Jason Draper - 2709 Reviews

A vast majority of the people in the United States, let alone the world know of the wonder that is the state of Wisconsin. It's famous for cheese and beer, two things that I couldn't care less about, yet it may be my favorite state. I know it's probably all in my mind, but it feels like a simpler place where everyone is friendly (Well, except Milwaukee. I've almost gotten into a fight with Nazis there, have witnessed a drug deal gone wrong, and played a house that had a drive by a few weeks prior). I have had conversations with people about how a band could do a two week tour of just the state playing all of the wonderfully named towns. I also played my best game of Galaga ever in a laundromat in Appleton. If all of this isn't enough for you, they also have the grocery store chain Woodmans, which comes in second after Wegmans in my world.

Another thing that Wisconsin has is a decent amount of breweries that make sodas. I came across Point in a cheese shop that my traveling companions wanted to stop at, and was excited to pick up a few flavors. Later that night I decided to enjoy this root beer while I ate one of the most disappointing calzones of my life (not in Wisconsin). On paper this should be a wonderful soda. It's small batch brewed, it's sweetened with Wisconsin honey and it has real vanilla in it. Unfortunately all of these great things somehow couldn't save this root beer. Things started pleasantly enough it's nice and creamy but then there was something lingering underneath. It wasn't anything that made me dump out the bottle, but it tasted off, almost burnt. I checked some other review sites and everyone else seems to love this root beer, so I'm left wondering if I got a bad batch, or if the bottle was old. If I ever come across it again I will pick up another bottle and give it a second chance, because it's from Wisconsin, and it has premium ingredients. I just don't want to accept that this isn't good.

As a child one of the most annoying things that could happen on a hot summer day was when someone would bring a huge bowl of watermelon to an outing. I believe it has been scientifically proven that all kids love watermelon, and at these moments without fail as I reached for the refreshing fruit, someone would stop me and tell me that it was a treats for adults only. I was always so bummed that adults for treats when I didn't and it took me a while to realize that it meant some turd had dumped a bottle of vodka or something like that into my glorious fruit, hence ruining it. Actually as a non-drinking adult I have had the same experiences with the same results. The amount of times in my life that I've had to speak the phrase “Is this safe for me?” are more than I'd care to think about.

The bottom line is that everyone loves watermelon in the summer, so don't make it an exclusive thing with your dumb booze. If you do make sure you keep some separate for those who don't want the alcohol, or grab a couple of bottles of H2Melon. It is a cold pressed juice with watermelon being the only ingredient. It's just the fruit juiced and nothing else, and that is wonderful. I really wish that it was blazing hot out while I sit here drinking this, but sometimes timing doesn't work out and it's mid-November in Buffalo. I'm certainly not going to wait eight months to let this juice pour over my taste buds, just for a proper experience. I'm going to drink it now and use its glory to transport me back to a relaxing summer day instead of trying to stay warm without turning the heat on (it's a little game I play).

This tastes exactly like what it is, watermelon. I do have to say that it tastes a bit like the rind was juiced with the pulp of the melon. I personally don't mind that and I think it's actually essential for a proper watermelon experience. You always get a little bit of rind in your bites when eating the fruit, so they are just keeping things authentic. If you are someone who hates summer and refreshment stay away from this juice, but if you crave summer sip away. You might not actually feel the warm sun on your face, but this makes it easier to pretend.

These “Ten” sodas are a game changer for those watching their calorie intake without going overboard. They are a middle ground between diet and regular soda; meaning that there is a mixture of HFCS and sucralose used to sweeten them. This tastes like someone took a can of regular RC and a can of diet RC and mixed half of each together in a separate can. There are hints of a diet flavor, but it's not as overpowering as most diet sodas. I hate sucralose sweetened diet pop, but this is something that I did not mind at all. Sure it lost a bit of the bite of the regular cola, but tradeoffs must be made for the sake of lower calories.

For someone who is fairly indifferent about coffee, I really, really enjoyed this. I know, I'm as shocked as anyone. Obviously it's the mocha that pulled me in, but it also has a nice coffee flavor that I think I would enjoy even without the added chocolate. Maybe I just need to try more high end coffee beverages. Perhaps I just don't like the cheap garbage served at most places. More than likely this was a right place at the right time scenario and it just hit the spot. Regardless as to why I enjoyed this coffee, I think it's safe to say that if it works for me than those of you who truly enjoy a beverage of this sort will really love it.

