United Kingdom - 46 Reviews

On route to who cares where in New York City, I picked up this bad boy. It's good. I wanted tea. It's like 80 degrees in October, dude. Jay and I are tired and thirsty, man. I got it and didn't think twice. It was kind of expensive but it's New York so who cares? $3. This place is an island. It costs more to get things here.

Cranberry Lime is a good standard. The tea is good. It's darker that I thought. It was pretty low in calories, too. 60 calories for the bottle. Calories. Who gives a rip? It's honestly pretty regular. Regular good. Jay says it tastes like Mamma Chia without the seeds. I'd get it again. That says a lot. They don't sell it by me.

Let's get things sorted, shall we. First off, this is a company with a French name, which means “beautiful.” Secondly, it is not a French company, and they actually reside in the United Kingdom. Finally, this is a flavor that leads my mind to not drift to neither France, nor the UK, but instead to the American South. This is something I could imagine being sipped on the porch of a fancy plantation in a time when racism ran rampant. Wait, am I talking about the 1800s, or 2018? Garbage humans aside, this is one hell of a beverage. It's as refreshing as anything on an oppressively hot summer day.
Something about the cucumber and mint gives it an almost pickle smell, but trust me that is nowhere to be found in the taste (as pointed out by recording engineer Jay Zubricky). This is pure luxury in a sipable format. It is mostly cucumber and mint, in a good way that does not resemble chewing gum one bit. I had thought that just being at that point would be wonderful, and the added lemon seemed like overkill, but I was wrong, it adds something wonderful to the mix. It hides around the edges and gives it the little bump it needed to become an ultimate summer beverage.

The British have a very different take on sodas and I love it. Growing up in the US you are fed your cola, root beers, lemon limes, orange sodas and the like. In England it's all ginger beer, dandelion and burdock, elderflower and other deliciousness that is strange to my American tongue. Okay, maybe they aren't all strange, but they are way different than what I grew up with and it's a difference that I can appreciate. I'm not sure if all Fentimans sodas are classic British flavors, but if they are myself, as a young boy would think they were from another world.

If you think about it, a straight lime soda isn't very common in the US. Sure we are up to the gills in lemon lime (and it can all be flushed away with the mass quantity of pet fish that have died), but just lime are hard to come by. Now take that and then throw some jasmine in it and you have stepped aboard Mr Toad's Wild Soda Ride. It's floral, it's very much lime and it's fairly bitter. It has a tonic water sort of taste to it, which leads me to believe that this would make a great mixer for liquor. When I mentioned that I bet this would go great with gin (which I have never tasted) I was told that both of them are made with juniper berries. Look at me being smart for once in my life.

While I do love this, I can only drink it in small amounts, which when you think about it is how you should probably always enjoy soda pop. This 16.9oz bottle with probably also last me five or six sittings, so I win again and again. I'm pretty sure 99 out of 100 children would hate this, but what do they know. This is a soda for adults, whether they want to mix it with alcohol or not.

This here was the pinnacle of the beverage experience in Iceland, and it is made by a company from the UK, whose other flavors are readily available back home. Not only was it the best thing I drank on this trip (well actually the tap water might have been, it was the cleanest and crispest I have ever tasted), it is definitely now my favorite flavor in the Fentiman's line. It is light, floral, and wonderful. It is closer to a seltzer than a soda, and that will get no complaints from me. Actually my only complaints are that it wasn't served to me in a bathtub sized container that I could sip on for hours and since that didn't happen, that I can't find it back home. This is a flavor that Americans are not used to, and that I do not know if many would enjoy. It's not loaded with garbage sweeteners and as I said it does have a slightly floral taste. I could see a stereotypical version of my countryman saying that they “don't want to drink a garden.” Well, they would be wrong, because this is one of the best things I have drunk in a long time.

