Soda Pop - 1421 Reviews

What we have here is soda for royalty. Do you really think that they would let a common peasant drink something with such a crest on it? One needs to be a blueblood for sure in imbibe such a treat, and what a treat it is. If you've ever spent a long day at the jousting arena, just to be let down by the low quantity of vanilla flavor in the soda you purchased to clear the dust out of your head holes, then may I suggest trying this? Well, if you have the proper lineage that is. This soda is very, very heavy on the vanilla, but remains ridiculously creamy and smooth. This isn't your blacksmith's cream soda. If you see him drinking it make sure to alert one of the guards walking around so that he can be properly beheaded in the public square.

To get access to dragon drool, one has to read up on many resources. You have to learn how to tell long stories that don't go anywhere about delicious food that are equal parts delicious as they are boring. You learn this skill and then you try it whenever you feel the time is right.

You first have to go to the top of Gumdrop Mountain. That's where the dragons live. It seems strange, I know, but dragons love novelty sized gumdrops. If you didn't know this, you should read a book about dragons, you idiot. Travel to the top of the mountain and start telling your story telling the story that you've practiced so many times before. As soon as you see the dragon, they should already be partially groggy. Keep going because for the minute you think he's sleeping, he'll wake up and burn you to a nice golden brown and then eat you like the delectable treat you are.

If you manage to get him to sleep, you've done the first part of your job. The second is to get the stones to go right up to the dragon and put a little jar under its mouth and catch the drool. You've only got about ten minutes before he wakes up. Oh, you didn't know that dragons only took cat naps? Yep. Pesky devils, aren't they? After nine minutes, grab that jar and run down the hill. When the dragon wakes up, he's going to be hella hungry.

Now for the fun part: drinking the drool. Just take a sip. It smells stronger than it is and tastes just like licorice. You think that it will taste just like jelly beans but it's weaker than that. It doesn't linger like jelly beans because it doesn't stick in your teeth like they do. It's not too sweet but it's surprisingly sweet for being a dragon's tears.

Now that you've mastered the art of coaxing dragon tears, you can do anything. You can ride a bike. You can braid your hair. You can eat artichokes. You are the master of your domain.

This is not an original thought, but think of the world 40 or so years from now. A good portion of the elderly population will be covered in tattoos, but more interesting than that is the idea of a 90 year old driving around in a car with a bass system jut bumping some sort of hip hop. It's such a ridiculously wonderful thought that is almost certain to become a reality, well that is unless the world ends, which wouldn't be a shock either. I'm just going to sit back and laugh about this as I sip on this bottle of Hip Hop Pop. I'm not sure what exactly relates it to the hip hop community, but it's fun to say. Go ahead, do it a loud. I dare you.

When I drank this I was all sorts of confused. I thought it tasted like a lighter Mr Pibb that was heavy on cherry. A friend thought that it was just a unique cherry soda. Neither of us had any inkling that this was actually supposed to be a berry cola, that was mostly raspberry. When I think about that description I can make out a faint cola taste and the berry is definitely noticeable, but I still get that Pibb taste, but better than the real Pibb. It's a mystery bottle and apparently everyone gets something different out of it. The nice thing is that everyone seemed to enjoy what they received. I wonder what flavors grace the tongue of Nelly when he drinks it.

I have to say folks, snowy mountain tops do not me think of grape soda. I understand that Jackson Hole is going for a Wyoming aesthetic and even though it may be unrelated, a snowy mountain is visually more appealing than “Cheyenne Backyard BBQ” would be. Maybe a “Rock Springs Vineyard” could have worked out for them. Actually, screw it, fitting or not the Grand Tetons are great and are better than anything I can think of. I would happily drink this bottle of grape soda after trekking up a mountain. Well as long as I had time to rest and cook up some veggie dogs to accompany it.

