Feel The Heat!

I am a big fan of Shipyard Brewing's non-alcoholic offerings, especially Capt'n Eli's Root Beer and Sea Dog Root Beer. I was happy when the good folks at Shipyard sent me a sample of their Capt'n Eli's Ginger Beer, since there are no distributors for their products in Central Indiana. Now, I will preface this by saying up front that it is a rare day when I imbibe a Ginger Beer or Ale, it's not a Soda I have ever managed to acquire the taste for. That would be due mainly to my experience with products such as Canada Dry and Schweppes which really lack any character and can best be described as so-so, at best.

Capt'n Eli's is far from so-so. It is one of the new breed of ginger flavoured Sodas that is bold and in your face where taste is concerned, it shares little to nothing in common with the mass produced Ginger Sodas that dominate the market. The moment you crack that bottle open you know what you are in for...something different.

There is a nice aroma of ginger that wafts up out of the bottle as soon as you open it and that scent lingers and spreads once you pour it into a glass. Then comes the inevitable moment of tasting and the Capt'n gets sneaky on you. There is a nice fizz of carbonation and a sweet, easily identifiable Ginger Beer and Cane Sugar taste across your lips and tongue and that's when the good Captain takes you on a Nantucket Sleigh Ride. That ginger you smelled earlier? It waits around and starts to build up and gives you a beautiful ginger burn that induces you to take another drink. It's a sweet & hot ride.

Capt'n Eli's has an advantage over many of the other Ginger Sodas on the market. It is drinkable. Too many of the others try to be a drinking adventure and have enough hot ginger to make the experience unpleasant. That's not the case here, tho. The folks at Shipyard have, once again crafted a beverage which has drinkability as it's number one theme. It is what it says it is...Ginger Beer. And it's pretty darned good Ginger Beer at that!

Ingredients:
Water
Cane Sugar
Natural Ginger Flavour
Citric Acid
Sodium Benzoate

Calories: 165/bottle

Capt'n Eli's gets a 7.5/10


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Shipyard Brewing, Capt'n Eli's, Ginger Beer, Soda

Just A Kiss - Bubble Up

The tag on the green glass bottle conatining Bubble Up reads, "kiss of lemon - kiss of lime" and that's just what you get, a kiss of lemon and lime flavour. Bubble Up is another Monarch beverage licensed out to the folks at Real Soda. Unlike many drinks on the market, Bubble Up has been around for a long time. It pre-dates 7Up by a few years and proudly shows its age on the bottle, "Since 1921". That kind of longetvity deserves recognition, especially since Bubble Up has not succumbed to the HFCS usage that plagues so much of the industry. They make good use of Cane Sugar and take the time to say so on the bottle.

Bubble Up is refreshing and eminently consumable. It has a nice, clean taste with a citric acid bite that is enhanced by the carbonation. You can smell the lemon/lime scent when you open the bottle and the flavour is light, relying on the citric acid to carry the ball. What aftertaste there is is a clean, lemon/lime taste and there is no cloying sweetness to be found anywhere in this Soda.

Bubble Up is a true original and stands out as a winner in the citrus Soda category. I'd buy this again any day of the week, if it were available in my area.

Ingredients:
Carbonated Water
Cane Sugar
Citric Acid
Sodium Citrate
Sodium Benzoate
Flavor Derived From Lemon and Lime Oils

Calories: 160 per bottle (as if we care!)

Bubble Up gets an 8/10


Technorati Tags:
Bubble Up, Soda, Real Soda