Derek Neuland - 489 Reviews

A think drink? Being the curious beverage consumer I am, I had to try it. According to their website, "Brain Toniq is the world's first organic, kosher, botanical-based, non-caffeinated think drink specifically designed for those who need more mental focus and clarity."

I was expecting this to taste gross, but to my surprise it's really good. It has a really light taste, and just the right amount of carbonation and sweetness (thanks to the agave). I can't really place the flavor though, but it's tasty. If this actually does what it says it can, I would drink this over soda/energy drinks any day. I'll just have to wait and see.

I have never had a drink with elderberry in it before. In fact, this is the first elderberry flavored drink we have reviewed so far. I didn't know what to expect from this drink, but I had high hopes. First sip, I thought it was really gross. It tasted like dry soda, which I don't like at all. But then I decided to look into this drink, and found out that it's made by fermenting malt and water, but in a way where it's not converted to alcohol. This explains the taste. This tastes like a juice that's been sitting out a little too long and the bottle starts to bulge because it's fermenting.

Through the fermentation taste, I get hints of the fruity elderberry taste. But sadly, the fermenting taste is too prominent for me to really enjoy this. It's also more bitter than sweet. This seems like a very sophisticated soda, definitely too sophisticated for me.

This bottle totally looks like something your grandpa would pull out of the fridge. As he opened it and started to drink it, you'd think to yourself "I wonder which war prevented him from drinking that soda, only for him to rediscover it 30-60 years later."

This cream soda has that old time look and taste to it. It has a really strong vanilla smell. So strong, I almost thought I was smelling a vanilla bean Yankee candle. It has a really strong vanilla cream taste to it too. It's so smooth, I almost don't mind the burn from the HFCS as it goes down. Though, if this was made with cane sugar it may have gotten a perfect 5.

Imagine finding a Hershey's with Almonds chocolate bar in a box full of chalk. It would be a weird sight, wouldn't it? Now imagine eating the chocolate. It would still taste like chocolate, but the chalk taste would still be there with every bite.

That is exactly how this drink taste. I want to like it, I really do. But with every sip, the chalk taste just sits in the back of my mouth while the delicious chocolate taste lingers on my lips.

I'm a big fan of grapefruit flavored sodas, and this one is a classic. It has such a crisp grapefruit taste that it makes my mouth water. The only downside to this tasty drink is the HFCS that is used to sweeten it. It leaves that syrupy consistency on my tongue after a few sips. I hope someday they decide to do a "throwback" version of this and use sugar as a sweetener instead.

I tried something new with this bottle of Jarritos. I didn't drink it while eating a burrito. I did this because I don't have any burritos at the moment. I also wanted to find out if my theory is true about burritos and Jarritos being a perfect match.

Well I think my theory was correct. It may be because I don't like strawberries that much, or don't usually go crazy over strawberry flavored drinks, but I'm going to blame it on the lack of burrito that I'm not that into this soda. It smells, and tastes, like strawberry, and it's really light and fruity with the perfect amount of sweetness. But something is missing, and that something is a burrito.

Lesson learned.

I almost didn't buy this drink because the first ingredient is "beer 70%". I have never drunk a drop of beer in my life. The smell of it disgusts me, plus I don't drink alcoholic beverages. But after consulting with my fellow Thirsty Dudes, I was reassured that this is completely safe to drink since like other Fentiman's drinks it had less than .05% alcohol.

After doing some research, I found out that shandy is traditionally a beer mixed with citrus-flavored soda, carbonated lemonade, ginger beer, ginger ale, or cider. This has lemon juice in it so I'm assuming it's the carbonated lemonade variety, minus the alcohol of course. Upon opening it, it definitely had a beer like smell to it. Not as strong as normal beer though.

The taste? Gross, plain and simple. It's like malted lemonade. I don't understand why anyone would drink this. Hopefully one of my housemates wants the rest of this bottle because I won't be drinking any more of it.

When I first sipped this, it tasted exactly like Red Bull. As most people know, Red Bull is an acquired taste and I happen to enjoy it. But I was hoping this drink would be different. I was really disappointed.

But then the aftertaste kicked in. It burned my throat, but not in the usual acidic energy drink way. This burn was similar to ginger beer, but not as intense. It was really surprising in a good way.

One thing I miss about living in Buffalo, NY is the abundance of birch beer. I even had a keg of birch beer at my high school graduation party. I cannot find a bottle of birch beer anywhere here in Portland. There's plenty of root beer, but no birch beer. Which is why I was excited when I got this bottle in the mail as it's been quite some time since I've tasted the sweetness of a bottle of birch beer.

This bottle goes down real smooth. It has a really nice vanilla taste to it. I really like how Wild Bill's uses real sugar, because I don't get that heavy taste that some birch beers give you. I'm excited to try all the other soda's Wild Bill's has to offer.

This was another bottle I got from Anthony of Rootbeerbarrel.com, hence the green stuff on the bottle.

I came across this gem at an Asian market. With a name like "Gettin' Cool! Strawberry Soda", how can you not give it a try? I can just imagine the Japanese television commercial for this. Sadly I could not find a commercial for it, but I'm sure it would be amazing.

