Dr. Brown's Extra Dry Ginger Ale

Delicious 

I was in a local Winn-Dixie grocery store and I found several loose cans of Dr. Brown's Extra Dry Ginger Ale. There was also one or two cans of their orange soda, but I didn't really want any of that. When I first saw it I got all excited for a second or two because I thought it was their infamous Cel-Ray, the celery flavored soda. But I quickly saw it wasn't.

In the checkout line all I had was one can of Dr. Brown's and a bottle of Stewart's cream soda I'll review some other time. Naturally, neither was properly marked for individual sale because Winn-Dixie doesn't know how to price its items. So I had to wait and hold the whole line up like a jackass while they tried to figure out how to ring up my meager purchases. Fun.

Anyway, I had very low expectations from Dr. Brown's ginger ale. I'd read at BevNet that it wasn't sweet at all and was close to seltzer water. Wrong. It's sweet enough and quite tasty. I haven't drank ginger ale in a few years, but this is one of the better ones I've ever tasted. There's an interesting, subtle spicy ginger aftertaste I can't ever recall tasting in other ginger ales I've drank. I associate that spiciness with gingersnaps and candied ginger.

Final verdict? I like it. This is one I'd definitaly drink again if it were easy to come by and I have no trouble recommending it.

Vernor's Ginger Soda

It's...different.

I ran across Vernor's Ginger Soda unexpectedly at a local Krogar's. I'd read this stuff was popular in places like Minnesota, so I didn't expect to run across it in Virginia.

Vernor's is strange stuff. I was expecting something more like ginger ale, but it doesn't taste even remotely like ginger ale. The color's a dark amber and the smell is sort of vanilla-ish, but the taste is just odd. There's a very spicy aftertaste, sometimes it made me sneeze, but the flavor is candy-ish. Cotton candy? It's weird and I can't really put my finger on it. Is it a strong ginger taste? I'm not sure, but my guess is that it isn't.

I didn't like it at first. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't exactly enjoyable either. As I drank more of it, I began to get used to it, but I don't think I ever got around to actually liking it.

Verdict? It's worth trying if you're curious. I don't really like it. I certainly don't hate it, but I'm not sure if I'd ever drink it again.

Topo Chico Mineral Water

Bleh. 

Today's soft drink is a bit of a departure: Topo Chico mineral water. It's fizzy water. No sugar. No preservatives. No caffeine. No artificial colors. No artificial flavors. Just water, that's fizzy.

I've never understood the appeal of cabonated water. I once got some by accident and it tasted like Alka-Seltzer. Topo Chico tastes even worse. Too much carbonation. Bad aftertaste.

Final verdict? Blah. But it was kind of fun experimenting with making my own flavored sodas by getting things like instant lemonade and iced tea and making syrups, then pouring in some Topo Chico. Well, it was a little fun. Not fun enough to make me want to buy this stuff again.

I like the bottle, by the way.

Reed's Original Ginger Brew All Natural Jamaican Style Ginger Ale

Why? Why? Why? 

Yesterday I reviewed a truly vile soft drink, something so unrelentingly awful that I didn't think I could possibly ever top it. Well, not only have I topped it, I've surpassed it.

Exhibit A: Reed's Original Ginger Brew All Natural Jamaican Style Ginger Ale. I knew I was in trouble when I screwed the cap off and was hit with a bouquet I can only describe as putrid. It smelled like rotting vegetables. The taste? It tasted like a carbonated mixture of putrifying vegatable juice with a very spicy after taste. Not pleasant. Yesterday's beverage was sickly sweet with a weird, pulpy, bland taste that caused involuntary full-body shudders, this stuff, on the other hand, is sharp and acidic, but vaguely putrid. It's also not particularly sweet. I could only stand about a third of the bottle and poured the rest down the drain. Then I appologized to the drain.

This concoction was recommended to me by a friend. I will be asking her some hard questions, such as, "Were you trying to kill me?" and "Do you really like this distilled goat puke?"

The lesson I've learned from yesterday's and today's beverage debacles is, don't buy soft drinks in the health food section. Ever.

Verdict? AAARRRGGHHH!! How can I wash the taste out of my brain?

