Jason Draper - 2709 Reviews

I know very little of Jamaica. I mean so little that it's a little embarrassing. When you compartmentalize an entire country into reggae music and spicy foods you feel a bit like a small minded. Then someone like Levi Roots comes around who's entire world seems to be comprised of those exact two things, and you start to think, …€˜Man, was I right?” Then you feel even worse, so you just sit back and drink your soda and try to shut off your brain.

Roots was raised in Jamaica where his grandmother taught him how to cook and the surrounding culture taught him about music. I'm not well versed in reggae music, so I don't know how good his contributions to it are, but they sound fine enough to me. I would be more than happy to try his cooking, but his soda just doesn't do anything for me.

This is just an overly sweet soda. If it were a more common flavor it would pass as generic store brand. Since it is mango and pineapple it stands out a bit more. 5% of the total is made up of pineapple, mango and apple juice. While it's a low percentage it's still more than most companies, so this should be better than it is. Unfortunately, the added artificial sweeteners ruin it for me. Perhaps if there was a higher percentage of juice it would mask the flavor of the sucralose, but the flavor is on the weak side and that fake grossness just cuts right through.

Man, cordials are just not my thing. I understand them, and in theory I like that I could make either still or carbonated versions of the beverage, but for the life of me I just can't get it right. You could give me a hundred attempts to recreate the companies “real” version and I would never be able to get duplicate it to my liking. Does everyone have this problem? Am I cursed in the drink mix world? Perhaps I'm just too damn picky. Whatever the reasons I tend to stay away from them.

I bet that if I purchased a ready to drink version of this beverage I would certainly love it. Making it myself I still enjoyed it, but it left something to be desired. The rose flavoring isn't very floral, which is a good thing. You still get a rose flavor out of it, but the sugar covers it up a bit so it's not screaming in your face. The raspberry on the other hand is nice and strong. This is composed of 55% raspberry juice (30% pressed, 25% from concentrate). Anything with that much raspberry is bound to be great. Unfortunately, the opposite of the rose happens with it and the added sugar makes it a tad too sweet at the recommended proportions. I tried watering it down a bit more, which fixed the sweetness problem, but weakened the flavor of the rose to a level that it might as well not have been there at all.

I apparently need more than a little suggested direction. I need the finished product plopped down right in front of me. Hell, I've never even been able to make Kool Aid correctly.

For whatever the reason, sometimes you just want to sneak a drink. Maybe you don't want to share. Maybe you're in a situation where it wouldn't be proper. Certain drinks are easy to get away with, but energy drinks are not one of them. You can try to cover up the sound of the can cracking up all you want, but as soon as the can is opened, everyone around you is aware of what you've done and what you're drinking because it's scent has perfumed half a block's radius.

I wasn't trying to be stealthy with this beverage, but every head that was around me turned once the smell hit them. It's a scent I can only assume you are well aquatinted with, and it tastes pretty much exactly as it smells. This is not an exact Red Bull replica, but it is enough of a facsimile that you can guess what it would be like on your tongue. It is to Red Bull as Pepsi is to Coke.

This is apparently the limited edition version. I don't know why someone would need a limited edition energy drink, especially when it doesn't taste like anything special, but there you have it.

Let's go through the things I know about Scotland. I really like nearly every band I've heard from there, It's where the Loch Ness Monster resides, It's the home of the grossness that is Irn Bru. Haggis is served there. Glasgow is one hell of a drinking town that tends to get violent. They apparently deep fry everything. Scotland: The carnival of the United Kingdom. Okay that might not be an official term, but with the amount of deep friend food in that country, perhaps it should be.

So I like the music, but the food and beverages are not really up to my standards…€¦or so I thought. Everything I knew about Scottish cuisine came crashing down around me as soon as this John Crabbie soda touched my lips. I, my friends, have been converted. This is one of the single greatest beverages I have ever tasted. I knew a raspberry and ginger soda would be right up my alley, but I didn't expect it to be executed so perfectly.

