Scotland - 9 Reviews

The image on the can is a cow wearing an upside down American flag. It's pretty fitting for the current political state of this country and that is all I will say about that.

Even after all these years it still kind of blows my mind that Barr's is just the cheap soda in Scotland. It's everywhere and the cans have 39p printed right on them. Their counties garbage soda is a high quality soda here and I am jealous. Actually, I'm more envious. I would also probably drink way more soda if I lived there and that's not going to do me any good.

Another thing Scotland apparently likes to do is add raspberry flavoring into other sodas. They somehow made the best ginger beer by doing just that. Unfortunately it didn't translate as well with cream soda. This starts off so great. It's a nice fruity cream soda that is reminiscent of Crush's Soda Mousse. Somewhere in there though it takes a turn and a taste rears up that is similar to coconut. I don't know what is causing it, but it takes me out of a wonderful experience. It's like they used coconut water instead of regular water for the base of this drink. It's just strange. If that particular aspect of this drink were gone this would be completely fantastic.

Let's cut to the chase. There is far too much garbage in the food that we consume. We ingest so much junk that we would never even consider putting in our mouths if we saw it in its true form and not mixed in with our food. Hell, there are a whole bunch of ingredients that are allowed in food in the US that are completely banned in other parts of the world. We are poisoning ourselves, and for the most part we don't care. I know I eat tons of this junk without even thinking about it. It's just easier to be ignorant, or force yourself not to think about it. Will I die sooner because of it? Probably, but do I really want to be around when I'm 80+ years old? I'm less than half of that now and I don't know what to do with my time.

Okay, I went off on a death tangent. My point is that there is a cubic buttload of unnecessary ingredients in food that are more than likely harmful. We tend to think that they are there for a purpose, but then a drink like this comes around and proves you wrong. This lemonade soda is simply carbonated water, sugar and lemon (juice, fruit and flavoring). It has a decent shelf life and it tastes great. So what is the point of all the other junk companies use? This tastes like homemade lemonade that was put in a Soda Stream. It tastes like lemons and that is all I could ask for from this. This will not kill me, well unless I get diabetes from the sugar, but that's a different death altogether.

We live in a world where there is a bear in New Jersey that just walks around erect on its hind legs all of the time. It's not someone in a costume; it's just the coolest bear ever. It's just a matter of time until more bears adopt this mode of conveyance and that will most certainly lead to bears riding skateboards, as seen on this can. This portrayal of our furry friend is the peak coolness that any bear could hope to achieve. It makes sense that it should adorn the can of one of the best ginger beers I have tasted in a long time.

Now I love a good burn in my ginger beer, which you may know as I never shut up about it. This soda has somehow surpassed that love of mine. There is definitely some heat to this drink, but it's more on the mild side and it does not overpower the actual delicious flavor of this soda. There is a ridiculous amount of ginger flavor in here with some burn at the end. It's very, very good and the kicker is that this is “cheap” soda in Scotland. The cans are like 40p each. If I lived there it wouldn't just be the deep fried everything that would make me fat.

I don't know why John is so moody. What does he have to complain about when he's created drinks such as that perfect raspberry ginger soda, and now this traditional ginger beer? Also, the guy lives in Scotland, which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, and also the place where I have come the closest to losing my life. I know that John has something against me, so I thought that knowing how I nearly tumbled down a cliff side onto the jagged rocks below might bring a smile to his crabby face. Alas it did not. He's still complaining about everything. I don't know how to get him out of his slump. Then again if it's his disposition that caused him to create this fantastic ginger beer, maybe we should just let him be.

This is the smoothest ginger beer I have ever had the pleasure of tasting, and I've had quite a lot. Normally I prefer more of a burn to my ginger sodas, but there is something about this that just sits perfectly with me. It has enough of a burn to keep me happy, but at the same time it manages to be so damn smooth that 90's R&B songs should be written about it. John, you keep doing what you're doing, and I'll keep reaping the rewards of your unhappiness.

While I know in reality this is not true, with all of my heart I want to believe that the huge contribution of the Jamaican/Caribbean culture in England came from the Clash going to record Give …€˜Em Enough Rope in Jamaica. I'd like to think that they got so hooked on the cuisine on their trip that they came back home and made it for everyone and it just caught on like wildfire. It's such a ridiculous notion that it's wonderful.

