Fitz's Cardinal Cream

I’ve professed my nostalgic love of red cream soda on the site before so I won’t really go into that this time.  Just know that nostalgic love is what influenced me to try Fitz’s Cardinal Cream.  At first I thought that they were being witty using cardinal instead of “red” in their title.  Looking at the bottle I see that Fitz’s is bottled in St. Louis, MO so I’m pretty sure that the location is playing a large part of why this is called “cardinal”.

Fitz’s uses cane sugar… sorry, All Natural Pure Cane Sugar, in their sweetening.  They also use both artificial and natural flavors for those who just can’t choose between the two.

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Should there be a travel Twist or should I get another animal... perhaps a raptor or tiny hippo?

Popping off the top I immediately recognize the red cream soda scent.  A little like a bubble gum with an ominous kick to it.  My mind races back to the nostalgic moments I wrote about before, but will not write here because you need to read them for yourselves.  Everything shouldn’t be handed to you on a platter.

The first sip burns as it slinks down the ol’ watering hole.  The bubble gum taste is strong with this one, but a slight vanilla flavor appears at the end.  With the sweetness of the two flavors this drink teeters on becoming a sugary mess and some might even call it one.  Personally it’s more acceptable to me if someone in the cream soda is a sugary mess just because they are sweet by nature.

The carbonation in this is fantastic as I mentioned before.  It starts off smooth, but that final burn is wonderfully different.  It’s the ying to the yang of this soda.  Don’t misunderstand me though, this is not a complex soda.  In fact it’s incredibly simple which is why it works.  

For every upside though there is always some downsides.  The mouthfeel is a bit syrupy at times and there is the slightest of slight chemical aftertastes.  Those two things aside this is a pretty good drink and one I might pick up again.  It’s tasty, but it’s not special which is why it’s rated as it is.

~A

This was purchased at a Shell Gas Station