Mountain Dew Pitch Black

I done the Dew 

Today's review is of the new "limited edition" Mountain Dew Pitch Black. First off, I should say that having a limited edition softdrink is kind of stupid. Are we supposed to save bottles of it? This is really just a ploy to test market a new flavor. If it sells like crazy then they can pretend to bow to popular demand and make it permanent part of their line. And if it doesn't sell, they can just say, "It was a limited edition. We never planned on making it a permanent part of the line."

Actually, I'd planned on reviewing any run-of-the-mill grape soda I could find to compare it to Barralitos sangría. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any regular old grape soda. Of course, I only checked two stores, but still, you'd think it'd be easy to find. Anyway, since this stuff was supposed to be grape flavored, I thought it might be interesting. And it was.

The first thing I noticed about Mountain Dew Pitch Black was that it wasn't black. I was hoping for something freakishly black, sort of like thinned out India ink maybe. It's actually dark purple. Disapointing.

The second thing I noticed was that it didn't taste like grape to me. Another online review I read said the taste was, "Shockingly strong grape. Grapier than Grape Ape. I don't think I could down more than a swallow even on the grapiest day of my life." To me it tasted like some kind of tropical fruit candy. Not grape-like at all to my taste-buds. But was it good? It was OK and I had no trouble at all polishing off a 16 oz. bottle. It was far better than I thought it would be. I think it's better than Mountain Dew Code Red, but what isn't? Bleh. I don't know if I'd ever buy it again, but if someone offered me a glass, I wouldn't turn it down if that was all they had.

Barralitos Sangría

Mmmm...bloodletting 

Our first oddball softdrink is Barralitos sangría. OK, I know some of you are reading this and saying, "Barralitos sangría? That's his idea of oddball? We got Barralitos sangría out the wazoo! What's he going to review next, Mountain Dew?" Well, it's oddball for here where I live, not where you live. And if Mountain Dew wasn't that common here, I'd review it. So there. But I digress.

Our area has a growing Hispanic population, so more and more unusual items are popping up in the grocery stores. Last week when I was looking for something else, I found a small selection of Mexican soft drinks, and among them was Barralitos sangría. If you don't know, sangría is a mixture of wine and fruit juice. It also translates into English as bleeding or bloodletting. Mmmm...refreshing, huh?

It's basically just grape soda. But unlike the grape soda I dimly recall drinking many years ago, it's not harsh, nor is it that unnatural purple color. Barralitos sangría is a dark burgandy with a brownish hue. Sort of like wine, I guess. Does is taste like wine? I dunno, I don't drink wine.

Note to self: buy some grape soda to make a comparison.

So, is it any good? Yes, I love the stuff. It's lightly carbonated, so it's not harsh, the flavor isn't obnoxious, and it's not too sweet. I wish I could buy it in 2 liter bottles. And, speaking of bottles, this was the first time in maybe 20 years that I drank a softdrink out of a traditionally shaped glass bottle. The tall and narrow shape is very much like the old Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, 7-Up, etc. bottles I grew up with. I even got to use my vintage bottle opener I bought at a thrift store to use on 35mm film canisters.

If you can find it, buy some. Here, it only cost 59 cents for a 12 oz. bottle.

I'm Late, I Know

I'm actually going to post a review today. Really, I am. You gotta believe me. Unfortunately, I can't put up the photo I was going to post because I forgot how that Hello thing works. I've only ever used it once, but I did successfully post a picture with it that one time, I swear! Hopefully, I can put the photo up later. One of the things that excited me about doing this blog was posting photos of the various soft drink bottles and cans.

I have no life.

What?

I've been blogging for over a year and a half and I've gotten kind of bored with my main blog. It's rough coming up with witty and wacky stuff on a regular basis. In fact, I've pretty much failed at coming up with witty and wacky stuff on a regular basis. Anyway, I decided to start a new blog that focused on one thing: oddball soft drinks. I can write about oddball soft drinks a couple of times a week. I think. Maybe. We'll see.

The title of the blog came from an old Foghorn Leghorn cartoon where he was romancing a widowed hen to, I believe, get at her money. (I haven't seen this cartoon in years.) He tried to ingratiate himself with her nerdy, bespeckled son. At one point the kid's fooling around with his chemistry set. Foghorn comes along, picks up a test tube, and says, "Well, let's see what you're making there, boy. Hyuk-hyuk-hyuk. Looks like sody-pop. Watch it fizz!" He shakes it up and it explodes in his face.

Also, to my everlasting horror, I found out there's a Britney Spears song with the line, "Mm-hmm soda pop, watch it fizz and pop (ooh)". I've never heard it, and, frankly, I don't want to hear it.