Jarritos Lima-Limon

As you may expect, this is probably going to taste like Sprite or Sierra Mist or something else that is lemon and lime, and it does, sorta.

It actually brings back a memory for me.  So at my grandmother's house she used to have two refrigerators.  Seriously.  She also had three giant freezers.  Having a giant freezer wasn't odd, in fact growing up I didn't know anybody who didn't have one, whereas now I don't know anybody that has one, but three was pushing it a bit.  They were always full.  Guess she was preparing for the rapture or something.  Anyway, she always kept a supply of the most generic sodas you could get in that downstairs refrigerator, and this tastes like the lemon lime one.  Or at least I think it does.  I don't remember much.

It's kind of the reverse of what I like in lemon lime sodas.  I really like sweet lemon lime sodas, but I suppose I like really sweet everything.  Well, except this time before my whole vegetarian thing where I had Captain Crunch chicken.  That was gross.  But sweet drinks I like.  This isn't sweet, but the flavor is pretty strong.  Also the carbonation is quite mild, unlike a Sprite or Sierra Mist.  

Kind of like what I said with the mandarin, if you want a lemon lime but what to mix things up a bit, give this one a shot.  It's pretty darn good, and quite different from what you're used to.

-Mike E.

(Note:  This beverage was provided to us by Jarritos.)

Jarritos Mandarin

I'll admit, I didn't have high hopes for this.  Once upon a time Minute Maid's orange soda was mandarin orange and it was pretty dull.  Thankfully I was way wrong about this one.

There is a mandarin flavor going on here, meaning it's orange but not.  It's also got a sweetness to it that mandarin orange sodas usually don't have.  The ones I've had before have been just weak and not very sugary, but this is the opposite.  Very sweet, full of flavor, and just enough of a "different" kind of orange taste that really sets it apart from other manadarins and all other orange sodas in general.

I don't have anymore to say about it.  Being a Jarritos product it is made with sugar and not HFCS.  If you're looking for an orange soda but you're kind of tired of the run of the mill ones out there, this really is something that sets itself apart but still satisfies.

-Mike E.

(Note:  This beverage was provided to us by Jarritos.)

Jarritos Guava

Guava.  I don't know what it is.  For all I know it looks like one of those clay pots on the front of the bottle.

But it doesn't.  Thankfully, I mean how disgusting would that be?  Anyway, this is the first of many beverages in the line up thoughtfully provided to us by Jarritos.  It's kind of pink-ish so it's hard to know what to expect.

The initial smell is...not promising.  Thankfully, though, it doesn't taste too bad.  I'm not sure what it tastes like, but it doesn't taste bad.  Like I said on the Popcast, it's like it is trying really really hard to be a fruit.  Like you know the flavor is fruit, but that's about it.  

There's also something unusual about the sweetness, or the flavor, I can't tell which.  The way I tried to describe it with so far all Jarritos is that it's like a bubble of nothing surrounds a sip of each drink.  Like they need to bump up the flavor or sweetness just a little more.

Not to say this is bad, it's not, it's just...different.  

Oh, and added bonus, since it's from Mexico it's made with real sugar.

-Mike E.

(Note:  This beverage was provided to us by Jarritos.)

Ginseng Up Kola Champagne

Who knew this was a Caribbean favorite?  The bottle says so.  This is my first experience with kola champagne.  I like cola, but I don't know about kola...champagne.  

My first concern is the brand has the word ginseng in it, so you figure that would be a key ingredient...but it's not.  It's the last one:  Korean ginseng tea, to be specific  No sodium benzoate, but there is HFCS.  Let's see how this is.

This smells horrid.  Like bad cream soda.  I'm not looking forward to this...

I'm shocked, it's actually not bad.  Fairly clean and crisp for a soda with HFCS.  It really is like a cream soda, but mild, and the tea flavor is noticeable in the background.  It's interesting, but not in a bad way.  Something unique and different.  

-Mike

Sof Drink Pineapple

I haven't had a Sof Drink soft drink in a while, and they impressed me with their cream soda, a style I normally don't favor, so let's see what they can do with pineapple.  As you can see it's extremely yellow, number 5 according to the ingredients.  The ingredients get a plus for sugar, a minus for sodium benzoate, and a curiosity about the "artificial and natural flavorings" which makes up the rest of the list.  This is one case where only a few ingredients might not pan out well.

It smells like a dull pineapple Life Saver, and that concerned me.  The flavor isn't much better.  It's not awful, but it's not impressive either.  Very clean for a pineapple, but not clean enough.  It even has a mild carbonation, but that's not enough to save it.  There's still that "sticky" taste going on, which is odd considering there is no HFCS.  If they would have been able to make this as crisp as their cream soda, a feat still unmatched, then there might be something to pull this one out of mediocrity, but alas, no.

-Mike

Sanagaria Ramune Strawberry

Here's another one of those awkward Japanese sodas with the awkward marble floating in the middle and the awkward cap that forces you to pour it into a glass otherwise the awkward marble gets stuck there awkwardly.

