Soda Pop - 1421 Reviews

Another great soda from the Hanks company. A high quality creamsicle flavored beverage. My friend Kevyn hates creamsicles. Show of hands, how many people feel sorry for him? Not only does he not enjoy an amazing summer treat, but he also won't give this great soda a chance. It's a shame I tell you.

This is a root beer that I've been very excited to try. The story of it is that it was a seven-year-old's science project that he got help with his parents. They thought it turned out so well that they decided to market it and name it after their fostered dog, Margo. The best part is that all of the profits they make are donated to help shelter and rescue dogs. Now that's a story I can get behind.
You know what else I can get behind? Root beers that aren't afraid to take chances. It's been well documented that I really prefer root beers that are made out of natural ingredients over those made with root beer extract and such things. Margo's adds a few things into the mix, that I don't believe I've experienced. Cloves for one, so good. You don't really taste it in every sip, but when you do it's pretty fantastic. If it were in every sip, it may be too overbearing. One of the best I've had so far.

Blue Sky and Hansen's are both made by the some company. I don't really know why they have two different lines of pop, but they do.
This is a pretty standard root beer. It tastes like what I remember root beer to be like when I was a kid. I have to say that if I drank this back-to-back with the root beers I drank as a kid now, this would be worlds better. It doesn't have any added spices or roots extracts, just a general root beer flavor. When something like that is done right, like this is, it's nothing to scoff at.

Mike had their dry cola, and he wasn't really into it at all. Understandably I was hesitant to pick this up, but I thought what the heck and here we are now.
This is the kind of soda that would be nice to drink with a meal. It's nothing too fancy. No not like hutdogs and handburgers, but a sit down meal. I would probably drink it with some tofu, rice and vegetables. Of course that is a staple in my diet, so I drink a lot of things with that.
It's a dry soda. The flavor doesn't leave much of an aftertaste, which is nice. Mike also hates black currants. I love them. We had a bush in my backyard when I was growing up. Actually that's a lie. They were red currants. Either way, I loved the tartness of them. Mixed with the grapes, it reminds me of a high end sparkling grape juice. You know the ones that would be like $5 a bottle. Oh so expensive.

"Woah!" That's what happened first. I said "woah". Why, you ask? Because when was the last time you tasted cinnamon in your root beer? Me? Never.

This is a gourmet root beer made by a gourmet chef. I don't care if I'm giving her more credit than she has on her business card because an element of invention and originality went into this drink. This root beer has a light, but crisp root beer taste and then, like a ton of bricks, cinnamon-town. It tastes like real cinnamon, too.

Do you know what the cinnamon challenge is? It's an awful but hilarious game to play with unsuspecting kids where you fill a cap of cinnamon with cinnamon and dare them to take down the whole thing. It's like eating sand and I've watched people puke, but they were drunk and stupid so it was either puke from the cinnamon challenge or puke from a gallon of swill beer. There is not this much cinnamon in the drink, but it tastes like real cinnamon and not whatever a fake cinnamon, or candy cinnamon would taste like.

There is also ginger which I think you get at the tail end that kind of cleanses your palate and a vanilla that gives it an earthy tone. It's good. It really takes you for a loop because it touches all bases. It would be a good dessert since it's got so much "sweet" going on. Not because of the sugar, but because of everything else. It kind of reminds me of if you ate an apple pie and there were no apples in it...but in a good way. I've already recommended that my brother in Ames, Iowa buy some next time he's at the bar.

This took me by surprise. I thought a few things before I drank it. The first of which, who has ever seen, let alone heard of, clear birch beer? Not I, and I'd like to think I'm some sort of professional. Two was that it was a company I had never heard of and the pop was in a plastic bottle.

I. Was. Wrong. This was strong. Like mouth numbingly strong. It was like every sip was a burst of birch flavoring. I liked it. Re-buy liked. It was kind of like if you ate a mouthful of black licorice to the point where you tasted licorice for a while afterward. It was stagnant, but in a good, powerful way.

If you have the opportunity, try it. It only takes two sips to get used to and then you're hooked.

*After this review we realized that all of the Big Ben birch beers were the same flavor, just different colors. So I changed the picture. Red, white and blue. It's like our country was founded on this soda.

