The Drink that killed my desire to try new things

You may have noticed that there hasn't been a new post on this blog for nearly a month and a half. I apologize for my absence, however I have to admit that it was more due to lack of initiative, than time. After drinking the health potion I have had a 0% interest in trying the mana potion or anything I haven't tried before, for fear that it would taste as awful as the health potion, which committed a violent crime upon my taste buds.

So, after a loooooooooooooooooong internal debate which included an internal battle over my desire to try new beverages again, which would have been the death knell for this blog since I'd have nothing to talk about.

Long story shorter, I've decided to keep the blog but skip the mana pot. New review to be posted in the next few days. I promise!

Health Potion

It's a widely known fact that the market is saturated with energy drinks today. They're supposed to give us a boost when we needed but often we get the dreaded crash afterward, with our energy levels dipping to coma-like levels. They can also be dangerous, as high levels of caffeine in each drink can wreak havoc on our system if consumed in quantities greater than one. Given my affection for gaming, the two drinks I've chosen this week are “Health Potion” and “Mana Potion”. Health Potion will be today, with Mana coming Thursday.

The Health Potion was acquired from my “local” Hot Topic store, but is also available from certain geek and gaming supply websites. When I procured my bottle there was a nice eye catching “Must be 18 to buy” sticker right on top of the cap and I can confirm I was required to validate my age with a license before the transaction could continue.

Appearance: The color of this drink reminds me of my childhood nemesis, cough syrup. It's a very bright red color and it appears a bit thicker than soda or water, although that could be my eyes playing tricks on me.

Scent: The odor puzzles me. It has a very pungent, overpowering smell of SOMETHING. It's almost like a combination of citrus and formaldehyde with a hint of cherry, maybe. All I know is it made me gag a little.

Taste: I must admit that I nearly ended the review at scent because it was very very difficult to convince my brain to drink this vile smelling thing. Let me just say that the taste was equally as vile as the scent, while remaining equally as mysterious. I'll be damned if I have another sip to try and distinguish flavors.

Energy: Having just taken the drink I can confirm no energy boost as of yet, will add that section in later.

Overall: I would rather eat used coffee grounds for the rest of my life than ever, EVER let this concoction anywhere near my mouth again. It was easily the single most horrible thing I have ever consumed.

Root Beer Extravaganza part banana

This post is going to be short and sweet. The things I do for the benefit of you, the reader. I'm not terribly fond of this soda to begin with, especially when not using it for making floats (lack of ice cream be damned), so I can say with the utmost certainty with the knowledge that nothing is certain, that I will never again attempt to partake of this beverage. Anyway, I was unable to procure myself a bottle of Frostop, so unfortunately I only have 2 root beers to try today, Dad's Root Beer, and the local grocery store generic Super Chill. Since there are only 2 flavors in this section, I will only declare a winner.

Headiness: Dad's. The Dad's brand instantly foamed, leaving a nice head which lasted for a fair amount of time. Super Chill on the other hand had almost no head at all and it was gone in almost no time.

Scent: Super Chill. The Dad's brand had a very strong aroma, however I found the Super Chill's aroma to be more pleasant, as the Dad's tended to smell of rotting licorice.

Fizziness: Dad's. Similar to the headiness category, the Dad's brand was much fizzier, while the Super Chill was very flat.

Taste: Dad's. While the Super Chill was more pleasant smelling, the flavor was incredibly lacking and the stronger scented Dad's brand was much more pleasant tasting, with the right amount of flavor and smoothness.

Winner: Dad's. This one is no contest. The Super Chill is in almost all ways inferior to the Dad's Root Beer, and I would recommend it 100 out of 100 times in comparison.

Overall Winner: I'm going to go with the generic Wal*Mart brand, simply because I think it's equally as good as any of the brands I tasted, and economically it's nearly 50% the cost. Dad's would be second, but it's a very close call between #1 and #2.

Next blog will be up sometime Tuesday, will try to keep the Tuesday/Thursday format until I run out of ideas, so please keep suggestions coming!

