The Original Green River
/Tiny Twist has a bias towards green sodas!
It’s always a little risky to pick up a drink that doesn’t display the flavor on the bottle. I’m taking a little bit of a risk today trying The Original Green River. It’s a green soda with a serene label of the sun setting/rising over a green river. The bottle also informs me that Green River has been “Caffeine free Since 1919”.
Personally that’s a little odd to have that front and center on your label. Is it such a big deal that your soda is caffeine free that it needed to be written upon a banner and displayed? Who knows, maybe it was part of an old ad campaign in 1930 when that sort of slogan would be called for.
There is also a graphic on the label that says “Made With Real Sugar”... except it’s designed to look like a separate label… that’s peeling off the bottle label. There are some odd design choices at work here, but it’s all in fun. You know what’s not fun? Ingredients.
Triple Filtered Carbonated Water, Sugar, Natural Flavors (Natural Lime and Lemon Flavors)
STOP
They just did what I want all other sodas to do. They listed Natural Flavors and instead of leaving it at that told us what the natural flavors were. Good on you The Original Green River.
Go!
Judging by the blurb on the back of the bottle, this is a lime-based soda. If you’ve read the blog for any amount of time you’ll know that I LOVE lime sodas and The Original Green River is stacking up to be a good one. I guess all we have left to do is to drink it.
Excitement fills me as I sniff the mouth of the bottle and get a nose full of lime candy aroma. No part of this smells natural which is FANTASTIC! I can’t wait for my super sugary lime flavor extravaganza.
Well now, The Original Green River has a bit more kick to it than I anticipated. The amount of sizzle in my first sip took me off guard to the point where the guy standing across from me laughed at my anguish.
Fear not though, as the anguish was temporary. What followed was a well flavored lime soda with a fairly consistent flavor. I likened the scent to lime candy, but would put the candy a few shades sweeter. The Original Green River won’t ever be confused with a real lime though, the sugar used definitely keeps it from crossing over into “healthy”.
Carbonation wise, as I said earlier, there is a decent fizz going here. Over time though the effect has weakened some, so it’s not quite the shock it once was. I’m still pleased with the mouth feel of each sip though.
The finish is a little syrupy, but the aftertaste matches the actual taste so no qualms there. All in all The Original Green River does its job by being a good lime soda that I can easily recommend you buy. Heck, buy several if you’re into lime as I am.
~A
This was purchased at Rocket Fizz in Houston
