Cane Sugar - 601 Reviews

Ginger People are known for their intense ginger candy, so I had a feeling this was going to kick my ass (or stomach in this case). I'm really glad they didn't let me down. This ginger beer has a deep burn that settles really nicely in your stomach. It has a great ginger taste too, but it's not the most intense ginger beer so far. I've had a stuffed nose all week, and after a couple sips of this I was all cleared up. I swear that a good ginger beer is medicinal.

This is an orange cream soda that doesn't taste like a creamsicle. That is something that piques my interest. I like me some creamsicle pop, but for the most part if you've had one, you've had them all. This was a pleasant surprise. I'd describe this as 60% orange pop, 30% cream soda and 10% honey. I love Thomas Kemper for their use of honey in their sodas. It's always noticeable without being overbearing. I think there's a Winnie the Pooh joke in their somewhere. It gives them such an advantage over their competitors. I can't wait for them to expand their empire in an easternly direction.

Two pushes of websites on one day equals stress. Pushing websites on a Friday? Stress. Knowing that the next phone call you get could be your girlfriend telling you to rush home because you're having a baby? Stress. I thought what better time than now to drink one of my relaxation drinks. I finished it about ten minutes ago but have been milking it for a good half hour. The taste isn't so bad. It's a bit diety because even though the primary sweetener is sugar, there is sucralose in there as well. Why? I don't know. I didn't make the drink. The flavor isn't bad. It's a crisp, carbonated pop with more of a berry taste than a pomegranate plus berry taste, but I'm not finicky about that.

But what's it doing to me? I wouldn't say sleepy as much as I would say...spacey. Not that sick, floaty feeling, but that feeling you get when you drive to the mall and then it hits you that you don't remember driving to the mall. You know you drove, but it was so second nature that in retrospect it feels downright dangerous.

Since I'm taking the train and the bus home, I can feel confident that I don't have to drive and I can relax while people look at me as I have plugs, a giant beard hidden in my hood that I wear up constantly and probably look intimidating but really I'm just a white kid that plans on listening to the Thompson Twins "Into The Gap" album. There's nothing tougher than that.

I'm pretty sure Jimmy Buffet is involved in the production of this tea. I mean it says Margaritaville right on the label, and I can only image papers would have been served if he weren't. If I ever get sued, it better be by someone like Jimmy Buffet, someone completely random. I can't imagine this ever being served at Mr. Buffet's paradise island without someone ruining it by pouring a bunch of rum into it. Gross. I'm glad that I was able to get to it before some idiot messed it up by turning it into a cocktail. Green tea and orange is a pretty great combination. When this is ice cold it's a pretty perfect beverage. It's not insanely sweet, but sweetened enough as to not be bitter. I'd drink these in a beach bungalow all the live long days.

Often when you see something all the time and it's readily available, you take it for granted. Like that time you lived in Halloweenland for that year and you could get Boo Berry and Frankenberry whenever you wanted. Then you moved back to the United States and realized it's only available for three weeks out of the year. Total bummer. That's how I feel about Johnnie Ryan. It's made about 20 minutes away from my house and everywhere around here carries it. As a result it never jumps out at me, so I rarely drink it. I will be the first to admit that I am an idiot. It's pretty great. It falls somewhere in-between the worlds of major brand sodas and what I like to call "fancy pops." This is an above average cream soda. It's heavy on the vanilla, just the way I like it. Remember kids, just because something is made local doesn't mean that it's substandard quality. It also doesn't ensure that it's amazing. It does mean you should give it a fair chance, and hopefully you'll enjoy it.

The world became aware of the plight of Africa through the Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle Blood Diamond. I'm here to let everyone know about another travesty that exists on this planet. This one isn't a world away, but occurs in my own country. Every day down in Florida children are losing life and limb every day in order to harvest one of the most coveted item in the world, the blood orange. Children ages 6-10 are sent into the depths of the orange groves of the "Wang of America," bushels in hand. They climb rickety ladders, risking splinters. You would not believe the lower back pain these children will experience later in life. The sunburns? Don't get me started.

We will forgive Thomas Kemper for perpetuating these crimes against humanity for yet again creating an incredible soda. I would work out in those fields myself in order to ensure this drink stays in production. It tastes more like an Italian soda than a regular soda pop. It's nice and light and full of wonderful blood oranges. I can taste the blood of the completely fabricated victims with every sip.

The kids are all skipping school. Some of them borrowed their mom's SUV, while others are rocking their step dad's pick up. I seriously think that every single person in the United States between the ages of 16 and 35 knew someone who would drive their step dad's truck in high school. It's just a coming of age thing I guess. Now back to the story. Everyone piles out at the beach with their boom boxes, coolers, blankets and towels. Those who are lucky enough to be born with skin that doesn't ignite as soon as the sun touches it run off into the water immediately, the others like myself hunker down in whatever shade they can find and pull out a bottle that looks exactly like this. Everyone, and I mean every single person, whom I showed this bottle to said that it looks like a bottle of sun tan lotion. They are all totally right. I was kind of surprised when I opened it up and it didn't smell like that fake coconut sunscreen scent. Lucky for VIB, it smells like limes, and it doesn't make you want to vom if you get it in your mouth. In fact you should try to get it in your mouth, all of it. It's actually really good. It's heavy on the lime, light on the mango. I really think that more drinks need a heavy lime flavor. It's really good. It really just tastes like a lime soda, which has a slightly weird aftertaste.

