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Sprecher Cherry Cola: Not bad, with a more real cherry flavor than most other cherry colas. But the cola flavor isn't as good as in Cherry Coke, and I think I'd rather have Cherry Coke. B

Sprecher Puma Cola: Kola Nut, cinnamon, and vanilla. That's basically it, as far as I can tell. Kind of boring. C+

Reed's Spiced Apple Brew: This is one of my favorite sodas of all time. Like cold liquid apple pie, or sparkling mulled apple cider. It's just a wonderful drink, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. A

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Sprecher Orange Dream: This was a real surprise to me. I normally hate vanilla-orange sodas. They're almost always cloyingly sweet, without enough orange flavor and too much vanilla. This isn't that, with less sugar per ounce than a can of coke and a better orange-vanilla ratio than most. It's still not great, but it's the best of this type I've had. B

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Any plans to do a Filbert's tasting? There's quite a line-up there to work your way through.

I am planning on it, but I haven't yet gone and loaded up. I'm kind of hoping they switch to sugar before I do, but I doubt they will.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Izze Clementine -- Like most of the Izze sodas, it's flavored very strongly, with an aggressive orange aroma and flavor. Unlike many of the others, the white grape/pear juice used to sweeten it isn't as prominent, so it's a very clean drink. This is one of my favorite Izze sodas, and one of my favorite orange sodas. I still think it's not quite as good as the orangina/pellegrino aranciata types, but it's still very good. A-.

Izze Grapefruit -- Strong grapefruit smell, but the flavor has a bit too much pear/grape. Also, I have this sneaking suspicion that most of the taste and smell comes from the natural flavors added, rather than the juice itself. It reminds me a bit too much of the Halls grapefruit vitamin C drops. B-

Izze Blueberry -- Not as much blueberry taste as I'd like, and a bit too sweet overall. C+

One complaint about most of the Izzes: they're a bit too carbonated for my taste.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Izze Pomegranate: Very tart, like you'd expect anything pomegranate to be these days, but I get more cranberry than pomegranate. That's not a bad thing -- it's a good combination. This time around, I tapped the opened bottle several times and managed to greatly reduce the carbonation level of the drink, which improved it quite a bit. Still, I'd like a little more pomegranate and a little more sweetness. B-

_________________
Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Izze Blackberry: My absolute favorite of the izzes, with a good real berry flavor. Not much to say about it. A

Izze Lime: Grape with a hint of lime. Meh. C-

Izze Peach: Grape with a hint of peach. Actually, more peach than the lime had lime, so it's not bad. C+

Izze Apple: Somewhat better than Sidral Mundet, but still has that same odd flavor. Again, I'd take any of the sparkling apple ciders over any of the sparkling apple sodas.. why mess with a good thing? C-

Goya Jamaican Style Ginger Beer: Blech. Ginger flavor and ginger oil are ingredients, but ginger itself seems missing. Tastes more like a too-strong ginger ale than anything else. I dumped most of the bottle. D+

Cawy Watermelon: Unbelievably sweet. That, plus the artificial watermelon flavor makes me feel like I'm drinking liquid candy. It's a nice novelty, but I don't want any more. C+

_________________
Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

GuS Dry Cranberry Lime - Like the other GuS sodas, lightly sweetened. I think this one works better than the others, though. All of the GuS sodas remind me more of lightly sweetened sparkling water than less-sweet soda, but this is a combination that stands out more than, say, the Meyer Lemon. The acidity of the cranberry is nicely balanced by the light sweetness, and the lime juice adds a nice bright citrusy note. Pretty good stuff. B+

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

I've got news for you. All sweetened soda is liquid candy.

Forgot to put up the Cawy pics:





Ramune Strawberry: I'll never get tired of the codd-neck bottle, but I'm already tired of the fake strawberry flavor of this soda. It's like they didn't even try to make it convincing. Too bad. D-

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Ramune Melon - Not so great. The melon taste comes off very artificial, and it's a little too sweet. Very forgettable. C-


Ramune Lychee - Surprisingly tasty, although maybe just because of the novelty. Lychee isn't something you come across often, and although this one doesn't have any juice, the flavor is fairly authentic and perfectly fine. Not too sweet. B-

_________________
Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Blumer's Orange Cream / Goose Island Orange Cream / AJ Stephans Orange Cream (tasted simultaneously): Goose Island is the one I'd want to drink over a long session, since it tastes the least sweet but still has a nice hit of cream. Blumer's doesn't have much cream flavor at all, it's more like a straight orange soda. AJ Stephans is easily the creamiest, and tastes the most like a liquid creamsicle. In small doses, or over ice cream, I think it wins every time. Blumer's: B- / Goose Island: B+ / AJ Stephans: A-