Update: I told my friend how horrible this stuff was. She said that maybe I had an old bottle. Maybe, but I've drank old soda before and have never encountered one that was even remotely putrid.

Hansen's Signature Ginger Beer

I think I'm dying. 

For years I've wanted to know the difference between ginger ale and ginger beer. I planned on getting a bottle of ginger beer one day, but I just haven't gotten around to it. Today I found a bottle of Hansen's Signature ginger beer at my local Kroger's.

I found it in the health food section. Who buys this stuff? If I were into health food wouldn't I drink water instead?

How can I describe the taste? The first word that comes to mind is gaaaarrrggggghhh-ack-ack-ack. The only way I can really describe the taste is to ask you to imagine chewing on some paper or cardboard. Imagine drinking a little water so that the paper/cardboard is nice and moist as you chew, but don't swallow. Then imagine putting a spoonful or two of sugar in your mouth while still chewing the wad of wet paper/cardboard. OK, now imagine savoring the juices. That's what it tastes like! It's pure swill. I'd take a sip and my body would involuntarily shudder. The stuff's vile, weird, vaguely nauseating, and nothing even remotely like ginger ale. It did have a sort of spicy, gingery aftertaste, but I had to wait for the waves shuddering to pass. Horrible stuff!

I've never poured out a soft drink I was reviewing, no matter how bad, but I did pour the last of this stuff down the drain. I tried to finish it, but I just couldn't do it.

Verdict? Avoid! Hansen's Signature ginger beer my new standard of awfulness. Congratulations!

AriZona Soda Work's Rx Defense Orange Cream Elixir

What does orange taste like again? 

Rx Defense Orange Cream Elixir is yet another discontinued AriZona Beverage Company variety found at the ever fascinating Big Lots. I'm not big on orange soda because they tend to taste harsh, and this one was no exception. Where this one differed from the rest of the pack was the cream part. There's a strong vanilla taste after the orange. Unusual. Not the best thing I ever had, but OK. The carbonation was what made me not care for this. Certain soft drinks I like to have a strong carbonation (like Coke, Pepsi, and Sprite) and some I don't, this would fall in the latter category.

Final verdict? It's old and discontinued. You'll probably never find a bottle of this stuff anywhere (except Big Lots) , but if you do, I guess it's worth trying if you like orange soda.

Jones Cherry Soda Revisited

Shouldn't this be better? 

After I had that first Jones Cherry Soda, I just had to have another one, but I got it at a Sheetz that was 150 miles from home. I knew there was a Sheetz 30 miles away in South Boston, but I wasn't about to drive 30 miles for a damn soft drink. Then I remembered there was a Sheetz in my hometown. I'd never been there before, but Monday I found it easily and procured another bottle of Jones Cherry Soda. Sadly, it didn't turn out to be the experience I'd been craving.

This second bottle seemed over-carbonated and the cherry was sort of Kool-Aid-ish. Not bad, but not nectar of the gods either. The more I drank the better it got, but it never reached the levels of goodness of that first bottle. Of course I drank the first bottle while trapped in the passenger seat of a pickup truck on a hot day.

Revised verdict? Good, but not great.

AriZona Soda Work's Rx Relax Chocolate Cherry Cola

Old and odd, but good. 

Arizona Soda Works' Rx Relax Chocolate Cherry Cola isn't typical soda, but since it's one of those vitamin things I don't think they want it to be.

It smells great, like rich chocolate. The taste? Odd. Chocolately, but not creamy. The carbonation mixing with the chocolate flavor is very unusual. In the background is a cherry cough drop/Dr Pepper-ish flavor. I guess you could say it's sort of like chocolate Dr Pepper. An unusual soft drink. But is it good? Yes. I'd drink it again, even though it's discontinued and the bottle I drank was probably four years old.

Verdict? If you like the idea of a chocolate-flavored Dr Pepper, then head over to your local Big Lots and try to find a bottle.

Jones Soda Co. Cherry Soda

Jones Soda, how do I love thee? 

