Sprecher Fire-Brewed Cream Soda

I figure I'd complete the Sprecher trilogy.  At least I've only seen three of their sodas.  Maybe they have more.  Who knows.  Anyhoo...

So this is their cream soda.  Their other two drinks have been winners, that being root beer and their amazing cherry cola.  I'm not a big fan of cream soda, though.  It's okay, but it never really floors me too much, with the exception of Virgil's which, if you recall, made me smile while drinking it.  I'd say they should put that on the bottles, but they don't need any help.

This is pretty decent, very smooth, lightly carbonated, has a mild cream flavor.  

Simple, but effective.  

One thing...the label.  There's a bee on it.  My greatest fear.  It's a cartoon bee, but not a happy looking one, a creepy one.  Gross.

-Mike

Deerfield Juicy Orange Cream

The last Deerfield product we reviewed, which in case you don't remember is a line of HFCS-free drinks from Walgreens, wasn't much of a winner (that was the root beer) but this one turned out much better.

This is a nice, crisp and sweet orange flavor, similar to Crush, but, again, without the HFCS.  The "cream" title is accurate, as this has a nice creamy finish to it.  I hate to use the dreamsicle reference, but it's pretty close. 

It certainly isn't a Virgil's Orange Cream, but it's easier to find in most cases.  Speaking of cases...

-Mike

Thomas Kemper Orange Cream

Back to the northwest we go, the land of Thomas Kemper, amongst other things.  Today we're going to take a look at their orange cream.  In fact we'll even one up that and not just look at it but taste it too.  Yeah, I'm sure I've used that joke already, but I refuse to go back through all my reviews and see if I did.  For all I know I used it last week.

Anyway, like other Thomas Kemper drinks it has the combo of cane sugar and honey.  Along with that you get some vanilla extract.  It also promises that you'll feel like you're 11 years old again, which I suppose if you had a good childhood, would be a nice treat.  I think I've pretty much felt the same throughout my life so I couldn't tell you what age I felt at the time I drank this.

The drink's biggest problem is it takes a page from the book of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.  Yes, they have a book, but only we in the foods industry are privy to it.  What I mean is it's not necessarily orange cream but rather cream orange.  Too much cream, not enough orange.  The flavor in general is a tad dull, to be honest.  The generic Deerfield from Walgreen's outdoes this, and both have the advantage of no HFCS. 

Sorry, TK, it's good, but nowhere near your ginger ale.

Finally, I got to use privy in a review.

-Mike

Sof Drink Jamaican Cream Soda

This is the second Sof Drink product we’ve reviewed, the first being the Champagne Cola, which I haven’t had the pleasure of tasting. As I’ve said before, I’m not the biggest cream soda fan in the world but this looked different so I figured I’ve give it a try. Although the cat on the bottle is pretty cool I swear it had nothing to do with it.

I like this though, I think it’s the second best cream soda I’ve tasted, number one still being Virgil’s. It doesn’t have the vanilla kick and creaminess that the Virgil’s does, but it does have a crispness to it, which is very rare in a cream soda. It was almost like a cream soda combined with just a bit of seltzer. Just enough “watered down” flavor to make it a bit milder and not as “sticky” as other cream sodas. This is pretty important to me as I really dislike cream sodas that are heavy and sticky.

Call me crazy but I swear that it had a slight undertone of a citrus flavor.

This one was about $1.50 for a bottle, so not too crazy. I liked this one and would drink it again.

-Mike

Virgil's Cream Soda

Can't get enough of these Virgil beverages, eh?

I'm not a fan of cream soda, but I don't hate it either. I guess that makes me indifferent to it. One of my main complaints of cream soda is that it always has a stickiness. Thankfully, like all Virgil's products, this is a very clean, crisp soda. Meaning no stickiness. In case you didn't pick that up.

The bottle boasts "micro brewed with real vanilla beans," and that comes through abundantly. It's a very potent vanilla flavour. This is an extremely sweet beverage to the extent that the best way I can describe it is that it literally makes me smile as I sip it.

-Mike

Virgil's Black Cherry Cream Soda

I'm not going to create some build-up for the inevitable, so here it is: it's good.

This is the first soda I've had that tastes like it came straight from a fountain, that's how perfect a level of black cherry syrup this has in it. I can also tell why it's called a cream soda and not just straight black cherry soda, because this is creamy and not crisp like you would expect something so sweet to be.

I might as well mention as well, just like their greatest root beer in the world, it uses all natural ingredients.

I really don't know what more to say about this one. If you like black cherry, this is it right here. Black cherry syrup, carbonation. There you go.

Oh, and per their instructions on the bottle I did not put this over ice at any point.

-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