Iceland: Day four. Four days of pretty much nonstop hiking, climbing, exploring and eating very little. Being veg here is not ideal. I've found my workarounds, but I have mainly existed on avocados and protein bars. Today was going to be a hike heavy day and I could feel that I was going to fade at some point. I grabbed this at the grocery store this morning for back up and sure enough come 3 I'm starting to nod out on our way to the next destination. A destination where I had to travel through a cave to get to a river, which I needed to cross via downed logs, which took me to a mountain I had to climb to get to a hidden waterfall. You know, every day stuff. Before we embarked I drank this down and it's pretty much another Red Bull facsimile. I'm sure if I drank them back to back I would notice a difference, but out here all I can taste is the chemically wonderful taste that I associate with the world's most famous energy drink. It should be something I hate, but I have a soft spot for it. I also haven't had caffeine in weeks, so I kind of lost my mind for a bit. Pray for Mojo. Oh and I totally didn't fall into a river or down a mountain, so it kept me as alert as it needed to.

Sometimes you randomly stumble upon fancy drinks in stores not known for carrying beverages. I found this at Home Goods, you know where normal people go to buy fancy cinnamon for their pancakes, and I feel that single bottle that was on the shelf will probably be the only one I will ever see in the US. It's a treat, but also a taunt, when it ends up being so delicious and you know you'll have to fly to another continent to try it again.

Berry sodas are known for their ridiculous sweetness and the joy of this is that there is nowhere near the amount of sugar in here that you would anticipate (9.3g). the result is that it actually tastes like fruit juice and not some sludgy syrup. I'm not exactly sure what the difference between Scottish raspberries and the ones you'd find around NY are, but every drink I have had with them in it is extremely delicious. While this is 32% apple juice and 1% or less strawberry and raspberry, both of those flavors really shine through. I would never expect their percentages to be so low. It is really the lime in here that brings it all together though. I feel it is equally present as the two flavors in the products namesake. You might find it odd that there is black pepper in here, but it is extremely faint, and I believe it's inclusion is only there to maximize the fanciness of the drink.

I just looked at the company's website and it bummed me out even more that I will probably never run across it again. Each of the seven different flavors looks incredible in its own way. Can I justify a transcontinental trip, just to try some new sodas? Can I work expense that?

PSA: Do not be concerned when you drink an entire carton of this some evening, and then wake up groggy in the middle of the night to have to go to the bathroom. The discoloration that you see in the toilet is not blood, just beet juice. There is no need to be thrown into a panic for two seconds before you remember that you consumed an unnatural amount of this juice and that it's a perfectly normal response from your body.

This is nothing but apple juice and beet juice and it's wonderful. I know beets aren't for everyone, but I love their earthiness in juice form. The apple juice cuts that a bit, but it's still there enough to remind you that what you're consuming most certainly must be extremely healthy. You also probably shouldn't consume as much as I did, but you know what? Live your life. Make your own choices.

I had this whole idea for writing to Scotland and telling them that we were cool now and that all is forgiven for that Iron Bru garbage that they spewed into the world. Then, I realized that Cawston Press isn't made in Scotland. I just happen to have been there the first time I drank it. Well, it looks like I still have beef with Scotland, but my love for England is still running high, due to it being the home of these sodas.

No other company in the history of Thirsty Dudes has gotten a five bottle review consecutively for all of their products. They are truly a gift to the beverage world. With this soda that took their patented sparkling apple juice and added a top notch ginger beer to it. This has it all, flavor and burn. You can taste the flavor of actual ginger and not just an intense burn, but it has enough kick to keep you interested.

It seems like a bit of a hefty price at $7 for a six pack, but that's less than $1.25 per can, and that is not bad at all for this quality of soda. I can't wait until their other flavors make it over to the US.

There has been a lot of big moves happening in the beverage world this year. Ecto Cooler is back. Pepsi released its delicious 1893 line, and cold pressed juices are everywhere. To me the most important thing that has happened in the world of drinks is that Cawston Press is officially available in the States and that should be causing gigantic waves, but it's going mostly unknown. Until now I have only ever had Cawston products while in the UK and they are no joke. They produce sparkling beverages that are based on the most wonderful apple juice. I believe all of their flavors start with that same base and then more is added to create the desired flavor and so far they have all been flawless.

