Nesbitt's of California Orange

I'm not sure if you can tell by the picture, but this is an orange soda.  The orange cap might give it away, or the orange label that has "orange" written on it.  I suppose the big tell is that the soda is colored orange.

The point I'm trying to get across, in case you couldn't tell, is that this is an incredibly orange soda, inside and out.

It took some time to assess this one, but this is how the flavor experience goes:  it's like the person who created this had an Orange Crush and said "back up the orange flavor a bit, back up the carbonation a little, bump up the sweetness some, and then give it a hint of orange Jell-O."

See the work we do for you?  To further enhance the flavor, make sure you swish it around in your mouth.  In fact, that's not a suggestion, that's an order.  I'm making you.

Aside from all the chemicals, this is a very good orange soda, one of the best I've had.

-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

Whiteway's Peardrax

When you look at, and smell Peardrax, you think things like "bad white wine" or "nail polish remover."  Thankfully it doesn't taste like either of those, however it isn't that great.

If anything the feeling that it could be either of those horrible things, or worse, makes it end up tasting better once you have it.  It's sweet, but with a dull pear flavor that doesn't do much to make it worthwhile.  

Even it's nice champagne style bubbles along with their use of sugar and fruit juices can't save this one from mediocrity.  Not horrible, but only worth it for the completionist.

-Mike

Organics Pomegranate Italian Soda

With a name like Organics, you can  expect some quality ingredients, or rather you hope for them.  Thankfully there  is actually a solid lineup of ingredients within this giant bottle, such as organic sugar, organic apple and organic pomegranate juice.  No preservatives!

You can have a quality foundation  but still build an ugly house, so is it tasty?  Yep, it succeeds there too with  a very unique flavor.  Again, for those unfamiliar, pomegranate is cherry-esque,  to compare it to another fruit.  This one has quite a bite too, a little sour,  sort of Jolly Rancher-esque.  I’m not comparing the flavor to Jolly Ranchers,  just the sour bite.  This is much higher class than a Jolly Rancher.  Sorry,  Jolly Rancher.  That bite fades a bit with each sip, but not too  much.

Because of this it’s not a  refreshing drink like what a cherry organic soda may taste like, but overall  it’s unique and good if you’re looking for something flavorful.  I have to say  I’m excited to try the other flavor that Dan W provided us with and may seek out  more at Walgreens (where they’re available, btw).

-Mike

Reed's Raspberry Ginger Brew

So, like, remember that Reeds drink we had a few weeks back?  You know, the one with, like, apples in it that was, like, really good?  Well...this isn't that, but I can use it as a basis for explaining it.

Similar to Reed's Spiced Apple Brew, a beverage we loved, this is a unusual blend of ginger with fruit.  Unusual in a good way, of course.  No surprise, it's filled with lots of natural ingredients, as a Reed's beverage usually is, such as ginger root, raspberry, apple, pear, lemon, etc.  

As you can see, the ginger comes before the raspberry, whereas in the Spiced Apple Brew, the apple comes before the ginger.  This means you're going to taste more ginger and there's just a hint of raspberry flavor.

This is another one of those ginger drinks where it smells and at first taste seems like it's going to be powerful like a ginger beer, however it doesn't end up that way and has a mild, but bold taste.

I felt this ends up in a Kraft Macaroni & Cheese situation where it shouldn't be called Raspberry Ginger Brew but Ginger Raspberry Brew, because it really is more of a ginger drink with a hint of raspberry.  It's decent, I just wanted more raspberry.

-Mike

(Note:  This beverage was provided to us by Reed's)

Jones Zilch Pom-egranate Soda

We tend to shy away from diet sodas because, well, they're gross.  Jones has given some hope in the diet department with their Zilch line, which, as the name implies, are zero calorie sodas.

I have hope because it's Jones, Zilch is a better name than diet, and they use sucralose rather than aspartame.  I'm cooler with sucralose, being a derivative of sugar.  Most people know it as it's brand name, Splenda.  Fun fact:  sucralose was discovered to be sweet when someone working in a lab was told to "test the powder" but heard "taste."  Good thing it wasn't poison.

Anyway, this is actually tasty, which is nice because it gives me hope for more decent diet sodas.  I've come to like pomegranate, although I never heard of it prior to about five years ago.  All I knew was if you took a shot of that "Pom" juice once a day, it was good for your health.  I don't know if I believe that.  I've had it mostly in lollipop form and it's sort of cherry-esque.  

It's not shockingly sweet like your normal soda, but it's a nice, crisp alternative with zero calories.  On top of all that it's got Vitamin C, so hey, it's better than water.

-Mike

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

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

Hot Lips Apple Soda

Way back when I reviewed Hot Lips Pear I said that I thought they should do an apple instead.  Well, here it is, and it's as delicious as I expected.  

