Real Sugar - 8 Reviews

Although I have never watched it I will just assume that this soda was created as a companion piece for the television show Becker. All I know about it is that it starred Ted Danson and he was a doctor. For all I know it could have been a spin off from Cheers where Ted went into witness protection, changed his name and got a PhD. Let's pretend that's the case. Let's also pretend that Dr Becker also always has a hankering for off-brand Dr. Pepper. He loves the real thing, but no longer feels he can support them because they never sent him his “I'm a Pepper” shirt he ordered when he was a teenager. As a result there is a continuing sub-plot of the show where every episode he tries another brand, but they are never as good. In the series finale he finally finds a brand called Dr Becker and it's everything he dreamed of. It tastes like a classic Dr Pepper made with cane sugar, but with a splash of black cherry in it. It's not syrupy at all. It's the soda of Becker's dreams and as he takes his final sip, he looks at the can and gives a little smile as the credits roll. Now that's good TV.

Max was a strange boy. He was obsessed with all things orange. Not only did he eat the fruit and drink the juice constantly, but he also used orange soap (hand and dish), burned orange scented candles and painted everything in his home the color. As I said there was something off about that Max boy. No one would ever expect this boy to come down with scurvy. A typical meal for him would be oranges to eat, orange juice to drink and for dessert he would put a little sprits of whipped cream on top of an orange slice. One day it dawned on him that he could recreate his dessert in the form of a beverage. He first tried mixing orange juice with whipped cream, but the cream ended up curdling and even though it tasted fine, the idea of it made him want to vom a little. On his second attempt he used orange soda with a little bit of orange juice mixed in and added the whipped cream to that, then mixed it all together into a uniform consistency. The result was subtler than orange cream sodas he had tasted in the past. Since he used whipped cream instead of the traditional vanilla cream, it wasn't as strong and didn't taste like a creamsicle as much. The flavor actually fell in-between that of an orange cream and regular orange soda. He decided to call it orange crème, so he could pretend he was fancy and foreign. As I said, Max was a strange boy. A strange boy whose complexion eventually turned orange, and not from tanning too much.

You would think that a Jamaican ginger ale would just be called "ginger beer", right? Well that's why I make the big bucks and you are a dummy. You know that Jamaicans love spicy things like ginger beer, salsa, chicken wings, and spicy tuna sushi rolls. Yep, those are the Jamaicans we all know and love. Hey, do you think that every Jamaican teenager has a tapestry of Bob Marley? If so, I hope that it's cheaper since, you know, he's local. I hope that is the case. I would also hate to see that they had to pay full price for a Bob Marley record.

Because of these few prerequisites, I don't think that Jamaicans would like this ginger ale. I, an American, really liked it. It tastes like ginger, doesn't have bite, and is perfectly sweetened. It's better than most ginger ales that I've ever had and now I will not forget it next time I drink some garbage, Joe Lunchpail, ginger ale. I love ginger beer, and the hotter the better, but this is a separate drink all together.

You know how sometimes you have a bit of a scratchy throat? You just find yourself clearing it all the time for no reason and you think that it's annoying but really, people don't care. They understand. It happens to the best of us. It just happens and we deal with it. It's life.

Suggestion. Do not drink Simply Lemonade (with raspberry) when you are suffering from these life-threatening conditions. It tastes like you're drinking sandpaper. Great tasting sandpaper, but sandpaper nonetheless.

All other times of the year, please, by all means, treat yourself to this beverage. It's pretty sweet and the lemonade cuts right through. I, personally, couldn't tell "raspberry" was in it. I knew that it wasn't straight lemonade, and I appreciated that he had a tag team partner, but the sweetness and acidity from the lemonade really covered up the other flavors. There is pulp in it, which is also the sign of an impending good drink. Either that or a poor strainer at the factory it's made at. I trust that it was on purpose.

All the same, I would drink this again because it was very good. It's a lot more sharp than the Calypso lemonade, which I find smoother compared to this, but it's a different sort of lemonade and I liked it. It's summertime, though, and I think that most lemonade is pretty exceptional.

Given that the company who makes this soda is based out of Wyoming, they're really going after that "olde time western" feel. Judging by the label, I feel like I should be watching an old Clint Eastwood movie as I drink this. Sadly, I don't have a copy of The Outlaw Josey Wales (which is my favorite western of all time) so I'll have to do without it for this bottle.

By now, I've tried enough different ginger beers to be able to smell it and know how spicy it's going to be. This has a light ginger smell, so I knew it wasn't going to be too intense. With little sips, there's barely any burn. Big sips you get a nice burn, but it's not overwhelming. This would be a perfect entry-level ginger beer for someone who doesn't want to burn their throat just yet. What makes this ginger beer unique is the sweet after taste. It's not in the ingredients, but a brown sugar sweetness lingers a little after some sips. It's a really nice contrast to the ginger.

This is a damn fine can of cream soda! It's exactly how i like my cream soda: light and creamy. Since it's made with sugar (instead of high fructose corn syrup), it's not overloaded with a sugary taste. It may have been just my perception being off, but this can seemed to be carbonated way more than I'm used to. I was burping after the second sip. While it's not the best cream soda I've ever had, it's definitely in the top 10.

I am a big fan of colas and I grew up drinking Pepsi. One thing I never liked about it though is the sharp aftertaste it had due to the high fructose corn syrup. With Pepsi Throwback, that biting aftertaste isn't there so it just goes down smooth and the cola flavor really stands out. After drinking soda sweetened with sugar, it's almost painful to drink a bottle with HFCS. I don't understand why Throwback is only available for a limited time because I think it is better than original Pepsi, and I'm sure a lot more people think so as well.

On first sip, Blue Sky Cola is a lot lighter than most cola. It also lacks the sharp bitter taste that Coke and Pepsi have, which might please people who don't normally like cola for that reason. This may be due to the fact that Blue Sky uses real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, or possibly the lack of caffeine (which is uncommon among colas).
Blue Sky is owned by Hansen Natural Corporation (who also make Hansen Natural sodas). These two brands seem to be the most prominent canned natural sodas so it's interesting to see that the same company owns both.
Overall, this is one of the best colas I've had recently. The smooth taste and lack of high fructose corn syrup really puts it ahead of the rest. Though the lack of caffeine throws me off as I usually associated coffee and colas with caffeine.