Root Beer Extravaganza! Part 1

It was suggested of me to try several root beer brands and do a side by side comparison. If anyone hasn't noticed there are a LOT of brands of root beer on the market so this is going to be a two part review and comparison. For this first part I'll be comparing Mug, Barqs, A&W, and the generic root beer sold by Wal*Mart. Each of these will be judged based on four criteria. The first being headiness, or the ability to form a frothy head when poured into a cup. The second is scent, strength and pleasantness of aroma. Third is fizziness, the amount of fizz per sip. Finally and most importantly is taste, because obviously if it has a good head, smells good, and is fizzy but tastes like a mud puddle, then I'd recommend a differing brand. I've also some criteria in selecting these brands to keep it fair. I have chosen only brands which I can purchase in a plastic bottle, which I have poured into identical plastic cups, in the event packaging can affect any of the above criteria. I'm not going to do any type of arbitrary points system, I'll just declare a winner and second place in each category, then name the root beer I felt supreme. Now, lets get started.

Headiness:

Definitive Winner: Mug. The Mug root beer immediately formed a head in the cup and maintained the full amount for several minutes before no major froth was visible on top.

Second Place: Generic Wal*Mart brand. I was actually caught off guard by this, the generic root beer held up quite well and had the head not dissolved much faster than the Mug, this would have been a much closer category.

Scent:

Definitive Winner: A&W. A&W's scent was strong, but pleasant, almost warm and welcoming.

Second Place: Mug. Mug was by far the strongest smelling of the brands. Unfortunately I found the aroma to be pungent, and not too pleasant on my poor nostrils.

Fizziness:

Definitive Winner: Barqs. Barqs was by far the fizziest of the root beers as the bubbles were immediately noticeable in the cup as well as on my tongue when I took a sip.

Second Place: This was a much more difficult choice than the previous category but I must again go with the generic. While Mug had the most bubbles by viewing it in the cup but seemed almost flat when sipped. A&W had the opposite problem as no bubbles were noticeable in the cup but had a fizzier feel on my tongue. The generic brand was much fizzier on the tongue with a fair amount of noticeable bubbles on the cup.

Taste:

Definitive Winner: A&W. A&W was very flavorful while still being wonderfully smooth for a root beer.

Second Place: Barqs. Barqs definitely has bite, it's the strongest by far and isn't the easiest to drink down, but if that's your thing, then go for it.

Overall:

Definitive Winner: Generic brand. Shockingly, this root beer very nearly scored in the top two in each category, and when it wasn't number one or number two, it gave them both a good run for the money. In taste it's a milder brew, with a very smooth finish. It has a solid amount of head and overall fizz without overwhelming you, and while the scent is pleasant it is not a very strong aroma and you really have to try to find it.

Second Place: A&W. The grand-daddy has definitely had a sweet ride and easily the best overall flavor, but aesthetically you don't get the expected head or fizz in the cup, with a decent amount of fizz when you drink it.

Part 2 will come out Thursday with a few more brands, plus a review of long term storage!

I know this is supposed to be a beverage blog, but...

I haven't been able to get my hands on Vio as I'd hoped and I'm lying awake stewing over a conversation I had yesterday. (Also, if you can get Vio please contact me as I'm very interested in trying it for the blog here.) The following is an opinion about opinions, but if you read closely you probably won't be able to figure out my specific opinions about the following topics because that's exactly the point. I'm unofficially calling this blog "I don't care means please stop discussion on this topic". I was raised that there were 3 topics you do not discuss publicly, Politics, Religion, and Money. I was told the reason these subjects are taboo is that there is never a winner in the discussion, and at BEST you end the conversation in a slightly worse mood than you started while at WORST you could end the conversation wishing some horrible accident befall the person with whom you were conversing.

I've also been taught that personal politics are just that, personal. If you believe strongly one way or the other on an issue then that's fantastic, but you do not SHARE your belief with anyone unless they specifically ask your opinion on said issue and you WANT to do so. Religion is the same way, and discussing your financial situation with others can make people think you are either bragging, or looking for pity.

Why does not wanting to voice an opinion or even not wanting to listen to another person's opinion suddenly make me ignorant, apathetic, or rude? You have an opinion, congratulations but unless I specifically ask for it or take the time to read it if you've written it down or typed it, I probably don't want to hear it.

I'm going to add a 4th taboo topic to discuss because it's becoming more and more commonplace with the spark to the dry tinder that is the internet. This 4th topic is branding. Who cares if someone prefers Pepsi to Coke, or Macs to PCs? Suddenly someone is defined by society's request, nay demand that we choose sides on every single little product, from the car we drive to our choice of toothpaste. What happened to middle ground?