The best part about Hot Lips products are how simple they are.  Carbonated water, apple juice, sugar and lemon juice.  That's all it takes to make something delicious.  

The flavor can be summed up as "carbonated apple juice," but of course the added sugar and lemon give it it's soda-like zing.  

This is a simple product so I guess that's why it's such a simple review.  I wish more folks did this.  Simple can be better.

Verdict:  Buy stock in the company!

-Mike

(Note:  This beverage was provided to us by Hot Lips)

A “Twist’s Choice” Recipient

Sprecher Fire-Brewed Cherry Co

There are two situations where I have to struggle to censor myself from shouting out (or typing out I suppose) expletives when writing a review.  One is when a drink is insanely awful, the other when it's insanely great.  Thankfully this is in the latter category.

Sprecher Cherry Cola, or rather "Fire-Brewed" (it's in tiny print) Cherry Cola is amazing.  Obtaining this was a tiny adventure in itself.  First of all I got the tip about it from DW who found it in the grocery store I go to just about every other day.  How could I have missed this?  It's Sprecher, who has a great root beer, making a cherry cola?  I had to have seen it!  Well, it wasn't with the regular sodas.  With the scoop, I went straight to the store next time I had a chance and checked it out.  None to be found.

My next attempt started poorly.  I was in the regular soda aisle and still couldn't find it when I noticed a lost-looking employee with one in his hands.  He couldn't find where it went and I couldn't find one to buy.  I told him "that's exactly what I'm looking for!"  I think he was more excited that he didn't have to keep looking for it than I was to have found it.  Eventually I will have to look for it again because I don't see how I won't be able to pick up one of these on a regular basis.  Here's a preview of what you're about to read:  this is one of the greatest sodas I've had.

This is absolutely delicious.  As soon as I took a sniff I was sold.  It wasn't just the scent of cherries, it was cherry cola.  It smelled boldly of cherry cola.

It's smooth, sweet, rich, creamy.  This is absolutely the best cherry cola I have ever tasted.  But... there has to be a negative, doesn't there?  Yep.  It's got HFCS in it.  It's so good though, I honestly do not care.  I know, shame on me.

Let's look at the positives.  First it's made with Wisconsin Door County cherry juice and Wisconsin raw honey.  Good so far.  It also mentions "the finest cola extract and a handful of selected spices cooked to perfection in our gas-fired brew kettles."  That makes up for it's one downfall for me.

This is so good I'm sitting here sniffing the empty bottle while I'm typing this out.  Crazy?  You try it.

I don't know what's harder to believe, that after over 100 reviews, this is our first cherry cola or that a soda with HFCS is going into my top 5?

-Mike

China Cola

Our journey around the world to find the greatest sodas on the planet brings us to China!  Wait...nevermind.  It's just called China Cola, it's not actually from China.

It is, however, from Reed's, which is always a good sign.  So why is it called "China Cola" you ask?  Well, it's made with Chinese herbs, or at least the label says.  Let's take a look at the ingredients.

Raw cane sugar, szechuan peony root, cassia bark, Malaysian vanilla, oils of lemon, lime and orange, nutmeg, cloves, licorice, cardamon, caramel color.  Yep, it's definitely from Reed's.

I have to say, where it packs a punch in ingredients, they don't necessarily translate into flavor.  Maybe the ingredients were psyching me out, but overall the flavor was very light, with with just touches of each flavor coming through.  The most powerful of them all would have to be the szechuan peony root which did add a bit of spice, but nothing on a level of a ginger beer.  Trust me, this is coming from a guy who grew up with no salt or pepper on the dinner table, if it was the tiniest bit spicy I'd know.  It's just enough for flavor.  Don't get me wrong this is a very good cola, the flavor was just a little too light for me.

I'm going to name names here and say that Virgil's Real Cola (also a Reed's product) is still king for me, in colas and overall favorite soda, although I'd award this a very close silver medal with some others in company like Cricket Green Tea Cola and Natural Brew Ginseng Cola.  I think it would have been up there if it was just slightly more bold.  This was a close one.

-Mike

(Note:  This beverage was provided to us by Reed's)

Thomas Kemper Ginger Ale

A long time ago we received a suggestion to drink Thomas Kemper Root Beer.  Well, this isn't root beer, it's ginger ale.  Have no fear though, we'll get to the root beer.  The reason why we went with the ginger ale first is because after having all four of the Thomas Kemper products (which I got to experience again thanks to D.W.) this was my favorite of the four, which is why I suggested it for the Popcast.  By the way, feel free to listen to our audio review on there...