Let's start with the magic. This says that it just has raspberry flavourings (note the U) in it, but they somehow perfected it and it tastes exactly like I'm jamming my pie hole full of fresh berries. JC and Co could have stopped right there and this would have been an amazing soda, but they are apparently famous for their ginger beer, so they decided to add a little bit of that root to this soda as well, which took it up to a level that will be hard to beat. At first I thought that the minimal burn was a let down, but then I realized that if it were more present it would distract the drinker for the wonderful raspberry taste. The way they did it everything sits perfectly in harmony.

I can't express to you how upset I was when I had finished this bottle and I realized that even though I had access to more, I shouldn't purchase it because there were so many other sodas I needed to review for this site. So thanks Thirsty Dudes for keeping me from what could have been my one true love in this world.

Welcome my friends to the botanical gardens, where we celebrate all things plant. Did you ever in your life think that you would see a banana tree growing in these climates? Of course you didn't silly boy, yet here it is at the botanical gardens. Everything you could possibly want to see that is a plant can be found here on the premises. No matter what the weather, what the season, you can pretend you are in the tropics or just upstate New York for a few moments as you gaze upon the plants.

We also have a little cafeteria area what serves only foodstuffs that we produce from plants on the premises. Okay that part is a lie, but we only have vegetarian foods available here. We also have a line of nice botanical sodas. Here try this Orchard Cola on for size. I guarantee it will not be what you expect, but it is nice in it's own little way. You see this botanical soda is not your father's cola, no sir. This is something new and unusual. Those of you expecting the briskness of a Coca Cola will be surprised by a mouthful of fruity soda with a cola aftertaste.

I understand at first that it is a bit off putting, but I assure you that the more you drink, the more you will enjoy it. I myself was not a fan at first. I actually proclaimed that it tasted like wine and cola mixed after imbibing my first sip. After I made it about a third of the way through the bottle I changed my tune though. I slowly became acclimated and started to truly enjoy it.

This is apple juice, carbonated water, plus botanical and malt extracts. It's a strange combination of ingredients that sort of go well together. I must confess that I do not love this drink, but I do think it is worth trying. Once you get used to the flavor it tastes like a fancy apple cola that is a bit heavy on the apple side of things. It doesn't taste floral like some would expect. The apple juice takes care of the botanical side of things.

Go ahead treat yourself to something that you will more than likely not experience in your life. Take your taste buds on an adventure. You may not fully appreciate where it takes you, but just enjoy the journey.

The United Kingdom doesn't even know how good they have it. The non-existence of high fructose corn syrup in their sodas is a treat that I could only dream of. This can of cola has 39p printed right on the can. That's a can of soda for 39 cents in the American world. We'd be lucky to find a generic brand at that price in a convenience store. In the UK you can pay that much for a product from a Scottish company that pre-dates Coca Cola. On top of that it is made with real sugar. It's just obscene in the best way possible.

I do admit that there is nothing spectacular about the soda. I mean from the taste of it it's clear why the company hasn't done many sales outside of the UK, and Coke is a worldwide phenomenon, but it's a perfectly decent cola. If this were an American cola I would probably lump it in with store brands, as it doesn't have the right bite to it, but the use of sugar makes it so much more enjoyable.

I'm pretty sure this was just overstock left over from Halloween, and that this is their normal cola in a seasonal can. I still enjoy the idea of a creepy cola though. Made by ghouls just for you.

“What are those?” “Oh well it's cranberry juice…€¦Cran-Apple.”

Whenever I see a cranberry and apple juice all I can think of is that scene from American Psycho. I'm sure that's probably not the kind of correlation a juice company wants with their products, but it's what in my mind. Cran-Apple = a possibly murderous psychopath in my world. Well at least it's a delicious drink.

This is the opposite of other juices of this flavor that I have had in the past. In this the apple is the shining flavor. It's very strong and up front, as opposed to the cranberry that normally runs the roost. In here the cranberry isn't as formidable and bitter as I would like it to be. It's still a great drink, but it just doesn't have the intensity that I had anticipated. It doesn't taste watered down, but it's smoother than one would expect. Normally that is a good attribute, but in cran-apple it leaves something to be desired, while being perfectly serviceable.