Why can't a person see the benefits and pitfalls of Universal AND Free-Market healthcare, it's suddenly frowned upon to enjoy the occasional random cola, everything has to be a contest now and we must choose sides or risk being shunned by BOTH? There is no longer any respect for the people out there who really choose not to enter the fray, either because they find choosing sides incredibly frustrating, incredibly boring, or just don't care.

I'm tired now, frustrated, thirsty, and I really want to try a Vio, so please if you read this and you happen to be in a market that has it contact me, I'd love to discuss the possibility of getting some into my hands. I really don't want to have to ramble endlessly about my choice (or lack thereof) of politics again...

Sioux City Cherries 'N Mint

During an outing to a local eatery in my hometown I noticed that this particular establishment sold bottles of certain beverages when one fancy soda in particular caught my fancy. The label color was what originally caught my eye, as it was a light green which clashed against the deep red of the liquid inside.

Sioux City
Cherries 'N Mint

Cherries 'N Mint soda? That alone piqued my curiosity and I absolutely had to get a bottle, for research of course.

Upon returning home I immediately popped the cap off of the bottle and took a long sip. After my sip I put my review cap on and immediately began to dissect the beverage for the benefit of you, my dear friends and readers.

Appearance: The bottle is eye-catching, as I mentioned with the "spearmint" green writing standing starkly against the redness of the soda inside. Not attractive, but it definitely makes you look twice.

Scent: The aroma of cherry instantly fills your nose, and you can detect a faint hint of the mint that is subtle and by no way overpowering.

Taste: Obviously if it looks nice, smells nice, but tastes like swampwater, you definitely wouldn't want anything to do with it. So how does the Cherry 'N Mint stand up? It's ok, but the mint is so absolutely subtle that it's almost not noticeable unless you really try to find it. The cherry was good, but when you promise me mint, give me some mint dangit.

Overall: For a one time deal, I'd say give it a shot. It's a solid cherry soda with a minor hint of mint. As an everyday drink, I'm afraid not.

Close, but not quite...

Better late than never

If you're one of the few who knew I was going to start doing this, congratulations as your wait is now validated. Might as well get started.

McDonald's.

That name either fills your desires with hunger or your heart with contempt. Yes, truly Mcd's is the Wal*Mart of the fast food world (although Burger King, you still have the creepier mascot). Having worked for this paragon of quick eating I could go on and on with stories of my tenure there, but that's not what this blog's about, this is about drinks especially in this case, the McCafe. Yes, Mcd's has joined the ranks of the coffeehouse in an attempt to bring more revenue formerly lost to Starbucks, Seattle's Best, etc... The aim is to appeal to the fancy coffee lover in all of us without beating us over the head with our own wallets, but is it any good?

The answer is a resounding, kinda. Originating in France, one would assume the concept of the McCafe couldn't possibly fail, and with a few years to perfect the process it might not, but as it stands they're nowhere near breaking the stranglehold on fancy coffees held by the mighty Northwest franchises and I have a fairly good guess the main problem. Mcd's employees lack the hours of training in creating a delicious coffee or espresso that the major chains have. If I had to guess, they just threw the machines and ingredients in the stores and gave the managers 5 minutes of training, who then passed on their knowledge in less than 2 minutes to anyone lacking anything else to do and then it was up to those people to train everyone else.

All examples below are from one type of McCafe, Mocha as I assume this is the most popular (and my favorite) fancy coffee flavor. I've tried both the hot and iced forms multiple times and found the same issues with all of them regardless of whether it's cold or hot.

Flavor: The McCafe has all the ingredients to be quite delicious, it's just that in my experiences the flavors were poorly mixed together if they were mixed at all. This leads to a chocolate explosion with a pool of syrup sitting at the bottom, but almost nothing but straight coffee taste throughout the rest of the drink.

Display: The McCafe comes in a nice looking cup for the hot variety and a clear cup for the iced. These cups are similar to any other place you can get coffees and therefore don't matter, however Mcd's loses points on display for having lids which crush the whipped cream and chocolate which is placed on top of the drinks during preparation.

Value: The cost of a McCafe is significantly less than that of a comparable coffeehouse drink, however the overall quality is equally less than their counterpart's. Currently I say that you definitely get what you pay for, but given some time to grow accustomed to the new feature, we may have a new destination spot for a great latte.