This past weekend I completely lost my mind around midnight on Thursday and decided randomly to fly to Atlanta the following afternoon in order to go see The Cure. I ended up with ridiculous seats and a set list that I thought only existed in my dreams. The show was the happiest I have been in a long time. The following day I hung out with some friends down there, ate some amazing food, and went to the Coca Cola museum. It was a wonderful day. As I was getting a ride to the airport to fly home this can was pressed in my hand by my friend, and fellow soda enthusiast, Dakota. Now I had two ridiculously wonderful days and this soda was the perfect cherry on top of a great trip.

As I stated, it has a sparkling apple juice base, but the addition of the lemon juice skyrocketed it to a whole new realm. This is the greatest sparkling lemonade I have ever tasted. It's like someone made perfect lemonade and then poured some perfect apple juice into it and them soaked some elderflower in it. It's a slightly appley lemonade with a light floral taste to it. This very easily could have been too tart, but the apple mellows it out and makes it perfect. Do yourself a favor and if you run into any Cawston Press sodas in your travels pick some up. You won't be even remotely disappointed.

I've finally made it to the end of my journey. I send two and a half weeks in Europe, where I drank 45 beverages that I wrote review notes for. I didn't expect it to take me three weeks to actually get around to writing all of said reviews, but here I am writing the last one of the bunch. I started this by writing about a bottle of Feel Good, so it seems only fitting that my last review would be for the same company.

One thing I have learned from my adventure is that people in the United Kingdom love their lemonade. On top of that they like adding bubbles to their bitter-sweet treat. Feel Good decided to take their beverage in a little bit of a different direction than the classic version by not adding sugar to it. Instead they have embraced the natural sweetness of apple juice and added that to the mix.

There is also a little bit of lime juice in here. You would think that the lemon and lime combo would make it taste like 7Up of Sprite, but this is far from those forgettable sodas. You see this actually tastes like real fruit and not generic fake flavoring. It's like neighborhood kids made some lemonade to sell at the corner, but the plumber was over so their water was shut off and they used their mother's bubbly water as a substitute. Those dumb kids also thought that the lime was a lemon that wasn't quite ripe so it got thrown into the pile. It's great. Their mistake is your gain as the lime gives it just the right twist.

Europe, you were good to me and I can't wait to return and drink far too many of your beverages in such a short span of time.

This smells like a showgirl's dressing room in a retirement home. Let me tell you that would not be a pleasant place to be if such a place in fact did exist. This beverage has the scent of far too much perfume and old ladies. It's horrible, but two be expected when two different flowers are mixed together. Luckily the flavor is infinitely better than the nose on this thing.

The elderflower is the stronger of the two flavors, but there is definitely some rose in the planning hijinks. It's right on the cusp of going overboard and taking things to far. It seems like it's going to just up and throw a pie in your face (that's what showgirls do, right?), but at the last minute it decides better of it, gets ashamed and hides in with the scenery. I'm pretty sure that it's the lemon juice in here that is the moral compass that the drink needs. It keeps everyone in line and brings the best out of all flavors involved.

This is one of those drinks that you are unsure of after a sip, but the more you drink it the more you learn to enjoy it's intricacies. Don't be put off by that smell. Think of all the wonderful things your grandmother did for you over the years, and then forgive the scent, and the unwrapped pocket candies and learn to love it like you love her.

Feeling good is something I think everyone can get behind. I mean unless you're a masochist, no one is sitting around thinking of things they can ingest in order to make themselves feel terrible. Who out there has said something along the line of “Oh man I can't wait to get home and eat that deep fried pizza that has been dipped in hot chocolate and covered in powdered sugar. It's going to make me feel like such garbage, it's going to be great!”

This company makes beverages that you can feel good about drinking. There is no added sugar, or artificial garbage to make you feel run down and gross. They are simply juice and sparkling water. This one in particular is mango, orange, passionfruit, apple and lemon juice all melded together into a perfectly unique flavor. It has just the perfect amount of carbonation and it's lightly sweetened due to the natural sugar in the fruit. I could drink this constantly and not feel a bit of regret. It's near perfect. American companies take note. If you don't want to see that dystopian future that is in all those movies, start making juices like this. It could in fact save mankind.