This is the same company that makes Ramune, so it's no surprise that the bottle is unique. Unlike most bottles, which are made of plastic or glass, this is aluminum. I wonder if two R&D people at Sangaria sat in a boardroom for hours arguing the pros and cons of cans vs. bottles. Then around hour number five, the new guy comes up with the idea of an aluminum bottle to make both of them happy. They rejoice, shake his hand, and give the design team a call.

As far as taste goes, this was the first strawberry soda I've ever had. It was okay. It was sweet and smooth, with a decent strawberry taste. I probably wouldn't pick it up again because it wasn't that amazing.

Once again, my theory has been proven true. Burritos + Jarritos= perfect combination. This one was enjoyed at Don Pancho Taquería with a delicious veggie burrito. I love how flavorful this soda was. When they say mango flavor, they mean it! It was definitely the best mango soda I've ever had. It was sweet and refreshing. What more could you ask for a drink with a burrito?

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.

I blame Scott Pilgrim vs. The World for me buying this bottle. I have probably watched that movie 20 times in the past 2 months. Apparently the constant and obviously Coke Zero product placement in it got into my head because I don't ever buy diet sodas.

As far as zero calorie aspartame infused diet sodas are concerned, this isn't the worst I've ever had. The cola is smooth and light before the awful diet taste burns the back of your throat. All I can think about when drinking this is the aspartame turning into formaldehyde inside of me.

The art on the cans of energy drinks always amuses me. This can, for instance, is wrapped in barbed wire. I understand why they would do this due to the demographic they're trying get to buy their drink, but I wonder how many people they turn off? Or inversely, how many people actually pick up this can and go "Sweet! I'm getting the drink with the barbed wire on it!"

As far as taste goes, I am disappointed with this. I assumed since it was called "dragon berry" that the flavor would be a mix of dragon fruit and berry. Sadly, there is no dragon fruit taste, and the slight strawberry taste is masked by the usual nasty energy drink taste. This is definitely not the worst energy drink I've ever had, but it's far from the best. The energy part of the drink definitely works as I've only had 1/4 of the can and I already have the energy to clean my entire house.

A carabao is a domesticated subspecies of the water buffalo found in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. This is the reason for the skull on the front of this can. Why am I rambling about this? I have no idea.

I was surprised that this wasn't carbonated, as most energy drinks are I believe. Maybe that's just how they do it in Thailand. I was also surprised how not awful tasting this was. It's really sweet and doesn't have the awful aftertaste that most energy drinks have. It has a slight pineapple taste to it. But it tastes very similar to red bull minus the bite.

Juggalos of the world rejoice, it's our first review of Faygo! Even though this is labeled as a creme cola, it just tastes like cream soda to me. Not just any cream soda though, this is very close to soda mousse. For those who have never ventured into Canada before, soda mousse is a delicious red cream soda. Unlike traditional cream soda, it doesn't have a strong vanilla taste. Given the red color, my brain wants to associate it with a berry flavor, but there is none there. It's a delicious cream soda, and it's not just for fans of ICP.

It should be a law that Jarritos and burritos should be consumed together, because they compliment each other so well. I had a delicious (and giant) soy curl burrito with habanero sauce from Los Gorditos while drinking this. It helped extinguish the spicy burrito very well.

I ordered this flavor because I had never seen it before. I also made an ass out of myself when I asked for it because I didn't know it wasn't pronounced like the country. After doing some research, I now know Jamaica (pronounced ha-mayka) is made from a mixture of hibiscus flower and fruit juices. It had a really good sweet flavor to it. It was hard to decipher the flavors though the burning in my mouth, but it had a great cranberry and ginger aftertaste. I'm really excited to try this drink again when my mouth isn't on fire from an awesome burrito.

Most variations of vitamin water taste the same to me: sweet, sugary, and somewhere between juice and water in the thickness. This is no exception. I bought it because I was thirsty, didn't have my water bottle with me, and didn't want to buy water. It definitely did the trick. I really like drinks with dragonfruit in them, so I wonder if I'd like the actual fruit. I should explore this sometime soon since most of my fruit intake comes from juice.

Fans of Big Red gum take note: this drink is for you. I was expecting this to taste like a mouth full of cinnamon, or a fireball candy. To my surprise, it tastes like liquid Big Red gum. It has a strong cinnamon smell, but the taste is flavorful and mild. The cinnamon taste is rounded out by dried persimmon. There's also ginger in this, but it's so faint I can't even taste it. I can't say I love this drink, because I don't see myself picking this up again. It tastes really good, but I'm not that crazy about cinnamon. But if you really like cinnamon, definitely try this drink.

Jason had previously reviewed a similar drink to this one, so I had some idea what I was getting myself into. I found this at a local Asian supermarket and was simultaneously intrigued and terrified by it. So naturally, I had to try it.

I made sure to drink this over the sink in case it was so bad that it made me puke. Luckily, it wasn't as bad I expected it to be. It wasn't the worst taste in the world, but definitely something I never want to drink again. Jason said it best; it tastes like what I imagine the water run off from a potted plant to taste like.