Goslings Ginger Beer

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I’ve seen a lot of mascots on labels before, but never a seal until today.  Goslings Ginger Beer has a drawing of a seal on it’s label.  The seal has a life preserver around its neck with the word “Stormy” on it. This allows me to assume that it’s name is Stormy the Seal which is a perfectly acceptable name for a seal.

Stormy sits on the words “Ginger Beer” and underneath that “The refreshing zip of ginger”.  Now ginger is a lot of things, but “refreshing” was never something I’d attribute to it.  

A seal, a hippo, and an iguana review a soda...

Ingredients wise this is comprised of carbonated water, HFCS, natural ginger beer flavor, citric acid, gum acacia, and ester gum.  Which one of those ingredients bothers you the most?  If it’s not “natural ginger beer flavor” then I’m questioning your questioning ability.

What is “natural ginger beer flavor”?  It’s clearly not “ginger” because I believe they’d have put “ginger” on the label.  Can you find “natural ginger beer flavor” in the wild?  Did they make a ginger beer through natural methods then steal it of its flavor? Isn’t a ginger beer one part carbonation and one part natural ginger beer flavor?  SO MANY QUESTIONS!  Enough questions, it’s time to drink.

Goslings Ginger Beer has the lightest of scents.  The little bit of aroma I can discern is more citrus than ginger.  HOLD THE PHONE.  This is the Official Ginger Beer of the 35th America’s Cup.  How did I not see this?  This better be fan-freaking-tastic if it’s the official anything of anything.

After the first sip my concern has cooled a bit.  Goslings Ginger Beer may have ridiculous ingredients and be an official something of something, but it’s better than I thought it’d be.  The mouthfeel is cool, crisp and refreshing at first.  This experience transforms smoothly into the ginger burn you’d expect with a ginger beer.  It’s a strong burn, but not overly so.  Strong enough that I’m enjoying the pain, but not so much that it’s keeping me from wanting to go back.

On the downside, I am noticing the more I drink this the more the cracks are starting to show.  What started off as cool and refreshing is being replace with metallic and medicinal.  The burn is unchanged, but overall Goslings Ginger Beer does not build upon itself well.  Odd how an experience can change so quickly.

So there you have it, Goslings Ginger Beer starts off well, but ultimately doesn’t meet the mark set by many of the ginger beers before it.

~A

This was purchased at an HEB grocer

O-So Butterscotch Root Beer

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I will be amazed if I ever have a butterscotch root beer that I don’t like.  It’s butterscotch and root beer… how can that combo lose?  Well I suppose you could dislike either one of those flavors and it would lose quite handily.  For those poor at foreshadowing I’m reviewing a butterscotch root beer, O-So Butterscotch Root Beer to be exact.

O-So that's what he's looking at.

O-So starts off on a good foot because I think the labeling is fantastic.  It’s a very 1960’s looking label, if not a little older as the bottle even states that O-So has been around since the 40’s.  The artwork  really does a good job at making me feeling nostalgic for a time where I wasn’t even born.  There’s even a fun phrase at the bottom. “O-So Delicious!” GET IT?  THE SODA NAME IS USED IN THE SENTENCE!  So now that visually we’re starting off right, I hope the aroma is also a plus.

Hooray!  The aroma is a butterscotch root beer combo, just as it should be.  The butterscotch is the dominant scent, but not so much that you forget it’s a root beer.  Now that I know the smell is on point I feel comfortable saying the taste will be above average at the very least.

There’s that roasted marshmallow flavor I look forward too.  The flavor is both creamy and buttery at the start, but finishes up with a nice strong bite at the back of the throat.  This dichotomy really ups the enjoyment factor of the soda.  You can tell i’m serious about this because I used the word “dichotomy”.  I even chuckled to myself when I did because of how simultaneously ridiculous and smart I felt.

