Hill Country Fare - Grape Soda

It seems that we start a lot of these stating that we haven't written in a while... so I'm gonna avoid that. I love grape soda, and I'm always open to trying new ones. I have a theory about them as well. I think that the cheaper the grape soda, the better it tastes. Couple that with the fact that we're trying to do beverages with a lower cost this year, and you have a review I'm happy to do. Hill Country Fare - Grape Soda is the store brand grape soda from HEB. It comes in 6 packs with those rings you should cut up to keep the dolphins and birds alive.

The can art is very generic, as it should be. The words "Artificially Flavored" are in a font that is equally as large as the word "Soda." They do not care that you know how un-natural that their soda is... and I appreciate that. This soda tastes like grape Dimetapp with some carbonation. It's got a fizzy mouth feel to it. My throat burns a little bit due to the carbonation, but it's not annoying by any means. The after-taste of grape soda lingers in your mouth a while after you've finished as well. I could sum up this review in one sentence. "This tastes like most any generic grape soda." I didn't do that just so you would know how much I enjoyed generic grape soda to begin with.

~A

Guarana Antarctica

I really don't know what Guarana Antarctica is going to taste like... but it sounds really refreshing. The nice lady that rang this up for me gave it rave reviews, "like a sweet ginger ale" she said. It comes in a green swirly can, and under the name of the drink it reads, "The Brazilian Orginal." I can only assume this is good at the moment, so let us open it up and find out for reals.

Well it is refreshing... and she's right (sort of). The closest thing I've had in flavor to this is Vernor's Ginger Soda. This is made with chemicals, but also has guarana in it. The last sentence should be a bit obvious due to the fact that Guarana is the name of the soda. It's less fizzy than ginger ale, and a little more sweet. The crisp flavor, which hints slightly of apple, is also nice. For some reason when it's in my mouth though, the inside of my lips stick to my teeth; that's a little odd. I don't think this is all that good for the enamel. While I enjoy the flavor, the adverse effects it's having on my teeth is offsetting.

~A

Goya Coconut Soda

Time to take a trip to Mexico, and try out an unusual Goya flavored drink. Stepping up to be reviewed is Coconut Soda... let's give it a try.

The first thing I can tell you is that the flavor is very, very light. If you thought you'd be over powered with coconut, you'd be way off base. I actually have to pause for a moment to make sure I even tasted anything. I'm on my fourth gulp and it's only in the aftertaste that I'm even beginning to taste this. It does taste like coconut, but I think even those that hated coconut would be fine with this beverage. The ingredients do not impress me either: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Artificial Flavors, and Citric Acid. Are those not the most boring flavors ever? I can say that it is kind of refreshing, but I'd still like some flavor with my refreshment.

The bottom of this beverage begins to taste a little sickly sweet. I'm not sure if the very light flavor has slowly built up in my mouth, or if it's just the bottom of the bottle. Every time I burp I keep expecting some sort of remnant of what I just drank, but no such luck. I would normally write more, but this has no taste, and I can't keep saying that even though I have.

~A

Malta Hatuey

Ok, so this intro is going to be short, and sweet as I really want to try this beverage out. It comes from my Caribbean supplier of drinks. It's called "Malta Hatuey - A Non Alcoholic Cereal Beverage". That alone scares me, and the fact that my supplier hates it so much he told me to drink it from a medicine cup. Well no guts, no glory, so here we go.

Before I take a drink, I noticed the horrible smell coming from the bottle, so I read the ingredients; Fructose, Corn Syrup, Mellomalt, Caramel malt, and Hops. I see this being a one swig review.

Oh wow, that's horrible. This is by far the worst drink I've ever had in my entire life. I couldn't drink this if I had to. I got just a little in my mouth for a taste, and immediately hated it. I can still taste the aftertaste of the little bit that I had. It's like they liquefied cheerios, and added some horrible, horrible flavor to it, because liquefied cheerios weren't bad enough. The only redeeming value of this drink is the labeling, not very often you see a Native American on the label. Either way... it's horrible.

~A

Manzanita Sol - Refresco de Manzana!

I don't like apple candy, it's never been one of my favorite things. Sour apple to me is for those that can't handle their lemon, and lime candy. So when I was at Epcot several years ago and had a chance to taste apple soda I was skeptical. I was horribly, horribly, wrong for being skeptical as I loved it. I really enjoy apple soda, and was saddened that I could only have it at Epcot. You see, apple soda is more popular south of the border, in Mexico (not so much the US, or so I thought).

On my last drink excursion to HEB I found a 12 pack of Pepsi's version of Apple Soda (the one I had tried at Epcot was the Coca Cola version). The name of said Pepsico drink is Manzanita Sol. The "O" in "Sol" is made to look like a sun radiating heat onto the juicy apple below. I was so excited to have found apple soda that I purchased a 12 pack, and went on my merry way.

Manzanita tasted a lot like I remembered Lift (the name of the coke apple soda) did, but we're going off of 8 year old memories here. If you've never had an apple soda, it's kind of like a lighter carbonated apple juice with a little bit of a kick. While I don't enjoy apple flavored things, apple soda seems to work very well with my taste buds. Apparently Jarritos makes a pretty good apple soda as well, which I suppose I should eventually try.

