Exotic Soda Pops Reviews: Cherry Cran, Peach, Ginger Ale Pomegranate, Limoncello

Sprecher Cherry Cran

By Sprecher Brewing Company, Glendale, WI 53209

"Cranberries taste like cherries who hate you."

--John Oliver

I happen to like the taste of sweetened cranberries.  Surely this taste has been a beloved national favorite since Thanksgiving was invented.  But drinking unsweetened cranberry juice is a brutal, tongue-peeling ordeal.

Let's look at the photo again: is this pale pink?  Or is it 'rose gold'?  Cherries are red, cranberries are red, but for some reason this soda is not.  Not a complaint, just an observation; I certainly don't need any more red dye in my body.

The aroma and initial taste of this beverage is all cherry.  I can't even taste the cranberry.  There is a hint of an edge on this that I can barely make out, which perhaps passes for the tartness of natural cherry juice, or a winy undertone.  

It is sweet, to be sure, but not TOO sweet.  I gave my wife a taste; "what do you taste?" I ask.  "Honey," she declares.  And sure enough, the ingredients report "RAW WI HONEY."  

Note that this is a 16-ounce bottle; you get 33% more pop for your bottle.  Even so, the taste is certainly worth any extra expense.  

I call these "Exotic Soda Pop Reviews," but Sprecher's beverages are not so 'exotic' here, more like a local favorite bottler.  Their root beer has been beloved in the area for decades.

If you're thinking of passing on this because you don't want the taste of some kind of Ocean Spray breakfast blend, you are REALLY missing out.  Sprecher's Cherry Cran is marvelous, with a complex flavor.  I highly recommend it.

Whistler Classic Soda Peach

By Whistler Bottling, LLC

The bottle says it's made in Minneapolis, MN; but now it's bottled in Spring Lake Park, MN.  Your best bet is the Blue Sun Soda Shop.

I like the appetizing orange color.  Before it touches my lips, it has a nice, mild scent.  I should point out that this bottle is only 8 ounces; my previous soda was 16 ounces, so here I pay for my previous excesses.

It's very sweet, as you might expect.  But smooth!  A very nice flavor.  Lightly carbonated.

My wife reports: "very fruity!"  Which is what you'd expect, of course.

I'm tempted to say that the flavor is multilayered somehow: when it first hits your palate, when it sits in your mouth, and after you swallow it.  All these flavors are great.

Whistler Peach is a winner!  It's got a small bottle, but a big flavor.  

The bottle says: "Return For Deposit," but I don't plan to drive for an hour or so to visit Spring Lake Park in order to get my 10-cent deposit (or however much it is) any time soon.  

Unfiltered Bruce Cost Ginger Ale Pomegranate with Hibiscus

By Bruce Cost

Maybe order it from here.

I was NOT looking forward to trying this.  I was worried it would be flowery, like herb tea or something.  My wife kept pushing me to try it; no doubt so she could try some of it.

I like the lovely magenta color.  It smells like ginger ale.  It's definitely unfiltered, and weird dark lumps form a sediment.  It's only lightly carbonated.

It tastes like ginger ale.  There is an undertone; it MIGHT be fruity.

Of course I gave some to my wife: "not as good as I thought it would be."

It has a nice combination of fruity and dry.  Not too sweet.  

As I said, I was not looking forward to this, but it's really grown on me over the course of the bottle.  Modern ginger ales tend to knock your socks off, but this is a really mellow gentle drink, suitable for your mom or other mild-mannered sorts on a balmy Summer day.  

Kiddie Cocktails Limoncello

By Blue Sun Bottling Co.

Maybe order it from here.

Very lemony yellow color.  

Powerful, sweet and tart lemon flavor.  Lemon, maybe with something else; not sure what.  It's sharp, maybe due to regular lemon flavor, maybe due to extra citric acid.  

My wife reports: "kinda like a good Mountain Dew," but to be honest, I've never had a BAD Mountain Dew.

Very candy-like and syrupy.  It could easily stand to have some crushed ice mixed in, or you could use this to make some actual cocktail, alcoholic or not.  

No regrets, but I don't need to have a bottle of this again.  

Exotic Soda Pops Reviews

North Star Craft Soda Orange Cola

By North Star Craft Soda

The Orange taste is mild, but noticeable.

Coca Cola has tried lots of different flavors with their signature beverage: cherry, lime, coffee, new, and yes, orange.  For some reason, they haven't widely marketed orange cola, but fortunately for us North Star Craft Soda has picked up the ball.

Like other North Star Craft Sodas, it's very sweet and syrupy--like liquid candy.  Simple flavor, not complex.  

I'm glad I tried it, but I won't need to try it again for a long time.  

Batch Craft Soda Snozzberry

By Batch Craft Soda

"The snozzberries taste like snozzberries."

--from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

The red color is nice.  It looks fruity in the bottle, but it tastes mildly sweet and spicy.  

I find the sweetness mild, but my wife finds it TOO sweet.  It does not taste like anything natural that I am familiar with; kind of like spicy cotton candy.  I can't identify which spice or spices make it taste spicy (nutmeg? allspice?).  

The spice flavor and festive red color suggests that this would make an appropriate holiday beverage.  I certainly don't need to taste it any time soon.  This is a good thing, because I can't find it available for sale on Batch Craft's website.  It could be because someone at Batch Craft found out that "snozzberry" is actually Roald Dahl's slang word for a penis.  

Empire Ginger Beer

By Empire Bottling Works, 61 Buttonwood, Bristol RI  02809, 401-253-7117

(They don't seem to have a website!  Try ordering it here.)

My wife REALLY likes Empire's Diet Root Beer, so I had high hopes for Empire Ginger Beer.  All this in spite of their unassuming label--so unassuming it's peeling off the bottle, as the photo suggests.

WOW is this Ginger Beer spicy.  It's SO GINGERY!  My wife didn't like how gingery it was, but of course she conceded: "I guess it's all right if you like ginger."

After the ginger flows off my palate, there's a flowery taste left behind.  Is this an extra flavor undertone added to the beverage by Empire's brilliant pop artisans?  Or is my tongue hallucinating?  If so, I enjoyed the break from reality.  

I want to say that there are multiple levels of flavor, but the spice of the ginger is so overwhelming that I cannot say for certain.

I enjoyed this beverage with a spicy pizza, and it definitely kept up.  I recommend pairing this with the spiciest foods you can handle: chili, hot chicken wings, szechuan stir fry, you name it.  

I can hardly wait to try this again.  

Serenity Sodas Pineapple & Cream

Blue Sun Bottling Co., Spring Lake Park MN  55432 (Maybe order it from here)

I expected to HATE this soda.  That's why it's the last review here; I kept putting it off.  I like pineapple, but I don't LOVE pineapple; and cream soda is one of my least favorite flavors.  I was wondering why I bothered to put it in my shopping cart in the first place.

I'm surprised by the dark color; dark like a nut brown ale.  I'd expect a pineapple soda to be pale yellow, and this is darker than most cream sodas.

I'm amazed by the fact that I actually like it.  It's sweet, but not TOO sweet.  A lot of these Serenity Sodas really hit hard with the sweetness, but this is soda is okay.

The pineapple flavor does not have a sharp edge to it; natural pineapple fruit has a very tart element, but this soda is smooth.  The whole experience is very mellow.

My wife doesn't like pineapple, and she refused to taste it.  She's totally missing out!

I recommend you give this a try, even if your previous ideas about pineapple and cream soda tell you not to.