The K-9s hatred of the postman is a well documented thing, but what many people don't know is that there was a time in Great Britain's history when man's best friend had a bigger enemy.

The year was 1942, and I know what you're thinking, but the previously mentioned enemy was not Hitler. I mean I'm sure the pups didn't much care for him, but he was not the target of their contempt. You see it was an unusually hot and sunny summer that year and lemonade stands were all the rage. Run by kids and adults a like, pop up shops were all over the united kingdoms. People needed a way to beat the heat and keep their mind off of the ongoing war between the axis and allies. For a few weeks that summer life seemed like it was going to be okay and the problems of the outside world seemed but a dream. Then trouble started brewing. The temperature hit an all time high and something about the mixture of the heat and the smell of the citrus drove the local dogs crazy. Whenever someone passed by that was drinking lemonade or had done so in the recent past barking and snarling would ensue. The summer of tranquility soon came to an end and the council shut all of the lemonade shops down. People went back to their miserable lives and the war marched on.

To help remember that life can be grand, even in the most dire of times, Mad Dog has produced a sparkling lemonade energy drink for the inhabitants of Britain. It is possibly the best tasting carbonated lemonade that I have ever tried, and that is saying a lot since it's also an energy drink. The thing is that all of the normal chemical candy energy drink flavors are not present; it simply a great tasting lemonade with very harsh carbonation. It's sweet to an extent that it's almost at the lemon soda point, but it keeps it's integrity and truly remains lemonade. If the energy properties of this drink wouldn't crash their fragile little hearts, all of the folks who were old enough to remember the glory of 1942 would surely have loved this.

Is that an accurate portrayal of mid-20th century England from a 21st century American's point of view?

A. Excuse me. Yes, umm I don't mean to interrupt you but could you please tell me what they delightful pink beverage you are drinking is? I am from another country and I would love to try the local delicacies. You see I am a bit of a foodie and would love to try some of this.

B. This is a Yazoo.

A. Ohh, that sounds exotic! Is it infused with rose petals? Oh, oh is it some sort of exotic fruit that only grows locally?

B. It is flavored milk. It tastes like Strawberry Quik dude!

It's always weird going to another country and walking into a corner store/gas station. Everything is familiar yet different. It's almost like being in a dream where you know what you want and when you reach for it you realize that something is off. Names and packages are different, and sometimes unreadable due to language barriers, but for the most part this could be the store around the corner from your house.

The UK may not have companies like Motts and Veryfine, but they do have Rebina. I've had their original (blackcurrant) beverage before and it was pretty alright. I'm a bit shocked we hadn't reviewed it already because I've seen it in some little markets around Buffalo, and I didn't think it had been that long since I drank it. It's nice that they have expanded their line of drinks. They may have done so decades ago, but this is the first I've seen of it, being holed up in Buffalo.

Essentially Rebina puts out fruit juices that are sweetened and a bit watered down so that they don't taste like actual juice, but instead become juice drinks. This flavor in particular is mostly mango with just a pinch of lime. It has a ridiculously mango smell to it, that I wish was more present in the flavor. I think it's the orange juice that is involved that makes it taste so little like juice.

I have no real qualms with this drink, as it has its place. I just prefer my juices to be what they are and not diluted into what this has become.

The majority of the people in the world are probably completely unaware of this, but when bands from the US tour in Europe they are taken care of very, very well by the promoters/venues. I mean I'm sure bigger bands are treated this well wherever they go, but when you're in a small band that maybe two people in the city have actually heard of before you get a bit overwhelmed with what they do for you. The food, lodging and drinks are more than we could ever possibly deserve. Recently when I played Frankfurt Germany we were basically given free domain over the bar, and lucky for me that included a decent selection of German sodas. As a result I drank way more pop than I ever would normally and I felt like crap. I also apparently stored this bottle of cola away in our merch for later enjoyment because I simply couldn't handle any more bubbles/sugar.