So how does this northwestern ginger ale taste?  Excellent.  In fact this was the first of the Thomas Kemper drinks I've had, and as soon as I had it I wanted the other flavors in the box to immediately turn into ginger ales as well.  If I had that power I think I'd be doing something else other than a soda review website.  Ah, who am I kidding, I'd still be doing this.

Anyway, the label promises "pure northwest honey" along with cane sugar, and there's not doubt that this is a huge factor in it's deliciousness.  It's very clean and crisp with just a bit of honey (not to be confused with a Bit-O-Honey) that settles into the background quite nicely, and this is coming from someone who really isn't a fan of honey.  The sweetness of the cane sugar is at a perfect level, allowing the honey to give the drink flavor rather than being responsible for the sweetness.

The ginger flavor is phenomenal, entering into that category of ginger tastes where you think "oh no, this is going to burn like a ginger beer," but it doesn't.  Instead it has a smooth, but bold flavor.

As we said, this is one of the best ginger ales we've ever had.

-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

Izze Sparkling Blueberry

Aside from the apple, blueberries are my favorite fruit, so I thought why not Blueberry be my first Izze product?

First of all Izze products have a great look to them. A simple, clean logo with simple text.  Secondly this is way different from your typical fruit flavored soda, in fact they call this sparkling fruit juice, which is much more accurate since it contains 70% fruit juice.  I don't need to get too into this stuff since the other half of this site reviewed their Blackberry way back when.

So getting to the drink, it's carbonated blueberry juice.  Don't expect something like a cherry, orange, grape or other fake fruit flavored soda, this is fruit juice, no question.  Because it's fruit juice it's very heavy and thick and has a bold taste.  This isn't bad, but it's not something you should pick up expecting the style of the previous drinks I mentioned.  The first tastes hits a little hard but once you start drinking it you appreciate that it is what it says, sparkling fruit juice.

In the way I compared Virgil's Black Cherry to fine wine and Safeway Black Cherry to box wine, this is like comparing blueberry gummy snacks to blueberries.  This is the real deal.

-Mike

Reed's Spiced Apple Brew

Let's go straight to the ending, Tarantino style:  the aftertaste of this is apple pie.

Think about that.  Now let's go back to the beginning.

A couple weeks ago we had a pretty disappointing apple soda.  In fact all around apple sodas are hit or miss.  We thought that Jones' had a pretty decent apple soda, one of the better "higher tier" apple sodas, if not the best.  Aside from that we're both fans of Manzanita Sol, which is "lower tier" I guess you'd say.  

I had been hoping for a Virgil's Apple, or Apple Cider, and while that is still a pipe (or bottle) dream, we do have a product here from Reed's, who makes Virgil's products, called Spiced Apple Brew.

First of all the label has a little story of the days before soft-drinks when non-alcoholic beverages were made at home.  It then goes on to suggest that they brew and age their beverages at the same level of quality, with the same level of quality ingredients.  I completely believe it because this is delicious.

When you taste this, without knowing anything in it, your immediate reaction would be "spiced apple pie."  It's liquid apple pie.  You taste the apple, you taste the cinnamon, and it has a ginger spice to it.  Also part of the ingredients is lemon, and when you know it's there you can get a hint of it but that's all, nothing too distracting.  

Everything we've reviewed up until now has been "fun."  Even some of the best drinks we've reviewed have been "fun," while still being high quality.  Virgil's Bavarian Nutmeg Root Beer was a finely crafted beverage for a soda, but it's still a root beer.  It still has that familiarity that goes with a pizza or a cookout.  Spiced Apple Brew takes it to a new level.  This is a drink you really appreciate.  There was obviously a lot of work put into this and you can taste it.  One of the folks at Reed's compared it to a fine wine where you savor it and appreciate all the flavors, and that's a perfect way of putting it.  Again, not to say that some of the other beverages we rated highly didn't have a lot of work put into it them, because we know there was, and they were delicious.  This is just taking it in a direction no one has yet, and it really legitimizes the soda industry as something serious.

Did I mention its aftertaste is apple pie?

-Mike E.

(Note:  This beverage was provided to us by Reed's)

Stirrings' Ginger Ale

Time for another Ginger Ale.  This one claims to be an "All Natural Ale with Zesty Ginger and 'Champagne-like' Bubbles."  This is one case where the description on the bottle is dead on, so let's break it down.  First of all, it is all natural, featuring triple-filtered water, cane sugar, and ginger extract.  Second, zesty ginger, which is also right on the money.  While not overly spicy like a ginger beer, this one does have a slight kick to it which surprisingly adds a bit to it's refreshment.  Finally, the "champagne-like bubbles."  They exist, albeit briefly.

