Sparkling - 501 Reviews

Glaceau, home of Vitamin Water and Smart Water, has decided to try its hand at sparkling beverages. When the dealer passed out the cards things we're looking good for them, but their hand just wasn't strong enough to make something spectacular. On first sip I thought this had the potential to be something like a Clearly Canadian, but then the sucralose kicked in and everything went downhill. Does anyone on this planet actually think that sucralose is acceptable? I mean I know people deal with it, but with stevia hitting the market, why would a company that uses real sugar in one of its other product lines use such a low level zero calorie sweetener? Next thing I know they'll be using aspartame. Ick.

Okay, so the base of this tastes like a nice light, non-syrupy raspberry soda (if such a thing exists). It's quite pleasant until the sweetener kicks in. With a different sweetener this could have been all the rage in my world. As it stands I didn't' finish the bottle.

If you are one of those imaginary people that actually like sucralose, I highly suggest you check this out. If not, stay away.

I recently started a new job designing/developing websites. I have been freelancing for a while so getting this job was a nice change. Seeing as I do a lot of reviews in the office, my co-workers have taken an interest in the drinks I bring in. Our project manager Carly mentioned that she liked lychee in the past so I knew she was going to be excited about this drink. Given the track record Rubicon has been having with us lately, I had a good feeling this wouldn't be disappointing.

First thoughts were it had a nice lychee smell to it, but there was something else in there that I couldn't put my finger on. It has a sour after taste, in a good way. Carly said it tasted like grapefruit and I totally agree. It really works well with the lychee, though mysteriously is not present in the ingredients. Keep up the awesome work Rubicon.

If you kill enough people while being a member of the Yakuza, you get your profile on a can of sparkling tea. The numbers are not advertised but I've heard rumors that number is somewhere between twenty and thirty heads. It's a perk of the job. If you don't get caught in the act, you can't get in trouble for stuff. That's how it works in the Yakuza. It's an organized syndicate that for as much bad stuff as they do, probably does some good stuff. They might save kittens from trees and they might save people from burning buildings. If you are on the right side of them, they can be pretty good dudes.

You don't get to pick which flavor can you are on. You just get it. The latest star was put on a can of sparkling black tea with lemon. He threatened the person who nominated him with his life because the tea is so awkward. It's a sparkling black tea and that's fine but the lemon is almost like a candy lemon and something in there is a little bit botanical. Honestly, the whole drink was just kind of strange. Not bad but strange.

Like I said, the Yakuza can be alright. Hold the door for them when you see them at the supermarket. Don't talk at movie theater when they are there. Don't make a scene at a restaurant when they are eating close to you. You'll be fine. You like them but you don't want to make them one step closer to getting on a can using your head as a number.

A great thing about Vuka is that they specifically formulate their different energy drinks for different activities. They know that if you're staying up for an all night study marathon, you don't need a bunch of taurine or other chemical garbage junking up your drink giving you the jitters. You want to stay awake and to be able to concentrate at the same time. For this Think variety they use natural caffeine, gingko biloba, panax ginseng, same bitartrate as well as niacin and B-vitamins. Their other flavors use different ingredients and it certainly shows. The Renew Mango Peach gave me crazy energy and a bit of the old jitters, but with this one I don't feel insane at all. I just feel alert, and it's helped me get through a bunch of things I was not looking forward to on my to-do list.

The functional side of this energy drink is absolutely perfect. Unfortunately the flavor side of it doesn't come through as much. I'm all for stevia being used as a natural zero calorie sweetener, but from the taste of this it seems like they went overboard with it. It's like whoever was adding it to the batch got distracted by a dirty joke and accidentally dumped too much in whilst laughing. It's supposed to be pomegranate lychee flavored, but the pom flavor is very mild and I don't really get any of the old lady flavors of lychee in here at all. Mostly it's just the cold taste of stevia. I will say that the more I drank the less I thought it was gross, but it's certainly not my favorite tasting thing by any means. I would drink it again and power through the flavor to get the functionality out of it though.