I guess the creamy/bite relationship is a lot like that of the salty/sweet.  Sure each one is good by their lonesome, but it’s easy to get burnt out on them.  Pair the two together and your “want” becomes a “crave”.  I’m not sure that I’ll be craving O-So Butterscotch Root Beer when I’m done with this, but I’ll certainly want additional bottles in my possession.

While sweet it’s not overly so, but I’m not sure I’d want to drink this with a meal.  I think I’m officially going to designate this as a dessert soda.  The lack of syrupy mouthfeel keeps the experience from building upon itself until it’s demise.  Each sip is its own reward.  “Each sip is its own reward”... man that was good!  Put that on a bottle then sell a million, then give me 15%.

So even though the review you just read is rather simplistic, in the case of O-So it works.  It’s two simple flavors that are paired and play well together.  Bottom line is that if you like butterscotch or root beer you’ll like this soda.

~A

This was purchased at a Shell Gas Station


Australian Style Hot Ginger Ale

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I’m having a bad day.  Hopefully by the time this review gets posted I won’t be, but today hasn’t been the best.  I tell you this in case my mood influences this review, but I doubt it will.  The reason for my doubt is the fact there’s a kangaroo on the label of the soda I’m about to partake in.  Australian Style Hot Ginger Ale is the beverage at hand so it seems only appropriate and cliche that a kangaroo be on this bottle.  It’s a silhouette of a kangaroo so that makes it all the “artier”.  

The kangaroo means it's authentic.

All I can gleam from the bottle is that this is a hot ginger ale that’s sweetened with “pure” cane sugar.  The ingredient list is short, which normally is good, and the only thing on it that bothers me at all is sodium benzoate.  So perhaps this hot ginger ale will burn off my bad mood… or maybe hurt my mouth to the point where I forget about it.

I get little to no ginger scent from the bottle itself.  If anything it smells like printer paper.  Not exactly the scent you strive for in this situation, but the flavor may make up for it.

Nope, not really.  It has a very light carbonation which is followed by the taste of printer paper.  The printer paper has been sweetened with some sort of sugary substance, probably sugar, and then a mild burning sensation begins in my mouth.

While still very noticeable, this is the weakest “burn” I’ve experienced from any bottle that had the words “Hot Ginger” on it.  Haha, that last sentence might bring a new demographic to the site if they have a very specific “taste”.  Let’s see if we can’t increase our chances of that.

Hot Ginger

Hot Ginger

Hot Ginger

Hot Ginger

Hot Ginger

Anywho, I don’t get any ginger flavor at all with this soda and that’s ok.  “Why is that ok?” you ask.  It’s ok because I honestly feel better that this soda has limited redeeming value.

So if you want a burning sensation in your oral cavity then look no further than Hot Ginger.

For our newest viewers of the site… sorry you didn’t get to see what you came here for, but I’m sure you like soda so why not stick around.

~Aaron

This soda was purchased at a Shell Gas Station

Onli Hibiscus Pomegranate Strawberry

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Sigh… I’m worried about this review.  The last two sodas from Onli that I tasted did not agree at all with my buds.  To make matters worse today’s flavor includes hibiscus, something I’ve never really enjoyed.  The name it’s parents call it when it’s in trouble is Onli Hibiscus Pomegranate Strawberry.  It’s unsweetened and a beautiful rose color.  I know it’s unsweetened because it says so in bold print at least three times on the bottle.  So… here we go with the lowest expectations possible.

He's trying to see what the iguana is looking at.

The aroma is a nice, light strawberry scent that tries to seduce my mind.  It’s not going to work though.  Even though this smells of something I should sip on a hot summer day I know better… or at least I think I do.  

Onli makes the world's most confusing beverages.  I’m 100% ok with this.  It’s not delicious and amazing, but I understand what their doing and approve.  The two sodas I had prior to this one didn’t compute in my mind or mouth.  In my opinion, and that of the people around me while reviewing, they were awful.  

Onli Hibiscus Pomegranate Strawberry starts off with a bitter burst, but it transitions easily into a pomegranate/strawberry mineral water.  It’s definitely a sipping beverage and not a chugging one.  The fragile flavors fight with the bitters of the hibiscus and carbonation, but ultimately the sides call truce and live in harmony.

