Boylan Sparkling Lemonade

Boylan Sparkling Lemonade: Limited Edition!

I was able to procure this beauty on my recent 4th of July/Anniversary trip.  The World Market is my go-to for Boylan sodas.  There are no World Market’s left in Omaha (at least not until a new one open this Fall), but Sioux Falls has one and it happened to be on our way, so yay!  I’ve never had this flavor before, hence the ‘Limited Edition’ tag.

Ingredients: Carbonated water, cane sugar, citric acid, lemon juice, natural flavor, sodium benzoate, acacia gum, sucrose acetate isobutyrate, ester gum

My Thoughts

I drank this after mowing my lawn from hell, and it saved my life.  It’s very refreshing, smooth, and the lemon flavoring tastes natural without a funky artificial sticky-like after taste some citrus sodas contain.

It tastes just like a real lemonade- it even makes my spit thick and flowing like lemonade does!  Yum, huh?

Nothing much else to say.  Boylan never lets me down, so no surprise that this is a great drink.  Too bad it is only a limited edition flavor.  9.5 out of 10.

SURGE Soda Review

SURGE!!

This is a dream come true.

I never thought I would drink another Surge, let alone review one for this site.  I figured the best chance I would ever have would be if I plopped down about a hundred bucks for an old can on Ebay.  And then get sick from drinking a soda way, way, way, way, past its sell-by date.

But that all changed Monday morning when the whole world heard the unexpected news that Surge was being sold once again.  I ordered my 12-pack off of Amazon right away, thankfully before they sold out.  Who knows when (or IF) they’ll come back, so I am drinking these slowwwwwwwwwwwly.

My 12-pack arrived Wednesday morning, but I was in the middle of a bad cold by then, naturally.  I had to wait until Friday night to finally experience Surge for the first time in 12-13 years.

It was worth the wait.

Ingredients:  Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, citric acid, orange juice concentrate, potassium benzoate, potassium citrate, caffeine, calcium disodium edta, yellow 6, yellow 5, carob bean gum, blue 1.

Now that is a healthy drink, I tell you what!  It’s got orange juice in it!

Yeah, if you’re new to Surge and expecting a healthy drink, you’re a moron.  Surge is an indulgence.  Surge is…EXTREME.

My Thoughts

I cracked this bad boy open, and took a nice long sniff.  Even just the SMELL of the drink about knocked me to my knees with a nova-blast of nostalgia.  I drank this stuff religiously in the late 90s, and it felt like I was back then.

And then I tasted it.

I had tears.  They say smell and taste are the biggest triggers of memory.  They ain’t kidding.  I honestly felt transported back to the good-old days.  Attitude-Era WWF, Nintendo 64, Final Fantasies two, three, and seven, 99-cent gas, making mix tapes (not CDs…tapes), music still not completely sucking, and dial-up internet.  Paradise.

The taste is just a great as I remember.  It actually tastes citrusy, unlike that Mountain Dew crap.

I think it’s pretty obvious what this is getting.  10 out of 10.

Yup, my bias is very strong here.  You can spout the ‘rose-colored’ glasses argument as much as you like, but I don’t care.  Surge is the taste of freedom, bliss, and the carefree life.

And that, if nothing else, is absolutely…perfect.

Coca-Cola, don’t you dare wait another dozen years…

Brownie Caramel Cream Root Beer

Brownie Caramel Cream Root Beer

Oh, hello there.  Remember me?  I remember you.  Kind of.

Yeah, it’s been over two year and three months since I reviewed anything for this dusty old site.  There are many reasons why: I had a baby, we moved into a new, bigger house, the store where I bought my sodas to review went out of business, and I have cut back on my sweets by quite a bit.  Put those four ingredients together and you get a no-time-for-this-site souffle.

But, despite not updating for over two years, this place has somehow managed to pull in more readers than when I was actively updating.  That’s a nice motivating factor to start this shiznit up again.

So, here we are.

Brownie gets the returning review honors!

Ingredients: Carbonated water, pure cane sugar, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, phosphoric acid, citric acid, sodium benzoate

And, in bold letters underneath the list: CONTAINS MILK.  This is not vegan friendly!

*Price Is Right sad trombone*

Wait, I’m not vegan!  Yay

“Since 1929”

The Great Depression began in 1929.  Will this root beer depress me?

My Thoughts

No, it will not.

Popping off the cap, I take my usual sniff.  Almost all root beers smell about the same, but I still do it with every new soda, anyway.  Makes me feel like a fancy pants wine-like snob.  Brownie definitively has a unique aroma.  I smell the caramel easily, so they’re not fooling around.