Did I mention the chocolate? The mocha in here makes it insanely good. This is the first coffee beverage I have ever drank that tastes like they used nice dark chocolate and not just some Hershey powder, or some garbage like that. If this were hot and served at a coffee shop I would assume that they took a high end chocolate bar and shaved some of it off and let it melt in the coffee. I don't know how it works with this being cold brewed, but I am expecting to never find an iced mocha as good as this again.

Everyone knows that wolves howl at the moon. What we don't know is why they do it. Sure there's some magic with a full moon that transforms human into beast and inspires wonderful movies, such as Ginger Snaps, but what else is there. I submit is that while in the moonlight (were)wolves can get a clear view of their paws and are reminded that they simply do not have any ginger beer to drink and they howl out of frustration. I know I would do the same in that situation. The bottle also tells me of a legend that an elixir brewed with ginger and steeped for a fortnight can bring on the change from man to wolf. I don't know if ginger has the same effect as a full moon, but it is certainly delicious. Actually I'm going to say it doesn't work. I've drunk enough ginger brews in my life and have never changed form. Maybe the steeping time was off, but yeah I'm calling poppycock.

This ginger beer may not cause a change, but it does make my taste buds happy. It's made with natural ginger flavor and hot pepper extracts so it has a nice burn to it. It's not too out of control, but it's more than I had expected from a beverage made by Orca. Along with that burn is also a nice sweetened ginger flavor. This is actually what I look for in a ginger beer. It walks the line between burn and taste without falling off of the tightrope. I wonder is being part wolf helped with that balance.

Since I have not been presented with evidence to tell me otherwise I am forced to believe that bears are used to harvest the berries that are used to flavor this soda. From what I have seen, the animals are not harmed, or even caged. They roam free through the Rocky Mountains and just return to the bottling plant with their huge paws just full of blackberries. I have no idea how the folks at this company worked this deal out, but perhaps they have been in touch with the folks at Sprecher, who also employ several species of animals. Just imagine bears coming up to the back door of the factory, dropping their days gatherings and receiving a nice chin scratch in return…€¦adorable.

The bears gather only the ripest berries and the result is a soda that has a fantastic, light berry flavor that tastes nothing short of authentic. The use of beet sugar as a sweetener makes sure that it doesn't; taste overly sugary, but it also doesn't give it that generic soda flavor, since the berry taste isn't overpowering. It's one of the best berry sodas I have ever tasted, and that is a flavor that I am very particular about.

I will say that you folks are playing with fire though. Statistically there simply must be at least one mauling per year. I guess the math must just work out to make it cost effective. I guess I would also take my chances though because I totally want to just hang out with that bear, lounging around and eating excess berries.

Hey folks, I'm here to dismiss the myth that cowboys are all whiskey and sarsaparilla. They are not two dimensional beings; they have more depth than that. One top of those two classic beverages cowboys also love lemonade. Actually that's it. Cowboys only drink whiskey, sarsaparilla and lemonade. They just don't have a taste for anything else, well of course they do love beans cooked on an open fire, but we're talking beverages here folks. Does the banner at the top of this page read “Hungry Dudes?” I think not.

Jackson Hole makes some very special sodas and I can now report to you that they also make some kinda great lemonades. This beverage is very tart, but at the same time it's very sweet, like proper lemonade should be. There is 42g of sugar in this bottle, which I wish I didn't know, but I'll force myself to forget that fact. The lemon juice used to make this is from concentrate, but the huckleberry juice is not. That leads to a nice tartness, as lemon juice concentrate can be very strong, and for a great berry taste. One thing that is for certain is that this is not a beverage for gulping, but instead it was formulated for sipping on horseback out of the range. That is on the extremely rare occasions that cowboys had access to ice.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I miss a time when soda brands all had their own individual nuances. Every cola had its own little quirk and that is what made them special. For the most part these days there is just a general cola flavor that a majority of the companies have adopted. Perhaps corn syrup is to blame. I'm not really sure, but it's a total bummer. With the resurgence of cane sugar and “throwback” Coke and Pepsi the differences seem to be more noticeable, but it's treated like a novelty. Foxon Park treats their sodas differently. They want them to be special and classic, which is exactly how this bottle of Kola tastes. Don't be thrown off by the switching of letters this most definitely is a cola, but it tastes the way sodas would back in the day. It has its own specifics even though it is part of a crowd. It doesn't taste like a Coke, a Pepsi, or even an RC. It tastes like Foxon and I am a fan. I hope to come across their other flavors in the near future.

