College Club - 19 Reviews

Jay and myself got a tour of College Club and I've been sitting on my stock of drinks for months now. I've got a lot of flavors that I really want to try but there are so many other drinks that I have to review I have to put them by the wayside.

Today was yet another scorcher. Maybe "scorcher" is exaggerating a bit but I would say that between the heat and the immense humidity it was borderline unbearable.

This pop sure beat the heat. It was just what I wanted and I was lucky enough to discover that it wasn't too sweet. I am typically scared of that with flavors like strawberry, grape, and other fruit flavors.

This is a large bottle and I put a wine stopper on it. I had to lean it on an angle because it couldn't stand upright. My girlfriend opened the fridge and it exploded...everywhere. It covered the entire bottom half of the fridge and a nice puddle on the floor with a nice coating of strawberry pop.

Needless to say, half of that bottle and went down the drain angrily.

Tom, a dude that works where I work, is from Rochester, NY. When he found out about Thirsty Dudes, he instantly told me about a place by where he grew up where you could drive your car into the warehouse and the employees would bring stuff right to your car. He's in his thirties and talked about it like he was ten. He said his favorite flavor was the black cherry. I told him I had some at home and that I would bring it in next time I came in. So I brought it in, told him I brought it in, and he seemed pretty excited. Excited enough, in fact, that at about ten in the morning, he poured himself a cool glass of it.

Since he couldn't be the only guy partying down so early in the morning, we all had a glass ourselves and I've got to say, as a man drinking something I probably haven't in fifteen years, I'd be psyched to relive all of the flavors that I had as a kid. As a man who hasn't had this before and didn't know what to expect, it's a pretty average black cherry pop. It's not bad by any means, but it's nothing to write home about, unless you're writing home to say that you found some know-it-all kid who reviews drinks found something that you grew up with that you haven't had in years.

Someone please write their parents about me. I don't even care if you know me. You can get a pretty solid feel of what I'm all about in these reviews. Make stuff up, I don't give a rip, just let me know what you write. I'm interested in the tales you will make up.

You are a citrus demon. You can't have enough. You eat lemons for breakfast, grapefruit for lunch, and limes for dinner. Oranges are snacks to you. The acidity running through your blood would burn through the toughest metals but it somehow is contained safely in your veins. If you were stabbed, your blood would eat through the knife before it got to any vital organs.

When you're thirsty, you don't reach for an iced tea. Not even a lemon iced to can quench your acid driven thirst. Not even the sourest of lemonades can quench you at times. This time, when you are in need, look no further, for College Club has developed a secret blend of grapefruit and lemon. This isn't your grandpappy's half and half. It's tart, a bit sour, and yes, obviously tastes like Squirt. Side by side I might be able to pick out the lemon, but alone, it's a whole lot of grapefruit. Actually, now that I think about it, it was tamer than a Squirt so I wonder if the lemon calmed it down a bit and kind of turned down the grapefruit.

Either way, you'll love it and it is, without a doubt, a great summertime drink. Put some ice in a glass, and if you're some sort of fancy pants, put an umbrella in there. Also, since you love it so darn much, College Club only makes it in quarts so drive on down to Western New York and go through their drive through and pick some up. Talk to the brothers while you're down there. You won't regret it.

We had people over for an impromptu grilling session at our house yesterday. I consumed way more beverages than any one person should in that short of a time, so now I have to play catch up.

We cracked open a couple of bottles of College club for everyone to share. I had yet to try their Golden Ginger Ale, and I really don't know why I waited so long. Their Pale Dry Ginger Ale has a very strong ginger flavor, which is not as sweet than most sodas. With this variety they flip-flopped it. It's way sweeter and the ginger is lower in the mix. So now you can fine-tune your soda choice to your tastes.

College Club, based out of Rochester, NY, puts out a decent size line of quality sodas. It's a small family business that has been passed on for several generations. We were lucky enough to go to their factory and assist them in bottling some of their soda. It was great to say the least.

We've been enjoying their pops for quite some time now, but somehow we have failed to write a review for their root beer. The first thing I'd like to say is man is it good. It's not a fancy brewed root beer, but it is in the upper echelon of "normal" root beers. It's dark and flavorful. It doesn't taste like spices and herbs, but it also doesn't taste like candy. It tastes like the purest essence of the root beer you would drink as a kid. It's similar to a Mug or a Dad's but it's of a higher quality. We're proud to have them as a fairly local company.

Nothing says "party" like cake and pop. It's true. Pizza might help. Pointed hats, too. I feel that the basis, the core, of a party is cake and pop. If you don't provide these things you are either:

1. Old


2. A lame adult

That's about it. I hope that you, my faithful Thirsty Dudes and Dames fit into neither category.

So today I had a get together at my house and, as one would assume, had ice cream and plenty of beverages. I got this new stock from College Club when Jay and I went there about a month ago and I decided that it was time to bring it to the masses. People all seemed to want the cream soda and the cola champagne. I happily opened both of them and let them have at it. I've had the cream soda before and loved it. The cola champagne was a new addition and I was excited to try it.

I. Did. Not. Like. It. You know who would like it? Nay, love it? 8-years-old kids. An 8 years old boy would love this because it is wildly sweet and it tastes like bubble gum. A couple people liked it and one person said that it was better than the cream soda, but they are simply wrong and I did not let them get away with such blasphemy.