This is a relaxation drink made to calm you down. It's not made as a sleep aid, but to relieve stress. You can drink it during the day without fear of passing out. You wouldn't really need it at the beach, unless you're the girl in the bikini that Johnny Pick Up Truck keeps hitting on. If that's the case watch out, if he meets you out in the waves he's totally going to "accidentally" pull down your top. What a creep. You should totally write slander about him on the stall in the girl's room when you get back to school. Better yet sneak in to the boys room and write, "for a good time call..." with his number. That will show him.

Before I started reviewing drinks for Thirsty Dudes, I probably would have thought this was one of the best root beers. Now that I've tasted a lot more root beers, I might be a little jaded. Don't get me wrong, this is a good root beer, just not the best I've had. It has a strong vanilla taste and goes down really smooth. The carbonation is also really light, which is nice. There is honey in it, but I didn't really notice much. It's not as prominent as the honey in Thomas Kemper is.

This is pretty darn great. It's a nice, spicy ginger ale. It's about 75% of the way to a ginger beer. That honey though...woo! It's kicking for a little bit, like the second wind of a soccer player, but then cools down because of the honey, like the fat, out of shape dad of said second winded soccer player.

It's amazing what honey does to a beverage. I also like how Thomas Kemper doesn't give a rip about the "bee shortage" and uses it to sweet/mellow out their pop. I feel like I taste a bit of cinnamon and maybe nutmeg in there, too, but since it's just "spices and herbs" on the bottle, only Mr. Kemper knows for sure.

This is a really good and really different drink and I encourage no one to pass it by and not get it if they haven't had it before. This honey aftertaste is something special, a force to be reckoned with, indeed.

Dry soda is such a strange thing. It's almost like seltzer water without the horrible aftertaste. This has such a great vanilla scent. It smells like the afterthought of when you take a big wiff of a bottle of vanilla extract. For how strong the smell is, the taste is surprisingly tame. It's definitely there, but it's not over the top. It's right up front. With each sip you are greeted with a pleasant mild vanilla, and then it's suddenly gone.

This is most definitely a soda for adults. If you ever gave this to a kid they would give you the "you gotta be kidding me" look. If they were young enough, it might even bring on some tears. If they were old enough your home would more than likely get TP'ed just like the old fogy's house that gave you popcorn balls for Halloween when you were a kid. If anyone in this world deserved the "you gotta be kidding me" look it was surely him.

Oh Alo the wonderful drinks you make. To begin with, you are the only aloe beverage company that I have had that uses actual fruit juice instead of artificial flavor. That alone makes you stand out. The fact that your aloe chunks are about 5x bigger than your competitors also adds to your charm. After my recent adventure in the world of mangosteen, I can say this definitely tastes like the fruit. I just found out that a health food store in Buffalo now carries these, so I'm pretty excited that I'll be able to get them on the regular.

With the exception of a couple of root beers, I don't think I ever had soda that was sweetened with honey. I never really thought about it, but now it seems strange to me that more companies don't use it in their pops. Thomas Kemper loves their honey. In fact it's part of their image. Like awkwardness in Michael Cera movies, honey is the unifying factor in their sodas. I don't care if he pretty much plays the same character in all his movies. He's entertaining and he makes me laugh. Honey doesn't make me laugh. There's nothing intrinsically funny about honey, or bees for that matter. Well maybe bee stings, like when Martin Short gets stung in Pure Luck. Now that was humor. See honey has gotten me off track.
This is one of the creamiest cream sodas I've ever had. That aforementioned honey makes it even smoother. That vanilla...wooooohooo that's some strong vanilla. It's like the essence of a dozen boxes of Nilla Wafers liquefied into one glorious little bottle. Thomas Kemper has their niche with this whole honey business. It's gives all their sodas a distinct flavor. I could totally pick them every time in one of those blind taste tests that were all the rage in the 80s.

When I'm looking for an aloe drink, there is no shortage. I've got so much selection that I can drink a different flavor every day for a week. I'm not saying that I have them on my person at all times and I don't wear cargo pants and carrying a week's worth of drinks in your pocket, unless you are planning on spending a week in the desert, is pretty stupid. I used to wear cargo pants. It was the 90's. What did you do in the 90's that you wouldn't do anymore? I bet you did a lot you regret. It was a rough time for everyone and cargo pants were our salvation. That and carpenter pants. Who carries hammers everywhere? That one I'm surprised made the jump from function to fashion.

Anyhow, this Alo has big ol' chunks. There are bigger ones than Aloevine or even Foco. The flavor is a nice mix of pomegranate and cranberry. Both are a little subdued, but still very good. You can taste the pomegranate and just the flavor, none of the bite, of the cranberry. The chunks are like flavor explosions in your mouth.

