South Of The Border With Fanta

I finally ran across a bottle of Soda that I've been wanting to try for some time now. While out at my local pizza parlour I came across a bottle of Mexican Fanta Pineapple and brought it home. I've heard many people sing its praises over the years and now I've got the opportunity to see if all the hype is warranted. I like many fruit flavoured Sodas that are out there and I like pineapple, so I am hoping for the best with this one.
   The colour is very yellow, and reminds you of golden pineapple. Unlike most American Sodas, this bottle does not have a twist off cap. A church key is a necessity. The Soda is nicely effervescent and has a light pineapple scent to it. It has a nice carbonation and a good mouth feel to it. There's also a nice citrus bite with this one. The Soda is not overly sweet and the flavour is light and not in your face. It doesn't stand out like some Sodas would. There is a nice pineapple aftertaste, though that makes up for the lack of initial flavour hit. All in all a pleasingly refreshing drink. I'd have it again. It's a nice change from run of the mill fruit Sodas and the sometimes over-flavoured Fanta offerings in the Coke Freestyle machines. Our neighbours to the south did a good job with this one. I did have some worries about the ingredients list, but this is still a pretty good Soda, despite the chemistry involved in its making.


Ingredients:

Carbonated Water
Sugar
Citric Acid
Artificial and Natural Flavors
Sodium Benzoate
Modified Food Starch
Sodium Hexametaphosphate
Coconut Oil
Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate
Yellow 5
Dioctyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate
Yellow 6

Mexican Fanta Pineapple gets a 7 out of 10.

The New Dew

I have been patiently anticipating the new addition to the Mtn Dew lineup and I finally ran across a couple of bottles of it the other day at my local Wal-Mart, (thanks to the heads up I received from a knowledgeable 7-Up delivery guy at another store).
DEWshine is a clear, Sugar sweetened, citrus Soda that is an homage to the origins of Mountain Dew. The label on the clear glass bottle even has the jug toting Hillbilly of old on it. I have missed that old guy and am glad to finally see his return.
The first thing you get when you open the bottle is a light citrus aroma. It is lightly effervescent and not too bubbly. It doesn't have much of a bite to it and the citrus flavour is mild and muted. There's a mild sweetness to it that doesn't linger very long. Overall it's a very clean taste, but not a lot of flavour to it. I would like to compare it to one of the regular Sugar sweetened Mountain Dews to see how it holds up, (I'll leave that to another day, real soon). Sadly,  it just doesn't taste like much of anything, really. No outstanding citrus flavour, carbonation or citric acid bite. It's not bad, for what it is, but it's a Soda in search of a flavour, it seems. If you're a Dew fan, go out and try one. Then return to your usual Dew. I don't see this one replacing your usual Dew.

Ingredients:

Carbonated Water
Sugar
Natural And Artificial Flavor
Citric Acid
Sodium Benzoate
Caffeine
Sodium Citrate
Calcium Disodium EDTA

Mtn DEWshine gets a 5 out of 10.

A Peach Of A Soda

Well, I have decided to venture back into the Nehi world and give their Peach Nehi a shot. Unlike my previous experience with one version of their Grape, this Nehi was sweetened with Sugar. Upon opening this bottle what hits you is the Peach scent. It actually does smell like a peach. That's refreshing, considering it's artificially flavoured. While the Soda does have a nice effervescence it is not exceptionally fizzy and subsides very quickly. There's not a lot of carbonation bite to it. The initial taste of the Peach Nehi is one of Peach, albeit overtly artificial. It tastes as advertised. It has a nice back sweetness to it and  the peachy flavour doesn't linger. It does leave a sweet aftertaste in your mouth, though, one that lingers for a while. All in all it's not a bad Soda, if you're looking for an artificially flavoured fruit Soda. There's not a lot that's natural about this one. It's pretty good though and I could see this being popular on a hot summer day. The Royal Crown Company did a pretty good job with this one.

Ingredients:

Carbonated Water
Sugar
Citric Acid
Malic Acid
Potassium Benzoate
Potassium Citrate
Artificial Flavour
Gum Acacia
Red 40


Peach Nehi gets a 6.5 out of 10

The Big Red One

Big Red In A Bottle

One of my local BBQ joints (City BBQ) is in the very good habit of carrying glass bottled, premium Soda's. This is a good thing, in my mind as these Soda's are complimentary to good BBQ. One of the few that they carry and that I decided to pick up a visit or two ago, was this Big Red. This is a Soda with a back story and is a Texas favourite, but this is the first time I had run across a premium version of it, so I knew I had better give it a try. Just looking at the bottle you'd almost think it had to be a cherry flavoured Soda, as red as it is, but that is certainly not the case.
   The first thing that hits you is the aroma. Initially it's a hit of Sugar, followed up by a Bubble Gum-like aroma. Altogether a pleasant sign of what is to come.
   The Soda is very effervescent. It bubbles up quickly and subsides just as fast. The initial taste is still one of Bubble Gum, (it reminds me a bit of Super Bubble Bubble Gum) and Cream Soda, with a very slight woody undertone to it. Not unpleasant, at all. It's a very sweet beverage and would pair well with some vinegary BBQ. I can also see why this is a kids favourite. It is very sweet and the sweetness lingers on your tongue. Altogether a decent Soda, if a bit too sweet. I couldn't see being a regular drinker of Big Red, but I can see where some folks might really like it, if they're in to super sweet Soda's and Bubble Gum.

Ingredients:

Carbonated Water
Sugar
Natural and Artificial Flavor
Red 40
Citric Acid
Caffeine

Caffeine Content: 38mg/12 fl.oz.

Big Red gets a 5.5 out 10

A New Dew

Well, it looks like the folks at Mountain Dew are going to gift the Soda drinking public with a new, Sugar based, premium Soda. It's called Dew Shine and should be available later this month. I'll be keeping my eyes open for this one and will certainly give it a try. I, like the authors of the article, wonder whether it will be caffeinated. I do like that added kick to my citrus Soda's.

Here's the article from the good folks at The Consumerist.

Change For The Sake of Change?

Well, the folks at Pepsi-Co have gone and done it again. They've changed the sweetener for Sierra Mist. Where we once had a nice sugar sweetened beverage, we now have a sugar and stevia sweetened beverage. There are lots of complaints rolling in about this unannounced switch. I can't say I've indulged, myself, as I usually only drink Sierra Mist from the fountain and there's no word yet on that having undergone a change. Here's hoping they take the well earned criticisms to heart and change back. If they want a stevia sweetened version then they should follow Coke's lead and make a specific version of the drink and let the market decide if it survives.

Here's a piece from the folks at The Consumerist on the whole matter.

Sierra Mist Getting A Makeover

Here's some good news on the Soda front. Sierra Mist is getting a complete makeover and they're going to ditch HFCS entirely. Sugar will now be their go to sweetener in the Lemon-Lime Soda. Sweet! I happen to like a Sierra Mist every now and again and can't imagine that this will be anything but a significant improvement. Way to go PepsiCo!

PepsiCo is eliminating Sierra Mist in favor of Sierra Mist Natural, which is sweetened with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. The move, which has been in the works for about 18 months, is two-fold. Research showed that brand loyalty in the lemon-lime category is lower than it is in the cola category. And the natural food and beverage category is exploding.

Can't wait to see this hit the shelves. Now, if they'd just put it in glass bottles....