grapefruit soda you probably don’t want to try Rummy.  Now if you’re looking for a tasty sweet “citrus” soda with hints of grapefruit then Rummy should be right up your alley.

~A

This beverage supplied to us by Dublin Bottling Works

Twist has also been called "rummy"

Dublin Cherry Limeade

The next several reviews I do are going to all be sodas from the Dublin Bottling Works in Dublin, Texas.  If that name sounds familiar it’s because they were the birthplace of bottled Dr Pepper and have been around since 1891.  Now that your memory is jogged you’ll probably recall that Dr Pepper recently *took away* (for lack of wanting to type all the legal nonsense) their ability to bottle and sell their signature Dublin Dr Pepper.  Was it deserved?  Was it not?  It’s been discussed so much I’m going to avoid continuing that conversation here on the site. 

When that all went down several fans of the Dublin Bottling Works felt badly about them losing their main draw and so much more, myself included.  If you’re still feeling bad for them I’m going to go out on a limb and guess they’d like for you to stop weeping over what they lost and take the time to see that they’re still a force in the independent soda bizz.  Twelve, count them, twelve sodas are made at the Dublin Bottling Works with seven of them being Dublin originals.  Today I’ll be reviewing one of those originals… Dublin Cherry Limeade. 

Like all their sodas, Dublin Cherry Limeade is made with pure cane sugar so immediately I expect to be drinking a higher quality soda in a matter of moments.  The label art is cute and has a retro feel which seems to be the theme among all the Dublin flavors.  Red soda with a green cap also suggests to me the flavor I’m about to ingest even if it weren’t emblazoned on the bottle.  Enough chatter, let’s begin!

Upon opening the bottle my nose does not detect much of a scent trying to escape.  Only after I put my good nostril to the top do I notice a hint of lime trying to whisper into my olfactory glands.  Since huffing the bottle isn’t progressing this review I’d better just drink up.

Delightful.  For some reason my brain immediately wanted to focus on the carbonation and how it affected the feel of the beverage.  While my tongue was initially splashed with a small dose of tickling bubbles it’s the end of the sip where they really ramp up and make themselves known.  I don’t know why I pretend the bubbles are living creatures with a job to do… it just amuses me.  After my questions about the carbonation were satiated I quickly realized that Dublin Cherry Limeade is a bit more cherry than limeade.  The lime flavoring is still present throughout the entirety of my sip; I just wanted to give you a heads up if you thought it’d be a 50/50 split.  Of course it is called a CHERRY Limeade which might infer that cherry should be the dominate flavor, but once again I’m going to avoid any conversation that might end in fisticuffs.  The cherry flavor used is rather sweet, but not overly so.  I wouldn’t quite put it in a “candy” category but it can certainly see said category from the seat it occupies.  One thing that surprised me is the cherry coating my mouth gets after each sip.  I really thought Dublin Cherry Limeade would have a cleaner mouth feel and I’m kind of sad it doesn’t.  Of course if I’m complaining about the latter half of a drinks mouth feel then you know I didn’t have a whole lot to complain about.  Overall Dublin Cherry Limeade is a good drink that I would suggest to anyone.  Could the flavor be more powerful with less of a syrupy finish?  Yes, but it’s still plenty good the way it is.

~A

This soda was provided to us by Dublin Bottling Works

Every prime numbered year Twist's skin develops a Cherry Limeade-esque taste

Sprecher Gorilla Grape

I know we just reviewed a grape soda, but I love them so and the Carbo-Nation isn’t a Dewmocracy so I’m able to review whatever I wish.  Fish Paste… I’ll just put it up under Lifestyle Beverages.  Creed Cologne… I believe that’s probably fruit flavored.  The Season 7 Trailer for Doctor Who… buyer beware because once again River Song had to appear and muck it all up.  I really just wanted to rant about Doctor Who before I started this review of Sprecher Grape.  We’ve reviewed a Sprecher product recently and it got a very good rating so I’m very optimistic about them creating a soda with one of my favorite flavors.  Once again I must note that Sprecher uses glucose syrup for sweetening their soda, but they also use grape juice in this particular case which just might off-set that faux pas.   Onward!

Upon taking the cap off the bottle I notice it read “Grape Gorrila”.  Is that the name of the soda or just something fun on the cap?  The label does indeed have a gorilla on it so I’m not sure if I’m supposed to treat the actual gorilla drawing as a word.  I would also like to note that this gorilla is all up in somebodies grapes.  Three of his hands are touching or close to touching a bushel of grapes and his face exudes such happiness that I’m growing a bit jealous.  I’ve checked the official Sprecher website and it’s just listed as “Grape”, but those who sell it list the flavor as Gorilla Grape.  This is going to bother me more than you realize.  Onward… again!

The soda itself smells like grape juice which excites my palate even more.  Grape juice is up there on the juice scale for me minus the amount of phlegm, sorry to be gross, it creates.  If Sprecher “Gorilla” Grape can give me a delicious phlegm free grape juice with a kick of carbonation we might just have something special on our hands.  Drink on!

While the flavor isn’t as strong as I thought it’d be this is certainly carbonated grape juice mixed with some glucose syrup water.  In short, it’s pretty dang good.  My initial swig tastes like a higher end grape soda, but as you continue the consumption process the “grape soda” flavor morphs into more of a grape juice flavor.  Then the carbonation burn kicks in.  Like I probably say in most of my grape soda reviews, a good grape soda needs a strong burn to rank highly in my book.  I’d love to read my book one day, I bet it would be super confusing.

 I want more of this right now so you know it’s going to rate well.  Each sip I take is almost identical to the last.  Sprecher “Gorilla” Grape doesn’t really build on itself that much keeping what I initially thought was well and good about the drink well and good.  With every sip the burn returns and my happiness strengthens.  While I really enjoyed this beverage it didn’t ever give me a “wow” moment which is why you might think I rated it too low based on the review you just read.  Sprecher Ravin’ Red and Sprecher Strawberry both had moments where I couldn’t put into words how good they were.  I will say Sprecher “Gorilla” Grape was close to being up there with them, but I needed just a touch more.  Delicious nonetheless though.

~A

Twists older brother is a grape gorilla.