Maine Root Mandarin Orange Soda

The rocky coasts of Maine are a wonderful place. It's blustery and the air is salty. There is no other place on this Earth (that I have visited) that makes you feel more like a sailor. When I'm there I constantly feel like I should be wearing waders and smoking a pipe, telling tales of Old Gregg.

While it is a wonderful place that makes me feel connected to the vastness of the sea, there is one thing that could not possibly grow there: oranges. I believe that is why this soda lacks a little something. The ingredients in here are carbonated pure water, organic cane juice and spices. There is no mention of fruit of any kind. I suppose ground up orange rind could be considered a spice, but to me that is not orange flavored.

To me this just has a general sweet soda taste with some flavoring in it that tastes more of orange holiday spice than and actual mandarin orange. It's also not consistent from sip to sip either. The bottle says settling is normal, and to roll it to help mix it up, but there is only so much rolling you can do with a carbonated drink, and I believe I reached that point without achieving consistency

In it's own way it's a decent drink. Just be advised to not go into it expecting a standard cheap orange soda, nor a carbonated orange juice. It is neither of these things, nor does it fall anywhere between them. It is its own entity, forged in the caverns of Maine. After you try it, tell me one thing: “What did it mean to you to drink that?”