Thirsty Dudes :: Flavor

IBC Cream Soda

Like most teenagers in the 90’s who didn’t drink I spent many a weekend night at parties downing soda. There was no better way to do that than drinking IBC 40s. Okay they really weren’t 40oz, they were only 32, but they had the same look. Many of the drinkers out there thought that we drank them to be “cool” and try to fit in. In reality they simply tasted delicious, and more importantly they did trick the drunkards into thinking you were also drinking, which led to way less questions as to why you weren’t drinking, which led to way less taunts, which led to way less altercations. There the secret is out. I drank IBC “40s” so I didn’t have to deal with idiots who thought they should give me crap because I chose not to drink alcohol.

As I got older, I started going to fewer parties, and started buying less IBC. It’s just as well, as it seems they no longer make the large bottles. The dream died. In fact this is the first time I’ve had IBC cream soda in 10-15 years. Even though I’ve become a bit of a soda snob in that time, I can honestly say that this is still pretty great. I don’t know if it’s just because of nostalgia, but I really loved this. To me this is what cream soda should be. It sweet, and has a nice vanilla flavor without tasting like extract. It’s also on the lower end of syrupy for being sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. Now I want to go out in the fields with a couple of bottles of this and sit around a small fire watching as kids try very unsuccessfully to hook up with each other. It’s the American dream.

Website: http://www.ibcrootbeer.com/

Country: United States

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup

Categories: Soda Pop

Rating: 4/5

Reviewed By: Jason Draper on 4/8/2013

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Buy Now: IBC Cream Soda 6 ct - 4 Pack

Schweppes Cream Soda

Here, if you have a cream soda, and I have a cream soda, and I have a straw. There it is, that's a straw, you see? You watching? And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your cream soda... I... drink... your... cream soda!

Wait…You’ve tricked me! That’s not cream soda at all!!! You’re bottle clearly says Schweppes Cream Soda, but it doesn’t taste much like cream soda. Due to the brand and the slightly yellow color my mind was half expecting it to be a ginger ale cream soda. Now that would be an amazing drink, but that wasn’t it. It tastes like Kola Champagne aka bubble gum, with a hint of cream. You have disappointed me twice friend, and I shall leave you now as to not to be confounded a third time.

I'm finished.

Website: http://www.schweppes.com/

Country: Hong Kong

Sweetener: Sugar

Categories: Soda Pop

Rating: 2/5

Reviewed By: Jason Draper on 1/5/2013

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Buy Now: Schweppes Cream Soda 330 Ml X 6 Cans

Fanta Cream Soda

I just had one of those “everything I ever thought was truth is now a lie” moments. This is soda mousse aka Canadian cream soda. From the can I expected it to be red, like the Crush version of it. Instead it is clear like most cream sodas. There is nothing mind shattering there. That came when I saw that it was made with real grapes. Does cream soda normally have some sort of grape base that I have been completely ignorant of my whole life? I don’t think that is does, and my tertiary search online came up with nothing. That leads me to a follow up question; why does this have grape juice in it? Until I noticed that it had grape juice in it I thought it tasted similarly to the Crush cream soda; fairly standard with a slight berry flavor to it. Now I’m second guessing that. It tastes weird to me knowing that there is grape juice involved. I feel like my taste buds are trying their hardest to search out a grape flavor. Do I actually taste it or am I imagining it? I can’t say for sure, and there is no one around for me to have them try it. I can say I enjoy the pop. It’s hard to go wrong with cream soda, especially one that is slightly unusual.