Did you know that there is a war going on in Australia? It's not the type of thing you would imagine, but it gets pretty rough. The native animals of the continent flat out hate each other and they will just tear into each other if presented the chance. It's a hatred as old as time, but in recent years they have somehow directed their pride into the soda flavors that are created by their national treasure Bundaberg. The koalas hold the rights to the burgundee creaming soda, wallabies run for the passion fruit, wombats fight for peachee, dingoes fight for root beer, and of course kangaroos are running the show with the most sought after soda of all; ginger beer. They are straight up like soccer hooligans out there in the outback. They just gang up on each other, fighting to prove that their soda is the best.

An underdog in this fight is the platypus. They tend to not get involved. Most people say it's because they would be destroyed by the bigger animals in the fight, but their venomous spike on their back heels can do quite a bit of damage. The truth is that the platypus knows that their soda, blood orange, may not be the best as it has a few flaws, but they love it all the same and they don't need anyone else knowing how great it is. They want it all for themselves. Their soda is made with actual blood orange juice from concentrate and not some weird chemical equivalent. You can taste that level of commitment in the soda. Sure it has a yeast brewed quasi alcoholic taste to it, but once you become acclimated to that it's a wonderful ride. Other animals on the island have been trying to draw out the platypus by making unfounded claims that their soda is no different than any store brand orange soda. The weird creatures that are filled with venom just sit back and laugh at this. They know their blood orange soda is so much more; It's much darker and flavorful. They just stay out of it all sipping on their soda while the rest of the animal population of Australia destroys itself. They may indeed someday inherit the nation.

I have never had a diet beverage that was passion fruit flavored before. The entire concept seems like an oxymoron since it's such a sweet fruit. It feels like the amount of sugar naturally contained in a single passionfruit would be more than the allotted amount in a drink labeled as diet, or low calorie. I guess this has no real juice in it, so that makes sense. I don't know what dastardly lab tech created an artificial passionfruit flavoring. It seems like something science should not tamper with. It's a perfect fruit and if life were a movie tampering in it would bring upon the end times. I think we are probably safe though as it doesn't have a very strong passionfruit taste. It is also not very diet tasting. I will accept the one if it keeps the other at bay. It's not the best. It's also not the worst. It's just sort of there and it gives you a decent energy burst. A portion of each sale goes to the breast cancer research, so I feel perfectly fine about purchasing this.

I have experienced very few things that were more miserable than being extremely sick while being on tour. Once it hits you're done for. The chances of getting a good night's sleep are few and far between, you're stuck in a germ cave of a van for a good portion of the day, and a good deal of the time finding/having time for healthy food is a dream. When I was out recently I felt a little worn down and that familiar tickle was in my throat, so I did my best (and succeeded) in keeping that sickness at bay. I doubled up on vitamins (including far too many Emergen C packets), I took it easy and slept whenever it was an option, and I drank a whole mess of juice. We had a six hour drive to Phoenix from El Paso so when we stopped for gas I ran into the grocery store across of the street and picked this little guy up.

The three main flavors in here are all antioxidant heavy, so I thought it would be a good choice. These are juices that are normally on the harsher side of things, but in this beverage that were shockingly smooth. Maybe it's because the cranberry and blueberry juice came from reconstituted concentrate, or maybe it was the base of apple juice that did it. Either way, it wasn't rough on my throat, which was a little sore and it tasted just fine. Overall it tastes like a nice amalgamation of all three of the juices mentioned in the flavor, without any of them particularly sticking out.

My only qualm is that it boasts to have no sugar added, but there is stevia extract in it (in my book a sweetener) and to be fair it was pretty sweet from the apple juice. Sure there was no “actual” sugar added, but there were definitely some sweeteners involved in its creation. Oh well I still enjoyed it, and thank the company for their participation in keeping me healthy.

I think I've reached the point where I am more often disappointed by hibiscus drinks than I am stoked about them. To clarify, I still think they are more than tasty, but the first couple that I ever tried blew my socks off and that is the barometer that I go by. It's not really fair because those original drink had other spices added to them and this like most other beverages of this specific flavor tend to be just straight hibiscus added to tea or in this case lemonade. These just can't compete to the spiced goodness of say a True Brew tea.