A powerful array of bubbles is ever present and adds some texture to the mouthfeel of the soda.  There is not a strong aftertaste and your mouth gets no syrupy buildup sip after sip.  I feel alright drinking this, no guilt at all.  Then again there are maybe 3 beverages I’d have any guilt about consuming.  

So that’s it then.  Onli makes sodas that flit and flicker all across my taste spectrum.  Thankfully my most recent memory of them will be positive.  Want an unsweetened soda that you might actually enjoy, give this one a try.

~A

This soda was purchased at an HEB Grocer

Onli Grapefruit Pomelo and Peach

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So earlier in the week I tried my second Onli beverage and it was pretty dang terrible.  Today I have another Onli beverage and I don’t know what one of the ingredients is.  The flavor of the day is Onli Grapefruit (yes) Pomelo (what?) and Peach (yes).  What’s a pomelo?  Let’s consult the internet.  Citrus Maxima is the scientific name and I like that a lot.  Pomelo is also a word used for grapefruit in some cases, but that would make the label redundant so I’m assuming that’s not what’s happening here.

Clearly he hasn't tasted it.

I’d look at the ingredients but someone removed the ingredient label so I’m going to assume that since it only has 15 calories that there is some non-sugar, but all natural, sweetener at work here.   Probably Erythritol, assuming I spelled that correctly.

In the “Good News” category this smells like a grapefruit soda and I like those.  So we’re two for two in good things now.  Good thing number 1 was “Citrus Maxima” for those who don’t like to re-read things.

This just in from the guy sitting one table over, we’ll call him Buttons.  Buttons says that pomelo is an original citrus fruit that many current fruits came from.  Pomelo + Mandarin = Grapefruit / Common Oranges.

Wow that’s an insanely bitter soda.  I keep trying it to parse out all the flavors, and each time a guttural noise comes out of my face.  The grapefruit is apparent in taste and I can only assume the Pomelo is too.  Peach on the other hand is represented as more of a theory.  It’s the essence of peach really.  You see it on the label so your brain tells you the aroma should be there… so it is.

Once again I don’t want to drink anymore of this soda.  It’s a deceptively pretty soda that lures you in with an artistic picture of citrus fruit… then reality sets in.

~A

This was purchased at an HEB Grocery Store

 

Onli Green Tea Lemongrass Mango

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Green tea needs to be in waaaaaay more sodas.  Thankfully today I have one in front of me called Onli Green Tea Lemongrass Mango.  Onli makes lightly flavored sodas that taste the way sparkling water should… of course I’m basing that on one soda.  They are “Sparkling & All Natural”, sugar free (sweetened with Erythritol), and in this case has some Monk Fruit Extract in it.  So that begs the question, how does a 5 calorie soda taste when sugar is removed from the equation?

At least they used Green Tea

That smells like a bag of nickles, I’m no longer excited to drink this.  With a strong whiff I do get some of the mango and green tea aroma, but it’s not powerful enough to sway my worries.

Nope.  Nope.  One more sip.  Nope.  That tastes like a bag of nickels with a little bit of green tea and mango flavor as well.  

Each sip ends with a painful wince because of how bitter the soda is.  The initial taste is lightly sweetened, fruity, and enjoyable.  Sadly, it almost immediately transitions into a metallic taste which then performs a ritual and summons the devil upon your tongue.  The devil then dances a merry jig upon your taste buds (this creates a bitter taste for those down on their lore) and vanishes from your mouth.  

I don’t want to drink this anymore so I’m going to stop and leave nearly three quarters of this soda unconsumed.  I will say that the light mango taste is enjoyable for less than a second… you know, just so I don’t leave this on a bad note.