This one is flavored, as opposed to the last one we tried, and this is a very good strawberry flavor.  It's a lighter strawberry flavor, and the color of it represents that, pink rather than the usual red.  

It's also much sweeter than a normal strawberry soda, which I'm a fan of, as I like sweet.  Things can't ever be too sweet.  The odd thing is not only do they use sugar, they also use HFCS.  An odd half and half combination.  Whatever percentage it is for each, it leads to a candied strawberry flavor rather than the fruit.

The carbonation in it is light, which I also enjoy.  Overall it's very refreshing, especially since it's a strawberry soda.  My biggest complaint is that the bottle is so small, but then again that's probably why Japan is a fit country.

-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

Bundaberg Australian Root Beer

Our world spanning travels to seek out the best root beer brings us this week to Australia.  Actually I'm still at home in my pajamas, but with this cool bottle of Bundaberg Root Beer in my hand, it's like I'm there.  I also have a "'Crocodile' Dundee" marathon on.  That's not true, actually I said that just so I could use the double quotes around "Crocodile."  

Speaking of "'Crocodile' Dundee" (see I did it again) do you remember the scene where Michael J. "Mick" "Crocodile" Dundee (portrayed by Paul Hogan) has a knife pulled out on him and he says "that's not a knife...this is a knife" and pulls out a giant Australian-sized knife?  Well, the flavor of this root beer is that big knife to the small knives of other root beers.

Actually I don't know if that's true either, I just wanted to use the analogy, and it gave me a chance to use the double quotes again.  Flavor, though, is the, well, interesting point of this beverage.  As you may have seen or heard us debate on Popcast Episode 4, Bundaberg has a flavor unlike anything else.  It's not bad, in fact it's good.  Just pinpointing everything that is in it and describing the final results that hit your tongue is difficult.  

It contains sarsaparilla root and flavor, vanilla bean, licorice and molasses.  The sarsaparilla root and flavor is what provides the traditional root beer taste here, which is almost a cameo rather than the featured player.  The vanilla bean, licorice and molasses sort of combine to a smooth, almost bitey sweetness that I've never tasted before in a beverage.  This is the same part that we both agree almost tastes like there is the slightest hint of lemon.  Again, there is no lemon, but there is no other way to describe it.

This is easily the most difficult beverage I've had to review.  Easy to drink, difficult to describe.  Wow that's a good line.  Don't you dare take that my line, Bundaberg!  I suppose it's too late.  I suppose I'd be honored.  Or honoured.  One more Australian thing for you:  Yahoo Serious.  That is all.

-Mike

Sidral Mundet

Before opening up this giant bottle of Sidral Mundet that a reader gave to us, I had great confidence that this was going to be one of the greatest successes that The Soda Jerks had stumbled upon.  Alas it ended up being the greatest disappointment.

Everything asthetically about Sidral Mundet is fantastic:  great label with a delicious looking apple on it, 100% natural sugar, the fact that it's pasteurized signifying that it's made with a similar process to juice or cider, and most striking of all the phrase "the flavor comes from the apple."  They must use some pretty bland apples, or have watered it down significantly.  Like I said on the Popcast, it's like someone down on their luck drank half a bottle of apple soda and to make it last longer they poured water in it.

As my dad would say "it's not bad, but it's not good either."  You won't be reaching for an air sickness bag after you drink this by any means, probably because you're not on an airplane.  If you are, what strange airline serves Sidral Mundet?  If you're not, why do you have air sickness bags around?  Either way, what I'm getting at is it's not bad, just bland.  Horribly, dissapointingly bland. 

-Mike

Jarritos Jamaica

This is the second Jarrito's product I've had, but the first I'm reviewing, and yet another drink donated by a fan. I am curious because the flavor is "Jamaica" which means nothing to me. I'm also a little worried.

First off it should be mentioned that Jarrito's products do not contain twist off caps, so have a bottle opener handy or your hands will end up bloody as mine did when I had some of their stuff the first time.

Now I'm worried again because this smells horrible. I'm not sure I can even describe the smell but it's not something that soda should smell like. But I suppose taste is the best judge, so here we go.

I have never tasted anything like this. To be honest this is the first time I had a "just in case" bottle of water open and ready because I thought this was going to be disgusting. It's not, but it's not good either. It's like cherry and grass flavored, and I'm talking grass from your lawn. Haven't had to do this in a long time, but this one is getting dumped out.

Sorry but I have to say it: Jarritos, Jamaican me want to throw up. Get it? Ya makin' me want to...nevermind.

-Mike

Topo Sabores Strawberry

This is the second Topo Sabores beverage we've tasted and we'll be doing another one coming up soon.  This one was donated by a Soda Jerks reader and I've seen it available at HEB.  Now although this is a bottled beverage, this is by no means attempting to be or is a premium soda.  They are sold fairly cheap, less than a dollar usually, so the fact that this is chock full of chemicals is to be expected.

It is a really decent strawberry soda.  I haven't had a strawberry in quite a while but I can guarantee that this is the sweetest strawberry I have ever had.  It almost has a Jolly Rancher flavor to it, but without the bite or sting that the candy does.