_________________
Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Flathead Lake Monster Huckleberry: My first taste of a huckleberry soda -- Jackson Hole Soda Co's variation is up next -- and it's an interesting flavor. I'd expect mostly blueberry, but what I get is grape with blueberry notes. However, they're all of that weird grape pop chemical aroma. Not as offensive as most grape soda, though. And the finish is actually a real, authentic-tasting blueberry flavor. It grew on me. B-

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Jackson Hole Soda Co. High Mountain Huckleberry - This is what Flathead Lake aspires to. This is what all berry-flavored sodas should aspire to. Real sugar, low cough factor, and a multi-dimensional flavor that you don't see much in this category. Try this one. A-

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Sparky loves the Ramune sodas, the lychee in particular - though I seem to recall they have precious little, if any, natural flavoring (but there's a marble in it!) I'm very curious about the GuS dry cranberry lime - that's a drink I often make in the summer with sparkling water, but it means a bottle of soda and a bottle of cranberry juice often go bad before I can get to them. Where did you find it?

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No guts, no glory.
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http://quipstravailsandbraisedoxtails.blogspot.com/

I picked up individual bottles of the GuS sodas at Goddess and the Grocer's Damen location, Fox & Obel, and Hot Doug's, and I've seen 4-packs at Olivia's Market in Bucktown. But I also feel like I've seen it at Jewel.

And yeah, the ramune sodas are all artificially flavored. But there's a marble!

_________________
Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Caruso's Legacy Maraschino Cherry Cola: More maraschino than anything else. What it reminds me of the most? When I stop at the Pilot in Burns Harbor, IN and use too much of their cherry syrup injector in my homemade cherry coke. The cherry flavor is overhwleming, and the whole thing is a little too sweet. I have no desire to try any more of it, but it's a pretty unique drink. C+

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Excellent! Where did you find this one? Sounds exactly what I like to do when I find those machines (or have Sonic do it for me on the road).

Found some at Fresh Farms today, tried it - it's exactly like the stuff I make from Cranberry Juice Cocktail and a lime wedge. I liked it a lot -except the price - a 4-pack was over $5, making it not a really good alternative even if it means I'm tossing juice and soda.

However, they managed to get lime in a soda that tastes like lime and not like lime Jell-O, which is good for me to know!

_________________
No guts, no glory.
http://www.chicagonow.com/quips-travails-braised-oxtails
http://quipstravailsandbraisedoxtails.blogspot.com/

I picked this one up at America's Market in Wheeling. There's also a root beer and cream soda, but I don't think they carry those. All bottled by black bear bottling in Oak Creek, WI, so you might also be able to find it in the Milwaukee/Racine area.

_________________
Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Blumers Blueberry Cream - What's remarkable about this soda is how much like blueberry it tastes. Not much cream, but tons of blueberry. Oddly, the flavor reminds me most of, say, a blueberry pop tart or nutrigrain bar, rather than straight blueberry. I'm not sure if it's because of the sweetness (although it's not overwhelmingly sweet) or something else. A-

Thanks to Mike G for supplying this one and the Blumers Orange Cream!

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Cherry Ski soda: Ugh. Blech. Unappealing aroma, soapy taste. I poured out half the bottle. It didn't taste like citrus or cherry, just ass. Utter and complete failure.

Dr. Cane: yet another Dr. Pepper knockoff, and not a very good one. Also has a soapy taste, and what flavor there is besides that is one-dimensional. D

Capt'n Eli's Parrot Punch: Well, it's carbonated fruit punch. Like, carbonated hawaiian punch. If that sounds good to you, you should try it. If it sounds disgusting to you, don't. I'm actually not offended by fruit punches, and so I thought it was ok. It went surprisingly well with barbecue. B-

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Clem's - I'm not sure what flavor of Clem's this is. Very heavily carbonated, especially for a glass bottled soda. Unbelievably disgusting flavor. Just offensive in every way. I'm still curious what it's supposed to taste like, though. Poured into a cup it's not quite as offensive (although still undrinkable), and I think the flavor is maybe black cherry. But it mostly tastes like alcoholic medicine. I just don't understand. I'm hoping maybe I got a bad bottle. F-----

edit: this is the second disgusting drink I've had from Excel Bottling. I'm thinking maybe they're all from a bad batch, or are very old, or something. But the high carbonation in this soda makes me think it's fresh. So I don't know what's going on.

