Exotic Soda Pops Reviews: Bitter Orange, Passion Fruit, Lime & Coconut, Cherry Sour

Cock 'n Bull Bitter Orange

By Cock 'n Bull Premium Soda, (although my sample was bottled by Spring Grove Soda Pop)

It's got a nice orange color; not too cartoony.  There are lumps visible in the bottle, but I can't seem to locate them in the glass, and they aren't obvious in the photo.

Note the "with Quinine" on the label: I can definitely taste it!  It's very nice.  I want to try this with gin or something.

The bitterness is real.  It's kind of like a bitter Orange Crush, as you might expect.  The label claims "Orange Juice Concentrate" and "Natural Orange Flavors."  Unlike Orange Crush, this is not so syrupy nor candy-like.

This is good stuff for those with mature palates.  I highly recommend it!

Waialua Lilikoi (Passion Fruit)

By Waialua Soda Works Inc.

PO Box 657

Waialua HI  96791 USA

808-371-7556

I visited Hawaii once and I was totally into POG (Passion-Orange-Guava), which is awesome.  I understand that Lilikoi is Waialua's newest flavor, so maybe it wasn't available at the time.

Nice mild scent, kind of funky.  Nice mild pink color.

The taste is mild, but GOOD.  There's a peculiar pre-taste as it hits your tongue, kind of like wintergreen, but it disappears quickly, and you have a crisp, dry taste of this fruity soda.  NOT too sweet nor syrupy.  Not too tart.  Like I said, mild, but good.

It's definitely a soda pop, and not a flavored seltzer.

The mild tast of this qualifies it for mature palates only.  

INGREDIENTS: Carbonated Water, Sugar Blend (cane sugar and Maui natural white cane sugar), natural flavor, citric acid, fruit and vegetable juice for color

Serenity Sodas Lime & Coconut

Slightly foggy, which you might expect from a coconut beverage.  Sweet lime scent, with a generous dose of something else--I guess the coconut.

Lightly carbonated, very syrupy & sweet.  The coconut flavor is prominent, but it isn't THAT amazing.  The lime flavor is very much like lime candy, as you might expect.

I can't find a cocktail which pairs lime with coconut, but it seems like there should be one by now; Harry Nilsson's song "Coconut", which originally put the lime in the coconut, has been around for almost 50 years.

Ultimately, it comes off like a lime soda with something extra.  The taste is good, but its syrupy nature kind of mars this.  It might taste better diluted with ice or soda water.

Whistler Classic Soda Cherry Sour 8 oz.

By Whistler Classic Soda

The color is a nice, bright red; almost a poppy red.  It's cloudy, but it's nice.

It's very sweet, with a syrupy texture and a tart bite.  The cherry flavor is nice, but not very complex.

Not a lot I can say about this.