Mike and I have been big supporters of College Club Soda. They are a small soda company that is located in Rochester, NY, which is about an hour away from us. They have been very kind to us in the past, including let us run the machines and bottle some pop ourselves. Surprise we didn't kill ourselves or blow up the factory. When they “upped” their game with Fiz and started using cane sugar, excitement was abound on our end. The birch beer and root beer were great, and I had the highest hopes for the cola. I thought I had nothing to fear, until I cracked this bottle open and I was face to face with what is possibly the weakest cola I have ever tasted. It just tasted like a good cola was watered down. I thought that perhaps the batch was off, but a friend confirmed that they had tried it before and that's just how it is. It's disappointing, but hopefully they will tinker with their recipe and all will be well in Western NY's soda world.

Relaxation is sweeping the nation, and I'm okay with it. We've been living in an energy drink world for the past two decades and I think everyone needs to take a break from being over-caffeinated and jittery. More and more relaxation beverages are hitting the market all the time. While some of them are meant to just make you sleepy, or come down from an energy drink rush, there are others such as Take 5 that are meant to help you relax, but still stay awake. Since I had a complete stranger tell me that I looked like one of the most tense people she's ever seen, I probably need this in my life. I don't know when or how I got so uptight and stressed, but I'm open to options that don't involve me smoking weed.

While a lot of other relaxation drinks contain things such as melatonin, valerian root, and chamomile to calm you down and make you pretty much comatose, Take 5 uses B vitamins, L-theanine, magnesium and GABA. None of that really means anything to me, but I'm sure there's science behind it.

Normally shots are very potent, but this tastes pretty watered down. That sounds negative, but it's actually a nice change from what I'm used to. I mean these aren't meant to be sipped, you're supposed to drink the whole thing in one gulp. I'd prefer that gulp to taste like watery lemon/lime juice instead of weird chemicals any day. I can't really tell if this works because waiting to see if it works is making me anxious. Oh man I surely am a mess.

This could not have shown up in my life at a better time. I've had tennis elbow for going on two months now, and somehow in the past two weeks I have messed up both my knees. I don't know what I'm doing to myself, but I'm falling apart. Now I have H2Pro to help me through it. I don't know if my elbow is finally healing, and my knee brace is working, but after a couple of days of drinking this I see to be doing a bit better. In other good news this actually tastes pretty good. It's a powder mix, but it has a strong lemon flavor and that same lemon helps fight off the stevia flavor, while still letting it sweeten it up a bit. I actually enjoy sipping this and I'm not chugging the whole thing just to get it over with. It's simple and nice tasting, while being functional. I don't know what the next trauma to befall my body will be, but hopefully this will help fix me up before whatever it is happens.

Whenever meal replacements are advertised, why is it that breakfast is always the meal that is being replaced? Are people really that busy in the morning that they can't whip something up quick, or at a minimum spend the two minutes eating a bowl of cereal? I'm kind of a mess if I don't have my oats and honey cereal in the morning, but I think that has more to do with routine than actual eating. To me breakfast is the easy meal. If I had to choose a meal that I would need a quick replacement for it would be lunch. I'm always busy with work or some project in the middle of the day and I always go for a quick option.

So yeah, Mobius is supposed to be for breakfast, but I broke the rules and had it for lunch. Now I knew there was coconut milk in this, but what I didn't know was that the coconut flavor was just about as strong as the chocolate flavor. I take that back the coconut flavor is the strongest flavor in here and it tastes like toasted coconut, which I kind of hate, so instantly this drink is not for me. It tastes like someone liquefied toasted coconut and then added cocoa powder to it, which I guess is what this is if you take out all of the other vitamins and nutrients, which there is a lot of. This has 20g of protein, it's dense in micronutrients, it had medium chain triglycerides as well as nootropics and 100mg of caffeine. I have no idea what most of that means, but I guess it means it has everything you need for a nutritious breakfast (lunch). It uses a blend of sugar and stevia to cut down on calories, and I will say that it is the way to go if you're looking for a healthier drink that doesn't taste completely diet. I also just saw that this has gelatin in it, so I consumed that when I normally don't. Thanks for that.

If you really like coconut and don't' like preparing breakfast drink this. If you're like me and dislike toasted coconut give the rest of the packets you have to a friend like Mike, who will enjoy it more.

I'm, probably in the minority with this but I find milk to be completely and utterly (udderly for those who want dads jokes) disgusting. The thought of drinking glass of milk..just ick. Luckily I can turn off my brain to it when it's in other drink, such as this delicious cold brew coffee. Sure, I would have preferred this to have almond or soy milk instead of real deal cow grossness, but when something tastes this good you overlook the bad.

