Deerfield Trading Co. Gourmet Soda, pt. 2

Since trying the Deerfield soda at Walgreens I keep finding excuses to go to Walgreens so I can grab a soda. I forgot my lunch one day at work so I went across the street to find something to munch on and, of course, got a soda.

This time I got the Orange Cream. I wish I could tell you that it tasted like a creamsicle, because that's what I thought and was hoping it would taste like. Alas, I can't tell you that that's what it tasted like. The cream is subtle, which I liked, but the flavors came in waves. First you get orange, then you get cream. So, I guess it's like a creamsicle if you took a bite of the outside orange then took a bite of the inside cream.

Overall it was good, just wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Also probably not my favorite flavor. Strawberry cream and vanilla cream are tied in my book. Just depends on what I'm craving.

Deerfield Trading Co. Gourmet Soda

Per the suggestion of a friend of mine, I recently tried Deerfield Trading Co. Gourmet Soda.

This "gourmet soda" (whatever that means) is a Walgreens exclusive. Walgreens is headquartered in Deerfield, IL (thank you Wikipedia) so I guess it makes sense that they carry a brand from their hometown. My friend found at the Walgreens in Culpepper, VA and I found it in Columbia, SC so I think it's safe to say that it's everywhere - in the central Atlantic region, anyways.

Here's our Facebook conversation about it:

As you can tell, he really likes it. And I have to say - I pretty much agree with everything he said. I bought the vanilla cream (not sure if he got the same one, his might have been regular cream soda), strawberry cream, and black cherry. There was also grape & root beer but I don't really like either of those two flavors so I passed on them. All of the sodas are made with cane sugar, and are decaffeinated - for those of you who are into knowing that kind of stuff.

The vanilla cream - awesome. It tasted exactly how I wanted a cream soda to taste. I don't know if that's because it was vanilla cream instead of just cream, but whatever the reason it was fantastic. Way better than any other cream soda I've ever had. I'm not usually partial to cream soda, but I highly recommend this.

I was expecting the strawberry cream to be super sweet, but it wasn't! It was perfect. I can't really describe it. Sort of like cherry soda, but not. I wouldn't say that it tasted like strawberries... more like strawberry flavor, if you know what I mean. Either way, it was still good.

The black cherry was kind of eh to me. I usually like cherry soda, but this one didn't impress me much. I don't know if that's because I was so blown away by the other two or because it really was sub-par. Either way, I would definitely pick up s Deerfield Trading Co. cream soda of some kind the next time you're in/near a Walgreens.

Zuberfizz Key Lime Cream Soda

Please excuse my dirty kitchen counter and wall(?). I usually try to clean up before I take a picture but since this was a spur or the moment drink I didn't get a chance to clean. I went to World Market with Brian so he and a friend could get some beer so I, of course, picked up a few sodas. The first thing I noticed about this drink is that it had a sweet, lime smell – exactly like key lime pie. The last thing I noticed was its color. It was the last thing I noticed because the bottle is very dark. When I had almost finished it I started to wonder what color it was. I held it to the light and could see a distinct green color. I poured a little in a glass and, to my surprise, it was bright green. Way brighter than key lime pie. I’m not usually partial to cream soda, but this key lime twist really hit the spot for me. It was smooth, sweet and had a hint of lime. The name of the company is Zuberfizz and the tag line is "feel the fizz." I didn't feel too much fizz, but it tasted exactly like what you would expect it to, which is delicious. If you like key lime pie and/or cream soda I definitely recommend this one. 4.5/5 stars

Sierra Mist Cranberry

I do not like Sierra Mist. Like I mentioned in my post about Pomegranate 7UP Antioxidant, Sprite is my favorite mass produced lemon-lime drink. But while I was at my dad’s house for Christmas we ran out of cola and the only soda we had left was Sierra Mist Cranberry. Normally, I probably would have passed it up. Given that now I'm constantly on the look out for new things to try and the tasty success of my adventures in 7UP land I decided to give this soda a go. To my surprise and delight, it was really good! Pomegranate 7UP tasted more like a pomegranate soda instead of a pomegranate flavored lemon-lime drink. Sierra Mist Cranberry, however, was crisp and refreshing – like a cranberry flavored lemon-lime drink should be. I actually welcomed the chance to drink this again while I was at Brian’s mom’s house, so I give this 5/5 stars. Great success.

