Recommended

Slightly sweet. Resin, black pepper, and a little bit of wood are the primary flavors. Slightly tangy. Comes across as quite herbal despite being derived from a fruit. Medium finish tastes like the best parts of a tea shop. Recommended. Purchased from Woodlake Market

Quite sweet. The flavor is best described as a fairly classic banana pudding. While absolutely not the texture of a pudding, it does still feel round and soft in the mouth. The start comes across as exceptionally rich, thinning slightly in the middle, but filling out again for a medium long finish. Quite remarkable. …

NOTE: Chill thoroughly before opening the can. All of the room temperature cans I have opened have gushed significantly. Slightly sweet. A well structured flavor profile with a defined clove base, layers of herbal tones tops off with jasmine, all while surrounding a floating lightly bitter core. The flavor is …

Quite sweet. Initially starts exactly as labelled, somewhat uncannily. The sweetener blend pokes out in a few places but provide interest and context for the rest of the experience instead of being distracting. Fade to the finish is steep to a murmur of minimal flavors that hang around for awhile. In some ways it feels …

NOTE: Chill thoroughly before opening the can. All of the room temperature cans I have opened have gushed significantly. Slightly sweet. Fragrant bergamot, clove, nutmeg and some other more elusive spices emphasize a lovely tea base. For a carbonated beverage the mouthfeel is remarkably soft and lush. Spice mix remains …

Slightly sweet. Interesting trying this flavor in the context of the Blackberry flavor earlier today, where the apple tones that were distracting there really come into their own here, and you can see how they got there from here. Fruit first start has cider and floral apple notes with a pleasant light tartness. The …

Currently in limited release to Circle K and affiliated stores in North America. Very sweet. Possibly the best color for a soda I've ever seen. It's this really lovely jewel-toned blue shading just a bit into purple. Really gorgeous. Strong berry start establishes itself well, blooms nicely in the middle, and catches a …

Note: Before trying either of the Nitro Pepsi flavors it is worth reading through some notes on my other blog. Very sweet. Cola start has a just enough vanilla to be noticeable but isn't overpowered. The foam is absolutely the best part, consume as much of that as possible. It is delightfully creamy and has a lovely …

Slightly sweet. Bright and clean citrus from start through the pleasantly long finish. Very full flavors can seem muted compared to the sweetened varieties. Fairly tangy, just on the edge of sour. Recommended. Purchased from Moshi

Quite sweet. Yuzu sharpness is tempered with a hint of apple. Not having had shiso before I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for but there there is an additional herbal, somewhat peppery, layer on top I don't remember from the original yuzu flavor. Finish is surprisingly sparse given the lushness that is present in …

Medium sweet. Light natural apple flavor with just a bit of tartness to make it interesting. They do a pretty good job of letting the fruit do all the work here. The extra sugar is modest enough to accentuate and not over-power the natural fructose. Really well done. Recommended. Purchased from Snackmagic

Quite sweet. Light natural ginger start without any fire. Subtle fruit shows in the middle, complimenting the ginger without overpowering it. Not as acidic as you'd expect from natural pineapple. Overall really well integrated. Recommended. Purchased from Snackmagic

Very sweet. Sharp and deep yuzu start. Peach barely peeks through in the middle before giving a marginally better showing in the finish, but this is mostly a yuzu show from start to extended finish. Somewhat disappointed there wasn't more peach so it's hard to recommend this over their original yuzu flavor, but might …

Slight sweet. The coffee hits hard and strong, but with enough sweetness to blunt the bitterness. Probably closer to an espresso than drip. Reasonable depth from some malt integrates really well. Compares really well to RTD cold brew coffees, but with a slightly different flavor profile. Recommended. Purchased at …

Quite sweet. Bright and accurate citrus explodes from the start, ripens in the middle, and lingers exceedingly pleasantly in the extended finish. Very slightly tart, but not enough for a true pucker. Lightly acidic enough for the hint of an edge. Fragrant nose. Over all just pretty much stunningly good. Highly …