The taste is unlike any root beer I’ve had.  It tastes a lot like a root beer float.  I’ve had sodas that are supposedly float-flavored that taste nothing like a float, but this is genuine.  The caramel flavor is subtle, thank goodness.  I was worried it would be overpowering, and taste like drinking a Rolo.  Nope, it’s nice.

It’s a nice balance of root beer, caramel, and float flavors.  I know they don’t advertise it as tasting like a float, but maybe they should.  It’d be a nice selling point.

Great drink.  It’s a tad on the sweet side, just barely.  But maybe that’s because I haven’t had many sweets lately and my tolerance is low.

I’ll give Brownie Caramel Cream a 8.25 out of 10.  

Hopefully it won’t be another 2+ years before I review another soda…

Polar Classics Root Beer

Polar Classics Root Beer

Oh, hello there.  Remember me?  I remember you.  I do.

Polar Classics Root Beer gets the honor of being the first soda reviewed here in about 6756859046845098 years.

Ingredients: Carbonated water, cane sugar, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, sodium benzoate, quillaia extract, citric acid

“Polar Classics Premium”

“Since 1882”

It feels like it’s been in my fridge that long.

My Thoughts

I’m sorry I left this poor polar bear in my fridge for so long.  This is the best root beer I have reviewed since Bulldog Root Beer from last May 24th- almost a whole year ago!  It’s smooth, creamy, no weird after taste, and it tastes like a gosh darn root beer!  There’s also a nice thick foamy goodness throughout the whole bottle, from drink one to drink thirty-one.

It’s not Bulldog or Fitz’s level of greatness, ho ho ho goodness no!  But it’s up there.  The spices don’t seem to…merge…as well as in those high-caliber root beers, but there is also nothing really offensive.  The taste stays relative throughout the bottle; it doesn’t mutate into some weird root beer/whatever hybrid towards the bottom like some root beers do.  Polar Classics also does not go flat quickly, so I don’t feel rushed to finish it.  Good!

But what is this…?  It’s an 11.5 ounce bottle, not the standard 12????  I’ve been cheated out of my half ounce!

Oh well…

I give Polar Classic Root Beer a 8.0 out of 10.  What a nice return soda!

Also, Israel and Switzerland were screwed in the Eurovision contest yesterday.  Go Russia!

For my next soda, I believe we are going to go formal, mister…

A quick non-soda post to let everyone know that I’m still here!

And I shall return with a new review shortly, perhaps tomorrow even.  I know it’s been several months (since September!) since I last put up a fresh sodee-pop review, but I was just a little burnt out on soda.  But I think I’m ready to get back into the ‘game.’

I checked the site stats today for the first time in several months and was surprised to see that this site has maintained a steady stream of visitors despite my long absence.  As a matter of fact, I think it’s been even busier than when I was actively updating!  That was a pleasant surprise.

Speaking of pleasant surprises, the good folks at Jackson Hole Soda Co. have actually linked to my site on their site!  It is under their review sections.  Take a look at this: http://jacksonholesoda.com/?page_id=13

I’m right there with Food Network and Serious Eats!  Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice

I’ve noticed also that older peeps really seem to like Frostie Root Beer.  I guess back in the 1950s that is what they preferred.  Call me strange, but I prefer my root beer to have actual -oh, what do you call it?- root beer flavor, unlike whatever that crap has. (I don’t think Frostie will be linking to my site anytime soon!)

Also, I can see from which countries my visitors come from.  The U.S. is in the lead by far, of course.  Tied for second are Canada and…Malaysia.  Saya gembira berjumpa awak, Malaysia!

Soon I’ll put up that new review I promised.  We’ll be going Polar for my next drink!

Cheers

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 23 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Jackson Hole Soda Outlaw Orange Cream

Jackson Hole Soda Orange Cream - Jackson Hole Soda Co.

 

Hey, lookee here, it’s a rare orange/orange cream appearance!  I’ve really got to start doing more of these.

Yes, looking to end the streak of disappointing sodas I find myself mired in I have decided to forgo the root beers and creams for now and see if I can find any luck with the sexy oranges.

This is not the first soda from Jackson Hole Soda Co. that I have reviewed.  Way back in August of 2010 I did their Buckin’ Root Beer…a root beer with way too much bite.  I’m hoping they can redeem themselves!

Ingredients

Carbonated water, sugar, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, gum acacia, phosphoric acid, citric acid, natural aquilia, gum arabic and sodium benzoate

“As Cool As It Gets”

A picture on the bottle of two cowboys playing poker (hence the Outlaw moniker?) is provided to us by the Jackson Hole Historic Society & Museum.

It’s also worth pointing out that this drink has 211 calories…the highest caloric count of any 12 ounce bottle of soda I have reviewed.