Royal Crown Bottling Co.

The other day I noticed the above Royal Crown Bottling Co. in Columbia. I don't know how I've missed it for so many years. Since I've started this blog I felt that it was only appropriate to go take a picture of it and post it. Most of you probably know Royal Crown for its RC Cola. I couldn't find a lot of history about this particular defunct bottling plant (see the for sale sign in the window), but according to this site I found it looks like this might have originally been a bottling plant for Chero-Cola. Perhaps it was build to only bottle RC Cola, I don't know. If any Columbians want to see it, it's on Assembly Street. If you're going towards the highway, away from the stadium, it's on the left side of the street shortly after passing Gervais St. Happy hunting!

Pomegranate 7UP Antioxidant

Generally, I prefer Sprite over 7Up. But when I saw Pomegranate 7UP antioxidant at Bi-Lo I decided that I had to give it a try. I found some pics online of pomegranate 7UP cans but they only had it in 2L form at Bi-Lo so I grabbed a bottle. It has antioxidants, which is pretty cool. Again with the healthy soda, I suppose. I’ve had pomegranate before, but didn’t know what to expect from this. I guess I thought it would sort of taste like cherry soda. Really, I expected it to taste like pomegranate soda, but heck if I knew what that would taste like. Let’s be honest, most of the time when you have something that’s flavored like fruit it doesn’t actually taste like that fruit. I love grapes but hate anything grape flavored. It’s just not the same. This soda didn’t disappoint. When you first drink it, it doesn’t really taste like pomegranate. It just tastes like a fruity 7UP. But the first little aftertaste hint that you get tastes EXACTLY like pomegranates! It's not really "crisp and clean" like you'd expect from Sprite or 7UP. It does taste more like a fruit soda. Still, it's really great. I like this soda a lot. Brian and his roommate tried it and they both liked it as well. I don’t know if I’ll buy it again, but I’m certainly going to enjoy finishing the rest of the bottle. I give this 4.5/5 stars.

Tommy's Naked Soda

I went to the Gourmet Shop a few weeks back to visit a friend who had just started working there. While I was perusing their wares I found some New England ‘naked’ sodas; Tommy’s Naked Soda to be exact. These sodas don’t have any caffeine, unnatural flavors or colors, and are clear. I’m sort of curious how they get sodas such as blueberry, raspberry, and orange to be clear, but whatever. I think that in general I have decided that I am not a fan of ‘healthy’ sodas. If I want healthy, I’ll drink vitamin water. If I’m drinking soda I don’t want healthy. I ended up purchasing the lemon & lime, raspberry & lime, and orange. For more information on these drinks, visit tommysnakedsoda.com

1. Lemon & Lime
When I think about how a lemon/lime soda should taste I imagine a light, crisp, refreshing taste. This soda was lacking in the light and refreshing departments. The lemon & lime part was fine, but something about it seemed heavy. Perhaps it didn’t have enough carbonation in it? Brian thought it tasted alright but I thought something about it just tasted a bit off. It was okay, so I’ll give it 3.25/5 stars.

2. Raspberry & Lime
I was a little worried about how this would taste, since I tried the black cherry & lime Vitamin Water flavor and didn’t like it, but I decided to give it a go. I like this one more. You mostly taste the raspberry, with just a hint of lime at the end. This one was a bold mix of flavors and was pretty good, so it gets 3.8/5 stars from me.

3. Orange
I feel like I’ve had this before. I think it’s taking me back to the ‘natural’ orange soda I got from World Market. Good to know that they all taste the same. And how could they not? The ingredients are the same: carbonated water, cane sugar, natural orange and other natural flavors, citric acid, and ascorbic acid. This particular natural soda has 100% of the U.S.R.D.A. of Vitamin C, which is great for me because I currently have the winter sickness. I uploaded a picture of this soda's bottle (please excuse my free phone's lack of mega pixels.) In the effort of fairness I give this one the same rating I gave the last natural orange soda I tried: 3/5 stars.

World Market Sodas

I bought 9 different sodas from World Market recently and have decided to document my tasty findings.

1. Coco Fizz Chocolate Soda, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, zuberfizz.com
This is the first one I tried. I got impatient after I got home and was craving something sweet so I popped this one open before it was ice cold. But hey, I like warm soda anyways. This definitely tasted chocolaty. Much more than, say, chocolate beer. However, it didn't taste exactly like chocolate but like chocolate flavor. It sorta tasted like a carbonated Yoo-Hoo. A better explanation might be that it tasted like a liquid, carbonated chocolate lollipop. It was pretty good, but by the end of it I was kind of tired of it. I give it 3/5 stars.