Today's soft drink is Jones Soda Company's cherry soda. I'd seen their website before, but had never seen the product in any stores. Recently on a trip out of town, I found several varieties of Jones Soda at a Sheetz in Richmond, Virginia. I chose the cherry soda and didn't regret it one bit. This stuff is astonishingly good. It tastes like Smith Brothers. Wild Cherry cough drops, which I used to love as a kid, even if I didn't have a cough. Not too carbonated. Great smell.

Final verdict? Darn near nectar of the gods. I can't wait to try some other Jones Soda varieties.

Note: Jones Soda Company are the ones who made the infamous Turkey & Gravy Soda.

Jarritos Pineapple

What's Spanish for "bleh"?

This is goin to be a short review. Jarritos pineapple tastes exactly like pineapple flavored Lifesavers. It's over carbonnated to the point of being harsh. It's not quite unpleasant, but it's not that good either. I have no plans to ever try it again.

Verdict? If you really like pineapple Lifesavers and harsh carbonation, then this is your drink.

AriZona Soda Work's Rx Energy

Mmmm...old. 

Big Lots has three different varieties of soft drinks from Arizona Soda Works. Today I'm reviewing their Rx Enegy Vitamin Soda Tropical & Citrus Blend Elixir. The name rolls right off the tongue, huh? That's probably why it's at Big Lots for 59 cents and not in the fridges at your local supermarket for $2 a bottle. Well, that and the fact that it doesn't taste very good.

This stuff contains panax, Siberian ginseng, guarana, schisandra, and vitamins A, C, & E. But so what? Is it drinkable? Yes. Is it good? Not really. It's not bad, it's just not that enjoyable and refreshing. There's a harshness and citrus peal bitterness to it that I'm not that fond of. But it's drinkable and for 59 cents, it's not bad.

I couldn't dig up anything online about Arizona Soda Works at first, but then I found an article on engery drinks that mentioned Rx Energy. The strange thing was that the company mentioned was called AriZona Beverage Company and the bottles shown were totally different than the ones I had. I went the to the website and there weren't any bottles that looked like what I had. It was the same company because the logo was the same as on my bottles. The above article on engery drinks was dated April 2001. Another article showing the newer bottles was dated January 2001. How old is the stuff I have? So I'm drinking a discontinued product that was bottled in 2000 or ealier? Oh, boy.

Final verdict? I'll get back to you.

Addendum: I sent the company two emails: one asking what year the company changed its name and another asking when the above soft drink variety was discontinued. Only the first question was answered: "It was never named AriZona Soda Works. That was a DBA for our AriZona Soda Beverages." In this context, I think "DBA" stands for "doing business as".

Also I've recently seen current AriZona Beverage Company product locally, but I don't have any plans to try it.

New final verdict? I have no idea. Do you want to drink old soft drinks that are cheap and don't taste that good? Yes? Then head on over to Big Lots.

Briar's Premium Root Beer

How do I tell if it's good? 

I found a bottle of Briar's Premium Root Beer at Big Lots for 49 cents. It has a strong wintergreen (i.e. Pepto-Bismol) taste like the dreaded Clover Valley root beer, but this is better, not hugely better, but still better. It's far sweeter and less unpleasant than Clover Valley, which wasn't particularly sweet. I thought it was nice in small sips and it did get better as I drank it. I liked Mug more than Briar's, but Briar's is OK.

Verdict? It was OK. Maybe root beer just isn't my thing.

Hansen's B-well

Hansen's b-well doesn't improve your spelling. 

Ever since I had that one can of Red Bull a few months ago, I've wanted a low-cost alternative. Of course there aren't any. And all of the various beverages in those funny Red Bull-type cans are the same price: $1.99 each. A few days ago I was poking through the detritus at Big Lots and found cans of Hansen's b-well "sparking orange drink" for 59 cents a can. The cans looked like the ones used by Red Bull, so I bought one.

The text on the can is interesting:

Scientific evidence now supports the benefits of taking certain vitamins and nutrients. These 'Anti-oxidant' agents help protect you from the harmful effects of free radicals.

Hansen's b-well conatains Vitamins A, C, and E, Selenium and Activin Grape Seed Extract, some fo the most powerful Antioxidents currents known. The herb Echinacea is added for its ability to support the body's system.

Hansen's b-well is a refreshing, great tasting, lightly carbonated orange flavored beverage. Drink Hansen's b-well daily to help maintain your good health.

