Excel Black Cherry (bottle)

From the makers of Million Dollar Grape, which I tried and really liked, is a black cherry flavor. Made with pure cane sugar, this has lots of flavor. My wife likes it more than I do, though. I think this has a bit too much flavor for me.

It kind of made my stomach upset actually. I find it hard to give it too low a rating though, because I didn't aggressively dislike it and it seems like a quality soda, it just isn't for me.

4/10

Challenge 1: Mexican Coke vs American Coke vs American Pepsi

I had my beautiful assistant administer a taste test for me. I wanted to see if I could tell whether I could tell the difference between 1. Mexican Coke and American Coke and 2. whether my preference for Pepsi was due to making a choice as a teenager based on marketing.

It's not a perfect test because as you can see, we've got 3 different types of containers here: aluminum can, glass, and plastic, which were poured into regular glass cups for the test. Also, the experiment was not double-blind and my positive-biased drink ended up on my left side (second drink tasted) both times.

ROUND 1: Mexican Coke / real sugar / glass bottle VS American Coke / HFCS / plastic
MY EXPECTED WINNER: Mexican Coke
REAL WINNER: American Coke

That's right, in a head to head battle, I picked American coke. Hmmm.

ROUND 2: American Coke / HFCS / plastic VS American Pepsi / HFCS / aluminum can
MY EXPECTED WINNER: Pepsi
REAL WINNER: Coke

This just confirms the fact that this blog is really for my reference only and no one else should pay attention to a thing I say here, because I don't even know what I like. All this time, I was sure I liked Coke better than Pepsi. To be sure I may do another test in the future, both from the same sort of container.

Filbert's Blueberry Soda (bottle)

I think this is the first craft soda that uses corn sweetener instead of cane sugar, and I don't really notice the difference. The blueberry is subtle when you are drinking it, but has a very distinct blueberry aftertaste.

I could take or leave this one. It doesn't really grab you or stand out in any way, and you probably would not want to drink more than one of them.

5/10

Avery's Kitty Piddle (bottle)

This is part of a series of "Totally Gross Soda" that include Bug Barf Soda, Dog Drool Soda, Toxic Slime,Swamp Juice, Monster Mucus Soda, and this one... Kitty Piddle Soda.

In reality, it is a pretty straight-forward pineapple-orange drink with a hint of lemonade flavor. Kind of boring, but not gross tasting at all. Made with cane sugar.

5/10

Lester's Fixins Bacon Soda (bottle)

In the bravest thing I have done since jumping out of a plane, I purchased Lester's Fixins Bacon Soda in order to actually drink it.

Taking one whiff of the open bottle warns you that you have strayed too far down a darkened path that you are not prepared for. As I took my first sip, the cranky hillbillies that live in the nether-regions of my throat came up and grabbed my taste buds and insisted that they squeal like a pig.

That's right, this soda mouth-raped me, and after only 3 sips, I blacked out. When I came to, the bottle had mysteriously vanished, presumably run off to find its next victim. I will be attending survivors meetings for years to come.

1/10

Excel Million Dollar Grape (bottle)

Made by Excel Bottling Company in Illinois, Excel Million Dollar Grape is everything you would want in a grape soda. It smells just like you want grape soda to smell, and the grape flavor is very intense.

Since this is yet another soda made with pure cane sugar and there isn't much to say about this soda except that if you like grape soda you need to find it, I figured I would give you my .02 about the HFCS/Cane Sugar debate.

I am no health food nut, and I am very skeptical that HFCS is any worse for you than cane sugar. I am also somewhat skeptical that cane sugar tastes any better in sodas than HFCS. I do like drinking out of glass bottles, however, so what I typically encounter is that I enjoy a Mexican Coke much more than a regular can or plastic bottle of Coke... but I can't say for sure that it is because of the source of the glucose.

One of these days I will perform a blind taste test and see if I can tell the difference between Mexican Coke and US coke and I will know for sure. Until I do, I will be happy to imagine that sodas made with cane sugar are generally better tasting than those made with HFCS, because it means I have an excuse to go out and spend money on delicious bottled soda like Excel Million Dollar Grape.

8/10

Excel Bottling Co

Jarritos Strawberry (bottle)

I previously tasted Jarritos Pineapple and enjoyed it enough to give the whole line a try.

This one is a bit too flavorful for my taste. I had a piece of chocolate just before drinking this and I thought I might not be able to taste it well enough... wrong. Strawberry strawberry strawberry! It certainly doesn't taste naturally flavored, it tastes more like you have been sucking on a really strong strawberry candy.

This is somewhat disappointing after the more subtle pineapple flavor, but its not bad.

5/10