What we have here is mostly lemonade with a light hibiscus taste. The level of hibiscus is rivaled by the weird plastic taste from the bottle. I don't know what makes some drinks taste like that. The bottle says it's BPA free. Oh well this is still decent enough. I want more, but what I want was never really on the menu, so I can't really be upset.

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.

At our show in Atlanta I went on an adventure with fellow soda enthusiast/bassist Dakota Floyd to find the elusive Brood Soda. We walked about a mile through somewhat rain to get to the store only to find that they no longer carry it. Luckily it wasn't a complete bust and I stumbled upon this beverage. I was bummed that they didn't have Brood, and I wasn't even looking forward to this, but was it ever a treat. It ended up being the best thing I have drank in quite some time.

This is a watermelon agua fresca that actually tastes like watermelon and not a gross fake candy. It's really smooth, but the flavor is so perfect and specific that it tricks my mouth into thinking that I can make out the texture of perfectly wipe watermelon (aka the only time that this specific fruit it truly great). The ginger and lime are there, but not as strong and merely serve to make the watermelon shine more brightly. The lime gets stronger in the aftertaste, but it never overpowers the melon. This is the perfect beverage for hot humid weather. Califia Farms has transitioned from coffee drinks into wonderful juice.

Dear World, Can we please put a memoritorium on adding banana juice/puree that are not specifically banana flavored things? I understand that they are fairly healthy and work as a nice thickening agent, but it's normally such an overwhelming flavor, and I for one am not a fan of it. So many juices in my life have been ruined by the inclusion of this dumb mushy fruit. Luckily Purity Organic used it sparingly, and while I could still detect it, it did not overpower the rest of the flavors. If this were a lesser drink I would have had a sip or two and left the rest to someone else, but Purity does not mess around and minus the folly of banana I really enjoyed it.

The other ingredients are apple, chia, blackberry, red beet, ginger and blueberry. That is quite the team they have assembled and some weird early 90's cartoon could have been based around them fighting evil. Saturdays mornings were strange during that time in our nations history. The chia has been ground up, and instead of juice there is puree used. The result is that this is fairly thick in an interesting way. All of the flavors are present, but the apple and blackberry are the leaders of this crime-fighting gang, hence they got top billing. I think in season two we are going to find out that banana is really a double agent and things are going to get interesting.

Tommy, you have been drinking far too many energy drinks. I can assure you that they are not improving your gaming skills. Sure, they might help you stay up until the early hours of the morning, but you're a teenage you should have no problem staying up that late anyway. I mean you don't wake up until noon. Fine, I can't handle your whining, you can have some sort of energy drink, but it has to be one of these natural ones and not that chemical swill you and your friends like to down. Also, you have to agree to go outside and have fun with your friends. Go and cause a little trouble, you're young that's what you're supposed to do, not sit in front of the TV all summer. Good, then it's a deal. Here have this can of V8. Don't look at me like that it isn't that gross tomato juice stuff, V8 has expanded their line. This is sweet potato and carrot juice with fruit juice and green tea extract mixed in. Trust me, it tastes fantastic. You don't even notice the juices except for the orange and pineapple. It has some underlying flavor that I can't really place, but it just makes it taste more interesting.

Tommy, the thing about this energy drink is that it won't give you the jitters and will make you actually play your games better with steady hands. See I'm looking out for you. It's just caffiene and B vitamins. It's also on the healthier side because it's 34% juice and it's low in calories. I know you don't care about these things, but I'm your parent and it's my duty to look out for you when it comes to these things. Okay now live up to your end of the deal and go outside. I'm calling Johnny house and if you're there you're grounded mister!

There was a brief period a couple of years ago where vitamin drinks with a powder/concentrate stored in the cap were all the rage. The idea behind it was that it kept the vitamins fresh and more potent. Mostly they ended up tasting like Flintstone chewable vitamins, and while I can't vouch for their potency, they were fairly tasty and there's an element of fun in watching it mix.

This is the first time I have experienced an iced tea in this format and as expected there was no vitamin flavor at all. After I twisted the cap (and was surprised by the force of the propulsion of the flavor concentrate shooting down into the base) I was greeted by a nice peach ginger taste. There was zero burn from the ginger, but the peach did not taste candied like a lot of teas of that flavor do. This is sweetened with a mixture of cane sugar and stevia, but it's not obvious from the taste. I more than likely wouldn't have guessed that a zero calorie sweetener was involved at all if I hadn't read it on the label.

This may not be a perfect tea, but it's as close as your going to get with a a mixture and not something that has been freshly brewed.

