Swamp Pop Jean Lafitte Ginger Ale
/Ever had a soda named after a French Pirate? Me either. If that’s some sort of goal you hold than today’s review may interest you. Swamp Pop’s Jean Lafitte Ginger Ale is what’s on the table today and the name alone excites me. The ingredient list is still pretty vague, but their Noble Cane Cola was of a high enough quality I trust their ginger ale will follow suit. Time to crack open this pale golden beverage and get to typing.
For being a ginger ale this smells fairly citrusy. Of course the spiced aroma you’d expect is there, but the hint of citrus seems a bit out of place. Perhaps my smeller has gone awry. No matter as it’s my tongues turn to test.
Ok, so there’s a picture of what I can assume is an ingredient on the label. I don’t know what I assumed it was, but after tasting this I can tell you that it displays slices of cucumber. This was abundantly brought to my attention with my first taste. As someone who is not fond of cucumber the distinct flavor hit my palate like a ton of bricks, but was quickly followed up with the fiery sensation of ginger root.
Twist is actually fathered the iguana that traveled with Jean Lafitte. Small world.
Now having enjoyed cucumber sodas before, I was taken aback by the inclusion of the vegetable. That said, this combination works quite well together. The crisp taste of cucumber (a word I really didn’t expect to use at all in this review) is a bit muddled by the star of the show known as ginger, but that’s to be expected when “ginger” is on the bottle. I am amused that not a single label mentions that this has a cucumber flavor. You are to rely on its portrait and if I was a smarter man I’d have seen it coming from a mile away. Why else would you put such a nonsensical picture on the bottle?
The carbonation knows its role as it intensifies the heat given off by the ginger, but doesn’t get in the way of the flavors. Once again I’m finding a Swamp Pop soda a little bit clingy in its aftertaste. Thankfully this taste isn’t a bad one; it just lingers a bit longer than I’d care for it to. That coupled with my dislike of cucumber will keep this from being rated crazy high. It’s clearly an above average soda though and I’d recommend it to anyone that loves soda, cucumber, or ginger ales in general.
I really like Swamp Pop as a company. They’re taking every day flavors found in sodas and truly making them their own. Do my taste buds love every second of every sip? No, but I can still appreciate the work put into this. I haven’t tried the remaining two flavors yet, but I’m genuinely excited to do so.
~A
This soda supplied to us by Swamp Pop