I had completely forgotten about it until we were packing everything up to fly home and I found it in some leftover shirts. Keep in mind it's 7am and we're about to leave for the airport and my luggage is at the maximum weight, so I can't store it away. Never one to let a potentially great soda go to waste I cracked it open and started to drink. Let me be straight here, no one should ever be drinking soda at 7am. I don't care if you stayed up all night on some adventure; you find water or juice to satiate your thirst. That being said, if soda was the only thing available and you were in one of those famous drink or die situations that everyone finds themselves in bi-monthly, you could do a lot worse than Premium Cola.

This is a dark, bold cola. Normally when colas branch out from the typical flavor, they do so by going the herbal route, which I enjoy but it's very different than what you expect from cola. Premium didn't do that at all. They somehow took a general cola and made it taste dark. This is kind of like what birch beer is to root beer. You know it's in the same family, but it's just stronger and more flavorful.

The Germans know how to make a cola. Of course I immediately regretted drinking it (and eating chocolate croissants) at 7am, but hell my tour/vacation was coming to an end and why not try to enjoy the last of my beverages?

Here is another company who graciously put together a care package for me during my stay in the United Kingdom. In the early days of Thirsty Dudes we reviewed a bottle of their elderflower presse that we found in a gourmet shop. It was great but it had a hefty price tag, due to it being imported and all (shipping on glass bottle beverages is obscene even in the states, let alone overseas). I was thrilled to have access to a variety of the flavors for my trip. For the most part I found them to be outstanding, this bottle of raspberry lemonade was no exception.

Let me start by saying that sparkling lemonade is very rare in the US, but in the UK it is everywhere. It's nearly as common as cola is over here. Actually I'll say that it's as common as lemon lime soda is here, which is an inferior flavor in every way. Lime on it's own is great, and I've learned on this trip that sparkling lemon can also be wonderful. I can't say that it is my favorite, but it certainly has its charms, especially since it has real pressed juice added to it. If it were just lemonade this would be nothing to scoff at, but that extra juice pushes it in the exact right direction. I mean anything that has pressed raspberries in it has to be fantastic, especially when it makes you feel like you're eating perfectly ripe berries like this does. It's so damn good. Before I knew it I had drunk this entire oversized bottle, which led to a lot of guilt. I dealt with it though and continued to drink an obscene amount of sodas over the course of my trip. I do it all for you our fair readers. Just remember me when I'm huge and diabetic. Help pay my medical bills. I mean it's only fair since I told you what some drinks tasted like…€¦.right?

The UK has some crazy rest stops. I know there's one in Delaware here that is supposed to be all fancy, but the one where I purchased this was beyond anything I could ever anticipate in the states. There was a nice duck pond and a fancy restaurant. Heck even the cafeteria style section looked like a rich persons version of Old Country Buffet with everything being served to you by people in chef outfits. I can only imagine that they spoke French while doing so as I saw a multitude of people eating fancy croissants.

With all of the lavishness around me, and a cooler full of “artisanal sodas,” I thought this ginger beer would blow my socks off. I cracked open the bottle cap and prepared to enter the station at flavor town, all the while preparing myself for one hell of a burn. What I got was not what I wanted or expected at all. There was a decent ginger flavor, but the proper burn just wasn't there. There was something happening, but it wasn't what normally comes with a ginger beer. It was like the soda was trying to match it's ornate surroundings and just couldn't pull it off. This soda is a classic movie where a down and out character from the wrong side of the tracks gets a make over and tries to live like the other half. It never works out in the movies and it didn't work out for the soda. In the film everyone would end up accepting it for what it was, but you know what this is real life and I'm not going to accept an inferior soda just because it came clean to me.

I might have too high of a standard for ginger beer, but it's what I love and I will not accept anything less than greatness. The company also makes a “Cool Ginger Beer” that I can only assume tastes like ginger ale, that I would like to try. This would have been decent if it wasn't for the weirdness of the burn.