Son, I know I'm being a terrible parent by saying this, but you're being a little jerk. If you keep acting this way no one is going to like you. You'll have no friends and as you grow older you'll get picked on more and more and you'll eventually sit at lunch all alone. These are the kinds of things that lead to sociopathic behavior. You don't want to be a sociopath do you? I'm glad you said no. I mean you're only two and obviously have no idea what that word means, but I appreciate that you can understand the seriousness in my voice. It's time to make a change son. The world doesn't revolve around you and the sooner you learn that the better. Then you can work on a decent life for yourself and maybe find some happiness in this life that most people seem to miss. Let's start today son. This all started because you wanted a soda pop. I don't know how you even know what that is at your age. Actually I do; it's your grandmother isn't it? She's determined to give you all the garbage food your body can consume. Listen to me son, don't go down that route. Stay healthy. It will give you an advantage when this world finally goes to hell and it's everyone for themselves. Instead of that soda have this little bottle of juice. It's called 'tude and that's exactly where you need to make an adjustment in your life. As you slurp down this moderately priced cold pressed juice think of the ways you can improve your attitude so that you can make something of yourself, and I don't mean just make a bunch of money. I mean ways in which you can do something you love and survive without becoming a financial burden on others. It's marionberry and green apple juice mixed. How could you go wrong with that. It's delicious and it's nice and tart. The way that it tastes like something along the lines of acai or pomegranate slightly lets you know that it's chock full of antioxidants. Antioxidants son, they are an important thing....Please ignore most of what I just said. I wasn't built to have kids and I haven't slept in days. I'm delirious son. You should probably forget about the part when I said I wasn't meant to have kids. I love you son, but you really make it difficult to do that sometimes.

Back in March I heard about this new limited edition Sprite flavor, but search as I might I could not find it around Buffalo at all. In fact, due to its limited nature I thought that I had missed my opportunity all together. So much time had gone by with no luck that I had given up. Next thing I know it's September and I somehow found myself in a liquor store in Lansing, MI looking through a cooler and you know who's soda catches my eye. I'll admit it, I squealed in public over a flavor of Sprite. I'm not proud of it, or the looks that a 36 year old man receives when making such a noise in a liquor store full of the downtrodden of all places, but I like to be open and honest you all of you. I don't get excited often, but when I do it's about the dumbest things.

I only know one thing about LaBron James, and that is that he is a basketball player. I don't know what position he plays. I don't know what team he plays for. He could walk up to me and punch me in my dumb face for taking so long to find and review his soda and I would have no idea who just socked me in the nose. I did learn something new about him today though; he knows how to take a boring soda like Sprite and make it interesting. I'm guessing he really had nothing to do with the development of the flavor, but it's still a step up from the original. Basically this is Sprite with cherry and orange mixed in. To me it tastes a bit like a Shirley Temple that you would get at a bowling alley (I don't know if they can legally serve them anywhere else). There is also part of it that tastes like what Mike calls the “Laser Tag Special” aka hitting all of the flavors on a fountain machine. It's sweet but it's tasty. I can't see myself drinking it very often, but I can see many other people downing it by the 2 liter.

I wonder if it's possible that Mr. James will Google his name, read this review and somehow learn more about me than I do about him. I'm certainly not going to look into his life, but he's welcome to take a glance at mine.

From what I can gather from snippets online I believe that this beverage is some sort of tie in with the video game Ghosts of War. Since I only play Zelda, Final Fantasy, and recently the Arkham games this means nothing to me and I will instead believe that it is an energy drink for ghosts.

So you have some unfinished business on Earth and can't cross over to the spirit realm, why not drink some mid-calorie (100) energy drink to keep you moving to haunt your way into the afterlife. Just think about how much easier Barbara and Adam would have had it in Beetlejuice if they would have been all amped up. It probably would have helped them make bad decisions that would lead to the family moving out of the house, without the aid of a man in a striped suit or sandworms. The truth is is that this comes in a camo can (a nicely textured one at that) so it probably has something to do with astral projections or spirits and probably more to do with a video game about war. Oh well. I can pretend in my mind.

To me this tastes like a combination of 40% Mountain Dew, 40% original Monster and 20% orange juice with bit of a sucralose aftertaste. I don't know what I expected this to taste like, but this is not it. It was a nice surprise and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Now I can either go haunt a house or kill some people in a video game, or keep you awake on a long drive. Since this is apparently an exclusive to Speedway gas stations I did just that.