Boylan Black Cherry

Boylan makes a good soda, so it’s surprising to me when I look through our reviews and only count three of their current flavors.  I was at my local foodery the other day and noticed that their deli section had those exact three flavors… plus one extra.  Fortunately the extra flavor was Black Cherry, something that most soda manufacturers can’t turn into a mouthstake.  That’s a mistake you make with your mouth that will we will only use when talking about a soda you have mistakenly consumed.  Enough of my newly minted word though.  To catch up those unfamiliar with the Boylan family here goes.  Boylan’s has been around since 1891, they sweeten with cane sugar, their flavors are usually on the richer side, and they have beautifully simplistic logos.  On to the next step.

Interesting.  Boylan Black Cherry smells less sweet than I thought it would.  I figured I was in for a finer version of an IBC Black Cherry, but the scent that hits my nose is much closer to the actual smell of cherries.  Hopefully this twist in the story will still delight my taste buds.

Oh, Boylan… you do not disappoint.  The flavor is that of black cherry, but is not as sweet as you might find in most similarly flavored beverages.  A quirky thing about the carbonation is that it adds almost a hollow mouth feel which is unlike anything I’ve tried in a while.  The finish is rather clean, not leaving a syrupy feel amongst your molars… if you still have them.  Of those three characteristics I just listed I think the level of sweetness is what took me off guard the most.  I normally associate black cherry as being a “kid’s drink”.  It’s normally a candy sweet soda that uses the word “Black” to differentiate itself from a basic cherry soda even though it rarely tastes much different.  Boylan Black Cherry is apparently the adult version of this.  Its flavor title is much more accurate than other brands and that’s something I can get behind.  It’d be kind of neat to have Kid Flavors and Adult Flavors.  Kid Flavor grape soda would taste like most grape sodas do now, sugary awesomeness.  Adult Flavor grape soda would taste like grapes, which to me would be equally awesome.  Combine that last idea with mouthtake and I’d color this a pretty successful review.  Don’t worry, I’ll remember you all when I’m rich beyond our wildest dreams.

~A

Twist bought this for me.  I'm not sure why, but I think he wants to borrow the truck.