My Thoughts

Oh, thank God.

You take a sip and the sweet, somewhat tangy, blast of orange hits your tongue.  A second later you taste the mellow cream.  It’s like a one-two combo attack.  This soda is smooooooooooooooth.  Smooth like something that is really smooth.

It does get a little flat pretty quickly, though; a side-effect of the smoothness.  Oh well, it doesn’t detract much from the yumminess.

I’m liking this.  I’m so happy that the streak of ‘bleh’ sodas has ended that I have to play ‘The Song of Freedom’ from Dr. Who to completely bask in the glorious glow of unprecedented victory and elation.  We’ll say 9.0 out 10.

 

Take this song with you.

 

 

Lion Brewery Root Beer

Lion Brewery Root Beer - The Lion Brewery Onc.

 

Shall Lion Brewery be the root beer that ends this losing streak I seem to be entangled in?  It’s been since May 24th, when I reviewed Bulldog Root Beer, that I have tried a new root beer…and really liked it.  Since then I’ve had “okay” at best.

Ingredients

Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, naturally and artificially flavored, phosphoric acid, quillaia extract, yucca extract, and acacia.

“Draught Style”

“No Preservatives”  True, as this is a rare sodium benzoate-less soda.

My Thoughts

Sigh.

It tastes fine when it first hits the tongue, but there’s that after taste I despise…say it together now, “Wintergreen!”  Yup, there is a strong, STRONG wintergreen/bubblegum after taste.  I don’t like to feel as if I had just finished brushing my teeth when I drink a root beer.  Toothpaste and sodas don’t mix!

In other words, Lion Brewery Root Beer reminds me of Judge Wapner Root Beer.  But not quite as bad, as the wintergreen flavoring isn’t ALL that I taste.  It’s still a disappointment, though.  The losing streak continues.

5.75 out of 10.

I’m really afraid that I’ve had all of the really good root beers there are to have (Hank’s, Fitz’s, Sea Dog, etc.) and all that is left are those “okay” root beers…at best.  I have a few more untested root beers sitting in my fridge, and I am desperately hoping that at least one of them proves me wrong.

 

Iron Horse Root Beer

Iron Horse Root Beer - Iron Horse Products Inc.

This blog recently acquired its first subscriber!  And it looks like it came about from my harshest review (Frostie Root Beer).  Maybe my reviews should become more harsh and unforgiving?  Uh-oh Iron Horse, you’re in trouble.  Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust kidding,  sidewise smiley face

Also, August was the most visited month for this blog, so far.

Finally, it looks like the trash across the street that used our house for target practice during the Fourth of July are moving.   The good times keep rolling!

Oh yeah, a root beer.

Ingredients

Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sodium benzoate, and natural and artificial flavors

“It’s Iron Horse by a stack.”

“Old 97 wrecked her chances.”

My thoughts

Well, it’s certainly a root beer.  Go read my reviews for IBC and Stewart’s; they’re looking very similar to what a review for Iron Horse should look like.  It’s just another non-offensive, yet unspectacular, root beer.  Some bite, some creaminess, some flavor, some carbonation…just some.  This is too bad because I seem to recall reading such wonderful things about this root beer on other sites.

I might even score this lower than the IBC/Stewart’s SCALE OF ACCEPTABLE ROOT BEERS LEVEL (ISSOARBL, of course) as Iron Horse develops that off-putting bitter/harsh/wintergreen taste the further you work down the bottle.  I hate that.  Ugh.

6.0 out of 10.

It’s okay.  But nothing I would buy again.

Old 97 wrecked her chances?  Actually, it looks like the Old HFC might’ve wrecked her chances.

Bedford’s Creme Beer

Bedford's Creme Beer - Orca Beverage

 

I didn’t know rather to title this one Bedford’s Creme Beer or Bedford’s Vanilla Creme; both names are on the bottle.  I decided to opt for the one with bigger font.

Impressive how they made that old-timey English letter ‘B’ look almost demonic and evil-eyed.

Ingredients: Carbonated water, pure cane sugar, citric acid, artificial flavor, caramel color, artificial color, sodium benzoate.

Huh, that sure is a lot of artificial.  Not artificial AND natural…just artificial.

My Thoughts

Welp, not bad on the first swig.  It is creamy, and thankfully there is a lack of funky aftertaste the last few sodas have offered me.  But…there isn’t much of an aftertaste at all.  The creamy goodness seems to evaporate as soon as it hits my sexy taste buds.

Bedford’s could go for some more carbonation as well; it’s a little flat.  That artificial flavor loses its uh, flavor, as I progress through the bottle.  As I near the end, it’s a bit of a struggle.

Eh, 6.5 out of 10.  It starts off strong, but finishes weak.