Buckeye State Scarlet Soda

Another one of the sodas I got from the homer soda festival. Check out their website at buckeyestatesoda.com

Appearance 

I love the design of this soda. Its graphically interesting with only 3 colors and a well thought out design. The buckeye leaf is a cool touch. And the soda itself is such a bold and eye catching red. It certainly got me to buy it out of a large lineup.

Taste

Unfortunately, I don't like the taste as much as the appearance. Its tastey, but it's much too sweet for me. The flavor is reminiscent of jolly rangers or overly sweet hard candy. Its sweetness is overbearing and almost syrup like, like I'm drinking slightly watereddown grenadine. This might be perfect cut with seltzer water to lighten it up a bit.

Taste score
6/10
Interesting. Try it if you can find it

The Homer Soda Festival

This year I once again had the immense pleasure of attending the Homer Soda Festival. It's held at the beginning of June every year in Homer, Illinois. And it. is. amazing. The festival has music and food trucks, but most importantly they have hundreds of different sodas. And if you have a VIP pass, you can sample any of them you like! There are so many varieties, so many new things to try!

So, a few notable things I tried:

There was a brand called Yacht Club Soda that had an amazing spread of different sodas. Some of their unique sodas include Grapefruit, Lemon, Pineapple, Dry Ginger and Peach Seltzer. The Pineapple was actually amazing, if you can find it I highly recommend it.

Boylan sodas were, as usual, spectacular. Boylan Orange soda might be my favorite orange soda around, if one is not counting Orangina.

Blenheim is a ginger ale brand that is spectacular. I'm going to write a full review of their Hot Ginger Ale, but until I do, seek it out. Its spicy, and delicious and incredibly unique.

There was a very interesting company called Hopwater which had a bunch of very bitter, tonic type sodas in Lime, Ginger, and Grapefruit. It wasn't very good for drinking on its own but it might make a good mixer.

Jones sodas was there displaying a few new sodas and all they're classics. They were sampling a melon soda which was amaaazing and so unique and refreshing. They also had a birthday cake soda which was... real gross. Very sticky sweet.

There is also brand called Kickapoo with makes a pretty good pina colada and fuzzy navel soda, if quite excessively sweet.

And the best sodas of the show! There a new local brand called 164 Brewery. So far they only sell locally on tap, so no bottles yet. But it was amazing! They had 3 sodas for tasting, Ominous, Pitcher in the Wheat, and Tree Climber. Tree climber is an apple cider soda with flavors of elderflower and ginger. Pitcher in the Wheat is a lemon wheat soda sweetened with honey. And my personal favorite and my favorite soda of the entire show is Ominous! Its a ginger beer soda, its got hibiscus and citrus and a little spiciness. Its beautiful. All of them are beautiful. I greatly look forward to when they start bottling so I can do a full review.


Overall take away from the day. Festival is amazing, soda is amazing, life is beautiful.

La Nostra Aranciata

My friend brought me this soda back from italy, because she was traveling there with her family and also is a lovely person. I'm not sure how to differentiat between the brand, or the flavor as it is all in Italian so the title of this post is my best guess. This is the orange flavor of the soda, I also had a lemon flavor that was equally tasty.

Appearance

The soda has a lovely orange color. The label is plain and packed with text in italian. Its a humble label and one can catch the drift of what to expect even if you don't speak the language. 

Taste

This soda, plain and simple is lovely. The carbonation is subtle and fills your mouth pleasantly. The soda is sweet, but not syrupy. The orange is gentle and not too tart. It tastes like oranges perfectly rippened and picked off the tree and then distilled down to they're essence. Its like refined nostalgia for the orange drinks I was served as a child at school or off a childs menu. I could easily imagine being served this while on a sunny dining patio in the italian country side.

Taste Score

8/10. Pitch perfect. If you can find it, purchase it.

Wisco Pop! Ginger

This is another soda from the Wisco Pop line, a ginger that boasts local honey as its sweetner, and fresh lemon, ginger and lime juice.