I'm sorry this is not what you expected sir, but in all honesty did you really expect to be handed a scotch and soda or some such libation? I mean we are at an elementary school music recital. It would be more than a little irresponsible to serve alcohol at such an event. I'm actually shocked that these Hi Ball energy drinks were available in the vending machine. I mean why would kids grade K-6 have any need for energy drinks? Actually, why would kids so young have access to a vending machine? Shouldn't they be learning the basics of their educations, not chugging away at a soda?

Anyways, stop your complaining and try the drink. It's like tonic water with a splash of grapefruit flavoring in it. It's like a grapefruit seltzer, and it's not bad at all. It has organic caffeine, guarana and ginseng in it, and you would never be able to tell from the taste. I know you wanted to get drunk to make it through this night, but at least this will save you the embarrassment of your child seeing you fall asleep during his/her solo.

Sir I will not get you another. I'd like to point out for the third time that I'm not a waiter. I'm actually just another parent who's seat you have taken. Don't give me that garbage about not having assigned seats. You clearly moved my jacket that was on the chair when I went to the restroom. You also dumped my wife's purse out when she asked you to move. Now that I think about it, your trench coat leads me to believe that you're child isn't even in this production. Security!

One of my favorite things about traveling/touring is finding and trying regional beverages. Recently I found myself in a crappy little grocery store at 2am in Kansas looking for something to satisfy my hunger. There was no “natural” section to speak of, and hardly any vegetarian selections except for crappy chips and actual vegetables that I had no means to cook. Things were looking grim, and then I stumbled across a little display of these sparkling ciders. My night started to look up, but I left the store with a bag of flavored rice cakes and this bottle of cider. Sure I went to bed hungry that night, but I had a good taste on my tongue.

This is not a spiced cider, and I can only assume that they grow a different breed of apples in the Midwest than in Buffalo, so it ended up tasting more like a sparkling cran-apple juice than sparkling cider to me. I'm okay with that. It was still delicious. Basically if you give me a bottle of any juice that is carbonated with no added sugar, I am going to love it. The cranberry juice isn't very strong, so the apples do most of the work. Apples: The backbone of America.

Ladies and gentlemen, steal them from seafood restaurants or from your children, but do whatever you can to get yourself a bib, because we're in for a wild ride. Welcome to the 4th annual Westminster Chug-A-Thon, where literally dozens of people come to compete to see who is the national chugging champion. Due to legal issues, we can no longer use beer as our chugging liquid of choice, so this year we have a treat for everyone with some nice Blackberry Lime soda from the appropriately named Bibb company. We have a tanker truck full of the stuff, and that is about 8,000 gallons people. That's a whole lot of liquid, which means there is a good chance we're going to need the paramedics that we have on hand. It's also guaranteed that our contestants are going to be hurling the contents of their stomachs all over themselves, hence the bibs. There's only so much liquid the human stomach can hold, and they are going to need to empty their "tanks" several times if they are serious about winning. It's really a shame though, as the soda we're using is quite delicious. Actually, I feel odd calling it a soda, as it's more of a sparkling juice than soda pop. It's just blackberry and limejuice mixed with carbonated water and a little sweetener. With only 13g of sugar per serving, it looks like no one will be getting diabetes during this contest, which is good because we can't afford another lawsuit. Seriously though Bibbs has a great blackberry base with a strong lime flavor added to it that is nice and present without making you think that it should be called lime blackberry instead. It really is a shame that such a tasty drink is going to flood the streets in the form of regurgitation. With 8,000 gallons in the trunk there is sure to be enough leftover for everyone in the audience to enjoy a glass or two as well. So you're welcome and enjoy the event. Please put on your nose plugs though as we don't want another Stand By Me scenario this year.

I'm not wonderful with energy drinks, usually because I run myself on "E" a lot of the time. It's how I keep my slender figure. One thing you don't do is drink one on an empty stomach, which I idiotically did, and go and get the shakes like an idiot. I feel like my fingers typing this review are going faster than my brain wants to send down the commands for the words. It's probably bottlenecking in my stomach where the fantastic taco I just ate is residing temporarily.

Shakes aside, and let's be honest, that was my fault. This isn't a bad drink at all. It's fruity and is defiantly more "berry" than "lemonade" but I'm not really complaining. If you are on the "hater" side of the fence when it comes to Stevia and friends, you might and probably won't like this drink. It's not as bad as it could be but there is a prompt and abrupt interruption when you are enjoying the berry lemonade of it. The sparkling bit of it is a nice touch.