This is a fairly standard grape soda, with the exception of it being sweetened with real sugar. It's ridiculous how a specific sweetener can make all of the difference. It brings out the flavor a big more and makes it less syrupy than you are probably used to. Why am I sitting in my office writing this review when I could be climbing a mountain in Wyoming? I think I may have made some poor life choices.

A lot happened in 1966. There were Vietnam protests, cigarettes had to start having warning labels, and the Moors Murderers were jailed in the UK forever influencing a young boy names Steven Patrick Morrissey. All of these interesting things happened that year, but that is not what Bruce Cost is celebrating with this soda. What all rant party hats and streamers are for is that they have created a soda that has only 66 calories, without the aid of artificial sweeteners or stevia/erythritol. This Brooklyn based company has come up with a mixture of cane sugar and monk fruit extract that gives the soda sweetness, without tasting gross and diet. Monk fruit has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine, and Bruce Cost thought to try it in their sodas.

I have to say the results are interesting. This tastes much better than most low calorie sodas, there is no doubt, it just has a very strange, distinct type of sweetness to it. Actually it tastes like someone was at a magical fountain machine that served Bruce Cost's regular ginger ale, and some other stuff and mixed some flavors, Laser Tag style. It really tastes like two different sodas, one normal and one weirdly diet, were combined and didn't really combine into something new. Unfortunately the delicious ginger soda was the weaker of the two in the grouping. If you're looking to cut back on the calories and love yourself some ginger soda, you're not going to find anything better on the market. It still feels like it could use some improvement though. Now, if you're looking for me I'll be wandering around Brooklyn, searching for that elusive fountain soda machine that I mentioned. I bet it only exists in my mind.

The best time to enjoy a nice cold bottle of soda of any kind is while sitting around a fire in the middle of nature. Don't let anyone tell you anything different. Okay, orange soda may be better at a bbq but everything else is at top speed at a camp fire. This weekend I escaped to the woods with some friends and after a day of taking the majesty of it all in and getting caught in a torrential rainstorm halfway through a five mile hike, the skies cleared and we settled in around the fire. Everyone else popped their beers and I cracked open this ginger beer.

With the first sip I experienced some disappointment. It tasted like a generic soda with a little bit of a burn to it. With hope in my eyes, I put my thumb over the top and gently swirled the bottle around to mix it up, in case settling had occurred, and lo and behold we have a whole new drink. It suddenly went up to a medium burn and the flavors started to burst out. It's the type of ginger beer that tastes more like a ginger ale with a kick. It's what I actually prefer. The ginger actually has a flavor and not just a burning sensation. I slowly sipped it until we ran out of wood and then everyone else went to sleep and I tried to read with a head lamp, but it just attracted every moth in the forest and I needed to run away.

Goya is fantastic at making ginger beer. Goya is absolutely horrible for producing Malta Goya. For everything else they fall into the average and not so great categories. This soda unfortunately falls under not so great.
There are two general types of orange soda, ones they are carbonated orange juice and those that are the generic fake orange flavor that is produced by every store brand ever. I am strangely a fan of both for some reason. I knew this wasn't going to be carbonated juice, but I had high expectations that it would be a different form of the fake orange flavor. Mandarin's are a higher quality orange, so I wanted it to be a higher quality of soda. Unfortunately, it was not. It tastes like someone took that slightly different fake orange soda and mixed it with too much unflavored soda water. This is mostly generic sweet, soda water flavored, with an orange flavor in the background. If it were a beverage with low sugar content I would understand and accept it, but this has 44g of sugar in it and that is more than anyone needs. I should probably stop drinking this, as I'm not enjoying it and I don't need all this sugar.

Rocket Fizz sure does put out a lot of soda. Sure, they release them under different sub-brands, but all in all they have about six dozen different flavors. That is unheard of for a small company. I don't even know if Pepsi or Coke have that many flavors domestically.

