MY TOTALLY BIASED REVIEW OF (FUNKY FOR MY HOMETOWN) SODAS -- # 6 CARAMEL CREME

Okay, this one is going to be fun.  The this one is called Caramel Creme.

Oh My Goodness! The smell was just like if you opened up a jar of caramel topping for ice cream. It was that strong. 

It literally made my jaw ache when I smelled it. It was almost nauseatingly sweet.

The taste wasn't bad.  I don't like creamsicles to begin with but this one wasn't too bad.  It had that creamsicle aftertaste. It was pretty sweet in flavor as well. 

This isn't one I would do again.

MY TOTALLY BIASED REVIEW OF (FUNKY FOR MY HOMETOWN) SODAS -- # 5 AJ STEPHANS BIRCH BEER

A J Stephans Birch Beer is the next soda on my list.  It came with a simple brown bottle with a label as unassuming as it can be.

I opened the bottle and the smell was okay.  It was sort of like root beer.

Much to my suprise the soda itself was transparent like 7UP or Sprite, but it did have a tinge of brown to it that i would call it a very pale tan.

As for the taste, the only way I can describe it is that it tastes like root beer without the root.  I have no idea if that makes sense.  I guess it has the basic flavor of root beer, but it doesn't have the bite that root beer has.

My mother's eloquent comment was that it tasted like furniture polish.

It was an okay soda. It came up to the mid I liked it scale.  Not the greatest but definitely not the worst tasting thing out there.

MY TOTALLY BIASED REVIEW OF (FUNKY FOR MY HOMETOWN) SODAS -- # 4 BIG RED

Number four is Big Red.  I had no idea what to expect because there is no flavor labeling unlike Route 66.

I assumed it was a cherry, strawberry, or some other fruit flavor.  I was right.

This soda was cherry flavored.  Only this cherry flavor reminded me of the flavor you get from cherrry flavored cough syrup.  Well, minus the medicine taste you get with it.  Or it's kind of like the syrup for snow cones because it had that same bitter aftertaste that snow cone syrup leaves.

My mother could not even finish the sip she had of this soda, which was about three tablespoons at most.

I was dissappointed and not impressed with this soda.  Definitely not a winner in my book.

MY TOTALLY BIASED REVIEW OF (FUNKY FOR MY HOMETOWN) SODAS -- # 3 FITZ'S HIP HOP POP

So my third soda looked like it had come from the 50s with it's decoration in my opinion.

The color is unassuming with its normal cola brown.

I totally thought this was going to be a regular cola soda.  Nope, they fooled me.

This one tasted like a cherry cola.  Surprise!

Its cherry flavor is not overwhelming.  Nor does it have as strong an acidic burn as some other colas.  It had great flavor without being too much of anything.

My mom nearly gagged a maggot because she hates this type of soda. Give her a regular cola.

The ingredient label reads like any other cola label.  No nasty artificial sweeteners, but it does have caffiene, caramel and other colorings, and other nonmentioned flavorings.

I definitely enjoyed this one.  Cherry colas are one of my favorites. 

MY TOTALLY BIASED REVIEW OF (FUNKY FOR MY HOMETOWN) SODAS -- # 2 ROUTE 66

My second soda was so out-of-this-world in color that I had to try it next.  It is an amazing non-natural color that it reminded me of Slimer from Ghostbusters.

This is Route 66 Lime Soda.

Again, the picture does not do this soda justice. For me, this soda almost glowed from the awesomeness of the color.

I must admit I did have a bit of danish before drinking this so my taste buds were a bit off.

Anyway, the soda was more tart and less sweet (maybe because of the danish) than Shirley Temple.  I liked it, but was disappointed that I didn't get a burst of lime flavor.  The smell was outrageous with lime, but the flavor was lacking. Minus a point for that.

Even my mother agreed that it did not have as much flavor. (Yep, she's trying them too. She's the 'taster' in the family.)

There was no artificial sweeteners in this one. Yay!

So flavor aside, a more tart soda that makes Mountain Dew look almost normal.  

MY TOTALLY BIASED REVIEW OF (FUNKY FOR MY HOMETOWN) SODAS -- #1 SHIRLEY TEMPLE

Okay, this should tell you how utterly boring my life happens to be.  When sodas are interesting enough to blog about, you know its bad.

And now the back story first.  I had to go to the local hardware store to get a surge protector.  I've only been in this store maybe three times since it moved into the building when it's predecessor folded.

On that day, since it was already in the mid 80 degree range at 9:30 in the morning, I noticed the store had a drink fridge.  So call me oblivious the other times I was there.

The fridge had all these cool-looking bottles. I wandered over and took a gander.  My little junk food loving heart skipped a beat as I saw soda flavors and names I have never heard of before.  So, later, I ended up buying them.

Now, onto the review of the first soda, pop, fizzy drink, or whatever you want to call it.

The first one I opened was called Shirley Temple.  

Love the color of the soda.  The picture cannot do it justice.  

Anyway, so I took my first drink.  The only flavor I can name that this soda tastes like is grenadine.  Of course, that depends on the brand of grenadine you get.  I'm not a drinker so I've only tasted pure grenadine once, but it is a distinctive flavor. 

I even asked my mom to taste the soda and she agreed with me.  

It wasn't bad, I must say, but it did leave an aftertaste because of the aspartame.  Minus one for that.  It was a sweet soda too. Maybe a bit too sweet. 

All in all, I did enjoy the soda.

LIFE, THE WORLD, AND OTHER THINGS STRANGE AND UNUSUAL

And so it has come to pass that half a year has flown by in a blur.  I don't know where the time went.

Last Tuesday, I did my first session of Summer Reading Program.  I thought it went well.  I think the kids were receptive to it.  I hope I get some repeaters.  We made poetry where you take a page and circle words that jump out then block out the rest.  Then I had a huge pile of poetry lines in strips and they made poems from them.

Bless public domain websites like Project Gutenburg. They have a host of works that are free to download and read and use.  52,000+ books in multiple languages.

So it will be on to next Tuesday and the next session with the Theme of Art.  du du dun!

Au revoir, mes amis.  Okay, I don't speak French, but I like the language.