Soda Pop - 1421 Reviews

I found this in a bar in Boston a couple weeks ago. I went along with my friends as they bar-hopped around Cambridge, drinking nothing but water and Diet Pepsi. Finally, at our last stop they had this fine beverage on the menu so I obviously ordered it. There's only so much Diet Pepsi I can consume in one night.

I am a fan of Squirt, so whenever I find a different grapefruit soda I have to try it. I have never been disappointed with a bottle/can and this was no exception. It was very sweet, which surprised me since a lot of sparkling drinks are lightly sweetened. It also had little chunks of grapefruit, which was pretty awesome, and a great surprise.

I apologize for the crappy photo. Bars aren't known for their stellar lighting as you might know.

I think that the chronology of it happens like this:

1. Thirsty Dudes is created.


2. Some dudes read the reviews and decide they know the key to our hearts.


3. Joia is created solely to please us.


4. We find Joia drinks and review them all highly.

All of these drinks are wonderfully handcrafted and include a fantastic blend of ingredients that no other companies let happen. Allspice in a drink? That's crazy. Well, lame drink companies, it's not crazy. It's fantastic. Even if it is crazy, it's done with a logical base and really delivers. You get a little ginger, more flavor that spice, but it's there. The apricot really blasts through but the allspice hangs out with you like the faithful friend. Beginning to end the drink keeps on delivering.

Joia, we know that you used us as a cheat sheet to make "the perfect drinks" but we don't care. Keep up the good work. If this was math class, we would lean over and let you cheat off our paper and sorry about our poor penmanship. If all else fails, answer "C."

It's that time of year again. The great hunt in Sweden is upon us. Every year in late March Sweden sends its greatest warriors out into the fields and meadows to hunt the most dangerous beast of all, the “Easter Bunny.” The Western world only knows of the cute, cuddly rabbit that is used as a spokesperson for the commercial holiday. Like most holidays there is a darker history to it. In the third month of every year a fierce beast awakens to roam the Swedish countryside murdering children in order to steal their Fish (Swedish Fish to us Westerners). No one wants those children murdered, especially if it's just for candy. So warriors head out and set up traps made from sugary treats. Once it's captured (it's not exceptionally hard since Anni-Frid from ABBA designed a mechanism to hold the devilish creatures) the Easter Bunny is exsanguinated and it's blood is gathered into barrels, where it is malted. The results are called Dryck Paskmust and the Swedish drink it on the morning of Easter Sunday to celebrate a battle won, and in hopes of a great harvest the upcoming year.

Here at Thirsty Dudes we were lucky enough to procure a bottle of this sacred treat. Look at those hell demons on that label. Each of those foul creatures has been laid to rest and we are celebrating on their life force. For some reason their blood is carbonated, which just cannot feel good as it is coursing through their veins. It has a sweet candied semi-energy drink taste to it that is mixed in with the malt flavor. It's one of those drinks that tastes a bit strange to those who did not grow up on it, but I'm sure is a much sought after treat to those who have had it since birth. I just keep finding myself wondering if all of this death could be avoided if barrels of Swedish Fish were just left in the fields for the bunnies. Can't we all just live in harmony?

For those of you who do not know, I have a love of melon. I don't know when it started. I don't know what brought it on, but over the past couple of years I've been drawn to anything melon related. I even got a honeydew Swiss cake roll from Chinatown in Toronto. It was mind blowingly good. I tend to stay away from Ramune drinks, as they tend to be far too sweet for my tastes, but how could I turn down a melon one?

We drank this as part of our second visit on the Buffalo Eats podcast. While I was stoked on it, I was afraid it would be too sweet, and I wouldn't want to finish it. I figured this was it would be shared, and perhaps we could capture the sound of the marble being popped in for some live magic. Do those marbles serve any real purpose other than fun? I mean they are fun, but it seems like it's a lot of extraneous bottle design for a little fun, that so many companies have embraced.

This definitely tastes like candied generic melon. I assume it's supposed to be honeydew, due to the green color (no pun intended). It was pointed out in the podcast that it tastes like a Jolly Rancher if they made a melon flavor. I can see where they thought that, but the flavor doesn't have the intensity that those candies do. Perhaps it tastes like a watered down, overly sugared version of that. Yeah…€¦let's stick with that.