This is a solid drink, so much that I've since purchased three 12 packs of it so far. By no means is it perfect, as I'm starting to tire of it. It also leaves a bit of an after taste, but nothing to horrible. If you've never tried apple soda, this is a good one to start with. It's inexpensive, and available in 12 pack form. The downside is that is doesn't actually have any apple juice in it, so there goes any health value it might have had. On the upside though is that it has no caffeine, for those who's health does not allow them to have it. Try it out, if you hate it, send it my way.

~A

Blue Sky's Dr. Becker

This will be the shortest entry I make to date. I picked up an all natural Blue Sky beverage titled Dr. Becker. As plain as the nose on your face, you should be able to tell that this is a Dr. Pepper rip off... and that's fine. Soft drinks try too emulate one another all the time. What's not fine is the flavor of this drink. The initial taste is like a flat Dr. Pepper... the taste that follows is horrid. I'm going to type a flavor, and you aren't going to believe me. I've had two people agree with me on this so it's not just my screwy taste buds. The after taste of Dr. Becker is... boiled baby carrots. Before you say "no it's not", YES, YES IT IS! It is definitely in the top 5 worst soft drinks I've ever had. I can't even finish a can of this stuff... it's only 12oz, but even when I share a can with someone I can't get half way through. The can itself it pleasant, but not great. This product has scared me away from Blue Sky beverages for a while.

Here's what a can looks like

~A

Vernor's: The Original Ginger Soda

Ginger Ale... I'm sad to say that I went 25 years of my life without ever trying it. When I did try it I was amazed, it was what Sprite should be. Sprite, while drinkable, is not my favorite soda, but that's for another time.

I let CJ, my girlfriend, pick out what I was going to review this go round. She did pretty well selecting the Vernor's. First off, I don't think you can compare this to Ginger Ale which is where I went wrong to start off with. It it clearly labeled as a Ginger "Soda", and the original one at that. In comparison with Canada Dry, there is no comparison, they don't taste much alike... aside from the bit of ginger you might taste. *Update* This is indeed a Ginger Ale, it's just marketed as Ginger Soda. In fact Vernors Ginger Ale, along with Hines Rootbeer, is the oldest American born soda dating back to 1866! *Update*

Originally I thought that there was a Viking on the can of Vernor's (I keep wanting to spell it Wernor's due to my taking German). Oddly enough, it's a gnome. The fact that gnomes go into the making of this soda amuse me to probably buy more in the future. My next descriptive term is going to turn a lot of you away from trying this beverage. It tastes a bit like carbonated egg nog. I know that sounds gross, but that's because you're probably combining egg nog and seltzer water... it's nothing like that. It's really a pleasant flavor. It's not overly sweet, it leaves a nice after taste, and it has a gnome on the can. Really the more I've consumed this, the more it's grown on me.

While it is a Ginger Soda, by no means would I make this my first choice if I had a stomach ache. I think it might be just a little to sweet for that. Overall I recommend it to those who are fans of ginger drinks, if I remember correctly it wasn't so overly expensive that you'll have to only buy it on special occasions.

~A

Pomegranate 7up

Ok... so I was in HEB the other day looking for an interesting drink at the end of the isle. I came up with China Cola, but on my way back down the isle a maroon colored 7up bottle caught my eye. I picked it up and it was labeled 'Pomegranate 7up' with little snow flakes all over it. All I can assume from this is that it was a holiday release and my store realized they had an extra so they stocked it. Well I have a glass of it right in front of me so I can do a more accurate review. From here on out the reviews will be with drink in hand, not that the last few weren't accurate... it's just more fun this way.

Ok first sip. For starters it has the bite of a 7up, no more no less... which I think works for this drink. The maroon coloring is very nice as well, and if not carbonated it could almost pass for a wine. I'm having a hard time discerning if there is actually lemon, lime, and pomegranate in this, or if it's just pomegranate (a really long word to type) soda. Since the taste isn't jumping out at me as something radically different from regular 7up I guess I would say it's a combination of the three flavors. It does have a slightly different taste, a very slight hint of fruit (the pomegranate I'm sure) but it's certainly not overpowering.

While I like this drink just fine, it's just not different enough from 7up. Granted 7up is my favorite of the clear sodas, because of taste and the fact that they use all natural ingredients. This soda also uses natural ingredients, and I give them props for that. The best way to describe it is this... take a glass of 7up, now take a pomegranate and cut it in half. Drop half of the pomegranate into the 7up, now quickly take it out. Make sure you put in some food coloring for style. This drink, while very pretty in it's labeling and appearance is ok at best.

I'll continue to drink this 2 liter bottle with no problem, but no longer will I brag about having Pomegranate 7up because then I'll have to shoot down their hopes of a fantastic new flavor. This bothers me because it's a seasonal drink, and seasonal drinks are supposed to be a bit 'wacky'. The only wacky thing about this is that it's packaging is shades of maroon instead of shades of green. Personally I'll be awaiting the green and red M&M bags next holiday season before I'll be waiting on baited breath for this.

-A