After I drank the Levi Roots' Mango N Pineapple soda I had some reservations about giving a different flavor a try. There are some pluses to the soda, I mean it does contain some actual juice, but then again there are artificial sweeteners that just ruin it all.

This appears to be the same soda, except with the apple juice mixed out for grapefruit. I'll tell you that the grapefruit is the real game changer. It really cuts through the flavor and helps mask most of the artificial sweetener flavor. With some sips you get more of a pineapple taste, but one thing that is constant is that the orange flavor is always just mellowing out in the background. It is the roots rock rhythm of this soda.

With the use of real sugar this could have been fantastic, but as much as you try to cover it up the taste of sucralose/acesulfame is going to be there in the undertaste. Did I make that word up? I'm going to start using it, because I like it and I think it should be a real word, if it isn't already.

Of course after I spend a week and a half in the UK, and only have one day in Germany to grab all the drinks I can, I end up getting a juice that is produced not far from our home base back in England. Eh, I do what I do and who are you to judge me? Oh the people who read this site and make it worth doing? Okay, I'll accept your judgment.

This juice sounded very interesting and it sounded like reality? Did I just blow your minds? Let me restate that, It tastes exactly like you would expect it to from the flavor. It's mostly apple juice, with a little bit of kiwi added for a nice pleasant taste. It's calming. It's relaxing and it's delicious. Then the lime sneaks up behind you and punches you square in the mouth. Suddenly it's a whole new adventure. The lime is so strong and authentic tasting that it took me by surprise. I quickly grew to love it and before I could take a breath the bottle was gone. This is simply fruit juice that is thick and smooth and I loved every second of it.

Now I'm sure that rhubarb grows somewhere in the United Kingdom, but will forever be associated with American country living to me. I can't think of a single time in my life where I was offered rhubarb when I wasn't on a farm. Goats, bails of hay, horses, barn cats and rhubarb are all grouped together for me. Oh yeah and don't forget strawberries. Is there anything better then being on a farm and plucking a strawberry from the plant and jamming it in your mouth. Oh man, the tiny ones are so damn good.

Now that I think about it all of the things I've mentioned could very easily exist in England. Maybe I just need to spend less time in the cities there and more in the rural areas. I once spent two days on a farm in Bavaria and it was one of the best experiences in my life. Everything we ate was grown on the farm. I'm talking homemade veggie burgers that were composed of fresh vegetables. Being vegetarian was never so good.

Okay, I retract my statement. I will assume this makes sense abroad, and let it be. I now wish that I had been on a farm over there whilst I was drinking this. Instead I was in a kitchen of a friend's house in Wales. It was a perfectly pleasant place to be, I had a cat and dog around me, but it didn't have the same effect as a farm.

Okay, pondering/complaining aside, this sure is wonderful. It's subtle and the rhubarb isn't over the top (not that I would complain if it were). The strawberry is very present and it's just shy of tasting like fresh fruit, which is quite a feat for a concentrate. I wish I had some bubbly water here because this would make one fantastic soda. It's more than fine with still water, but the bubbles would take it over the top. Now just close your eyes and think of goats as you take a sip.

Pull the arrow back. Feel the quill in your fingertips. Set the target in your sights. Release. If you were a marksmen your arrow would fly true and hit that sucker dead center. If you were this drink you would be somewhere just outside of the bullseye. It's so close to being right on the money, but that little distance can mean a lot in the competitive world of archery.

The juice has a heavy blueberry taste that is rounded out by apple. The thing is that it lacks the robustness that I so badly want from it. I blame this on its origins being from concentrate. It only contains 1% blueberry juice, but that is the prominent flavor. If it was straight, pure juice it would have been strong enough on it's own and it wouldn't have had to outsource the work to grape, orange and lemon. It's a shame because I had high hopes, and the cheaper juices just won out.

I could have sworn that we had already reviewed this. I mean I know Mike and I purchased some years ago, because that is when Mike proclaimed that blackcurrant smells like feet and urine. I can't really argue with that statement, but I think it tastes just fine.