This specific flavor is in honor of Joe. I'm not sure who Joe is exactly, but if the internet is to be believed he is either the owner's brother, or else it has something to do with them being on Undercover Boss. Whoever he is, he may be homeless, as proceeds go to an unnamed homeless organization, or else he really just loves the woods, because the bottle says “Enjoy the outdoors.” Perhaps he become homeless because he loved being outside so much and just wanted to commune with nature forever. The only thing I know for sure is that I have found very little concrete information about this gentleman.

I expected this to be an extremely creamy vanilla root beer. Root beer floats have a very specific taste (well depending on what brand of soda you use), and the contents of this bottle just did not meet my expectations. The root beer flavor itself is nothing special, and the something extra that would be the taste of the vanilla ice cream isn't what you would expect. It instead just tastes like a general root beer with something else mixed in. Unfortunately that something else doesn't really improve the flavor at all. If you were to go into this blind and not be told that it was supposed to be a root beer float, it would be a completely serviceable soda. Knowing how it should taste it leaves me wanting.

I've been to Mexico a couple times. I didn't do many indigenous things but I would like to think that there are Mexican kids running around drinking this stuff like crazy. Maybe they do and maybe they don't. I don't know. My imagination is telling me that there are bottles of the stuff everywhere. I hope that people are taking them and making cool art from it as a social message about littering. Full circle.

How is it as an adult-ish Caucasian American male? It's alright. It's fruit pop. It's a strange lemon if it's only lemon. It's lemon, don't get me wrong but there is something else in there. Lime? Probably. I mean, I don't care but don't poop in my hand and tell me it a BLT. Is that how the phrase goes?

Last week we received an email from Bruce Cost telling us they had some new flavors and that they wanted to send them to us. Moments later I received a message from Mike that simply said, “Bruce Cost. Finally. We've made it.” The man had a point. Bruce Cost makes some of, if not the best ginger ales on the market and getting acknowledged by them felt like we were doing something right. We're nothing but honest here at Thirsty Dudes and we are terrible writers. A lot of the time our reviews have very little to do with the actual beverage we are writing about and more about some tangent that is in our brain. We love doing the site though, so we keep writing, more for ourselves than anything else. When a company we love thinks that our ramblings are worth their time, we really appreciate it. More than that we appreciate a good ginger based beverage, and this is beyond good.

This is listed as a “BC Limited” soda, so unfortunately it looks like it's not going to become part of their regularly available sodas, which is a shame because it is fantastic. Take a base of their flagship ginger ale, which is made with 100% fresh ginger and has a nice little kick to it, that borders a tame ginger beer, and add some blood orange and lemon juice to it. It's as simple as that and there is magic in simplicity. Perhaps they could use a little less lemon, as it takes away a little from the glory that is blood orange juice, but other than that this is perfect. It is first and foremost a ginger soda and the other flavors are there as secondary notes, the way a good ginger ale should be.

At first I thought I was bummed that it wasn't a ginger beer and didn't have more of a burn, but if that had been the case a lot of the flavor would have been lost, and no one wants that. You have limited time people, get out there and scour your local bodegas and stock up. Who knows when you'll come across it again?

Lemon pop; It's not that much different than a Sprite with a bit of mint in it. I mean, that is a different product in itself but it's lightly mint. Don't think that you're brushing your teeth and then rinsing with Sprite. If you do, you should be put in the mental hospital because that's absolutely insane.

This is actually pretty refreshing; lightly lemon, lightly mint and mediumly sweet. It's not "over" anything and is small enough to never be overwhelming. I don't know if I would drink it again because it was almost so subtle that it was nothing special. It was good, don't get me wrong, but it was so "regular" that it was just kind of another drink.

I don't want people to get sore at me. This is different. It deserves mentioning. It was made and is an accomplishment. It's good. Try it. Like it. Share it.