They can't all be winners and it's pop like this that can be a fun experiment and if it sells, it sells, but it won't be sold to me again any time soon.

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.

Who doesn't love the fair? What's the best part of the fair? Okay llama fashion shows are, but coming in a close second is the food and drinks. This tastes exactly like fair birch beer. It would be crisp and refreshing on a hot summer day. It's got that great bite that should be accompanied by fried dough. Can't you just smell the midway now?

We're finally heading towards the end of our Monroe Beverage Co adventure. Only a couple left. The grapefruit left a little to be desired. It only faintly tastes like grapefruit, unlike the other grapefruit sodas I've had. It just tastes sugary with a very slight sourness to it. It's not bad, I was just expecting it to be stronger.

This is the thickest of the Monroe Bottling Co. sodas that I have had. It tastes like your average orange soda. Nothing special. It's still tasty, but it's just nothing new. So fire up the grill, get out the veggie dogs and let's get this BBQ started.

This is great, a pop that actually tastes like the fruit it's supposed to. It tastes like someone dumped a whole mess of sugar on a pineapple, and threw it in a blender. It actually reminds me of a Slurpee flavor. I was told that it tastes exactly like the old Sunkist pineapple pop that used to exist. I was also told it made my friend parachute little men. Strange times indeed!

My friend Mike said that this is the best ginger ale he's ever had. I'll lead off with this. There certainly is a lot of ginger in this lil' bottle. There are some ginger ales that are pretty sweet and some ginger ales that aren't. This is right in the middle. It actually takes you for a loop. You think that it's super sweet, but then you realize that it's all ginger, doing her job. It's sweet, but there might be more ginger than any other ginger ale I've ever had. If you believe that ginger ale will cure your aches and pains, this would be the one to be papa doctor.

This is how this drink went down. I'm at work. I'm thirsty. I open the fridge. I decide that today is the day I try the peach College Club. I crack it open. The first sip hits my lips. "Holy crap this tastes exactly like an actual peach." A few seconds pass. "Wait no it doesn't at all. It tastes like peach gummy candy. Awesome!"

It may be overly sweet, and not really taste like a peach, but it's still pretty darn tasty.

You, over there, you bring balloons. You with the hat on, you bring streamers. You two are in charge of the cake and you over there with the ugly face, bring pizza. None of that thick stuff, either. The thinner the better. Oh, me? I'll bring the pop. No Jimmy, I won't get diet pop. What, do I want to kill my friends? No, it will be grape. Yeah, dude, grape pop. It's a party isn't it? What other time would you drink grape pop? Parties are grape pop's only outlets.

This, so far, is my least favorite pop from Monroe. It's got a good initial "candy" grape taste, but kind of quickly gets a bit medicinal. It's thick, too. It also feels syrup-y. I know that's not a word and I don't care. What, am I going to use the word "viscous"? Not in this review, buddy. Lowest common denominator.

This pretty much tastes like someone carbonated the syrup that was left at the bottle of Maraschino Cherries. It reminds me a lot of a Shirley Temple, but without the slight lemon kick. It's ridiculously sweet. Not something I could drink very often, but I would go back to it every once and a while.

HOLY CRAP IT'S SO GOOD!

Aside from it being the darkest creme soda I've ever had, it's probably the best. It hits hard and cold, like a refrigerated pop will, but as soon as the temperature calms down and you can start to taste flavor, it's smooth as can be. Smooth as a baby's butt. Smooth as silk. Smooth as a river rock.

Go buy some. It's fantastic. This will be a return flavor for me.

What a crisp drink. I've been finding that there are some great drinks at holes in the wall. This one, like the others, was found at Black Rock Beverages. It's such a throwback. I love it. The small, reused bottles with pry-off caps are so retro, but for them, it's the way it's always been.

This was a nice, fast, sweet drink. It's close to 7-up and Sprite, but different. My friend Matt I let try it says that he likes it and doesn't like 7-up and Sprite is impressive. Like I said, it's got a sweetness and a definite citrus flavor, but nothing you can put your finger on. According to the bottle cap, it's got citrate and lemon lime extract so there you go.

If you want something different but somewhat familiar, get this. Seriously, it's $0.30. Get two. Your girlfriend is in the car waiting for you.

This is a delicious, inexpensive, historic treat. Firstly, remember when we were kids and we used to drink out of reused bottles? No, not recycled, reused.

This pop is in those bottles and, in my opinion, flavored with real sugar.

It's a quick, sweet cola taste that is short lasting and is a bit reminiscent of Coke.

Love it, buy it, and bring the bottle back.

We were tipped off that the Black Rock Beverage Center in Buffalo had bottles of strange pop for $.30 each. We went to check it out and it was a goldmine. They had about 15 different flavors of "The Pop Shoppe." We bought an assorted case and headed home to try them out. We soon found out that The Pop Shoppe was an old company from Canada that went out of business, and that many bottlers reused their old bottles. A couple of the bottles say Monroe Beverage Co on the sides of the caps, so we're assuming that is the name of the company, even though we can't find much info about them, other than they are from Rochester, NY.

Okay enough back-story.

This is a tasty little bottle of pop. They made a lime flavored beverage that actually does not taste like cleaning fluid. Not only that but it tastes like melted green freezie pops. It says it's made with corn sweetener. It doesn't seem very thick, so I'm not sure if that's the same as HFCS. It's pretty great, and a steal for $.30.