Exotic Soda Pops Reviews

I went to the Blue Sun Soda & Sweets Shop and bought dozens of bottles of sweetened carbonated beverages with my wife for our anniversary.  During quarantine, Blue Sun requires you to wear a mask while shopping.  It's a very interesting outfit, which bottles several of their own lines of fun beverages at their factory.  Sadly, they do not sell ice, so if you want to drink beverages right away, you should buy ice and drinkware beforehand.

Included in this review.

After visiting the Blue Sun and putting some bottles in your ice-filled cooler, I encourage you to work up a thirst and let your beverages chill by taking a walk in the lovely nearby Springbrook Nature Center.

Reviewing these fun beverages will give me something to do during quarantine.

Love is totally punk rock.

 Love Potion No. 69

By Real Soda in Real Bottles, Ltd. (order from here)

I shared this with my beautiful wife, for our anniversary.  It's sweet, but not too sweet for me nor my wife.

I used to feel so punk rock when I drank this back in the 1990s, and I was a Generation X slacker hipster.  It was made by the Skeleteens back then, and it seemed really spooky and cool.

This beverage is pale purple in color; I fear that my photos don't do this purple color justice.

The taste is hard to pin down: flowery? spicy? herbal--like herb tea? a little grapey, maybe?  It tastes like you just stepped into a pagan supply store and everything smells a little like patchoulli.

The ingredients mention this herb blend:

Siberian ginseng, Jasimine, Buchu, Dill Weed, Gingko Biloba, Clove, Echinacea, Damiana, Kola Nut, Dong Quai (Angelica), Brazilian Guarana, Gotu Kola, African Capsicum, Chamomile

That's a lot to look up; more than I am willing to look up, anyway.  My mother can confirm that many of these herbs were prescribed for her when she was dealing with menopause, so maybe this blend will jiggle your hormones and actually stimulate amorous feelings in you.

Like ginger beer, but apple-flavored.

 Apple-Beer

By SodaBeers

The website reports: "Blended apples with herbs and spices."

In the history, the website explains:

Almost a century ago Bavarian biermeisters developed our unique formula as an alternative to beer. They blended Sicilian apple with natural herbs and spices calling it “Fassbrause” – the soft drink with a head. This remarkable beverage was prepared and delivered much like beer, in wooden barrels, sitting on the back of a horse-drawn wagon.
In the early 1960s, we brought the drink to the Rocky Mountain. We honored its origins by calling it “Apple Beer” identifying it with other traditional sodas such as root beer and ginger beer.

And it is tasty.  Not too sweet, not too tart, and lightly carbonated.  A great sweet apple flavor, not like sour apple candy.  Non-alcoholic, and perfect for kids with a convenient screw-off bottlecap.

I was a little disappointed by the ingredients:

Purified carbonated water, pure cane sugar, citric acid, yucca extract (a natural antimicrobial), apple and other natural flavors, caramel.

I concede that this is GREAT for an American soft drink, but I was expecting more from a beverage touting its old-world heritage and "blended apples with herbs and spices."  It's basically just another soda pop.  I don't HATE Apple Beer, I'm just disappointed.

If you're looking for something more old-world, please consider these alternatives:

• Sparkling cider and sparkling apple juice: Not too hard to find in the USA.
• Apfelschorle: Popular everywhere in German-speaking countries in bottles, you can be like those hip European kids and make it at home by mixing apple juice with mineral water (or just club soda).  No sugar, no coloring, all natural.  
• Hard cider: Not appropriate for kids, but a naturally fermented carbonated apple beverage, and a traditional American beverage since colonial times.

"Serenity" and "Blue Sun" are Firefly references.

 Root Beer & Vanilla Bean

By Serenity Sodas

"Ooh, this is GOOD." -- my wife, who loves root beer.

Sweet and syrupy, it's lightly carbonated.  It tastes like what you'd expect: a mix of root beer and vanilla cream soda.  It's not too complicated, but also not too flavorful.  It's made with sugar, not corn syrup.  The taste somehow reminded me of marshmallows.

Ingredients: Filtered carbonated water, sugar, natural and artificial flavors, artificial color, sodium benzoate, and citric acid.

Bottled by Blue Sun Bottling Co., Spring Lake Park MN  55432

Finally remembered to include the cap.

Lucky Ginger Brew 

By Boots Beverages

This has the kind of gingery spicy ZIP you'd hope for from the Lone Star State, where the most of the wild animals have weaponized themselves.  Too spicy for the wife.  It's no ordinary drink mixer!

Sweetness is nicely balanced.  It's made with real sugar, not corn syrup.  The apperarance is cloudy, like you'd expect from ginger juice.

If you like Reed's Strongest Ginger Brew or Blenheim's Red Cap, Boots' Lucky Ginger Brew is worth checking out.