I can recommend this.  Seems most appropriate for outdoor consumption during mild summer activities.  Again the only negative is this is all chemicals.

What's the best part about it you ask?  The inside of the cap says "Thank You For Participating."  Awesome.

-Mike

Club Cool at Epcot

About a month ago I took a vacation to beautiful sunny central Florida, which you're required to call both beautiful and sunny.  Not only did I get to visit my retired parents in Del Boca Vista Phase 2, but I also got to visit my favorite place to vacation and my former employer, Walt Disney World.  Of all the places there the one I love most and visit most frequently is Epcot.  What does this have to do with soda?  Well, as you can see by the photo above, they have a place called "Club Cool" formerly known as "Ice Station Cool."  I looked all over to try and find when this place actually opened but to no avail.  I want to guess it was around 94, but for all I know it may have been earlier. 

Other than being a huge advertisement for Disney sponsor Coca-Cola and a place to sell Coke branded merchandise, Club Cool has various soda fountains that offer visitors a chance to taste different flavors from around the world.  Some good, some...worst soda in the world.  So we'll get to the part you care about, the reviews.  Grab your disposable shot glass sized Coke cup and prepare for around the world soda excitement.

Okay, first up from Mozambique is Krest Ginger Ale.  I like this one, it's a standard ginger ale but really sweet.  Ginger ale is the rare drink which I can deal with being either dry or really sweet, and having quite the sweet tooth I'm fond of this one.  

Second, Fanta Kolita from Costa Rica (that kinda rhymes).  This one was great, really unusual in that I couldn't tell you what kolita is exactly.  I don't want to call it a fruit punch but that's the closest thing I can think of.  It's also red like fruit punch.  This one is also very sweet and a great fruit soda.  Again, I couldn't tell you what fruits, but it's tasty.  

Third, and the most infamous soda for us at The Soda Jerks, and anyone who has been to Club Cool and/or the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, is Italy's Beverly.  Beverly is the most disgusting drink I've ever tasted.  Let me give you an example of it's infamy and level of gross.  One of the big things that frequent Disney visitors get sucked into is pin trading.  This started in 2000 and was an off shoot of Olympic pin trading.  Essentially pins are sold at Disney, some common, some rare, and you trade with other pin collectors to get the ones you want.  Back when I worked for Disney in 2001, my friends and I were into this for a bit.  One of the rarest pins is the "wet paint" which was a pin version of the wet paint signs that are in the parks.  It's essentially Donald Duck screaming at one of his nephews for touching paint and getting caught "red handed."  Well, there was a guy who had one who once offered anybody a trade that he'd give them his wet paint pin if they took a large sized cup from one of the quick service restaurants, filled it up with Beverly and chugged it.  At the time, and even today, this pin goes on ebay for 200 bucks.  Nobody would drink it. So what is Beverly?  It's billed as a grapefuit soda, with no sweetness whatsoever.  It's extremely bitter and tastes like every awful medicine you had as a child.  Although I've had it before, I drank it once again for the benefit of this site.  

Number four is a welcome relief from the last one, Mezzo Mix from Germany.  It's a very sweet, kind of flat cola that is intended to be mixed with beer, at least according to the little sign over it.  I can't imagine cola and beer being mixed, but maybe some day I'll try it for the good of all 9 of our readers.  For now I can tell you it's decent on it's own.  

Half way there, number five is tied as my favorite of them all, VegitaBeta from Japan.  This one is marketed as a vitamin drink.  It tastes like a flat, and by flat I mean this has zero carbonation, orange drink.  Almost a not-as-sweet version of Hi-C Orange Drink you'd get at McDonald's.  According to it's Wikipedia page, it's beta carotene, sugar and water.  It's tasty to me, whatever is in it.  

Kinley, my other favorite, is our sixth drink and comes from Israel.  This one is easy to explain, it's lemonade soda.  It's also insanely delicious.  Once when I went on vacation during my high school years, I filled a water bottle up with Kinley and took it home, nursing it for a year until I went back.  Yes it got flat, but oh was it good.  That and VegitaBeta are the two I look forward to drinking the most whenever I get a chance to go in to Epcot.  

From Mexico comes drink number seven, Lift Apple.  It's apple soda, not as sweet as Manzanita Sol (which I'll review some day) but still pretty sweet.  Overall though it's nothing too special and isn't any better than dollar store apple soda.  

Finally, our eighth and final drink, China's Smart Watermelon.  Watermelon soda isn't a common flavor, and it has the potential to be good as I do enjoy things flavored like watermelon, although not real watermelon because I find it to be bland.  In that sense, this soda is fairly accurate because it is bland.  The watermelon flavor is decent, but it does need some more sweetness to it.  

So there you have it, reviews of all the drinks at Epcot's Club Cool.  If you're ever there, try it out, it's usually pretty busy, as any place with free drinks would be, but worth the wait.  As a side note, the Japan pavilion is the only pavilion in World Showcase that sells soda native to their country, so if you're a wanna-be Soda Jerk, then stop by there to pick up some unique flavors as well.

-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