In case you are unaware, root beer apparently does not exist in the United Kingdom. It's some sort of rare bird there. People have told me that they have it, but I searched high and low without even a glimpse of the soda of choice. I guess when your company doesn't have a history of cowboys you don't get cowboy drinks (ie. root beer, birch beer, sarsaparilla).

In the odd chance that a cowboy found themselves abroad in the queen's country decked out in pearl snaps, spurs and a ten gallon hat they would be given a strange look as they asked the barkeep for the dark soda. I know I certainly was given that self-same look with only one of those three requirements on (you can guess which one). Instead I was told to try this, and said it was something similar that fell between a root beer and a Dr. Pepper.

Let me tell you this for free; when you go into a drink expecting something similar to root beer and this is what you get it is quite a shock. The absolute only things that they have in common are that they are both carbonated, sweetened and both involve anise. It's actually quite a strong anise flavor, which would result in Mike loving this. I can see where the Dr. Pepper bit comes in. I suppose I would describe it as a less syrupy Dr. Pepper with a whole mess of anise in it.

I must say that any barkeep that serves this to a cowboy asking for root beer would be lucky if they didn't end up with a six shooter pointed at them. If it was properly explained I think the roamer of the prairies would enjoy the bottle as much as I did though.

I just returned stateside from a European tour. I spent two and a half weeks in England, Wales, Scotland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. As a result I drank an obscene amount of beverages to review for Thirsty Dudes. I have like 45 drinks that I wrote notes for that I have to write full reviews, it may take awhile, but I'll get through them.

When I arrived there were a couple of boxes of drinks waiting for me that companies were nice enough to send to a friend there. Feel Good sent me a whole bunch and I couldn't have been happier when I opened the box. The last time I was over there I drank their products all the time. What they make is wonderful and I wish more companies would take note. It's simply juice and sparkling water with no added sugar. These Smarties used the natural sugar that is found in apple juice to sweeten this bottle of glory. In fact this is mostly sparkling apple juice with lime and cranberry juices making up only 1% of the beverage each from concentrate. Even though this seems like a low amount the flavor is mostly a strong, sharp cranberry lime. You wouldn't even realize that it was mostly apple juice unless someone filled you in on the fact.

On of my traveling companions who tried this said they thought it was too sharp. That person lacks common sense, because this is wonderful and exactly what I would want and it's how cranberry juice should be.

This certainly is a drink you can feel good about because it's got all of the bubbly flavor that other soda has but has only 6.6 grams of sugar. That's magic in a bottle

I certainly do not know how they do it. Coco Libre has produced one of the freshest tasting prepackaged coconut water I have ever had the pleasure of drinking, and it's made from concentrate. How is it possible that I have had dozens of different brands of this same product that are just straight up coconut water, and they don't taste nearly as good/fresh as this. There is nothing added here, it's just reconstituted (is that the right word?) coconut water. I have become a big fan of this, and will happily drink the case of it that I ganked from the “green room” of a show I worked the other day. I've come a long way from despising everything coconut to happily drinking bottle after bottle of this stuff.

“Like an ice cube made of glitter.” Feel free to use that as a tagline, Sparkling Ice. Yes, I know that it's terrible, but that is the first thing that pops in my head when I hear your companies name. Secondarily I think about people wearing oversized diamond encrusted jewelry that is neither tasteful, nor classy. Which would you rather be associated with? That's what I thought. Glitter cubes it is!

First you take some spring water and generously infuse it with carbon dioxide to make some nice bubbles. The result is carbonated water that is bland and boring and has that weird taste that I don't really comprehend. To mask that you add some grapefruit juice concentrate. This is the moment that I believe you should stop. It would be on the sour side of the street, but that's something that I would enjoy. I understand that this just wouldn't fly with most Americans though; they need some sort of sweetener added. The folks at Glitter Cubes decided to go the zero calorie route and added sucralose to the mixture. Normally the downfall of any drink that contains it, the sucralose isn't absolutely horrible in here. I'd go as far as to say that I don't really mind it, which is a miracle on it's own. Somehow the grapefruit flavor combats the chemical taste, and it's only briefly noticeable in the aftertaste. The fruit flavor is still intake, although not as strong and as bitter as it would be in its natural form.