~A

I purchased this soda at an HEB Grocery Store

Hippo Size Jumbo Root Beer

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Hippo Size has proven to be quite the tasty beverage maker so I figured giving the root beer a try wouldn’t be the worst of ideas.  Jumbo Root Beer is the official name of the soda at hand and it sits in a stout little 12oz bottle.  Sweetened with cane sugar and flavored with artificial and natural goodness it awaits consumption.

With an aroma that makes me think “bite” more than “cream” I’m starting to get a feel for what Jumbo Root Beer will be about.  There is a definite wintergreen scent as well which makes sense as it’s listed within the ingredients.  

I don’t know if I’m right about this, but I’m guessing the mouthfeel will be foamy and fun.

In terms of mouthfeel it’s not foamy or fun, in fact it was kind of boring.  Fortunately the flavor is the primary focus of the beverage although a good mouthfeel get you extra points.

The aforementioned wintergreen plays a rather important part in this play as it’s quite dominate on my palate.  This level of wintergreen might be a bit too much for some, but all in all it works well in the root beer.  If you do end up trying it you might enjoy the rooty flavor that hides behind the wintergreen mask.  It’s strong enough to give the soda a mild personality.

While the flavor is smooth it’s lacking in any sort of cream taste that you might expect in some root beers.  It still goes down easily with little bite, but honestly I want to feel more emotion from this bottle.  Hippo Size Jumbo Root Beer is the equivalent of a polite “hi” that you reserve for people you don’t know, but they work in the same building as you.

Hippo Size Jumbo Root Beer is slightly above average in taste, but overwhelmingly average if not a little lower in many of the other drink arenas.  I’m left kind of empty, unlike the bottle in front of me, after drinking it.  Perhaps I hyped up the Hippo Size name a little too fast.

~A

This was purchased at a Shell Gas Station

SiouxCity Root Beer

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I’m on a time crunch and only have 23 minutes to write this review.  It may be a suprise to you that it normally takes me around 30 minutes to write one… sometimes longer if I interact with people.  I’ll count the number of people I talk to while writing this to give you an idea.

One.

Drink enough of anything and you'll start to see tiny, orange, wheeled hippos.

Today’s review is Sioux City Root Beer and looks to be an ok product.  It has a cowboy on the label enjoying a frosty mug of whoknowswhat.  It’s made with cane sugar and sits in a fairly stout bottle that might remind some of years past.  A nice simple brown bottle cap sits atop the beverage and in…

Two.

..vites me to open it.

If you know what IBC Root Beer smells like you already know what Sioux City Root Beer smells like.  For those who aren’t in the know it’s a rooty aroma with some cream to it’s name.  Not overly sweet by any means, but I’m sure it’ll taste just fine.

Three.

Four.

As an aside, this is one of the heaviest bottles I’ve drank from to date.  It feels nice and sturdy.  Reliable.  Safe.  Great crash test ratings.

Five.

Again, for those of you who’ve had IBC Root Beer this tastes like a cleaner version of that.  Once again, for those of you who hav...

Six.

...en’t I’ll describe is as usual.

Sioux City Root Beer favors the “bite” category rather than the “cream”.

Seven.

So those of you who are into a smooth mouth feel might be a little disappointed in this soda.  The rooty aroma I mentioned earlier translates easily into the taste and is especially noticed in the aftertaste.  Obviously there is carbonation, but other than backing up the “bite” every now and again it’s not really a huge part of the experience.  All in all it’s a good root beer, but doesn’t do a lot to push itself ahead of the pack and get noticed… aside from the heavy bottle.  

Eight.

Nine.

So if you like root beer give it a go, if you love root beer then you’ve probably already had it and...

Ten.

… have developed your own opinions of it.

There you have it, I’m done with the review and talked to ten people.  That’s pretty good for me, but then again this is probably a fairly generic review from me.  

It’s a lot of fun being able to drink a soda and tell people about it as they pass you by.  Not that 5% of them will buy it, but at least they know that there’s more out there than what BIGSODA tells them about.

So thanks to all that stopped by, your existence has been reduced to a number between 1-10.

This was given to me by STUN3R