Sprecher Cherry-Cran
/I thought I’d tried every Sprecher soda out there, but thankfully I haven’t. Sprecher makes some of the most consistently great soda out there and has wonderful label art to boot. Today’s flavor offering is Cherry-Cran (sweetened with a combination of glucose syrup and honey), which is sounds a bit odd if you ask me. Normally when “Cran” is involved it gets first billing, like Cran-Apple or Cran-Grape. Perhaps Ocean Spray has just made my brain accept that this is the normal order of things. Well here comes Sprecher to throw chaos into the mix with their Cherry-Cran taste, and I’m quite pleased to try it.
Sprech-tacular! Dibs... I call dibs on that!
Cherry is certainly the focus when I open the bottle and take a whiff. A enticingly sweet cherry aroma pops up with only a glimpse of cranberry appearing at the end. I’d like to think that’s how the soda will taste, but I’ve found that my nose gets things right maybe 60% of the time.
Initial reports from the tongue say my nose is wrong. These reports came in with a lot of static, so I’m not sure what he said exactly. Let me listen in again. The nose’s assumption that this would be primarily cherry flavored with only a hint of cranberry was incorrect. What’s actually happening here is so much better and so rarely seen in a soda.
Cherry and Cranberry are working in tandem within this bottle and my mouth. Neither one overpowers the other as they operate like school children holding hands and playing. There’s no greed, spite, or hate. Just two flavors walking along as equals, making the other better for being with them.
So many things about this soda are great, but we’ll start with the taste. Where you would normally expect find a smooth cherry taste has given way to a cranberry shock. This shock keeps the cherry from dominating the flavor profile and stays with you throughout the entirety of your sip. Sprecher Cherry-Cran is all things sweet, smooth, tart, and fun in terms of taste.
In terms of mouthfeel the enjoyment doesn’t stop. The carbonation is light and stings just the right amount, primarily on the roof of my mouth. Bubbles seem to linger longer than anticipated, giving a fizzy feeling on my tongue well after the drink has reached my stomach. It’s really quite delightfully airy.
Goodness, I genuinely only have good things to say about Sprecher Cherry-Cran. I was expecting a good drink and I got a great one. Sprecher impresses over and over again so here’s hoping I haven’t tried them all.
~A
This was purchased at The Shoppe on Main
A “Twist’s Choice” Recipient
