Dewmocracy 2010

Instead of sitting back this year and letting people vote on the annual Dewmocracy decision without our input, we decided to instead tell you exactly which flavor to vote for.  No input, just commands.

First we have Distortion.  At first glance you'd think "gee, that looks like regular Mountain Dew."  Boy, are you a brand new level of wrong, my friend.  This is Mountain Dew which has been blasted with lime.  BLASTED.  

The Dew in this one is barely there, which is deceiving because when you smell it the lime scent isn't really noticeable.  It's good though, recommendable to anyone looking for a low-grade lime soda.

Next is White Out, described as having being a smooth citrus Dew.  I'd rather them save white for "mystery flavor."  Anything white should always be a mystery flavor.  What a waste.

Again, not bad.  Also, again, the Dew is hardly noticeable.  This is very Fresca to me, or, as I hear someone comment on after trying it on the Popcast, tastes like Squirt.  I suppose the mystery here is which flavor of citrus they were going after.

Finally we have Typhoon, which gives Dew a "punch of tropical."  I suppose this is different from a tropical punch flavored Dew.  

For having such a sweet candy flavor, it's disappointing drinking it.  It's definitely a tropical punch drink, but, again, not Dew-y enough.  This tastes like something you'd get at a dollar store cooler when you were a kid.

So what's the final verdict?  Go with Distortion...it's the lime that really stands out here.  While neither of us will probably buy another one of these again, it's important that we keep the best one out there in circulation so when future readers get to this article they say "boy, I wish I could try the best one of these" and then they can. 

-Mike

Regina Pizzeria Raspberry Lime Rickey

To me a lime ricky is just a very limey drink, and I'm not making a deraguatory term about British people. Well, I looked it up, and a lime ricky can be anything mixed with lime really, alcoholic or not.

I wanted to find a drink unique to Boston while I was there, so in this case we have a raspberry one bottled by a local pizzeria.  Honestly I didn't see that it was raspberry, so when I first had it, it tasted like lime and a mystery flavor that was probably a berry.

Its okay, but just kind of bland for a lime drink. I think they need to up the lime more. The flavors seem too even to me, like a 50/50 blend, and it just doesn't work in this situation. The idea of lime and raspberry is great, just not this one. Combine that with the fact that this is an HFCS chemical cocktail and it's slightly below disappointing.

The pizza was good though.

-Mike

Flathead Lake Monster Granny Apple

Sure, Twist doesn't usually appear in my pictures, but I had to show this chemical-filled "Flathead Lake Monster" just who was boss.

Legends live forever and are known the world over.  That's why everyone already knows about Montana's Legendary Soda, right?  You don't?  Hmm...

Well you had to have heard of the Flathead Lake Monster.  You haven't?  Not even Flathead Lake?

Neither have I.  I'm guessing that Flathead Lake is located in Montana and that there is a legend of a lake monster that, as you can see on the bottle, is so goofy looking you'd probably laugh at it instead of cowering in fear.

But we're not here to talk about monsters; we're here to talk about the lake's Granny Apple soda.  Thankfully this one isn't too bad.  It's got a nice crisp flavor that really sets itself apart from other apple sodas and does taste more like the granny variety rather than any other.  My only problem with it is the "gourmet" and "hand crafted" brandings on the front which become pointless when you look on the back and see all the chemicals. 

The sad thing is that this drink has a ton of potential.  I could have one now and then but the stickiness of the high fructose corn syrup is what puts a damper on this one.  If they replaced that with natural sugar it'd be a lot crisper and less “sticky” which would make it a real winner and possibly a rank higher if not more.

-Mike

Shirakiku Carbonated Drink

Boy, I'm thirsty!  I'm in the mood for something tasty and sweet!  Mmm!  Let's see what's in the ol' review refrigerator...

How about something exotic from Japan?  Here's something:  Shirakiku Carbonated Drink!  Wait, carbonated drink?  Sounds kind of dull.  Well, I'm thirsty, I'll give it a try.

This sure is an unusual bottle.  Ah, a seal.  Let me take that off.  Boy I'm thirsty.  Oh, it's still sealed.  In fact it looks like…is that a marble?

Wait, there was another piece of plastic under the seal.  It seems that I have to remove something from the piece of plastic.  Ah, it's a plunger.  I have to remove the plunger from the plastic and press down on the marble.  There we go.  Now to enjoy!  

Hmm.  Actually, the lip around the hole at the top of the bottle is huge.  I don't think you can actually drink out of the bottle.  Not a problem, let me just pour this into a glass. 

Here we go, a nice clean glass to pour into.  That's weird, it's not coming out.  Oh, yeah, the marble.  It keeps blocking the liquid.  Boy, I sure am thirsty.

Well let me just try to get this at the perfect angle so that it pours in properly.  Any time now.  Finally.  A nice cool glass of carbonated drink.

Tastes like sugar water.  Actually looking at the ingredients, HFCS water.  Still, the experience was amusing and interesting, so...

-Mike

Stewart's Key Lime

I'm finally getting around to reviewing this one. It's so damn good that every time I end up buying some I down it so quickly that I don't have time to review it. As I've said before I like to review whilst I'm drinking. None of this "after the fact" nonsense flies around here.

This one is a little more "mainstream" then what we usually get. By that I mean when it comes to bottled sodas (as opposed to cans or plastic bottles) this is probably the number one mainstream brand. Also the ingredients are chemicals.