This was one of Jay and my first companies and we've almost completed their line of drinks. When we went into the place to get a case of drinks, we came across this drink. It's labeled Quinine Water. I had never heard of it and thought it was going to be like tonic water. When I picked it up, an old man sitting on a case of drinks said, "You drink that when you've got to rehabilitate an arm or a leg.". I didn't know what he was talking about but it turns out that quinine is used to treat malaria and it may have historically done "something" for joints.

The taste wasn't something that everyone could get into, I'm sure. It was parallel to the taste of the San Pelligrino Chinotto drink I reviewed. It's got a bitter citrus taste to it, but it's sweet enough to combat any strange or "off" flavoring.

If anyone can elaborate their grandma's use for quinine, please do as I have never heard of the stuff before I touched this drink. As a drink it wasn't bad, but I would pick the San P instead of this because I don't take medicine and I guess this could technically be called a medicinal drink.

Hansen's you've done it again! You consistently put out some of my favorite sodas. Their products always go down smooth. Well, unless you drink it after it's been sitting in a car on a boiling summer day. Then it gets crazy harsh and it becomes an interesting adventure. It happened to us once and we couldn't stop drinking it, even though it felt like acid was melting our throats.
This is made with extracts of actual mandarin oranges and limes. That instantly gives it an advantage over most sodas.

Honey, thanks for going to the grocery store and picking up the stuff for taco night. Did you get the iced tea mix while you were there? You did? You're the best. Now I will continue talking to you while I reach into the bag without looking and grab the iced tea mix to make myself a glass. I am still paying no attention to what I am doing while I pour myself a glass of water open the package and mix it in. Say, this iced tea tastes weird. Oh well, bottoms up! *chug.spit.gag* How the hell did I not realize that I used taco seasoning instead of iced tea mix!
Mix a packet of taco seasoning into a glass of sparkling water and you have the worst drink ever. I think that's what they did here. I should have been tipped off that it has both salt and black salt in it. I couldn't even swallow my first sip.
My condolences to India, I just do not understand the allure of this beverage at all. Gaaaaaaarrrooooooooosssss!

I had never seen this flavor of Sioux City before. I can understand why it's a less common variety. The blue color makes it look like a bottle of windshield wiper fluid. Also, berry/fruity sodas (with the exception of orange, grape and grapefruit) for the most part aren't very good. Sioux City in their tradition of greatness has broken through with one that is actually pretty good. It's a hodgepodge of berries, with a general sweetness to it. Don't let the fact that it looks like an automobile fluid dissuade you from trying it if you ever see it.

You gotta love when small breweries make their own root beer. I feel like more care is just put into the brewing of the soda. You know that little bit of love that makes you feel good about drinking it. Weeping Radish knows what I'm talking about. They have slightly irregular sized bottles, and the labels look like they were put on by hand. I appreciate those little things.
This is definitely a stand out root beer in my book. It's not overly sweet and it has a slight dry soda taste at first. It also has a slight anise aftertaste. In normal everyday life anise is like poison to me, but put just a little bit into a root beer and it can be extraordinary.
I feel like I should be slowly sipping this while hanging out at a campfire with some friends. In honor of that I'm drinking it out of a boot shaped glass. I don't know how they fit together, but they do in my head.

I really liked the Cranberry Pomraz Snow, so I had high expectations for this. It's not great, but it's not terrible. What it is is 100% middle of the road cola. It is average in every way. Nothing sticks out about it, good or bad. If you like cola, give it a shot. I enjoyed it. So will you.

This is the red cap stuff, the hot stuff. Rumored to blow the lid off your mouth. I might disagree. I'm not looking for torture, but I think that the medium, gold cap might have been hotter. That being said, this still burns. Burps hurt. Sneezes hurt. Breathing through your nose when you have some in your mouth hurts. It could be considered torture, but they are so nice to treat you to a nice, sweet taste after that you can't stay mad at them. Like if your husband hit you and then bought you a box of exquisite chocolates. Wait, that's probably not the best example. How about if you played little league baseball and the pitcher beamed you and then when you were back up to bat he lobbed you one and you knocked it out of the park. I say little league because that kind of garbage wouldn't fly in the majors, or even high school baseball. Is that better, though? I don't want you to think that domestic abuse and ginger ale are the same thing or even at all parallel, because they aren't.