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.

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?

As you should know, Jason, Derek and myself made 1.3 million dollars last year. Jason bought a jet in which to tour with the Failures' Union, I bought a red and a black Ferrari Testarossa, and Derek paid back all his gambling debt and bought a gently used Geo Metro. We all wear fancy denim and eat only the finest tacos shipped overnight from Mexico every other day. We no longer drink water, tea, or pop but we drink pearl infused drinks. It has to be this way because nothing else can quench our thirst the same anymore. There is something about the effects of pearls on a man's stomach and face that just makes it irreversible. You can't go back to things that poor people drink like water. We scoff a lot more than we used to now that we've got all this money.

Our foray into the pearl infused drink line is this Seksi drink. It's a decent sparkling drink that does taste like pomegranate but does taste a little odd due to the sucralose. Sure it's the last ingredient on the short list of ingredients but it's strong enough to be somewhat distracting. Either way, this is our drink now because everything else is just not civilized enough.

Next time you see an airplane in the sky blaring nineties-esque indie rock, wave to it because it's Jay on his way to play some fancy, island music festival with U2 and Coldplay. If you see a Ferrari blaring down the road, holler at it and if you are lucky, I'll throw you some drinks at the next stop. If you see a Geo Metro with a bearded dude driving it, don't distract Derek because it pulls left and is a bit sketchy in second and the brakes need some work. Also the sunroof is aftermarket and leaks like a sieve.

If someone hands you a berry flavored drink 9.5 times out of 10, you know exactly what you're in for: an amalgamation of mainly strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. If you're lucky there will be some blackberries in the mix as well. Who doesn't love it when that happens? The other .5 of the time you get drinks like this. I don't know what berry they use in these drinks, but it has a vague hint of fennel to it. It's not much, it took me a long time to place the taste, but there is just something extra to the flavor that doesn't normally occur in berry drinks. Depending on the beverage it can possibly ruin the whole thing. In this, I kind of like it. It's strange and unexpected.

An sentence overview of this drink would read thusly: “A sweetened berry flavored sparkling water with the faintest hint of the little candies you eat after an Indian buffet.” I should know, that's exactly what my dinner was last night. Unlike my saag and chana masala, this is also brimming with electrolytes. I swear they are in everything nowadays.

Hey you! Yes, you over there. Come over here I have something to ask you. You don't perhaps find yourself to be an intelligent person do you? Oh, you think of your self as a bumbling idiot? Well, you certainly have a bleak self perception. How about you keep moving along then? Hey you! No, not you self admitted “bumbling idiot,” the guy over there in the red. Dear sir in the red, do you consider yourself to be a person of intellect? You do, good. I have something for you to try; it's a new energy drink that has been formulated specifically for those with above average intelligence. There are a bunch of flavors that work towards specific functions. Since you look like a man who has been worn out by his day, try this one. It's called “Renew' has it has a mango-peach flavor. I know isn't it weird that it's mango-peach and not peach mango, like every other drink out there? That's where the intelligence comes in. Mangos are better than peaches, so they deserve top billing. Would a dummy think of that? You can bet your bottom dollar that they wouldn't, but then again you certainly wouldn't be on your bottom dollar because you are no idiot.

The thing about Vuka is that it's not your average energy drink. It tastes more like a flavored sparkling water with a little something extra, rather than toxic sludge. Who wouldn't like a sweetened sparkling water that tastes like peach and mango? You got me; the sugar would certainly make it into a soda. See you are smart. It is on the lighter side of pop though. There is a slight aftertaste to it that is reminiscent of alcoholic beverages, but it's not too terrible. I myself can't stand the taste of alcohol, and I was able to drink this with no problem.

If you're concerned about the energy aspect of Vuka, it has the same amount of caffeine and taurine as a comparable sized can of Red Bull. On top of that it also contains a bunch of B vitamins, panax ginseng, d-ribose and grape seed extract. Don't worry about it. It packs quite a punch.

Now doesn't that all sound/taste great? Now I'll just need to inspect your wallet for a quick background check. I'll run it to our offices around the corner and I'll meet you back here in twenty. I sure am lucky to have run into such an intelligent gentleman such as you.

