Friday, January 29, 2010

Sac Sac Orange


Well, despite my saying that I was afraid of this beverage, I had to try it. Part of me was terrified that I was going to have to suck an entire orange out of the can, but, thankfully, this was not the case. It did have pieces of orange in it, but they were well shredded and pulpy. I enjoyed the taste of this beverage quite a bit. If you have ever sipped the syrup out of a cup of mandarin oranges, Sac Sac Orange tastes similar to that, just not as viscous and syrupy. Unlike it's startling predecessor, there's really not a whole lot to say about Sac Sac Orange. It's just good, and the eight ounce serving size is just right. The 20 ounce serving size that has become the standard as of late can be intimidating at times, especially among drinks of high sugar content. The chunks of orange are a nice, happy medium between pulpy and chunky and help to enhance the natural flavor of the beverage. Long story short, it's great. If you run across some of these in the future, definitely try one out.

Verdict: Recommended

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Cherry Dr. Pepper (Arbitrated serving size: 12 ounces)



So apparently Cherry Dr. Pepper has been out for a while now, and I'm just now hearing about it. I just saw it for the first time in my life last week, and picked some up to try. Unfortunately, all that they had were two liters covered in country music stars and 12 packs. I reluctantly decided to go with the much less expensive 2-liter in the event that I didn't like it.

Anyway, onto the drink itself. Cherry Dr. Pepper is not bad. Not great...but not bad. It tastes pretty much like one would imagine (Dr. Pepper with Cherry Coke cherry flavoring in it), but it's pretty decent. One thing that I was noticing as I drank it, though, was that the cherry kind of made it taste like [Mr.] Pibb. This aroused suspicions in me as to whether or not the Pibb formula contains cherry or not, but I suppose that is irrelevant. Anyway, it was pretty good. It's not super different from the original, but the taste is subtle enough to matter. I still think that I prefer regular Dr. Pepper, though. Also, the experiences with it that I've had so far have also been kind of on the syrupy side. I've noticed that cherry flavoring tends to have that effect on a lot of drinks, so it didn't really surprise me, but it was still kind of a downer. I finished my 12 ounce serving size without much trouble, but I can't really see myself buying one of these at a gas station or even ever buying it again, really. Give it a try, though. It's not bad.

Verdict: Eh...it's all right.


Friday, January 22, 2010

Cherry Crush



I picked this up at a to-go eatery on campus a couple of days ago. I've never seen cherry crush in a 20 oz. plastic bottle before (I have seen it in glass), nor had I tried Cherry Crush before, so I picked it up. Now, I've never been a huge fan of fruit flavored sodas. I like other things that are flavored with fruit such as colas, but I've never been a huge fan of fruit flavor as the prominent base (with the exception of lemon-lime and possibly apple). There are some fruity beverages (and this general apathy towards fruit applies only to carbonated drinks) here and there that I enjoy, but this certainly is not one of them.

Cherry Crush is...not very good. The flavor is really pretty generic, but is also kind of chemically and acidic. In addition, it's a little on the bland side. The cherry taste is not very heavy, which typically I wouldn't mind. I typically like more subtle tastes. But, I also don't like having to struggle to taste it, especially when I have to fight through acidic chemical flavor to find the typical and uninspired candy cherry flavoring. It mainly just felt like I was drinking a bottle of sugary fluid, and I really don't like to take in high concentrations of sugar if I'm not going to at last enjoy the experience. And, as a result of that, I could not finish the 20 oz. serving, so it loses points for sustainability, too.

Verdict: Not recommended. Stick with orange.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Real Sugar Extravagansa



As those of you who keep up with this blog know, Pepsi-Co has brought their Throwback soft drinks back to the market for a limited time. This year, however, Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. has decided to release a version of their own called "Heritage Dr. Pepper." That's what this review is mainly about, but I thought I would revisit the other two while I'm at it.

Heritage Dr. Pepper




I was surprised to see this sitting next to the Mountain Dew and the Pepsi throwbacks in the CVS refrigerator. At first, my thoughts went to how Dr. Pepper ripped the idea off. However, I then decided that the beverages appearing on shelves at exactly the same time was pretty suspicious, and concluded to assume that there was some sort of secret board meeting between the two companies about the concept prior to release.