“Gambler. Lawman. Soda Enthusiast.” I'm pretty sure that is the inscription on Wyatt Earp's tombstone (full pun intended). It's commonly known that when the shootout at OK Corral was going on Earp called for a time out, Zach Morris style, then he handed everyone involved a nice cold bottle of sarsaparilla, which they enjoyed until they returned to their bloodbath. No one really knows how he kept the soda cold, or where he had it stored, but everyone involved recalled that it was very thoughtful and it really hit the spot at that exact moment.

The Earp family has now aged a few generations, and have decided to bottle and sell their own sarsaparilla. Their wares are the smoothest sarsaparilla I have ever tasted. It has the creaminess of a root beer and not the quasi-harsh sharpness that one equates to this flavor of soda. The general sarsaparilla flavor is there, but it just doesn't have the bite that I want. I did enjoy the soda, but it didn't blow me away like a lot of sarsaparilla does. I feel like I've typed out that word far too many times now. Sarsaparilla.

Hey kid, come here. Do you like caramel? What? No, I'm not a creepy pervert. Oh man, I just realized how this probably looks; me rolling up in a white van calling a kid over and talking about candy. This is bad. I have no ill intent I swear! I'm just part of the marketing team for Brownie Root Beer. They wanted to start something like the “Red Bull Girls.” You know the ones that just drive around and hand out cans. The thing is that it is way easier to hand out cans of energy drinks from a car with a giant can on it, instead of soda from an all-white van. I told marketing that we needed to put a wrap on this thing to let people know what we were all about, but they said it wasn't in the budget. Now I look like a creep and will probably get put on a sex offenders list or something. I really don't want to go door to door and talk to my neighbors.

Anyway, if you still want some root beer you can have it. The reason I asked you is you liked caramel is that this is a caramel cream root beer. Personally I'm not a huge fan of it. I'm a big root beer guy, but I find the added flavor rather distracting as it's really strong. I'd go as far as to say that this is 70% caramel, 25% root beer and 5% cream. Those aren't great proportions if you ask me. The more I drink the more palatable it becomes, but it's a little rough at first, especially if you're not a big caramel fan. I find it hard to be able to describe how the root beer aspect of this soda tastes because it has been so overpowered.

I really should look for a new line of work, as I seemingly talked you out of accepting a free soda and it looks like you're on your cell phone calling the police. I'm outta here.

It's been a long time since I've had a cola. I never drink the stuff. I don't drink pop unless it's for Thirsty Dudes and I've been doing a really crappy job of reviewing drinks as of late. Look, I can look in the mirror and be honest with myself. I've dropped the ball a lot. That being said, we've drank a lot of drinks and unless we slow down, there won't be anything else to drink.

This is...I don't know what this is. Is this a champagne cola? "La Pinata" is sort of a Spanish thing, right? It's got a little bit of a fruit flavor but doesn't taste like bubble gum like most straight cola champagnes are. It's got a good cola flavor, though. It's not too light and the fruit gives it a good alternative taste to a straight cola. I wish I could share this with someone while slamming at a piñata and having a parrot on my shoulder like in the label. Parrots rule. I'd rather have a parrot than a hundred piñatas. Unless it's that piñata from Billy Madison that is filled with Rolex watches. I'd take that over a parrot. I could hock a Datejust and just go out and buy a parrot. One for me and one for Pico, my scarlet macaw.

Why do these beverages exist? Does anyone actually enjoy them, or have people tricked themselves into thinking that it is something that they enjoy? It was only recently that I finally came around to seltzer water, but I can now say that I truly enjoy it, well some flavors. Armed with that knowledge it's a safe bet that never in a million years would I choose a carbonated beverage sweetened with sucralose over one with no sweetener whatsoever. Actually that same could probably said about any type of beverage. The sucralose taste is so strong that it nearly blocks out the fake kiwi flavor, which isn't all that great anyway. Something went very wrong in the development of this beverage and it starts with the letter S and ends in “lose.”