Detroit, what?! Danny Brown, you are a lucky guy to be from a place that makes this. Yes, I'm talking to you, Danny Brown. I saw you when you played Buffalo and you turned me around. I like you, man. I watched your Nardwuar interview and you were totally likable. You get to get candy apple whenever you want now because of this drink. Sure, you're on the streets touring and you can't drink it every day but if you ever cross paths with ICP, I'm sure they've got some that you can borrow.

Danny, man to man, not all Faygo is bad and this is as artificial as they come. I'll admit it. This tastes like a melted candy apple. Although that might not exist, it's imaginable and not far from that. It's way too big for me and I've shared this with five other people and they all agree; this isn't too bad at all.

Danny, keep it up. Seriously, you do good work. Good collaborations and good solo stuff. I await your new record and XXX was good.

It's been some time since I've had an “everyday” root beer. That kind of hurts my head, since in the past I used to consume it by the bucket. Oh man, I wish there was a place that served root beer in buckets. You know, like those bars that serve drinks out of fish bowls or whatever weird receptacle they have. Anyway, when I've had a root beer in recent times it's been something more on the fancy side of the root.

With the first couple sips I thought to myself, “Self, I really miss this. It's simple, but it tastes great. It's a classic.” Then about halfway through the bottle I started to realize how thick the soda was, due to the HFCS sweetener. In fact I started to get in my head that the whole thing tastes like carbonated syrup. I still enjoyed it, but not with as much vigor as I had the first half. In my mind there is nothing wrong with Mug. Chances are that when you think of root beer it's more of this variety than a microbrewed one or anything fancy like that. It's a completely average root beer, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

You're walking down a city street. Can't you see and feel it now? The trees, the buildings, the never ending smell of old urine from each and every alley. There you are minding your own business, sipping on a bottle of Pepsi and someone runs up behind you and pushes you into an alley. “Oh great” you think, “I'm about to fall into a ginormous puddle of hobo piss” when you just keep falling, until your feet lightly touch the ground. The city looks the same, but everything is slightly off, but off in a way that is kind of appealing. The trees are a little bit greener and fuller. The shapes of the buildings are just a little more interesting. The alleys now smell of cinnamon sticks, and not like the toilet of some dive bar at 4am. You look down and in your hand is no longer the familiar red, white and blue bottle. In its place now sits a black and green bottle that reads Push. You untwist the cap and take a sip. True to form with the rest of this alternate dimension the pop contained within tastes just a little bit better. It's nothing that you would stand on the street corner and rant about to every passer by, but it tastes better than the Pepsi you normally drink. It tastes crisp and dark, with a classic cola taste. It's better than Pepsi, but it doesn't taste exactly like Coke or store brand either. It's its own cola that has its own unique subtleties. It's much better than the label led you to believe. You take the last sip and toss the bottle in a recycling bin on the corner. When you look up you realize that you're a block from your work, and everything looks normal again. Strange times indeed.

I hate myself for spending money on this. I knew I hated it. I've known for as long as I can remember that Tahitian Treat is pure sugar swill. Thirsty Dudes must march on though, and we have yet to review this, so I suppose I should get to it.

Think of a fruit punch that lies somewhere in the middle ground between generic and Hawiian Punch. Take that overly sweetened garbage that is in no way shape or form juice and add some tiny bubbles to it. There you have what is in this bottle. If that sounds appealing to you, well…€¦good for you. To me, it sounds like an instant stomach ache and tooth decay.

I wrote that review before I even opened this up. After taking two sips I can say that it's pretty accurate, but I think that if I tried I could get this whole bottle down. I don't want to, nor am I going to, but if I chose to, I could. For that fact and that fact only I will give this two bottles, instead of one. You're welcome Tahitian Treat. While we're at it, I would like to wager that the indigenous people of Tahiti are disgusted that they are being associated with this. If I'm wrong, let me know where to send the money, and I will avoid Tahiti for the rest of my life.

On a closing note, I'd like to point out that Canadians love this stuff for some reason. The last time we went up to Soda Pop Central in Ontario they had us bring up more cases that I was comfortable purchasing. I don't want the cashiers in the stores around here thinking I have terrible taste. How could they ever take this site seriously?

Ha. I just went to the Soda Pop Central Website and on the front page it says, “Tahitian Treat is out of stock until further notice, sorry.” I know your body Canada.