It's the real Deal!

Suggested use: up to three (3) Cans per day.

This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Drink it every day? Up to three cans a day? They should rename this stuff something like Dr. Hansen's Vitality Elixir & Brain Food and sell it off the back of a truck at a state fair.

The taste? Kinda yucky, but nowhere near as bad as Clover Valley root beer or any diet soda I've had. It's sort of grapefruitish and not particularly sweet. There's also some other less palitable flavors in there that I can't quite place. Metal? Not terrible, but not exactly good either. And now that I think about it, Red Bull doesn't taste all that great either; I like it because it has a zing to it.

Since it was at Big Lots, I'm guessing it wasn't selling particularly well. The only way you could sell a beverage that tastes like this would be to tout its supposed health benefits. This isn't a fun, sexy, refreshing soft drink like the typical vending machine fair.

Verdict? I've had worse. It's drinkable and not too bad, but not particularly enjoyable. The main selling point in my opinion is the cheap price (if you can find it cheaply, that is).

Addendum: I think this product has been discontinued because I couldn't find it at the dreadful Hansen's website. Who knows how old the can I drank was.

Mr. Fizz Grape

Very cheap and tasty. 

At 17 cents a can, I didn't expect too much from grape Mr. Fizz, but I was pleasantly surprised. I found it at Dollar Duz It, one of those department stores where everything costs a dollar or less. I could've gotten a whole six pack for a buck, but I didn't want to risk it in case it tasted like paint thinner or something.

The taste is comparable to grape Chek, but grape Chek may be slightly better. Both are far better than grape Fanta. It's slightly more harsh than grape Chek, but not so much that it's unpleasant. The tartness is also similar to grape Chek. It doesn't have that grape Bubble Yum flavor.

My final verdict? Great! In fact, I liked it so much I plan on trying all the other Mr. Fizz flavors I can find.

Sangría Señorial

I found a site on Señorial Sangría.

Chek Grape

Cheap and delicious 

I got a can of Chek grape soda out of a vending machine in front of a Winn-Dixie grocery store for 25 cents. My first impression? Quite good. I think it blows away Fanta grape easily. It has a more mild taste without the harshness of Fanta. The Fanta grape reminded me of grape Bubble Yum, but Chek grape reminds me more of candies like Smarties. The flavor is somewhat tart, but not unpleasant.

Chek soda comes in a variety of flavors and has, I believe, been around at least since the 60's. It's considered a cheap knockoff brand, but I liked the grape well enough to want to try other Chek varieties.

There's not a whole lot more to say to say about Chek grape other than it's really cheap and quite good.

Clover Valley Root Beer

Gaaa-aaakk!!! 

Today's beverage is Clover Valley root beer. I've never liked root beer, but I haven't drank it in so long I couldn't really remember what the heck it even tasted like. Recently I was in Dollar General, a discount department store, so I decided to pick up a can of their Clover Valley brand root beer. The taste? Things come to mind like black licorice, Necco Waffers, and Pepto-Bismol. Seriously, the main flavor this stuff has for me right now is Pepto-Bismol. Clover Valley isn't exactly a top brand, so now I'm going to have to shell out some cash for a bottle of IBC or ICB or ICBM or whatever the hell it's called to see if that tastes like Pepto-Bismol too. And just what kind of root is this stuff supposed to taste like anyway?

From what I've turned up online, root beer was traditionally made from the roots of sassafras tree, but it also supposedly contained things like birch, sarasaparilla, anise, molasses, etc. For more information on the subject than anyone could possibly want, try Stout Billy's Information Library.

What flavor is Pepto-Bismol? I did a little research and found out it's wintergreen. In some of the root beer reviews I've read online, sometimes a root beer or birch beer will be described as having a wintergreen taste. Apparently wintergreen and birch contain the chemical Methyl Salicylate, so they taste very similar. Mystery solved. But the mystery of why a company would manufacture a beverage that tastes as horrible as Clover Valley root beer will have to remain a mystery.

Worse than even diet soda, Clover Valley root beer is my new standard of awfulness, but I drank it anyway.

Addendum: A few days later I drank a bottle of Mug root beer and thought it was pretty good. But since I didn't get a picture of the bottle or take notes, I'll have to give it a proper review another time.