The black version of this was smooth as it was, but the addition of the half & half just makes it the subject of a Rob Thomas/Santana song. The coffee itself is delicious and the small amount of added sugar would make this enjoyable to anyone out there who has even the smallest interest in coffee, and perhaps even others who have no interest.

I said it before, but it bears repeating; if this was what your standard coffee tasted like I would drink it all of the time. I would become one of those people who just aren't themselves until they get the first cup of the day in them. I would welcome that misery and dependence into my life. This is that good.

Oh the high hopes I had for this. Mexican mocha? Really? A nice, chocolate cinnamon coffee drink? Well if that's what you expect, you will most certainly be disappointed. It might be coffee, alright. Might. This only has a hint of almost every ingredient but cream. It tastes like creamy sugar with coffee and cinnamon essence. It's strangely thick.

I didn't like it. There I said it. It tastes like a diet drink and is not a diet drink. It hardly tastes like coffee, which I expect out of a coffee drink and the Mexican part of it is so faint that it almost isn't worth mentioned. Do it or don't do it, Starbucks. You can afford to do either. Small, test batches. Amp up the spice and send a can to me. I'd love to review something polarizing and accurate.

While I was drinking this I realized that I had no idea why horseshoes were considered lucky. I assumed it would just be some random tradition that got passed on, with no real meaning. I soon learned the wonderful truth; horseshoes were once used to ward off goblins, or so the story goes. Apparently in Northern Europe and the British Isles goblins ran rampant, but they were afraid of the metal weapons people used against them. Surely it must have been the use of iron that frightened them and not the sharpness of the weapons that could have removed their heads. People started hanging iron horseshoes above their doors to ward off the goblins, since it was iron and resembled the Celtic moon.

So…€¦that was a way more exciting story that I expected. I unfortunately have no iron horseshoes laying around the house so it looks like I am susceptible to a goblin attack. I can only hope that before they tear me asunder that I have time to offer them a soda. I think a couple of sips from this bottle could be just what they need to calm them down. I want to say that this is an average cola that is a little heavy on the caramel side of things, but when I think about it it's must better than store brand, and it also tastes different from Coke or Pepsi. It's undeniably a cola, but with a little twist of its own. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it tastes a little classier than our run of the mill soda, and I enjoy it. I can only hope that the goblins enjoy it as well and maybe then they can fill me in on their side of the story.

Jay drank the straight and loved it. I drank the straight and it was coffee. I don't like coffee too much. Iced coffee has to have some sort of syrup in it for me to deal with it. Chocolate mostly. This, though, this was real coffee with chocolate milk in it and it made a world of difference. Also, I don't know what they added to the beans but man was I jumpy. Jay was jumpy when he drank his. I drank half and was out of my skin, man. It sure did go down smooth, though. Until the jitters, I was prepared to give Uncommon my bank account information to auto debit my account periodically to keep this stuff coming. The jitters turned me off to that notion but it shouldn't you. I don't drink enough coffee to be accustomed to the feeling of caffeine surging through my veins. I don't know if I want to be I'll tell you what I want, more of this. It was delicious.

Roc City (Rochester) makes this and it's good stuff. Cane sugar and a decent root beer. I don't mean "decent" as in it just passes satisfactory, it's good. I drank the whole thing. No sharzies and I share everything. This was all mine and I drank the whole thing. No. I do not want a medal for drinking a whole bottle of pop like everyone else. I'm just illustrating the point that it was so good that I didn't give any to the drain.

It did taste like root beer and did not linger too long. It was a pretty good model of what a root beer should taste like. I bet those Roc City tough guys are pretty proud of themselves for making a very fine root beer.

This beverage brought about a very rare thing. This is one of the few drinks that Mike and I have not agreed on. To quote a text I got from him, “Did you review this Spindrift because it's kind of gross. On paper it sounds fantastic, but it is not great in execution.” I don't know what my apparently dumb partner wanted because I think the exact opposite of that, and it tastes just like what it is; crushed blackberries in seltzer water. Perhaps his problem is the little bit of lemon juice that is added. That does throw things off just a touch, but not enough for me to not enjoy it thoroughly. It really tastes like blackberry juice in carbonated water and I don't know what else you could ask for. Do does taste a tad bit more soda pop like than seltzer because there is some sugar (1g) from the fruit, but I can't hold that against it. This is what diet pop should be like, all natural with just tiny bit of sugar to give it a little something. Forget zero calorie sweeteners. They will end up killing you. Just go for the low calorie delicious versions of things.

The most important part of this beverage is that through it I learned that there is a cucumber version out there and I need that, and I need it now.