I unfortunately know this isn't true because the Ka soft drink company started in the 1960s, nearly 20 years before Mick, Joe, Topper and Paul make their trek. The company claims their drinks are based on original Jamaican soft drink recipes, but they are either liars, or they just did something wrong. I've had pineapple sodas from its country of inception and they are generally wonderful. This Ka pineapple soda is completely middle of the road. It tastes very generic. I wouldn't ever question it if it were store brand. It's perfectly fine for family parties, but I wouldn't drink it for my own pleasure. I will listen to the Clash's second masterpiece now and pretend I have a more fitting soda.

Let's go through the things I know about Scotland. I really like nearly every band I've heard from there, It's where the Loch Ness Monster resides, It's the home of the grossness that is Irn Bru. Haggis is served there. Glasgow is one hell of a drinking town that tends to get violent. They apparently deep fry everything. Scotland: The carnival of the United Kingdom. Okay that might not be an official term, but with the amount of deep friend food in that country, perhaps it should be.

So I like the music, but the food and beverages are not really up to my standards…€¦or so I thought. Everything I knew about Scottish cuisine came crashing down around me as soon as this John Crabbie soda touched my lips. I, my friends, have been converted. This is one of the single greatest beverages I have ever tasted. I knew a raspberry and ginger soda would be right up my alley, but I didn't expect it to be executed so perfectly.

Let's start with the magic. This says that it just has raspberry flavourings (note the U) in it, but they somehow perfected it and it tastes exactly like I'm jamming my pie hole full of fresh berries. JC and Co could have stopped right there and this would have been an amazing soda, but they are apparently famous for their ginger beer, so they decided to add a little bit of that root to this soda as well, which took it up to a level that will be hard to beat. At first I thought that the minimal burn was a let down, but then I realized that if it were more present it would distract the drinker for the wonderful raspberry taste. The way they did it everything sits perfectly in harmony.

I can't express to you how upset I was when I had finished this bottle and I realized that even though I had access to more, I shouldn't purchase it because there were so many other sodas I needed to review for this site. So thanks Thirsty Dudes for keeping me from what could have been my one true love in this world.

When you are a kid you make a drink that we locally call "The Lasertron Special" where you take one cup and run down all the flavors in the fountain drink machine. This drink might as well be called that because that's what it tastes like. It's got the strange bubblegum taste of Kola Champagne and the creaminess of a cream soda and a little bit of, I don't know, like a ginger ale or something in there.

I think this drink is someone related to Irn-Bru because they both come from Scotland and have a similar taste and I feel similarly about them, not enthusiastic and apathetic. Sorry, Scotland. It's nothing against you; it's just against your taste in drinks. I haven't written you off yet, my kilted friends, so don't worry.

If the labels on can and bottles are any indication everyone in Jamaica ingests nothing but ginger beer all day long. Okay, sometimes they mix in a little pineapple pop, but other than that straight ginger beer. I think that is a place I would like to visit. You wake up in the morning turn on the tap and out flows ginger beer. Even the “water” in the toilets is actually ginger beer. It's heaven for those who crave the burn. For those who are babies and can't handle the spice it's akin to the lake of fire in Hades.

I find it humorous that I bought this drink in Canada by way of the United Kingdom. It's like playing Seven Degrees of Jamaica. I was up in Toronto with Night Birds, and I was the definition of a glutton. I don't think I stopped consuming food and beverages from the moment I stepped out of the car until I was driving back to Buffalo. At the point when I saw this I was already ridiculously full and had to pee like nobodies business, which is terrible in a city with no bathrooms. I'm shocked that Toronto doesn't ever really smell like urine. Good job guys. Anyway there I was walking around and I passed a candy shop that had a bunch of coolers inside. I really didn't have a chance but to enter. One of the coolers was pretty much all British drinks. Unfortunately I was almost out of Canadian money and I needed to save some for veggie dogs on the way home. Ever the sucker for ginger beer I went with this can. Sure I could have just held on to it, but the gluttony was calling my name, so I cracked it open the moment I finished off my bubble tea. It smells very spicy, but I thought it had a medium burn. I let (read: made) my friend Dave Dluga try it and he said it burned the hell out of his mouth. I guess I've built up a tolerance. It was extremely flavorful with a bit of a kick. It was actually a nice blending of burn and flavor. If I ever find myself back in the UK I'll be sure to drink a bunch of these, especially with a 49p price tag on it. I ended up paying $2.25 Canadian. Ouch.

I can't put my finger on this. It's not bad, but it's not anything I would feel the need to drink again. According to one "source" this is the official drink of Scotland. If so, Scotland, you can do better. This is clearly a soft drink but the flavor is a mix between soda water, orange, and bubble gum. If someone could sum it up better than that, please, do so.