Growing up we had red currants growing in my backyard. Those berries were wonderfully tart, and nothing like this. Black currant falls somewhere between a grape and a blueberry, with the grape is on it's way to becoming a raisin. Luckily it tastes better than it smells, but it also tastes a bit watered down.

Could this be a great drink? I personally don't think it ever had any hope of that. It is okay though, and it could be a little bit better without being so watered down, but this is a huge company in the UK so they have to be doing something right.

Before the world of automation I feel like working for a coconut water would be pretty great. You'd get to wander through nature looking for coconuts to chop down from trees, and just spend your days outdoors. Yes I know that they are probably grown on farms, but I'd like to pretend that you had to meander through the jungle with a cart collecting the bounty for companies such as Cocofina. Later in the day you'd have to bust your butt cracking open all of those coconuts to get the sweet, sweet nectar inside, and that would be no fun. I mean have you ever tried to open a coconut? It's nearly impossible with a hammer and a screwdriver (yes I'm well aware that I'm an idiot).

The coconuts in this little “juice box” have been imported from Thailand. I wonder if they ship the whole coconuts, or just vats of the “milk.” It's gotta be just the “milk,” right? I mean think of the cost of shipping coconuts whole. I also wonder if the impending civil war in Thailand is going to affect the coconut water game.

As I said this comes in a “juice box,” which is a little strange. I didn't think it would be enough liquid in the container, but by the time I was completely satisfied. Its contents are very smooth, and they taste like high quality coconut water. It's a win here folks.

I've looked it up and elderflower plants thrive in the United States. Why on Earth hasn't this flavor epidemic swept over us? Sure pomegranate, mango and acai are wonderful and all, but I want, nay, I demand companies start releasing elderflower flavored beverages! I don't want to have to rely on trips to the United Kingdom to get my fix, or paying ridiculous amounts of money for imported drinks. Is there some sort of conspiracy I'm unaware of that is keeping the elderflower down? Do we need to march on Washington? Was that statement insensitive? If so I apologize, I am just very passionate when it comes to this specific flavor.

As you may (but probably don't) know I am not a fan of concentrates/cordials. I can never seem to get the ratios right, even when I use measuring cups. They just never taste right to me. I like a consistency to the taste of my drinks that they just don't provide. Yes I know it's something wrong with me and not the concentrates.

The thing with this cordial is that I have experimented and no matter what ratios I put together, it tastes fantastic. I'm making it with still water, and it's not quite the same without the bubbles, but I'm not letting that stop my enjoyment. This is sweet and vaguely floral in the best possible way. I would liken it to lychee if it didn't taste like old lady perfume, but also different enough to make it mouth watering.

Get on board America, the train is leaving without you.

Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap.
I bought this in Edinboro, Scotland at a little shop where I got vegan haggis. I ended up getting a water to accompany my meal, and slipped this can into my bag where it went forgotten for a couple of days.

Cut to a couple countries later and I reach in my bag for a granola bar and find this floating around at the bottom, still somehow fairly cold. I didn't expect much from this from the get go. I'm not a huge rhubarb fan, and the sodas I've had of that flavor were perfectly fine, but nothing exceptional. This though, this is a game changer. I've been kicking myself ever since I drank it that I didn't drink it with my haggis. I would have instantly bought several more cans for my travels.

I suppose I should tell you what this glorious liquid tasted like, but I'm afraid I won't be able to do it justice. The Cawston Press company bases all of their beverages on apple juice, and they do that very well. Without the addition of the rhubarb this would have been a nearly perfect sparkling apple juice. Sure they add some sugar, which I normally frown upon, but they made it work and taste natural. You add a little bit of rhubarb to that and the flavor just skyrockets. You would expect the rhubarb to be overpowering, but it sits perfectly in the mix. It's a match made in heaven that no one else has seemed to exploit yet.

I need to stop thinking about this because it's depressing me that I don't know if I'll ever be able to taste this again. Perhaps I'll book another tour with the sole reasoning of acquiring more of it.