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"