I still love my Virgil’s Root Beer from Trader Joes
Showing my age.
Does anyone remember Green River?
It was, obviously, green - in a dimpled bottle. Loved it as a kid, but I think it died out about 30 years ago.
Also, they used to sell A&W root beer in those neat paper cones with a funky paper lid.
In East Germany, prior to the Wall coming down, they had the worst cola you could ever imagine…think of a regular coke that went flat two weeks ago and someone added two teaspoons of sugar…truly horrible.
In Europe you can still get Afri-Cola…an odd taste, but not that bad as long as you aren’t expecting a cola like you are used to in the States.
Also, in Germany they don’t have Diet Coke like in the US…it is truly wretched crap even though it comes from the Coca Cola company. I think they call it Lite Coke or something over there. When I get German visitors here, I have to strap them in their chair to force them to try a Diet Coke…once they try it , they are all surprised how good it is here.
When I was growing up in the Midwest, you used to get a bottle of “pop”. Then in NY and LA, everyone said they wanted a “soda”.
Now in Las Vegas, you go into a supermaket and the aisle will list “pop.”
By the way…I am totally addicted to Diet Coke. I even stopped drinking coffee and have a Diet Coke when I get up before going to work…sick, but what can I say.
Oh, and one more name brand.
I had a friend in LA who would drive 30 miles every couple of weeks to a store that still sold TAB…I hated that stuff, but it was popular on the East Coast…to me it was like Coke with a shot of dishsoap.
BevMo had Green River lime drink. I wasn’t ready to buy and entire sixer just to find out if it was a worthy specimen.
If you can’t find any DMark, let me know and I’ll arrange an emergency drop
Fanta Apple. It was marketed here in SA quite a while back. Didn’t taste like apple, didn’t last long.
You can get it by mail order from the place I linked to above – here’s a direct link to Green River. Doesn’t look like it still comes in the dimpled bottle you remember, though, but it could just be hard to tell from the photo.
I love exotic sodas and root beers!
When I visited Chicago last year, I learned all about Green River. It was sold all over in two-liter bottles, and my best friend took me to a '50s diner-style restaurant, Portillo’s, that made lime rickeys with Green River and vanilla ice cream. It is very sweet (and neon green!), and I kept expecting it to taste like Granny Smith apples, but it doesn’t. Not bad at all, though.
Just recently, I’ve been seeing six-packs of Faygo sodas in 8-ounce glass bottles at our Publix supermarkets (here in Florida). They have orange cream (which I tried; very good), strawberry kiwi, diet Redpop, and diet chocolate cream. There may be other flavors, though. $2 for the six-packs isn’t a bad price either, although the bottles are small.
The one time my friend brought me a bottle of Virgil’s Root Beer, it was one of the finest root beers I’ve ever had. It was the special Bavarian nutmeg edition, with one of those ceramic stopper caps you see on nice bottles of beer, like Grolsch. Our Albertson’s supermarket just started stocking four-packs of Virgil’s, and I really want to get some, but I can’t justify spending $7 for four bottles of root beer when I can get a 12-pack of actual BEER for the same price.
My FAVORITE root beer ever is called Big Shot, and it is only available in Louisiana. I love New Orleans, and even though it is like Disney World for alcohol drinkers, I always consume a lot of root beer there too, and bring back many two-liter bottles. Big Shot is very smooth, sweet, and creamy, almost like a blend of root beer and vanilla cream soda. Obviously wonderful in floats. It is THE BEST.
Now that I’m reminded of it, you can buy Barq’s root beer in 10-ounce glass bottles all over New Orleans (it was originated there), and it tastes totally different and so much better than the Barq’s Coke puts out in the silver cans and bottles. I love going to the Central Grocery Store on Decatur Street and getting a muffaletta sandwich (as big as a pie!) and a frosty cold Barq’s.
I love all of Stewart’s sodas (especially their orange cream), and some of the Jones flavors are pretty good. IBC also makes pretty good root beer in the glass quart (32-ounce) bottle. Sioux City and Hansen’s both have excellent sarsaparilla sodas in glass bottles, which all root beer lovers should try.
For everyday fine root beer, though, I’ll usually go with A&W. You can’t go wrong with the classic, especially in floats with Breyer’s Vanilla ice cream.
Re: Vitmo/Vimto
Please someone tell me that there aren’t TWO soft drinks whose names are anagrams of Vomit. :eek:
Y’all are making me miss the days when Snapple made soft drinks. They had the best root beers and cream sodas! Did you know the company’s name is derived from their apple soda?
Snapple had a clear root beer if I remember correctly… only one I’ve ever seen like that. I wish I remembered how it tasted.
No, no, Zenster, it wasn’t one word, and it didn’t emit light. I don’t think it’s the same stuff. I’ll check at the store and get back to you, though.
Lychee pop.
From the import section of Super Value
Tasted nice.
Manhattan Special!
It’s thick, strong espresso made with fizzy water and lots of sugar. One small bottle is the equivalent of three or four shots. Very hardcore. My favorite.
I like Faygo Red Pop and Stewart’s Key Lime Soda
Dr. Enuf!
An Appalachian delight. Part soda, part patent medicine. Vitamin fortified, one of the best hangover cures around. Tastes a little like Sprite. Incredibly hard to find.
Also, the Sulpher Cokes found in fountains around coastal Georgia. Definitely an acquired taste.
FWIW–I found out yesterday that I can buy Limca in at least one of my local Indian import stores, and I’m in the Midwest (pretty far from Chicago). It’s not just in India and the Silicon Valley, I’ll have you know.
And I second the vote for Mexican sodas. Even Mexican Coke is pretty frickin’ yummy.
I’m not a big fan of Guarana (a Brazilian soda). I think the stuff tastes like liquid bubble gum (yecch!), but I know people who are positively addicted to the stuff.
Does anyone know what happened to “New York Seltzer”. They were very popular for a while and I thought they tasted quite good. Haven’t seen them for a long time though.
I like “Trader Joe’s Spicy Lemon Soda”. It’s just that: lemon-flavored pop with capsicum extract, and they’re not stingy with the spice.
It’s probably an aquired taste - it makes me thirstier than I was before drinking it. It does not go well with tacos or hot wings.
Also - count me in the “Loves Faygo Redpop” category. I miss it terribly since moving to the west coast.
I think there was a post about that a few days ago. Try searching for it.