This is far from the best thing I've ever drunk, but it is a nice option to have for those watching their sugar intake. I do think it's safe to say that Glitter Cubes are not the wave of the future. Possibly just a little swell of the now.

Normally when you see settling at the bottom of a bottle it means that the company knows what they are doing and you will be in for a treat. When I grabbed this and saw that it was pretty much all clear liquid with an inch of dark brown at the bottom things were looking up. I'm not normally a fan of tamarind, and I don't really understand how anyone could be, but Angeleno's other flavors have been great, so I thought this might be my stepping stone into this flavor. Wrong em Boyo.

The sweet and sour flavor of tamarind makes me feel like it is normally used in Chinese food, but they decided to liquefy it and add a bunch of sugar. Liquid Chinese food is no one's friend. I really couldn't get past three sips (very small sips) of this. This is the final straw: tamarind is definitely not for me. If you are a fan of this fruit, this is a very sweet version of it. I got no enjoyment out of it, but hopefully someone will. It's always sad when a product made by Hansens misses the mark.

Hey just because you're a madman doesn't mean you throw your calorie intake to the wind. Some of those who are touched in the head want to live healthy lives; that is if their crazy antics don't kill them first. These people want to die from plummeting to death, or something else fun, not from obesity or a heart attack. Where would the fun be in that?

This has the same berry heavy fruit punch esque flavor as the original, except the sugar has been swapped out for the dreaded sucralose. Something in here counteracts the sucralose though and it doesn't taste like diet poison. Although that is something that a 51-50 person may dabble in.

Alright people we need to focus here. We've been in this lab working for what seems like weeks on a new energy drink. Okay, I understand that you've been focusing, and that no one wants to be stuck in this lab, but let's refocus, because Mark's little cloning experiment over there in the corner, is proof that focus has been lost.

What are people looking for in an energy drink? It's certainly not another Red Bull clone, because there are obscene amounts of them in the market. How about coffee? You're right, people are a bit particular about their coffee, and a lot of people tend to not like it. Wait! I have it! What if we us green coffee been extract and not the brewed roasted kind everyone is used to? It's got a nice caffeine kick, but it doesn't taste anything like coffee, but it would be of interest to everyone.

Okay what next? Hmm, I've been hearing that people are skeptical about taurine, so let's keep it out of this drink. Let's stick with the caffeine from the green coffee and maybe add some ginseng and B vitamins. We'll keep this thing fairly natural with none of those chemicals that the other companies use. By doing that we'll be able to avoid the liquid candy taste that energy drinks have. We'll stick out in the market.

We're on to something here people. It just needs one more thing to make it pop. How about we lower the sugar and calorie count, but make sure it doesn't taste diet? No I'm not a magician with the powers to make zero calorie sweeteners taste good. We'll simply use both sugar and stevia. The blend will lower the calorie count a bit, but it will retain the sugar flavor.

We now have a base that is exactly what we needed. It's low calorie with out tasting diet, it doesn't have the chemical taste that most energy drinks have, and it's unique flavor wise because of the green coffee extract. I personally think we could go to market with this, but let's add some other flavorings so we can have a line of drinks, instead of just one product. Mark, what is your clone doing to the mixture? Oh he's adding some pink grapefruit flavoring, well that sounds nice. Actually, I wish it had a stronger flavor. It's definitely pink grapefruit in there, but it's doesn't have the sour taste that would make it taste like real juice was used. I know you did you some real juice, but people won't be able to tell from this flavor. It's just a bit dull. I mean it's good enough to go to market, but my personal tastes want it to be a bit more present.

Mark, you and your clone are fired. No it's not because of the pink grapefruit thing, actually that was fine. It's because you never participate and you created a fully gestated clone while we were supposed to be making an energy drink. I don't care if you're my nephew. I'll deal with my sister's complaints when I get home.