Appearance

The ascetic of the label is quite charming. However, I like the contrast the red and white label that the cherry soda provided more than the green and white of the ginger. I feel it doesn't "pop" as much

Taste

This is a good ginger soda. Note: it is not a ginger ale like one might get in a Canada Dry or something. It is much sharper, similar to the ginger sodas I've experienced in Latin American countries. It has a great bite to it. It tastes much more like a fresh knob of ginger muddled into seltzer with honey and lime juice. I love it. Underneath the lemon and lime and ginger taste there are some delicate floral notes too, which are lovely and subtle. I was pleased to find on the ingredients label that it has lavender in here too. My main complaint is that there is a lot of sediment in the bottom of the bottle that I have trouble getting to the top. With that settling I feel I'm not getting the full experience throughout since its hard to make each sip uniform. But thats pretty minor. The other is that really strong ginger gives me heart burn :P. I'll be feeling this later, but its so worth it

Taste Score

9/10 Excellent. If you can find it, buy it

Wisco Pop! Cherry

Appearance

This is a cute label. Its very reminiscent of the traditional soda jerk. The stripes are cute and cheery. The logo is a little monochromatic, but serves its purpose

Taste

Much like the label, this is a sweet little number. The cherry flavor is very subtle and the vanilla bean stands out. It definitely taste more like vanilla bean than vanilla, as in a cream soda vanilla. Its more complex and earthy. I like it, though it took me a minute to adjust to taste since I was expecting more of a jolly rancher style cherry. This soda is sweetened with honey. Its very apparent. Its has that interesting metallic and planty sweetness. This is an a+ interesting and uniquely delicious soda and if you can find it I highly recommend it. 

Taste score

8/10

Sparkling Maple Seltzer

This week I found myself in Vermont, the land of maple syrup. I found a maple soda from Vermont sweet water bottling company and had to try it

Appearance
The label is simple with a graphic of a taped maple trees. The white label on the green bottle is simple and sweet

Taste
This is a really nice seltzer. The flavor is simple and subtle. There is a light maple taste but it's not sweet. I like it a lot. I would expect a maple soda to be sticky syrupy sweet. But it's really subtle and pleasant
Taste score
7/10

Hemani Honey Drink With Basil Seeds

Appearance

This label isn't pretty bleh. But the drink itself is so cool to look at. The drink is a light amber color and the basil seeds are suspended in the liquid and covered with some mucusy substance. So the seeds look a lot like bacterial in a slide. Veeery cool

Appearance Score

6/10

Taste

This is pretty gross, honestly. The smell is sickly sweet and it tastes like stale bubblegum. The seeds provide an interesting texture but the drink is sticky and syrupy and not pleasant. Over all, I would not drink it again. Or finish the bottle

Taste Score

3/10

Cicero Beverage Co Salted Caramel Root Beer

Cicero is an interesting brand of soda from Chicago that has flavors like caramel apple and chocolate covered bacon. Unlike Larry's fixins sodas they're actually pretty good. 

Appearance

I like the soda but I'm not a big fan of the label. It feels like a chili can label.

Appearance Score
3/10

Taste

This is a lovely root beer. Its sweet and creamy. The carbonation is not to intense. The Salted Caramel flavor is delicious, if it tastes like an syrupy flavor shot. Have this in vanilla soft serve and its amazing. 

Taste

8/10 Delicious. Highly Recommend.  

Sipp Mojo Berry

I took my friend Jesus to my favorite soda store today and introduced him to the world of soda. If was quite exciting. In exchange for the introduction he got himself a salted caramel root beer and me this soda, a blackberry, mint and lime soda.

Appearance

This is a bottle that is trying to be simple and classy. Very plain simple graphic design. I understand they're trying to promote the organic nature but I think it distracts from the design. 

Appearance Score

5/10 I'm neutral about it

Taste

This is pretty good. Usually I'm pretty biased against berry sodas as I feel they taste too much like cough syrup. This one is on though. The mint and lime balance the berry well. Its not too syrupy sweet and it doesn't stick around in your mouth unwanted. Its refreshing. It also has a very interesting carbonation. The carbonation is very light and dainty. The bubbles are tiny and they fill your mouth but leave quickly

Taste Score

7/10 pretty ok

Cawston Press Rhubarb

My mother brought me back this soda from Scotland. Cawston is a soda and juice brand that specializes in neat blends. It looks like its a UK based company that doesn't sell much in the US, though you might be able to find it in Whole Foods or the like. According to their website they also sell and elderflower lemonade which I MUST ACQUIRE! That sounds amazing.