I really don't know what to think of this soda. Part of me thinks it is gross because it's like drinking unflavored soda while chewing mint gum. Another part of me finds it strangely refreshing. Yet another part of me enjoys that I very may be freshening my breath by drinking a soda. One thing that is for certain is that this is a soda that has a very strong spearmint taste. It's not in the way that some mints burn your mouth, but it's more than just a subtle flavoring. I feel like people's opinions on this are going to be all over the board. Where will you land?

Denver, the home of this soda, has come a long way in the past ten years. When I first visited there was nothing special about the city, and it was not a place that I felt an urge to return to. Now it's a decade later and I was able to visit twice in one month, and I fell in love with that western city. Not only did the city look wonderful, but there were great places to eat, 1Up barcade and one of the best skateparks I've ever visited. As it turns out the guys who run this soda company are involved in skate culture. I wonder if any of them were the dude that I saw do a full flip out of the one bowl at the park. I hope so because that guy was ridiculously good.

Enough about Denver and more about soda. If you're going into this expecting a normal run of the mill cola you are not going to be getting it. This is a new breed, and it's fantastic. It's a cola with both vanilla and a hint of cherry in it. Sure both of those flavors are known to be in cola, but how often do you see them combined? Craft beer seems to be running the world these days, and this is its equivalent in the soda game. There is nothing generic about this cola. It has sophisticated flavors that can either all blend together, or remain separate; it all depends upon how you think about it while you drink it. Someone once told me that if you're eating something and there is a taste in there that you can't quite put your finger on chances are that it contains cinnamon. That person was absolutely right about the mystery ingredient in this soda.

Rocky Mountain Soda Co has given me even more reason to love Denver. I need to head back there soon for a visit where I will eat many burritos, play many games of Galaga, skate until I'm broken and drink all the sodas.

It's been a long time since I've had root beer. This one is strange though. It makes quick visits to your tongue and promptly vanishes. In and out, just like when you visited your ex-girlfriend's smelly uncle's house; in and out. Split second flavor. How is that flavor, though? It's actually pretty good. It's more on the candy side of root beer. Not really dark or deep or anything special but it's right in the middle of the root beer spectrum.

If you didn't like it, you wouldn't know because before you had to decide if you liked it or not, you would be half way through the bottle and you would just assume you liked it because you drank so much, not because you didn't have time to justify one way or the other.

Sometimes putting a product in nicer packaging is just not enough. Giving a terrible record a really great looking album cover may be aesthetically pleasing, but it isn't going to help the music suck any less. Now there is nothing inherently bad about this root beer. It's perfectly average, and tastes like a store brand that you would find in a big plastic 2lt bottle. Sure it's sweetened with cane sugar, but that can only take it so far. I appreciate that they put forth the effort to have this in a glass bottle and use a clean, classic, simple look to the label, but again that doesn't make the contents taste like anything special. I would happily drink this if it was served to me, but I just wouldn't go out of my way to purchase some myself.

I read some other people's reviews of this soda, and it seems that they had a very different experience than I did and said that it was an unusual root beer because it had a fruity taste to it. I simply did not get that at all, so maybe I will get another bottle of this after all and see if I notice a difference.

I did not know what to expect with a brand name like Pop Water. Would it be an unsweetened soda, like seltzer water? Would it be watered down soda pop? Would it be water that exploded in your mouth a la Pop Rocks? Would your mind instantly be filled with images of Pop Art that was created by Andy Warhol? It was all a mystery that I looked forward to investigating.

Truth be told it was a very short investigation. I popped open the can took one sip and realized that there was no mysterious excitement in this can. Its contents fell somewhere between seltzer and soda pop. It is like a lighter version of a diet pop that somehow doesn't taste overly diet, even though it is sweetened with erythritol and stevia. There is 0% juice in here, but it does contain extracts of natural pineapple. Whatever constitutes that is enough for the pineapple flavor in here to be very light, but also very accurate to the fruit.