I liked Atari Teenage Riot. It's probably still good but I haven't really listened to "60 Second Wipeout" in a long time. Either way, all I have in my head is "Sick To Death" in my head because this winter has gone on too long. I am just done. I now completely sympathize and understand why old people move from the Northeast to Florida. Florida sucks, but at some point, you just, and rightfully so, don't feel like having to deal with it any more. I just wear coats all the time and I'm sick of it. I was thinking last week that I want to go to a barbecue and I'm almost to the point where I will stand outside in eleven jackets just to make myself a couple of hot dogs on the grill.

Barbecue is where this pop comes in. It's orange pop. Plain and simple. It's not great but it's orange. It isn't gross and it isn't fantastic. Right, smack dab in the middle. I didn't expect anything more because it's orange pop. I don't think I've ever had an exceptional orange pop. I don't know if it exists. I would like to be proven wrong but I don't care if I'm not. It's orange pop. It's only drunk at kid's parties and, to a lesser extent, adult barbecues. Don't ever offer me an orange pop anywhere else. I will be mildly offended.

It's been quite some time since I've come across a new Boylan's flavor. Luckily I came across this one waiting at my front door for me. Gifts are always nice, especially when they are a limited release pop. I don't know what exactly makes a Shirley Temple a seasonal release. I mean you can go bowling any time of the year and while beer may be the official drink of most bowlers, those of us who do not drink alcohol know that there is no other choice on the lanes than a Shirley Temple.

I just looked it up and I was shocked to discover that the actress Shirley Temple is still alive. I had always assumed that she had passed on…€¦crazy. I also discovered that her birthday is April 23rd, so perhaps this soda will be seasonal in celebration of her birth. I can accept that.

The best part of this soda is that Boylan got it correct. They used the proper base of ginger ale and not lemon lime and some people who like to cheap out use. Everyone knows that ginger ale is a superior soda, and it is what belongs in a Shirley Temple. You take that superior soda and put a splash of grenadine in it and bam there you go, a tasty beverage. This tastes exactly like it should. The only thing more I could ask for is for there to be a cherry floating in the bottle. Now that would be true magic. Well, that and me bowling a 300 tonight.

It's been a while since I've had a bottle of Ramune. I had forgotten how hard it is sometimes to push that marble down. Or perhaps I'm just getting weak/old. I bought this bottle on our last trip to the Asian market because I love the little face on the bottle. It looks happy because of the smile, but it's almost a mischievous look. It's as if he's saying, "go ahead, drink this... I DARE you." Maybe I've been watching too much of The Office, but he kind of reminds me of Dwight.

Actually, that is the perfect analogy to this drink. Lychee is great so you think this soda is going to be great. Then you see the mischievous character on the label and you start to second guess yourself. Then you turn it around and notice there is high fructose corn syrup in it and you think to yourself "I thought only Americans used that awful sweetener?" Then the marble is really difficult and gives you a really hard time. So by the time you finally taste it, it's delicious but you're really scared that it might actually be poison.

This drink is Dwight K. Schrute. If only it was beet flavored.

I don't want this to sound negative or inappropriate, but I wanted this drink to make me choke. After drinking this I wanted it to do the same thing. I wanted each sip to be punishing but deserving of another go. Once again, it's not bad that it didn't but a man has his standards.

This was sweeter than it was asphyxiating. The trade-off left me with a little more syrupy, candy-esque cinnamon. It was good but everyone agreed that it was just too sweet. If you could make cinnamon apples and just ate the cinnamon candy shell, that's what this would be.

Look, I don't want this to seem like I'm into choking because I'm not. I'm fixated on the punishment that I wanted from a drink. That might be just as concerting.

Did you know that Mountain Dew has a new CEO? That may or may not be shocking to you, but what you will say “wait whhhhhhaaaaa?” to is that fact that the new man in charge is no one other than Motley Crue bass player, Nikki Sixx. In a press release he assured stockholders that his crucial rocking will not interfere with the running of the business. He was quoted as saying, “If I can get our sound guy to teach me how to use Photoshop on the bus, that I can certainly run a multinational company from that very same home on wheels.” This left many people in the business and soda world shaking their heads until Mr. Sixx announced the release of a new line of Mountain Dew drinks called “Kick Start.” The newly appointed head of the company then told the world that the product tag line would be “Kick Start your heart from another overdose.” This left shareholders even more bewildered.