Anyway, on to the product. let me get started by saying that I have never been a humoungous Dr. Pepper fan. I prefer Mr. Pibb when it is available, and when it is not, I typically just buy something else. On a side note, for those of you who just thought, "Pibb and Pepper are the same thing. They taste the same," you are wrong. The two drinks are magnificent in their subtle (but quite notable) differences. Anyway, I picked up this Heritage Dr. Pepper in hopes that it would be a similar experience to that of Pepsi Throwback, but I was a bit disappointed. It tastes almost exactly like regular Dr. Pepper. The only real difference is that the crystalline sugar, as I have said with Pepsi Throwback, breaks down better than corn syrup, and doesn't leave that syrupy, sugary feel in your mouth. And not that that isn't without worth. In fact, I think that it is a huge improvement. But that's really all that the drink has going for it. It's basically just a more clean feeling Dr. Pepper. I don't know why, but with the Pepsi Throwbacks, the real sugar just makes them taste different somehow.

I finished the serving, but towards the end, it was kind of a task. If you like Dr. Pepper, go for it. It's definitely "better," but it tastes pretty much the same.

Verdict: Recommended above conventional Dr. Pepper, but really, you've already tasted this.


Pepsi Throwback



I'll keep the Pepsi and Mountain Dew sections short, as they have already been around once before.

I was super excited to find this on store shelves again. Especially since I was afraid that I would never get to taste it again. Pepsi Throwback is good. In fact, it is so good, that after the first run was over, I had a hard time drinking regular Pepsi again. It was just gross to me. The beverage benefits from the crystalline sugar in the same way that the aforementioned Dr. Pepper does, but on an even higher level. There's something about the sugar that also makes the drink taste more crisp and flavorful.

It tastes to me like this time around, they changed the formula a little bit. Typically, this is a worry, but this time around, it is even better. It has a stronger cola taste (and aftertaste), which is always, always, always a good thing. Also, I really like the new graphic design of the label. There is almost nothing in those store refrigerators that has a white label like the Throwback, and it's very eye catching by contrast. It's like it's just asking to be taken home.

Verdict: Recommended


Mountain Dew Throwback




Mountain Dew Throwback is...well...it's good Mountain Dew, I suppose. The same thing goes for the real sugar here as it did with the above two examples. Real sugar is just something that should be used in all beverages. However, I do not like Mountain Dew. It's just too...bland for me. The flavor is mellow, but at the same time, it's outrageously sweet. How they managed to make it simultaneously diabetes-inducing and tasteless is a mystery to me. Okay, maybe tasteless is a little harsh, but it just doesn't really taste like much to me, especially in comparison to the other beverages that are out there. I know that a lot of people like it, and I know that when reviewing something you are generally supposed to arbitrate based on the product's own merits and not in comparison to other things of it's sort, but in this case, I really just feel like there are better things out there. I feel that the purpose of this blog is to tell you how to spend that dollar fifty that you are holding in front of the drink refrigerator at that creepy gas station wisely. So, I'm going to have to say no.

Verdict: Not the worst thing you can drink, but spend your money elsewhere





Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Just some news

So it has occurred to me that for the integrity of this blog, I need to establish an updating schedule. Without a solid schedule, I do not update. I need to get myself on a schedule so that you fine readers know when to come back and can have motivation to actually check the blog every now and again.

As of right now, I'm thinking that I'm going to be updating with bi-weekly reviews every Tuesday and Friday. I know that Tuesday-Friday is a strange schedule, but those are the days that I think will conflict the least with my school and assignment schedule. Also, Monday-Thursday and Tuesday-Friday are the only equally spaced bi-weekly update schedules during the typically work week.

Anyway, I think that I will be able to stick to this schedule fairly well, and I may post the occasional random review in between the regularly scheduled reviews (but never in place of them), so keep an eye out for those, too.

One other thing that I wanted to mention is that from here on out, my reviews are going to be very family friendly. There is a chance that my reviews may be incorporated into a larger venue sometime in the not too distant future (somewhere in time and space, la-la-la), and I need to keep the language and innuendos and such to a minimum. If you want to keep up with my personal blog, where I speak with...less restriction, you can find it here.

But that's pretty much the scoop on what's going on with this blog right now. The schedule is tentative right now, as I may have to make adjustments as my curriculum for this semester pans out, but I will be sure to post a notification if I do. Feel free to email me with questions or suggestions (if you are suggesting a beverage for review, make sure to include locations where I am likely find it for purchase) to at the e-mail address located in my profile. Otherwise, I hope that you enjoy the new update schedule starting next week.

Until next time.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Pepsi Throwback returns!




This may be one of the happiest days of my life.