But it's so delicious. The smell is a very potent lime, with almost a little cream in it. Appropriate because it's called key lime. Also an appropriate smell because that's how it tastes. It's nothing like a limeade in there's no real citrus bitterness to it, which I don't mind but it's a nice variant on something more common. So essentially a creamy, not sour but still strong lime flavoured beverage. Delicious.

-Mike

Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale

So a coworker mentioned that during the little hurricane we had down here, she went to the local grocery store to stock up on whatever everyone hadn't already hoarded for no reason whatsoever. Anyhoo, she stumbled upon Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale, which as soon as I heard those words I knew I had to seek it out considering it contains three wonderful things: ginger ale, green tea, and Canada.

Thankfully it's really good. Crisp and refreshing are the two words that come to mind when I drink it. It's very lite tasting, and I don't mean in a sense of low in sugar or diet, I mean the flavor is lite; there is no heavy ginger ale taste, it's milder, and I'm really enjoying the change. Of course there is green tea flavour, and that too is mild but balances well with the ginger ale. I'd say in comparison with the previously reviewed Cricket, the green tea in this is on par, possibly just the tiniest bit less. The sweetness is at a perfect level with the ginger ale and green tea tastes.

Unlike the usual crop of sodas we review, this is not chock full of natural ingredients, like, ya know, sugar. We get good ol' high fructose corn syrup here, but again this is already very lite tasting, so it doesn't have the high level of sticky flavour that HFSC gives. The unique ingredients in this one are, of course, the green tea, but there is also 100% of your daily value of vitamin C per can, which honestly, seems to be in everything now. That along with the green tea provide 200mg of antioxidants.

Being that it's sold with the "mainstream" sodas, the price is on par with Coke, Pepsi, and other normal soda products. I really hope this sticks around, I like it a lot and would make this my ginger ale of choice easily. From the miracle of the internet it seems that this is also available in 20oz and 2 liter bottles.

-Mike

IBC Cherry Limeade

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Yeah, I guess this is more of a mainstream beverage maker, but I had to try it since I'm a big fan of cherry limeade.

IBC's version of the drink doesn't disappoint, but it doesn't really impress either.

To me the drink is more cherry than lime and tastes pretty much like a cherry soda, a good cherry soda, but still just cherry. After having the real deal from Sonic and Dairy Queen, basically limeade with lots of delicious cherry syrup, it's hard to find a substitute, but for the money it's pretty darn good. Being it a little more mainstream it was only 4 bucks for a six pack, which isn't bad compared to other drinks I've reviewed.

This is one of the most appealing looking drinks I've seen. It's a bright red in a clear bottle which shows it off nicely. I don't know why I'm mentioning the appearance since I usually don't do that, but it just looks delicious. This is something you'd want sitting in a bucket of ice during some kind of outside get together. If I ever went outside I'd consider this.

-Mike

Sprecher Orange Dream

Orange drinks are some of my favorite, so it was hard to pass up on this unique looking beverage, Sprecher Orange Dream. How can you pass up a bottle that has a picture of a cow using a straw to drink straight from an orange? Answer: you can't.

Luckily this is a really good soda. As soon as you open the bottle you can smell that your suspicions are right, this is going to be creamy. This review won't be finished unless I include a particular word, so I'll do it now: dreamsicle. Yes, it does taste like one.

Unlike our enemy, the A&W Float, this is a soda, with carbonation. The orange flavor is very good. Some orange sodas can be a little unsweet, like older Minute Maid orange. This one is sweet like a Crush or Sunkist, thankfully. The creaminess, which comes from honey and vanilla, is very subtle, which I'm fine with because I'm not the biggest fan of...wait for it...dreamsicles. It is abundant enough to set it apart from an average orange soda and make it something special.

The aftertaste is a little off, which is my only complaint, it's almost like the vanilla and honey stay but the orange doesn't, which is a little awkward and, if you haven't eaten or aren't eating, can end up being a little metallic, so don't drink it right when you wake up. Also when trying the drink in ice, it just tasted like a standard orange, you couldn't notice the creaminess at all, so if you need ice, just go for the Crush or Sunkist, otherwise enjoy it straight from the bottle for maximum effectiveness.

This one wasn't too pricy so it's worth a try

-Mike

A&W Root Beer Float

I'm a big fan of the root beer float, especially blended. Give me a glass of root beer with some ice cream and before taking one sip I will spend minutes stirring until it's one complete mixture. Thank goodness for Sonic, the only place I know of that does it for you. The idea of the root beer float in a bottle has always been a dream of mine since I was a kid, so I had to take a chance on the new A&W Float.

I say I was taking a chance because you're getting four bottles for about $8. Unfortunately, it's not worth a buck. First of all, there's no carbonation to this drink, and when you blend root beer and vanilla ice cream, there's still the tingle of carbonation. Second, the texture. It's like they wanted to get the thickness of a blended float but alas that's something that you just can't duplicate in a bottle, so they ended up with a syrupy mess when they really should have went with the crisp texture of the root beer instead. Finally, the vanilla flavor. This is where the drink truly fails. It just overall tastes really rancid, almost like it was made with milk that sat out for a while. All this leads to a horrible aftertaste.

The bottle promises "Rich, creamy, and so delicious you won't believe that it comes in a bottle." Well, they missed all three of these points. It's hard for me to find a soda beverage that I don't like, but this is it. I haven't been able to finish one of these. Still I hope that someday my dream of a root beer float in a bottle will come true. I will say that the only redeeming thing about this drink is I have a feeling that the awful vanilla flavor may work with the sister drink to this, the Sunkist Float. Also nice bottle.

-Mike