We recently received samples of this new line, and everyone at Mountain Dew can calm themselves down as no such tagline exists anywhere on the packaging. In fact it looks rather tasteful and one would never expect that a person capable of such debauchery had anything to do with its creation. The flavor of the Fruit Punch version isn't all that bad either. Even though it is sweetened primarily by high fructose corn syrup, it's not as think as you would expect, especially for being a fruit punch. It has 5% juice in it, all of which seems to be grape juice for some reason. If I had to break it down for you, which I do, I would say it tastes like someone mixed two parts of mild fruit punch in with one part regular Mountain Dew. It's not mind-blowing, or anything all that new, but it tastes pleasant enough.

It has 92mg of caffeine in it, which is slightly more than regular Mountain Dew and about half of the amount in a comparable sized coffee. I know they are trying to push this as a morning drink, but I really have no interest in drinking anything carbonated within the first couple hours that I'm awake. Mountain Dew obviously is always marketed towards younger folks, but man even in college I wouldn't have drank this until the afternoon. Rumor has it that Mr Sixx has been on a steady diet of nothing and Kick Start for the past month. He has overdosed a half dozen times in that time period.

You've come a long way baby…€¦is what I would tell myself if I was a complete creep. It wasn't all that long ago that I would drink “mainstream” soda all the time. I didn't know that there was more out there. Now that it's years later and I have drunk more of a variety than 95% of the population it's hard going back to these types of sodas aka basically anything that also comes in a 2lt bottle.

I don't even remember when the last time I had Cherry 7Up was. I do remember that I used to enjoy it a decent amount. Now I would never refer to it as “Crisp. Clean. Refreshing,” as the bottle does. It's so thick and syrupy to me now. I loved drinking Shirley Temples when I would go bowling as a kid, so when I was able to get it on the regular in this form I was stoked. I remember thinking it tasted exactly the same. Oh how our palates grow to be more sophisticated. This tastes nothing like a Shirley Temple, which I will be enjoying tonight as I actually have a bowling date. As an adult the cherry flavor tastes cheap to me. It's too bad because I was actually looking forward to drinking this, hoping that it would be as good as I remember.

Since I do not have the same tastes as the general public, and because I remember how much I did enjoy this pop at one point in my life, I will give it three bottles. If this was something new, it would probably get two, but nostalgia runs high.

Apparently this is supposed to be a morning drink so you can 'kick start your day'. So it's competing against coffee and energy drinks essentially, two things I love and definitely drink a lot. When I first heard about this new drink from Mountain Dew, I thought it was just going to either be a repackaging of their energy drink Amp, or a slightly modified version of Mountain Dew Livewire. At least that was what I was expecting when I tried it.

Those who hate energy drinks will be pleased to hear that this is nothing like them taste wise. And despite high fructose corn syrup being the second ingredient, it's not syrupy like a soda. It has a consistency closer to sparkling juice, but with much more sugar (and caffeine). It's not quite as refreshing as most sparkling juices I've had, but it's definitely easier to drink than soda. As far as the orange taste goes, it's closer to orange soda than orange juice.

So will this drink replace coffee and energy drinks? Maybe for some people but it's not a groundbreaking drink. But that is also coming from someone who loves coffee and energy drinks so I'm probably not their target demographic.

Root beer is kids beer. Whenever parents are around drinking beer, the kids get root beer. "No, son. You can't have a beer but you can have a root beer." It has the "beer" in the title so they're fine. I think that I would like to meet a person who things that root beer doesn't taste better than beer, though. I mean beer is an acquired taste since it is bitter. Root beer? Sweet, bold, dark, and has fun ingredients that can rival "good" beers. Some have licorice, honey, and vanilla just like their alcoholic cousin "real beer."

One step beyond is this. It's got vanilla like A&W has but this is low calorie version of the regular one that you have grown up to love. It doesn't have a diet taste, which is the best part about it. I mean, if I had the calorie-full one next to the calorie-less one, I could probably tell but who's doing that? Not me, and I consider myself a professional. It's a self-appointed position that involves no perks, benefits, or fancy badges. It's nice to have a diet that doesn't taste gross and with the primary demo being a man, this rules. Men, you're fine. I've done the extensive research of drinking something for you so you don't have to. You're welcome. I do accept paper checks although hot, sweaty cash is better, as long as it's not actually sweaty. I worked in retail and it happens. Women coming in with money in their boobular area and hand it to me to buy belly button rings. Grozz. Please stop doing that, women. It's totally grozz.

