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| Check out those lumps of goo in the glass! |
Hot Lips Real Fruit Soda Marionberry
By Hot Lips, a Portland pizza chain which has apparently branched into bottled soft drinks (and good on them).
I first heard of the Marionberry while watching the Oregon-centered comedy TV series Portlandia. I assumed this "Marionberry" was a joke: a reference to the scandal-tainted former Washington DC Mayor Marion Barry, who made national news when caught in a sting operation in 1990. Portlandia makes numerous references to the 1990s.
But from what I can tell, the Marionberry is an actually existing blackberry-raspberry crossbreed.
I had the great pleasure of visiting Oregon once. I had a great time, but sadly I do not recall tasting the Oregon treasure known as the Marionberry. Whoops! And now I might never get to visit Oregon again.
When I learned of the Oregon love for the Marionberry, I was immediately reminded of the Niagara Frontier love for the delightful Loganberry drink, also popular with Niagara Frontier fast food restaurants. The Loganberry is another blackberry-raspberry crossbreed.
When I discovered Hot Lips Marionberry, I was primed for a great taste experience by my fondness for Loganberry drink. Considering Hot Lips is a pizza chain, it is perhaps fitting that I enjoyed Hot Lips Marionberry with pizza.
Hot Lips Marionberry is sweet, but not TOO sweet. It has lumps of dark goo in it, presumably berry pulp or sediment. It has a nice red-purple (puce?) color. The label claims "14% Fruit". It's lightly carbonated.
My wife described Hot Lips Marionberry as having notes of a honey-like taste, but honey is not listed in the ingredients. I assume this comes from the natural berry flavors.
According to the Wikipedia article about the Marionberry:
The berry has a somewhat tart flavor, fairly earthy with traces of sweetness. It is larger, sweeter and juicier than the 'Evergreen' blackberry. The relative complexity of its flavor has led to a marketing label as the "Cabernet of Blackberries". The more powerful flavor of the marionberry has led to it dominating current blackberry production.
Sadly, I can't discern a whole lot of flavor in Hot Lips Marionberry; it was very mild. Considering the above description of the Marionberry, I must assume that the Marionberry's great melange of flavors did not survive the Hot Lips Marionberry bottling process, or perhaps my bottle's stay on the retailer's shelf.
Remember how I told you that I liked Loganberry drink? In fact, the Loganberry is an ancestor on both sides of the Marionberry family tree, a great-grandparent on one side, and a grandparent on the other.
The Loganberry was (accidentally) crossbred in 1881, by the American judge and horticulturist James Harvey Logan (1841–1928).
Marion Barry was born in 1936.
The Marionberry was initially crossbred in 1945, named for Marion County, OR.
Ingredients: Filtered sparkling water, marionberries from Sandy Farms in Boring OR, cane sugar, organic lemon.
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| Beige never looked so good. |
W.T. Heck Sodas Waffles & Syrup
By Blue Sun Bottling Co. (You could order it from here)
Who doesn't love the great taste of fried batter with syrup? Like "Ginger Man Soda" (reviewed previously), waffles are cooked wheat sweet treats which someone has attempted to render in soda pop.
W.T. Heck Waffles & Syrup is a lovely beige color. When have you ever heard something described as a lovely beige color? But for a plate of waffles & syrup in a bottle, beige is appropriate. The maple is immediately obvious, along with vanilla. As you would expect, this soda is VERY SWEET.
My wife was reminded of those orange-amber disc-shaped butterscotch hard candies. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some butter flavor mixed in, which I didn't recognize (the image on the label features a melting pat of butter).
In Winter, I was often comforted by the smell of toasted wheat, vanilla, and sugar as I biked past a nondescript factory. I thought they were making cookies, but it was actually malted milk powder.
I sipped the rest of the bottle, trying to isolate that comforting taste of toasted wheat, but I couldn't pick it out. I suspect I tasted some caramel, which you would expect.
Ultimately, W.T. Heck Waffles & Syrup comes off like a maple-y cream soda. I don't usually like cream soda, but the maple makes for a marvelous twist.
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| Looks orange, tastes like pineapple. |
North Star Craft Soda Pineapple Orange
I can definitely taste the pineapple; the orange flavor is a nice backup. VERY sweet, very strong pineapple candy flavor. Very much like their lime soda: like a pineapple-orange sucker in a bottle. Not very complex.
As I said, this is definitely a PINEAPPLE-orange soda. It's not some ordinary orange soda with a hint of pineapple.
I'm not yet sure how to turn this into a Painkiller cocktail. Maybe add some rum and scoop of coconut iced cream? Clearly more research is needed, but I don't want to drink another bottle of pineapple-orange candy flavor any time soon. It's REALLY sweet and strong.
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| Cider Ginger Beer, with ginger cat. |
Reading Draft Cider Ginger Beer
It's gingery, but not TOO gingery. The apple taste is sweet and candy-like, but not TOO sweet. It's actually pleasantly mild and well-balanced. It's still too spicy for the wife.
There's almost a wintergreen taste on my tongue. Not sure what to make of that.
The label reports caramel color, but as the photo suggests, this soda looks colorless and clear, and this doesn't detract (distract?) from the experience.
I've been eagerly anticipating tasting this since I saw it in the store, and I hoped it would taste like apple pie in a glass. But instead it's wholly different, and marvelously refreshing in multiple senses on this hot Summer day.
This makes me curious about their other flavors; what other surprises await me?
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