Appearance

The can is a lovely cream with strong graphic design. The labels are dominated by well laid out words and not many images. This is a label for a pintrest generation. I think its cute, but I also feel very buzzfeeded at. It seems like a really safe bet, design wise. But it does feel very down to earth and farmstand-y though, so it represents the brand well.

The can is a bit dented from travel

Appearance Score

7/10 Could stand to take a risk

Taste

Let's see how it tastes. I've had good experiences with rhubarb soda in the past, specifically Dry Rhubarb, so I'm optimistic. It smells very fresh and like strawberry rhubarb pie. It tastes lovely. There is a very strong fresh rhubarb taste. It definitely feels like a cooked rhubarb pie covered in delicious sugar and crust. Its very summer. I can also taste the apples hanging out in the background. You don't find apple sodas much, and this is a great representation of an apple soda done right. Its not very tart, which I think would actually be nice. But the sweetness is perfectly balanced. Its very sweet on the front end of the sip, but it doesn't linger unpleasantly and my mouth isn't left sticky.

Taste

8/10 Delicious. Highly Recommend. 


p.s. I combined some of this soda with PieHole Apple Pie Whiskey and it is AMAZING! If you can find this soda and that whiskey its a great experience.

Goya Ginger Beer

Ho boy, this one was a fun one to try. This was a soda that I had a bunch of friends try and it was certainly an experience. It was so strong and potent that not a single person could drink it without coughing or sneezing. It was hilarious! My Puerto Rican friend said that you weren't supposed to drink it, you're supposed to cook with it!

Appearance

Unremarkable. Doesn't give any indication of the strong flavor or purpose.

Appearance Score

4/10

Taste

After you get back the coughing and sneezing this is ok tasting. It has a lot of flowers and bite. It kinda burns the back of your throat. If you want a strong ginger flavor this is where to look, but proceed with caution

Taste

5/10 (For entertainment)

Fentamin's Shandy

Weeee! Here's another good ol' Fentamin's. They've always been hit or miss with me, and I suspect that this will be a miss

Appearance

Like always, the bottle is gorgeous. It's such a cool design and such and elegant labels. Half the joy of drinking fentamin's is being able to hold the bottle.

Appearance Score

9/10

Taste

I don't think I like this one. It's bitter, and pretty sweet. Very hoppy. I'm not a big fan of beer or hops in general, so I'm not the demographic for this one. I did have friends who really enjoy this one, so to each their own.

Taste Score

3/10

Pink Ting

Appearance

This label isn't anything special to me. It feels very 80's. The color is nice, at least. You don't see many pink labels, and it matches the pretty soda well. But overall I find it lackluster

Appearance Score

4/10

Taste

This is  pretty good grapefruit soda. It has an honest flavor, and it's not too sticky sweet. There are other grapefruit sodas, but it is not the worst I've had.

Taste Score

6/10

Moxie

I've never seen this soda before. I have no idea what flavor to expect It looks pretty cool!

Appearance

I like this label. It has a cool 1950's style feel to it. It's cheeky and eye catching

Appearance Score 

6/10

Taste

This soda is a very medicinal flavored Cola.  Admittedly, I don't like colas, but this is still unpleasant. It has a bitter bite to it that's not even a little tasty. I do not like this one bit. It's gross, nasty, would not voluntarily drink

Taste Score

2/10

Red Rock Ginger Ale

Appearance

This is a lovely classic label. It's simple and has a great graphics design layout. I like this a lot.

Appearance Score

7/10

Taste

This is a pretty solid ginger ale. It smells nice, it has a nice gingery bite. I don't have much to say other than that. There's no surprises, or plot twists in here. Its just good simple soda

Taste Score

6/10

Eli's Blueberry Pop

Appearance

This label reminds me of a picture book I read as a kid about a berry jamboree. It makes me very happy. I've never had a blueberry soda before, so I'm kinda intrigued, though I don't really like blueberry flavored things. So we'll see.