I understand sweating. I know how it works and why it does what it does. It's pretty cool. Here's what I want, though. I would like to over-hydrate myself to the point where my entire body and all it's pores just leak liquid. Sure, I would probably be dead if this were to happen but I want to be like Spongebob Squarepants and just leak like a sieve. I would either be outside in swim trunks or inside a bathtub in whatever I want. I wouldn't do it in your living room or at a fancy dining establishment. I understand that it would be for a limited time but I would like a solid ten seconds of every pore crying like a girl watching the movie "The Notebook" for the first time.

This drink, although quenching, did not turn me into a human colander but it was good. When you call something "citrus" flavored, it's kind of strange. It's like a purposely nondescript flavor. Oh, it's citric, but it's not quite lemon, orange, pineapple but it's a mix of everything citric. It's a good flavor but that's my gripe. It's nice that it's sparkling because it's light enough that it tastes more like a carbonated juice rather than a citrus pop. It is very good. Calorie count is responsible at eighty and you know what? It is a very good drink that I would drink again if I didn't have an increasingly growing cache of drinks.

This ain't your grandma's loganberry. This, my friends, is the first carbonated loganberry drink. It was hard to avoid loganberry as a kid growing up in Western New York. It seemed like every corner store and restaurant had one of those continuously flowing glass loganberry dispensers next to the soda fountains. I know I would drink a tall glass of the insanely sugary drink easily as a kid, but I wouldn't even dare to do so now. I recently came across some in a fountain and found the flavor nostalgic, but the drink to be too thick with sweetener.

When I heard the news of a sparkling loganberry drink hitting the shelves at Tops this past weekend, I was expecting it to be a loganberry soda. To my surprise when I picked up the 4-pack, I noticed they used pure cane sugar as a sweetener instead of high fructose corn syrup that is usually in loganberry. I wanted to drink a bottle on the way home but I resisted so we could all try it together when we recorded a podcast with Buffalo Eats later that evening.

Was it worth the wait? Most definitely! While this is a sparkling drink, it's very lightly carbonated which is really nice. The cane sugar also makes it very light and lets the loganberry flavor shine through. All my life I've been drinking loganberry that was drowning in corn syrup, so it's nice to finally be able to taste loganberry for what it is. The light and fruity taste reminds me a lot of Izze drinks, or HotLips soda.

I think this drink has a little something for everyone. If you grew up on loganberry, you need to try this. If you've never liked loganberry because it was too sweet, pick up a bottle and see if you like this because it's much different that any loganberry you've ever tasted.

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

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.

To put the capstone on my trip to New York, I wanted to do it right. I wanted to give a big "thank you" to Brooklyn for its hospitality so I found the highly regarded Manhattan Special. After that Arizona that was the same thing, on paper, this didn't have a high bar to jump over.

There was a bit of time before we went to dinner and I knew I had to catch a flight early in the morning so I needed to drink it now or never. I popped the top on it, took a sip, and loved Brooklyn all over again.

The sweetened, canned coffee drinks that I love have now been carbonated. It's got a great coffee taste and is justly sweetened. It never at any point made me feel like I was going to lose a tooth. The carbonation was just a nice touch. I feel like carbonating it was just a nice touch, something to push it over the edge of greatness.

Brooklyn, I will miss you as I sit in this terminal awaiting my flight that is miraculously on time. Manhattan Special was a nice way to go out.

Walk into a 7-11. Go towards the back where the Slurpee machine is. Now here is the hard part. Grab a cup and put some soda water in it. Like when you press the small white button next to the Coke or Mug root beer. Then shimmy over to the coffee machine and fill that bad boy up with the oldest, most burnt coffee, right to the brim. Shift back over to the fountain center and put some ice in there to cool it down. Then take a handful of sugar, all of them, artificial or real, who cares? Pay your $0.99 and go to your car. Give it a swirl and take a sip. Promptly make a face that looks like you just ate out of a momma bird's mouth.

I looked far and wide for this drink and now I found it and it unfortunately sucks. It tastes like how I described the scenario above. Gross. Joe DiMaggio, you should arise from the grave and White-Out Your name from this contract.