I've found this at nature stores. So if you have a Price Rite, that's where I've found it. I'm sure they probably have a "where to buy" section.

Oh, also, drink this cold. It's not too fantastic lukewarm.

See that pickup truck over yonder? I want to be in that truck speeding down some old country roads, listening to music way too loud, while drinking this half and half. In this scenario will I be taking this truck off-roading to do some "muddin'?" Of course I will be. I'm a red blooded American aren't I?
I feel weird that I've been drinking a bunch of half and halfs and lemonades recently, because to me they are summer drinks. It is currently a snowy mess around our parts, so summer is a world away. Maybe I should just crank the heat to 90 degrees in my apartment, light some "freshly cut grass" scented candles, close my eyes and just pretend. While doing that, I don't think there is a better half and half I could drink. Joe's makes their beverage with real brewed tea, cane sugar and real lemon juice. It's as down home on the farm as you can get. A farm where there is a red pickup truck that has recently been covered in mud.

I just booked a vacation to Hawaii for a friend's wedding. I'm planning on completely gorging myself on pineapples while I'm there. I mean to the point where my tongue is bleeding from the acidity. I decided that I would celebrate my purchase and start conditioning my body for all the pineapple intake. Unfortunately, there is no real pineapple in this drink, only artificial flavoring. Due to that it doesn't really taste like pineapple. It does taste just like pineapple Slice used to. I enjoy this a lot. Not all pop is supposed to taste like fruit, and I need to keep that in mind.

My earliest encounter in life with jasmine was on the skin of hippy girls and in the head shops, which they frequented. When I was in high school the hippy girls all either wore patchouli or jasmine oils. As a human being that understands how their sense of smell works, I obviously enjoyed the jasmine over the dirty hobo smell of patchouli.
I've also had two different types of jasmine in foodstuffs. The first is jasmine rice, and the second is the jasmine tea that is served in a lot of Asian restaurants. Both of these have a very specific smell, and a very light taste.
I got this soda as an Xmas gift from my girlfriend's parents. I had expected it to be a very concentrated carbonated version of the jasmine tea I've drank with many a fortune cookie. I cracked open the bottle and I expected to have my nostrils greeted with the sweet scent I am accustomed to. That did not happen. In it's stead was another earthy smell that I would except to encounter in some natural food store. It also did not taste like the jasmine I was use to. Maybe what I had experienced in the past wasn't really jasmine because one of the few ingredients in the soda is pure jasmine extract. This doesn't taste flowery at all at first, but there is a slight floral aftertaste of jasmine, but only if you really concentrate. It almost tastes fruity with a lot of sugar in the mix. It's not what I expected, and I'm a bit let down by that, but I did enjoy it. It's a strange complex flavor, one that I could see myself growing to enjoy a great deal.

I thought we reviewed this but we didn't. That pleased me because Jay and I often feel that we can't drink things for pleasure anymore. Everything has to be reviewed and the time spent drinking old drinks is time that we can spend reviewing new stuff.

Enough of our sensitive, manly feelings. This is exactly what I wanted it to be. It's a little sweet and a little bitter and a little...lemony. It is a very honest drink that doesn't have anything to hide.

I've consumed a lot of aloe drinks in my time. This is one of the best that I've had. It tastes fresher than most. It also has the biggest chunks of aloe that I've ever had in a drink. They are so big in fact that I would call them hunks, perhaps big hunkin' chunks. It also helps that it's the only one I've had that has actual juice in it (30% to be exact). You can really taste the grapefruit juice in it. It's also rare that a grapefruit drink actually tastes like the fruit, but Alo hit the mark. It also has Pomelo in it, which I wasn't familiar with. It turns out that it's an Asian fruit that tastes like a light grapefruit. Now I must search out a fresh Pomelo. Wish me luck in this frozen tundra.

I am enjoying this root beer by Thomas Kemper much more than the one with high fructose corn syrup in it. It goes down really smooth and has a very traditional root beer taste. This also has honey in it, but it's not as prominent as it's HFCS counterpart. So my advice to Thomas Kemper: ditch the original line of root beer and just make this version of it. It's so much better.

*Note: Just like the other Thomas Kemper root beer, I'm giving this three bottles even though this one is much better. The reason being is that in the grand scheme of root beer's, there's nothing special about this. It's a very average tasting root beer.

This is a pop that I was really excited to get. How could I not be? Leninade? Communist soda? Incredible! RealSoda.com are producing some interesting sodas. Hopefully we'll have some more to review in the near future.
I expected this to be like British sparkling lemonade. Unfortunately, like everything in communist Russia, it lacked boldness in flavor. It doesn't taste like lemonade at all. It's more of a lightly flavored lemon soda. There's nothing bad about the flavor, I just expected it to be stronger.
I'm can imagine cases upon cases of these stocked up in warehouses. The people are lined up waiting for their daily rations of soda. All the while the communist leaders are cursing the propaganda of Ayn Rand while guzzling their sodas.
This is totally worth it for the bottle alone. I will leave you with one of the many quotes from it. "Beware the repressed communist party animal who is really a proletarian in denial masquerading as a bourgeois cold war monger."