I just discovered a website (sodaking.com) where I can order all kinds of sodas. Some of them look pretty neat, but there are usually just one or two reviews/ratings (if even that) for each soda. I don’t know if I should trust such paltry amounts of testimony before laying out my bucks for soda.
Dopers, however, I am sure, are way opinionated about this kind of thing.
So recommend me some sodas! (Esp. from that site.) I’m particularly interested in discovering good root beers (incl. birch beers and sasparillas), ginger ales/brews, cream sodas, and colas. But all kinds of recommendations are welcome.
And… talk about soda. Have fun. Knock yourselves out. Burp. Politely.
(There’s probably a thread about this already somewhere, but my searching skills were not up to the task.)
I like Antarctica Guarana, a fruit soda from Brasil. Looks like this site doesn’t sell it, but there are other sites that sell a variety of carbonated drinks. There’s also a guarana soda called Jesus (aka the “pink dream”) that I have a can of, but it came directly to me in my friend’s luggage.
People have pointed out the fine quality of celery-derived sodas on here in the past.
Thomas Kemper makes an Orange Cream[sicle] soda. I have not tried any other Orange Cream versions to compare it to.
Orangina and Sanpellegrino Aranciata are great orange drinks, but they aren’t that obscure.
I once drank half a can of a soda in a red can with a graphic a bodybuilder on it. It was most disgusting soda I ever drank. If I could remember the name of it I’d mention it.
Bawls is another Guarana soda/energy drink which I used to chug down regularly in my caffeine-junkie days. It was really one of the only energy drinks I found palatable, and it has such a neat bottle!
Stewart’s and Hank’s both make orange cream sodas as well.
Check out Jarritos for some delicious Mexican flavored sodas (tamarind, guava, hibiscus, etc.)
Also, I like to go to my local Chinatown and grab random sodas from the oriental grocery store. A couple of my favorites are the Japanese Calpis and Ramune sodas.
I’ve become a fan of Grown-Up Soda, especially the Meyer Lemon and Cranberry Lime, but really, they are all very good.
The town just north of here has the most awesomest candy shop on the planet, Powell’s Sweet Shoppe, with an old-fashioned soda shop next door. (I’m assuming they are working on a website, that site doesn’t do the store an ounce of justice.) They have a menu with something like 100 or more different sodas/creams/etc. and they’ll make you all kinds of concoctions like a ‘Peanut Butter and Jelly’ with grape Nehi and Reese’s Pieces.
Nearly every time I go in the place I try a different soda. Most of them are just too syrupy and sweet for me these days since I rarely drink soda and when I do it’s diet. But the Grown-Up Sodas are just perfect.
Some others I’ve tried - most of the flavors by Skeleteens - really not my style. They are all just so gross looking (which, of course, is why I just HAD to try them) but well, yea. They don’t taste much better. Much to sweet and strange for me. The Rat Bastard Root Beer was the best one of the bunch I tried, and it was completely underwhelming. Kemper’s is better.
The Cool Mountain flavors are pretty good. Refreshing and a little lighter. The root beer and cream soda are probably just a tiny bit too light for me, but the honey lemonade and green apple are different, and very tasty.
I grew up drinking coconut soda (Coco Rico) and I buy a six pack for my kids every couple of months or so. If you’ve never had it you should try one. I love them, but I’m not sure if I’ve just aquired a taste for it or whatever. I also grew up drinking Malta , and that I am sure is an aquired taste because growing up, every kid that ever took a sip of one when they came to my house just about spit it all over the floor.
I just got to thinking about the Smart Watermelon soda I tried at Disneyworld years back. It’s Chinese, as I recall. Anyone know where I could find some (besides Disneyworld)?
I recently got to taste Moxie, and I have to say, it wasn’t that great.
It started out like a hybrid of root beer and cola, but then I swallowed, and was treated to a taste that was not unlike chewing on a plant. Very bitter. I think it’s the gentian root.
If it’s a ginger ale you seek, you can’t go wrong with Vernors, though. Oh, and if you’re a fan of the caffeine, definitely give Jolt a try.
I like San Pellegrino Chinotto and Limonata . Chinotto is a citrus drink that doesn’t taste like citrus - it’s made from a type of orange, and I’d guess that a lot of flavor comes from the peel. Limonata is a carbonated lemonade that’s stronger and more tart than most American lemon sodas.
I love Vernor’s ginger ale. I don’t know why that page says “Spiciness Rating: 3 ALARM FIRE BURNS,” though. I mean, it is spicier than Canada Dry, but not at all in a burn your mouth kind of way.
San Pelligrino Chinotto is not my favoured brand. I much prefer Bisleri, which has more bite. I’m in the minority, though. The perfect drink with pizza.
Journey Borealis Birch is some weird, wild stuff. It’s minty. Think of a good, smooth birch beer with a peppermint finish. It sounds just awful, but it’s actually very refreshing.
I’ve had Moxie, and I like it. Even if you don’t like it, the bottle looks pretty cool what with the old style lettering and the oddly stern pharmacist-looking dude pointing at you and looking stern.
From the site you linked, Dad’s root beer isn’t too bad for ice cream floats at the least if my memory serves me well. It’s good to drink as well, but it’s been so long since I had it last, I’m being cautious in my ranking of it. I’d buy it again though. (I’m not fond at all of Barq’s root beer, if that tells you anything.) I recommend trying Lost Trail Root Beer, and Lost Trail Sasparilla though. I think they might also make a birch soda, but I’m not sure of that. Maybe they once did, but no longer do?