I spent several days in Germany and all I wanted was a Fritz Kola. Unfortunately everywhere we played was out of it and I was unable to enjoy its deliciousness. When we played Zoro in Leipzig I ordered one and when I was told they were out I sadly just said give me whatever's non-alcoholic and this bottle was placed in my hand. I had no idea what it was just performed the old Euro lighter as a bottle open trick and took a swig. It was fruity and delicious, and I suppose it was good enough to make me forget about the Fritz for the time being.

The next day, when I wasn't shouting over some Chinese punk band that was playing a squat with a shirt that said “Kiss me I'm punk, I asked what it was and was told that it's a carbonated raspberry/red currant lemonade. I don't think lemonade means the same there as here, but it was a great raspberry/grape soda that wasn't overly sweet. I may not have gotten my fix, but I did discover a new treat that I will get again the next time I make it to Europe.

As I stated in my review of it, to me Club Mate is a staple German soda. It's carbonated yerba mate, and it's done right. It doesn't taste weird or off. It's probably because they use sugar and not an abundance of it.

I anticipated this being the original mixed with cola, but all I taste is the cola. I don't notice the mate at all. When I mentioned it to someone local they didn't even realize that it even had mate in it at all. It's quite a nice cola, so I have no complaints on that end, but I did want some mate. I guess it's just in there for the caffeine. Perhaps if I could read German it would all be explained to me by the label, but as I am a dumb American and cannot I will remain in the dark, and just enjoy it as the stand out cola that it is.

I've been home from Europe for four days now and my sleep schedule is no closer to getting back on track. I keep waking up sometime between 6 and 7am (normally I get up at 9) and find myself getting ridiculously sleepy at 10pm (normally 2am is bedtime). I just got out of work printing shirts all day and I'm worn out. This is not good because I have dinner plans and I'm going to see Youth Code tonight, who I have missed twice already and I'll be damned if sleep is the cause of a third whiff. Just as I'm contemplating going to pick up an energy drink the doorbell rings. It's Mr. Fed Ex and he has a perishable package for me. Inside are a bunch of pre-chilled cold brew coffees. The timing couldn't have been better.

I'd like to say that as soon as I shut the door I ripped one of these bad boys open and started my journey to Caffeine City, but packaging made that impossible. Now I appreciate the use of cardboard cartons in beverages for their lower environmental impact but I have never once in my life been able to properly open one of these things. Even in elementary school my milk carton would look like a mangled soggy mess by the time I got it open. This coffee is no different. Some cardboard stuck where it shouldn't have. Other areas just straight up ripped. It's a mess, but what it contains more than made up for it.

Mike and I have been very vocal about not being huge coffee fans. I can drink it and I understand the allure, but it's not something that I fully enjoy. This though, this is just fantastic. The flavor might be called straight, but even though it's just filtered water and cold brewed coffee, that coffee has “notes” of walnut, caramel and chocolate, or so the box tells me. This is the smoothest coffee I have ever tasted, not to mention the best tasting. I have always loved the way that ground coffee beans smell, and this is the first time I've ever tasted it brewed where the flavor matched that smell. If this is how all coffee smelled I would be an addict like most Americans. Lucky for me most coffee is a pale comparison to this, so I don't need it to function. I will definitely buy this again though when I come across it in stores.

Now let's see if this caffeine will keep me up so I can enjoy some industrial revival tonight.

Take a walk. Talk a walk on down to Coconut Town, USA where we have the finest in different flavored coconuts. You thought you added flavor to make coconut water taste like raspberries. Boy, you're as dumb as you look. No, son. They grow coconuts in different flavors. Take this tree here. This here tree grows the finest black cherry flavored coconuts you've ever seen. This here tree grows lemon flavored coconuts. That one? You want to know about that one? Well you've got a keen eye because this here is our best seller. This is the allusive chocolate coconut tree. It naturally makes the finest chocolate coconut milk your dry mouth has ever tasted. Let me have one of the boys cut one down for you to sample.

What do you think of it? It's good right? Oh, you don't like it warm? Yeah, it is a bit chalky. Here, let me have the missus get you some from the fridge. Here you go. There you go. It's nice, right? Nice, light coconut flavor and a nice chocolate flavor. No, it's not thick. It's not totally like a chocolate milk. You would think describing something like a "watered down chocolate milk" would be gross but it's not bad. It doesn't have any sort of gross fake sweetener taste and just tastes like what's in it. That's why you're here boy, for the good stuff.

So how many cases can I put you down for, son? None? What do you mean you just want directions to the Holiday Inn Express? You've been down here sampling the goods just to be polite? Well I guess I can't fault you for that. Here's one for the road and if you go down a couple blocks you'll see your hotel on the right just after the third gas station and before the ninth taco stand. You can't miss it.

As I'm driving through the Swedish countryside after two days of no sleep I have a beautiful body of water to my right all I can think of is "Why am I drinking an energy drink?"