2. Bubble Up, produced by Dad's Root Beer Company and bottled by OrcaBeverage Soda Works, dadsrootbeer.com & orcabeverage.com
A lot of the sodas I bought are sweet and sugary, and since I had just eaten some strawberry yogurt French toast I opted for this "Crisp and Refreshing Lemon Lime Soda" instead. Lemon and lime, indeed. It tastes pretty similar to Sprite and 7up. Despite its name, the drink is significantly less bubbly than Sprite. In fact, I think I prefer it over Sprite for just that reason. I would definitely drink this one again but don't plan on driving back to World Market and buying them out so I give it 4/5 stars.

3. NuGrape, Orca Beverage Soda Works, orcabeverage.com
I was really hesitant to buy this one because I hate all things that are supposed to taste like grape. Don't get me wrong, I love grapes, I just hate grape flavor. This soda tasted exactly like what I suspected grape soda would taste like. My roommate said it tasted like Fanta. I think it smelled like Dimetapp. I didn't hate this one; it was better than a lot of other grape tasting things I've had. I personally give this 3/5 starts but if you're into grape-flavored things this is probably right up your alley.

4. Creme, Boylan Bottling Co., boylanbottling.com
This soda was SO SWEET. Goodness, it was like drinking candy. It wasn't a bad tasting candy, just a super sweet candy. I don't think I've had any other creme soda before, so maybe that's just what it tastes like? I don't know. You all will have to enlighten me. I give it 2.5/5 stars, just because if someone offered it to me I would probably pass.

5. Orange, Boylan Bottling Co., boylanbottling.com
Per recent (and vintage) trends in soda, this one is sweeted with cane sugar instead of refined sugar. But the 'healthiness' doesn't stop there. The list of ingredients is pretty short and it has mandarin and tangerine oils. Are fruit oils healthy? Maybe not. I'm not really an expert. I just know that since they're something semi natural from an actual fruit it makes me feel better about it. I wish I could say that I prefer this one over the next orange soda, but I don't. As much as I wanted to like it, there was something sort of off about the taste. Maybe it's the healthiness. The odd taste isn't bad so I give it 3/5 stars.

6. Nesbitt's of California Orange, Orca Beverage Soda Works, orcabeverage.com
This one has cane sugar as well but also has more ingredients that I can't pronouce, less natural flavor, and more artificial color. And boy, does it taste pretty close to mass produced, commercial, bad for you orange soda (read: Sunkist, Fanta Orange, etc). Because of that, I prefer this orange soda over the above. If this were cheaper than or the same price as a 2 L of any other orange soda I would be tempted to pick this one. Accordingly, I give it 4/5 stars.

7. Americana Delicious Vintage Black Cherry, Orca Beverage Soda Works, orcabeverage.com
When I was reading the descriptions and ingredients of both of my black cherry sodas I wanted to like this one. It’s made with real cane sugar and is “healthier.” However, I just didn’t like it. Something about the taste just seemed off to me. I’m starting to think that I just don’t like cane sugar flavored sodas. Brian and I both tried this, and he preferred this one over the other one. So, if you like black cherry soda there’s a chance you’ll like this one. I’ll give it 3/5 stars, just like the cane sugar soda 2 reviews up.

8. Black Cherry, Boylan Bottling Co., boylanbottling.com
Like I said in the above review, I preferred this black cherry soda. The flavor was just more on the ball with what I thought a black cherry soda should taste like. Brian didn’t like it, but I’m going to give it 3.5/5 stars. It wasn’t the greatest soda, but it was definitely better than the one above it.

9. Pig Iron Cola, Orca Beverage Soda Works, pigironbbq.com
I love Cola. It’s my favorite soda hands down. I was really looking forward to trying this one and, let me tell you, it did not disappoint. In fact, it’s probably one of the best colas I’ve ever had. If it were cheaper, I would probably buy it over Coke/Pepsi. Given the price, it’s right up there with my love of RC Cola. As Brian says it “finishes really well,” and doesn’t leave you with the syrupy heaviness of most colas. Just great taste. I give it 5/5 stats.