This is a repeat beverage. I like the hurt that it gives me and the sweet it leaves me with. It's a good "shock" drink that you could drink and keep a straight face and give you brother's stupid girlfriend and burn her mouth off her face. It's as good for pranks as it is for quenching legitimate thirst.

Sarsaparilla: the drink of cowboys (or so I choose to believe). It makes me want to put some spurs on. Can you imagine that? Seriously imagine if every time I drank I sarsaparilla I put on cowboy boots, spurs, chaps, a 10-gallon hat, and some cap guns in some holsters. I would be all ready to work the old west show at the local amusement park.
For those of you who don't know sarsaparilla is a close relative to root beer and birch beer. It just has different herbs used in its creation. I for one am a big fan. It tastes like a more woodsy root beer.
This version of it is a sugary mixture that has a similar flavor, but it's not the same as those that are brewed. It's still great though. It's not the inoffensive candy version of the classic beverage. My only real complain is I wish it had a harsher carbonation, but that's just me being picky.

We stumbled upon an Indian market today and scored a butt-load of drinks. Yes, butt-load is a scientific unit of measurement.
This is a cola made by the Hindustan Coca-Cola company. Why yes it does taste like I'm drinking Coca-Cola while I'm eating curry. Thank you for asking. Seriously though, it tastes like a regular cola, but there is this strange mystery flavor. I certainly don't mind it.

What is up with Cawy and their bizarre flavors? With a name like Champs Cola wouldn't everyone expect it to be a straight up cola? Well you like me would be mistaken. This is a fruity cola. It is a less intense version of Fruiti Cola. It really only has the faintest tinge of cola. It's more of a fruit pop. I don't like being tricked and I don't like this drink. Even the rad picture of champion George Prince couldn't save this drink.

Nehi made a great grape soda. They have unfortunately missed the mark with their orange. It's more general sweet flavor than orange. I was expecting it to be super flavorful like the grape. Nope. I would seriously choose a run of the mill Orange Crush over this. I don't even know if veggie dogs* would make it better.

*For those not in the know orange pop and veggie dogs compliment each other perfectly.

I'll tell you what's delicious. Tacos, most pizza, Hanks black cherry pop, and chipotle flavored Tabasco sauce. See how I subtly slid Hanks in there? Well it shouldn't have been that subtle because it's frigging wonderful.

For the first time in a long time I can taste non-candied black cherry flavor. Do you live in Philly? Does cheese flow through your veins? Can you go a week without at least wanting to go to Gino's? Then number 1 you should equally be in love with Hanks and if number 2 if you haven't had it hop to it.

Flavor. It's very clean. No aftertaste of leftover sugar. Just plain good.

A handful of our readers have been raving about Hank's root beer, so when I got home yesterday and there was a box of their sodas waiting for me I felt like a kid on my birthday.
I have yet to try the root beer, but this cream soda lives up to the hype. In fact I think it surpasses the hype. It is perfectly vanilla flavored, without being overly creamy. I may have felt like a child when I opened the box, but this is most definitely an adult soda. It's the kind of soda they should be serving at bars. There are people like the Thirsty Dudes out there who like to go hang out with friends, but don't drink alcohol. Pop out of the gun just doesn't cut it most of the time. So proprietors of bars take note!

Go to your gramma's house. Go in her candy dish: old M&M's, old Reese's Pieces and old Werther's Originals. Also found in said candy dish are those strawberry hard candies wrapped in strawberry looking foil. That candy is exactly what this pop tastes like. It's very sweet and very potent of candy strawberries. It's not bad, but it's a bit overwhelming and ambitious if you planned on drinking the entire bottle.

I will say that it has been my favorite Romano's beverage I have had thus far. I know a lot of people would like this so if you like those candies, or just want to try another strawberry pop that isn't just sugar and strawberry flavor, try this. It's smoother than "standard" strawberry pop, hence the "creamy" prefix.