I'm on tour in Europe with Night Birds and I just realized that I 100% was peer pressured into buying this. It looks completely ridiculous and we were all laughing. Next thing I know some Kroner coins are being pressed into my palm, and I was opening the cooler.

Lucky for me it's actually pretty good. It's a citrus Monster that leans heavily on grapefruit. It doesn't have too much of a classic energy drink flavor. Overall it has a pretty light flavor, and it's very pleasant. In addition it has that textured Monster can that I enjoy.

This is apparently from Ireland and "The Doctor" is MotorGP champion Valentine Rossi. I have no idea who that is, but I'm assuming he's a big deal over here.

Let me tell you when you haven't eaten much or slept in days these things hit you hard and fast. Good thing I'll be sitting in a van for a few hours. Thanks peer pressure.

My favorite Hansen's pop now in a style that is not going to slowly kill me. This black cherry vanilla is my favorite of the sparkling waters. The black cherry is less dark than you would get in a crappy black cherry pop but the vanilla has a chance to shine through and smooth out the edges a bit.

I love it. I wish it came in larger bottles like Polar does. I would be so equal parts hydrated and sparkly. That's what I want. I want to poop sparkles.

In Claire Baie's most diet move ever, we have this lemon lime drink. This drink comes complete with all of the accommodations that one would desire, such as but not limited to include cup holders, passenger side mirror, AM/FM radio and color matched door handles. It also has the most, but not unbearable diet taste. Finally, the taste that dieteers can understand. I'm sure gaggles of people are just dying for that fake flavor they so crave. The lemon lime is standard lemon lime. Nothing to go crazy about.

As I mentioned, it's not the worst diet drink I've ever had so if you have some sort of brand loyalty towards Claire Baie and are into diet drinks, this is the drink for you. Otherwise, this is as average as an average drink can average.

My brother is getting married. I am in Arizona and it is hot. Some might call it "a dry heat" but no matter which way you cut it, 87 degrees is hot. My poor, frail, pale Buffalo skin hasn't seen the sun since September so coming off a six month winter as we do most years, I am worried that I am going to burn to a beyond-aloe status.

What do I do when on "vacation?" Well besides eat huevos rancheros, I (apparently) go to Dunkin' Donuts and get new iced coffees because that's what I did tonight. Pistachio, that's what I chose as (I don't think) we have it in Buffalo. How was it? Well it was very light and worried me. It just looked like straight cream and I didn't have any idea what it was going to taste like. It ended up being pretty good, though. It tasted like pistachios, which is saying a lot since I would wager a guess that no actual pistachios have ever touched this mix. It tastes like pistachio ice cream, which I love and wish I had right now. If you're into that, add the essence of coffee and you might have a recipe for success.

Phoenix? We don't know who is going to win this battle but if I were a betting man, I would say that the odds are in your favor. At least I got to cool down for the ten minutes the Dunkin' Donuts was open before they closed at six which I find a little bit early but what do I know? Nothing. I don't live here and I don't know these people. I know nothing.

Oh look, another Claire Baie zero calorie sparkling water. I'm beginning to think that these drinks Are going to haunt me for the rest of 2016. It's no secret that neither Mike nor I are fans of sucralose sweetened drinks. Unfortunately most of this companies beverages use just that. We know these drinks have a market and people buy and presumably enjoy them. We are just not those people.

This Orange Mango one is the best one I've had yet though. Somehow the citrus blends with the sucralose and the result tastes like kids vitamins, a flavor I'm not ashamed to say I enjoy. Who didn't eat more than their allotted quantity of Flintstone vitamins when they were little? I certainly did. The orange and mango flavors in here are actually pretty decent. It's just that dumb sucralose that brings the whole thing down for me. So yet again if you don't mind sucralose, check these things out, if you are grossed out by it steer clear. It's a simple plan.

Are you aware that the desert is a dead, dry place with no hope? Did you also know that cucumbers are the most refreshing thing this world has ever seen? If only cucumbers grew in the desert maybe life would exist. Because you know, nothing lives in the desert…€¦oh wait; a lot of things live in the desert. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't lead richer lives if cucumber was a normal part of life for them. Steaz has taken that refreshing vegetable and combined it with prickly pear (the fruit on a cactus) as well as some green tea and the results are quite nice. The prickly pear is nice and sweet, but it allows the cucumber to cut through and give you that relief you so desperately crave. The only downside to this at all is that they tried to cut down on calories by using stevia along with cane sugar. It's not horrible, but you can tell it's there, which I would prefer it wasn't. Other than that there is nothing but smooth sailing with this drink. Go ahead and drop me off in a remote desert location hundreds of miles from anywhere. As long as I had a couple cans of this I would be just fine, or dead. Fine or dead, one or the other.