Medium sweet. I was pretty skeptical about this flavor working with the vinegar base after trying their cola, but I'm pleasantly surprised at the result. Starts a little sweet and then adds just a little bit of tartness from the vinegar before a lovely herbal spice comes through with lots of vanilla. The finish is …

Quite sweet. Deep and rich flavor from start to finish is similar to both tamarind and black tea. Just tart enough to be called somewhat sharp, but not enough to call it sour. I suspect this is the kind of soda that people will either love or hate, but is absolutely worth trying. Recommended. Purchased from the Xoca …

Quite sweet. Tart start from the cacao juice eventually lets a light spearmint surface and float over the complex extended finish. The mint really highlights aspects of the cacao juice nicely rather than covering it up. Recommended Purchased from the Xoca website

Medium sweet. Some beverages really straddle the line between juice, soda, or whatever and this is a perfectly good example. It would be easy to categorize this with their competitor down the coast but this comes across less as a soda than as a juice, justifying the label of "ginger beverage". Raw ginger is …

Very sweet. Surprisingly, a very good example of a classic orange soda. Checking the packaging, the white label provider appears to be My Private Label who pretty clearly know how to make a good soda. Clean orange flavor from start to medium long finish. Good cane sugar ensures that finish is pretty clean. Surprisingly …

Medium sweet. Picture in your mind the classic grape soda: Nehi, Buddy's, Boots, Fanta, whatever. Now, imagine there is a dial on the bottle (because of course it's in a glass bottle) that is currently set to 11 out of 10. Turn that dial down to a 4 or 5 and you get this. The classic grape flavor is still there but it …

Medium sweet. Well defined pear and perfumy floral quickly trade places smoothly through the middle. Pear starts but the elderflower is strong near the finish before both evaporate surprisingly quickly when the liquid is gone, leaving a subtly pear-skin flavored extended finish. Recommended. Purchased from United Sodas …

Medium sweet. A pretty good example of the difference between true citrus and aloysia citrodora. Where a typical lemonade or lemon-lime soda would be more clearly single noted and acidic, this has some subtle herbal depth that rounds out the flavor profile of an otherwise understated soda. Lovely finish. Recommended …

Medium sweet. A surprisingly dry take on a fruit flavor like peach. The initial sweetness evaporates quickly leaving the floral fruit behind for a really long finish. Strongly reminiscent of a really good bellini I had many years ago. Recommended. Purchased from United Sodas of America

Quite sweet. Sharp natural ginger start joins with an interestingly tart fruit flavor that isn't quite like anything I've tried before. Something like a less-sweet tamarind? Hints of bitterness around the edges add to the herbal depth of an already complicated brew. Fruit diminishes quickly in the moderately long …

Not sweet. Natural ginger suffused with complex bitter and earthy flavors present a challenge to anyone who read the label text and expected something different from the use of the term "ginger beer". The bitterness, which I suspect is from the dandelion root, is very present but also not overpowering. More …

Something Bowl Sunday 5/5 Not sweet. Like the Hairless Dog Lager earlier today this is hop forward. The difference then is in degree, not kind. Where the Hairless Dog used a big hammer, Athletic instead adds enough to be assertive but not enough to be abrasive. Floral notes develop in the middle and the finish is like …

Something Bowl Sunday 3/5 Not sweet. Lightly malted and fairly clean with just enough depth to be interesting. Other than the alcohol it's really similar to a Corona. Recommended. Purchased at Stinson Wine, Beer and Spirits

Something Bowl Sunday 4/5 Not sweet. Roasted malts are the star and they do shine pretty well. Slightly toasted bitter edge brings character and adds to the depth. A little more thin that I normally like my stouts, but works ok here. Not perfect, but worth it. Recommended. Purchased at Stinson Wine, Beer and Spirits

Medium sweet. I always have trouble with "watermelon" flavored sodas. They hardly ever taste anything like any actual watermelon I've ever had. This particular example is a bit more perfumey than most along with the more typical melon-like flavors that I associate with this category of flavor. All of it …