I only have one complaint with this, I purchased it in a pack of four and it was six dollars.  Normally that isn't an issue for something natural and upper scale, especially since this also claims to be the "first line of Cocktail Sodas created especially to complement fine spirits."  I can't attest to that, but we wish you luck.  Either way, the four bottles are each 6.3 ounces.  Very small indeed.  There's something to be said about the small bottle, it was actually kind of fun to drink out of it, but overall for value this is just slightly over half of what I'm used to getting for the money.  So honestly the value here is the only thing hurting the score.  If you were looking for a unique bottle and beverage combination for a somewhat fancy party that you chose to have soda at, this is an interesting idea for it.

-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

Jones' Tofurkey and Gravy

Note:  This drink was one of our featured beverages on The Popcast, Episode 1.

From the title you know this one is a joke.  The company who has a history coming up with interesting flavors that have something or other to do with the holiday season has brought out another one, this time for us vegetarians and vegans.  The first off putting thing is that it looks like dirty water.  The second off putting thing is the fact that it contains 300mg of sodium.  In fact, the second ingredient is salt.  When we tested it, the initial smell was slightly citrus, which didn't make any sense at all.  The taste made even less sense, it wasn't awful, but it sure wasn't good. We noticed hints of cardboard.  

Now the bottle suggests eating it with mashed potatoes, so we obliged, in fact we warmed it up just like gravy.  Sadly it did not taste like gravy so it would not make a decent and cheap replacement, however it was better over the potatoes, probably because they took away from some of the flavor of the soda.

One thing is for certain, this drink is still not as bad as our personal worst sodas, those being Malta Hatuey and Beverly.  On top of that, it does have a lot of heart and creativity behind it, and again, we know that it's a joke.  

-Mike

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

Waialua Soda Works: Lilikoi

One of the most popular soda flavors in our crazy, mixed up world is lilikoi.  Actually it isn't.  Come to think of it, what is lilikoi?  Oh, the tiny print says "passion fruit."  Now that I've heard of, although it's still not common.  I will say, if someone asks me what I'm drinking when I have one of these I'd tell them "lilikoi," if I could pronounce it.

As you could guess by the abundance of vowels in the company's name and flavor, they're from Hawaii.  The hula girl on the label gives it away too.  The kana at the bottom is a ruse.  Either way this stuff is tasty.  It's a very mild flavor, sort of melon or peach-esque almost.  The color is a light pink so you expect something mild.  It's well sweetened though and generally crisp and refreshing.  I should mention, as I like to do, that it is sweetened with cane sugar, something you'd expect from a place like Hawaii.

They have some other flavors but I went with the lilikoi because it's called lilikoi, however I'd be curious to find out what a Hawaiian root beer tastes like.

-Mike

Napa Valley Soda Co. Root Beer

Ah, the Napa Valley.  Lush fields, rolling hills, the wine, and of course the root beer.  Well, not so much the root beer.

Oh a quest for some strange soda, I found myself in Big Lots (aka Ollie's) and was a little disappointed at their slim selection of drinks.  Back when I was growing up in Pennsylvania and Big Lots was introduced to our area, each location had different sodas from the other, and always had plenty of interesting selections.  Sadly those days seem to be over, or at least it was the day I showed up.  They did have one interesting looking soda though, and that's Napa Valley Soda Co.'s Root Beer.

Now as I stated in the first sentence Napa Valley is well known for many other things, most especially the wine.  I thought this product might be crafted with the same skill, dedication and attention to detail that their most famous drink is.  Nope.

This is pretty much A&W in a fancy bottle.  The ingredients are your normal list of chemicals that you'll get from any 50 cent root beer out of a vending machine outside of a Wal-Mart.  It's not bad by any means, but it is a little disturbing to see a company trying to disguise an average root beer inside a bottle.  "Gourmet" it says on the front of the bottle.  Not so much.

-Mike

Jones' Strawberry Lime

Wait a second, Strawberry Lime?  Don't you mean cherry?  No I don't!  Blame the crazy cats over at Jones' soda.  One word for them:  RENEGADES.

This is amazing, one of the best fruit flavored sodas I've had in a long time.  In fact, this beats my previous favorite, Stewart's Key Lime.  Not only does this have the taste advantage, it has the cane sugar instead of HFCS advantage.  It's so good I want to use inappropriate language to describe it, but I'll keep this a family site.

Unlike other strawberry sodas, this one is not heavy or sticky feeling at all, it is very light and refreshing.  I attritube this to, again, the cane sugar and also the lime.  The lime just gives it that extra crispness that offsets the powerful flavor of strawberry.

I'm not a beach guy, but if I was, I would be taking a ton of these in a giant ice chest.  Who thought strawberry would go better with lime than cherry?  Amazing.

-Mike