Alova,
This is so unlike me. I never do things like this, but I feel a grand gesture needs to be made. You see, I love you Alova, and I don't care who knows it. I am stupid head over heals in love with you and your wonderful drinks. That is why I am going all out and proclaiming you my favorite drink of 2013, even though we are only two months in.

This is my second beverage I have had form you (okay it's really been a lot more if you count the number of cucumber mint sodas I have imbibed over the past few weeks), and I already know deep down inside that you will have my heart and I will be singing your praises for months to come. It's rare to find a soda that tastes exactly like the fruit it is representing, but you have grapefruit spot on. The best part is that the aloe juice neutralizes the intensely sourness that it usually entails. It's the flavor, without the sour. It's every child's dream (or maybe three children in the world would really care). The moderate amount of sweetener that you used is really what makes this a perfect beverage.

I'm kind of like smitten,
Jason

Men. We're tough. We don't cry. We wipe our noses with sandpaper. We eat rocks and we eat animals. One thing we don't do is diet. We're fine with our weight and don't have any issues with our shape. Shows like "The Biggest Loser" include "guys" but they are really just holograms. No guy is at the gym, either. Every guy you see at the gym is a woman in a man's suit.

Often we do want to go up and down the stairs without having to stop half way and catch our breath. A diet of chicken wings, hamburgers, and triple thick chocolate milkshakes do not lead to a particularly healthy lifestyle. As I said, guys don't diet, but they do cut back a little. That's where the "Ten" line comes in. Flat gray can and a marketing message do a lot. It's only one step away from black, gray is. If you spend your days chugging fruity pop and need to "cut back," you've got another choice. This would be all well and good if this didn't taste so "diet." Yeah, part of disguising a diet drink as "manly" is to keep it from tasting like a diet drink and reminding these brutes that they are, in fact, on a diet. It's got a good, classic Sunkist orange taste but is promptly washed over by a sea of artificial sweeteners. If you can take your "cutting back" with a grain of salt and have grown to expect a different taste with your diet drinks, you'll be fine, but it just makes this drink feel like a Diet Sunkist rather than some new, rebranded line of beverage.

Men, you're awesome. You're arrogant, tough, aggressive, opinionated, and use hand tools. This drink has been specially tailored for you but it feels like more of an insult than a compliment. It just tastes like a diet drink and doesn't taste tailored.

Good things come in small cans. That sounds like some tagline for drink company X that ended up on the editing floor. I imagine Bob thought of the tagline on the way to work after days of emails that yielded no good ideas. He was probably so excited and couldn't wait to get to work for the first time in 20 years. He gave hints to his co-workers before the 9:30 meeting that he had a great idea.

The problem was he built it up so much that when they heard the mediocre tagline, they passed on it. He was devastated and always told the story over drinks with friends.

I almost forgot that I hadn't reviewed this drink yet. It's delicious is what I was trying to get at. It's really light and crisp and full of mango flavor. If it weren't so full of sugar I would drink these all the time.

American's will be in for a shock if they ever go to Europe and order lemonade, as more often than not they are carbonated. I don't understand why that is, but it's life. I was certainly surprised the first time it happened to me, but it was a good surprise. It doesn't end up being a standard soda. It's more like an Italian Soda aka carbonated juice. Instead of adding whatever other garbage is in your every day pop, it's like they took a glass of lemonade and just added bubbles. It's interesting, and a nice change of pace.

Now I knew this was carbonated, as it says so fairly large on the label. What tricked me this time is that I thought it was going to be lemon and lime with some blood orange mixed in. I mean what would you expect when you see the word “limonade?” In reality there is no lime contained, or lemon for that matter. I guess limonade is just a word that means any sort of ade made from a juice.

This has a nice blood orange flavor, that doesn't taste overly sweetened. The use of beet sugar was a nice choice. Now I want to go to the store, buy a bunch of blood oranges and make blood orange-ade. I bet it would be incredible and I could put the kids down the street's lemonade stand out of business. That will teach them to throw snowballs at my car.