Wild Bill's Root Beer: I needed something to rinse the taste of Clem's off my tongue, so I grabbed a root beer at random. This one is OK, but nothing special. It reminds me quite a bit of root beer barrel candies. Not too much cream or mint flavor. B-

_________________
Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

I'm wondering if you came upon Jones Soda's limited Halloween edition soda from last year called "Buried Pomegranate?" It was a half-size can and had an image of a vampire on it. I noted when I bought it that it was made with cane sugar instead of HFCS. [I didn't realize until I just looked at their website that all their sodas are made with cane sugar.]

I remember really enjoying the 4-pack. The soda was sweet, but not overly so, and had a nice caramelized taste to it. It wasn't the truest representation of pomegranate, since it wasn't very tart, but it was satisfying and refreshing. The website says they've had special Halloween editions in 2006 and 2008 in half cans. Does anyone know if they re-release them every year until new Halloween flavors come out?

Also, the Jarritos Toronja makes a mean twist on a mojito:
Muddle lime juice, fresh mint, and 1 T sugar (I don't like mine very sweet)
1.5 oz spiced rum (I said this was a twist!) - I use Capt. Morgan's
3-4 oz Jarritos Toronja (can substitute Fresca, but I like Toronja better in this application)

This is my favorite version of the mojito. It's light and crisp, but sometimes if I want a fruitier taste, I'll add 1/2 oz Chambord for an additional little twist.

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"Did you know that all food in NC is served on a biscuit? I ordered a biscuit - it came inside another biscuit. It was like turducken, but all biscuit."
~ Al Madrigal, The Daily Show

I've never tried any of the Jones seasonal sodas, actually (and very few of the regular ones). I should fix that.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

I'm not very impressed with the Jones Cream soda, I'd give it a D-, and the unnatural colors of some of their varieties throw me off, but I remember liking the green apple while I was in college.

Admittedly, I haven't tried many of the Jones sodas either, but this Pomegranate was something special. Ten months later and I'm still thinking about it.

Plus for some reason I'm drawn to the bottles - it must be the label.

I'm sure you'll let us know if you find a winner.

_________________
"Did you know that all food in NC is served on a biscuit? I ordered a biscuit - it came inside another biscuit. It was like turducken, but all biscuit."
~ Al Madrigal, The Daily Show

I just searched, and it appears that nobody has posted on Hansen Natural Cane sodas, which Costco carries.
I've bought them because they sell them in a 24-case, versus the 36-cases for most of what's on Costco's shelves, resulting in less sugar-water in my house -- plus you get four flavors in that case, so there's some nice variety for the money.

They seemed a little less sweet than typical pop, but only the Pom (130 cals) is less than typical colas (140).

The four flavors are:
* Kiwi Strawberry: Nice light flavor, good strawberry notes without being candy-like.
* Mandarin Lime: A little on the bitter side, neither the lime nor the mandarin dominates, resulting in something surprisingly a lot like a genteel Sprite
* Cherry Vanilla Creme: The favorite of the group. Mildly cherry, but smooth vanilla. These vanished.
* Pomegranite: The least favorite. There's something slightly bitter and metallic here, which would probably be cured with a little rum or tequila.

Overall, though, very refreshing, and a nice break from typical commercial HFCS stuff.

Another note: Shop & Save in downtown Des Plaines carries sugar Coke in 12oz bottles for $0.99. I didn't look closely at the label, but I'm assuming it's from the Mexican bottler.

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What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
-- Lin Yutang

Glad to hear these are decent. I try to only buy single cans/bottles whenever possible (it means I don't have to give away extra bottles of the crappy stuff, and it's better for my health), so I'm hoping I can find these flavors sold individually elsewhere. Anyone seen 'em?

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Trader Joe's sells 3-4 different kinds of Hansen's, in both the regular & diet varieties.

I'm a fan of the diet Mandarin Lime...I find it to be crisp, not-too-sweet and nicely citrus-y.

OK, I took another one for the team:

Diet Mountain Dew Ultraviolet

It appears to be a diet-only flavor. It's pale purple, citrus and "flavored with natural and artificial mixed berry flavor." It can best be described as diet blue sno-cone. I should have checked the label -- I'm not fond of the flavor of Acesulfame. Kind of bubble-gum/berry in a nasty way.

I found this online:

Nothing this color or flavor should ever have the word organic attached to it.

_________________
What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
-- Lin Yutang