Appearance Score

6/10

Taste

It smells like blueberries, tastes like gross sticky huckleberries and dimatap. I do not enjoy this. I would not voluntarily drink this, and could not finish a bottle.

Taste Score

3/10

Flathead Lake Sour Cherry

I had a soda tasting party with a couple friends. It was quite fun and we got many sodas I've never tried before, and a lot that I have had in the past and wanted to share. The next bundle of sodas will have shorter than usual posts as I am doing them all at once and in a room full of people. 

 Appearance

I think this is a pretty cool label. The dragon/sea monster is eye catching and interesting.

It has a beautiful red color

Appearance Score

6/10

Taste

It's a very cherry soda. It's not as sour as I was expecting and I was a little disappointed. It's a little sticky at the end. Overall, pretty meh

Taste Score

4/10

Found Elderflower

I found this soda at target. It's super hard to find their website through google. But look at the flavors they have on their website! It looks so good! They have juices, and apple cinnamon soda, which I've never seen before. I'm excited, and I have some high expectations

Appearance

This is a handsome bottle. It's perfectly clear and pure. The label is a little hard to read, especially in the super fine print, but it's very graphics design-y and modern. I like it quite a lot.

  Appearance Score

9/10 This is a nice looking bottle

Taste 

It smells a little like the kiddy champagne you have as a kid at thanksgiving. Which bring backs a lot of memories and is pretty nice. The taste is a little... to grating for my taste. The flavor is way bigger and bolder than I though it would be. It's very tart. It's a little nice, but a little like licking a warhead. There's a strong physical reaction to drinking it. The back of the tongue constricts and writhes. It's not bad, I guess as sodas go, but I was expecting a much softer, more delicate taste. The contrast between expected taste and actual is a little off putting.The carbonation is a little harsh and there is a bit of a sticky aftertaste but not too bad.

Taste Score

7/10 A bit harsh, but ok

Joia Sparkling Grapefruit Chamomile and Cardamom

The world is changing, folks. There are interesting forces at work, and those forces are demanding excellent soda. And what a wonderful world there is! I've been noticing tons of new soda microbreweries popping up out of the wood work. Sodas that emphasize natural fruits and no artificial sweeteners. And I am so excited about this!
Today, a bought a soda from Target of all places called Joia. Its a Boundary Waters Brands soda. They come in really cool flavors like Pineapple, Coconut,and Nutmeg, and Ginger, Apricot and Allspice. How interesting is that? I hope to try them all.
Today, I'm trying the Grapefruit, Chamomile and Cardamom soda

Appearance

The bottle is lovely. Perfectly clear with a beautiful soda color fully on display. The label is on clear backing and easy to read against the soda. Its very well designed, and I like it quite a bit

Appearance Score

8/10. Lower score than it could be because this style label is very popular

Taste

This is a delicious soda. The grapefruit is spot on and completely honest. It tastes just like the grapefruit juice at the bottom of your fruit salad bowl. It's sweet and kinda bitter, and fades out to an extremely pleasant and dull after taste. The grapefruit is the main player, but it's matured by the chamomile and cardamom. It's delicious and amazing and I can't wait to try all of the rest.

Taste Score

9/10. I couldn't envision a better grapefruit soda.

Averys Kitty Piddle

Another Rocket Fizz Soda. Avery's soda is playing up the novelty factor with line of Gross Sodas. Described as "SODAsgusting" (harahar). They have other flavors like dog drool, and toxic slime and bug barf. While I find that the novelty sodas don't taste as good as they're more serious counterparts, I'll give this one a shot.

Appearance

I like this label. It's very cute. The clear bottle also displays the beautiful color of the soda.

Appearance Score

7/10

Taste

Sigh. I haven't had a soda I've been crazy about in so long. The orange/pineapple combination seemed so promising. It tastes like a typical orange soda at first. But then the soda has a strong aspartame-y flavor. Its sweet but it coats your tongue. Its aftertaste is not unpleasant. Its like fresca, but not as good as fresca, and that's saying something

Taste Score

4/10 'Cause I really don't like fresca