SoBe Elixir

Mmmm...lizards. 

Yesterday I broke two of my unwritten rules for this site: (1) I drank the whole bottle before I remembered to take a picture of it, and (2) said beverage wasn't carbonated. The beverage in question was SoBe Elixir's "pomegranate cranberry flavored juice beverage", which I picked up at a local gas station. The ingredients list several other juices, but I guess they thought "pomegranate cranberry apple grape cherry raspberry elderberry juice beverage" was a bit too long. Anyway, it was red-colored, too expensive, and delicious.

SoBe Elixir is yet another of those beverages that has vitamins and herbs in it that are supposed to perk you up or whatever. I've never felt particularly perked up after drinking any of these types of drinks, with the possible exception of Red Bull. Of them, SoBe Elixir's "pomegranate cranberry flavored juice beverage" is easily the best. The only stike against it is the price. At $1.69 for a 20 oz. bottle, it's just too expensive. It's cheaper than Red Bull, but doesn't have Red Bull's strange ingredients.

And why do they put lizards on the bottle? Lizards don't whet my appetite. I don't even want to think about lizards when I'm drinking or eating. Sort of reminds me of the bizarre and repulsive-looking salamander brandy from Solvenia. (And, yes, I know lizards are reptiles and salamanders are amphibians.)

Final verdict on SoBe Elixir's "pomegranate cranberry flavored juice beverage"? I love it, but it's too expensive.

Jarritos Tamarind

Mmmm...brownish and cloudy. 

The Mexican soft drink Jarritos Tamarind is unlike any soft drink I've ever drank. How does one describe the flavor of tamarind? Dark? Weird? Acidic? Sickly sweet? Vaguely sour? Nasty? I don't know. The stuff's so different from tastes I'm used to that I can't decide if I like it or not.

My only other experience with tamarind was a piece of strange Mexican candy I had once. That was odd tasting stuff, but I gladly ate it. I decided to look up tamarind candy at Google, and, much to horror, quite a few of the results delt with toxic levels of lead in certain tamarind candies. Lovely. My own personal favorite article on tamarind is at Bad Candy.

Tamarind soda's not that bad, just unusual if you've never had it before. And, after I wrote the previous sentence, I took a swig from the bottle and made a face. But after drinking it a bit, I got used to the taste and it's sort of good. Kinda.

It's sort of a cloudy, dirty orange color, not that bright, artificial color of orange sodas. I don't know if I'll ever drink this stuff again. I wouldn't say it's bad, just different from my concept of good, but I'll take it any day over any diet soda.

Do I recommend it? If you want something different from any other cabonated beverage you've ever had, then I do recommend it. You probably won't like it, though.

Senorial Sangría

Now kids can look like winos! 

In Mexico sangría must be a common soft drink flavor like cola is here. I reviewed Barralitos sangría last week and today I'm reviewing Senorial sangría. I have no idea if there's any other sangría brands, but I'm sure there are. Perhaps Barralitos and Senorial and the Coke and Pepsi of Mexico and people get into big arguments about which is better. For what it's worth, Barralitos is my favorite, but Senorial is very good as well. (And I prefer Coke to Pepsi.)

Senorial sangría comes in a bottle that looks like it should have wine in it. The color is darker and browner than the Barralitos variety. If you took some Coke and thinned it out with a little water and then poured in a little grape juice, it would probably look like Senorial. (I have no idea what that concoction would taste like. Why don't one of you try it and tell me?) It's probably as heavily carbonated as Coke or Pepsi, which makes it a little less pleasant to me. Oddly, it tastes quite good flat, something I can't say about Coke, Pepsi, or Sprite. The taste is very grapey, but it's a real grape flavor rather than the strong, artificial, grape Bubble Yum flavor of grape Fanta. (Did I put the word "grape" enough times in that last sentence?)

So, even though I said I prefer Barralitos sangría to Senorial sangría, Senorial is quite good and I highly recommend trying it if you can find it. At my local grocery store an 11.16 oz. bottle costs 69 cents. A bargain if you want to try something different than the usual cola/lemonlime/etc. fare available in the U.S.