Website: http://www.fanta.com/

Country: Canada

Sweetener: Sugar/Glucose-Fructose

Categories: Soda Pop

Rating: 3/5

Reviewed By: Jason Draper on 12/30/2012

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Buy Now: Fanta Cream Soda Imported Directly From Canada

Big Shot Cream Soda

Blech. Oh you like sweet pop? Consider me your number one researcher because I have found some sugary stuff for you. This is cream soda but it is more sugar than cream. I've got two sips invested into this guy so far and I can just hear the blood rushing towards the loins of dentists due to the amount of sweetness just degrading my poor teeth. Otherwise unaroused, middle aged men who secretly but not-so secretly love their quasi-attractive, semi-overweight receptionists and not-so secretly hate their wildy attractive wives just losing their mind at the thought of tending to my dental work due to the unfortunate run in with this pop. Dentists who expensive cars they hate but drive regardless because of the looks they get from girls. Dentists who have personalized license places that say things like "N1CETEEF" and " NYDENT15T" and "BR4CE584." They all want me.

Website: http://www.nolacajun.com/Big-Shot-Soda_p_13.html

Country: United States

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup

Categories: Soda Pop

Rating: 2/5

Reviewed By: Mike Literman on 11/12/2012

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Grace Island Soda Cream Soda

You know what I hate? I hate when people get perfume in my pop. I absolutely hate it. I often leave open bottles of pop on the floor at grandmother’s homes and you know how grandmas are. They spray that perfume on with a Super Soaker before raging at the Bingo parlor, just gallon after gallon of lavender and Chanel No. 5.

I must have accidentally left this bottle open at everyone's grandmother's house in Western New York before I drank it because this drink tastes like a slew of different old women. It was a lot like the Pakola Ice Cream pop that we drank many moons ago. It tastes nothing like you would expect and everything like you don't want. Not a strong sales approach.

Website: http://www.gracefoods.com

Country: Canada

Sweetener: Sugar

Categories: Soda Pop

Rating: 2/5

Reviewed By: Mike Literman on 11/1/2012

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Capone Family Secret Cream Soda

I’ve been a big fan of the other two Capone sodas I’ve had, and while this is not bad by any means it leaves a bit to be desired. The vanilla and sweet soda flavors are both there, but they are both just kind of … separate. They don’t really blend together the way I want them to. It is certainly better than any sort of store brand cream soda, but for what I was expecting from the ginger beer and root beer it’s just not quite there. I’m guessing that everyone out there will probably enjoy this a great deal. Comparison and expectations will just be the death of me.

Website: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Capone-Family-Secret-Beverages/181674668561722

Country: United States

Sweetener: Sugar

Categories: Soda Pop

Rating: 3/5

Reviewed By: Jason Draper on 10/27/2012

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Buy Now: Capos-Capone Family Secret 8-PK Variety Soda Sampler

A&W Cream Soda

Confession time: I spend way too much time on Tumblr. I spend most of my workday in front of a computer so it's far too easy to keep Tumblr open in one tab and refresh it every 5 minutes. Sure there is a lot of annoying animated gif's and Daniel Tosh apologists on there, but there is also a lot of rad things as well.

Today after I followed someone (http://rotgirlrot.tumblr.com/), they posted the following: "WHOA HEY WAIT A SECOND YOU’RE A THIRSTY DUDE fuck I LOVE YOUR WEBSITE DUDE HELLO /fans self"
This right here made my day. It's really nice to get feedback like this from people who read our ridiculous ramblings about weird drinks.

So since you made my day new friend, this review is dedicated to you! I was surprised that we hadn't reviewed this yet. I even had to check our master list twice because I could have sworn we did it. More often than not we look past the common drinks, but we eventually come back to them. A&W makes a decent (not amazing) root beer, and that's also how I feel about their cream soda. It's thick tasting due to the HFCS, but has a nice vanilla taste to it. The weirdest thing is that it has caffeine in it, which is very unusual for a cream soda.

And for those fellow tumblr addicts, feel free to follow me: http://derekneuland.tumblr.com/

Website: http://www.rootbeer.com

Country: United States

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup

Categories: Soda Pop

Rating: 3/5

Reviewed By: Derek Neuland on 8/7/2012

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Simpson Spring Cream Soda

Not all cream soda's are created equal. We know this. It's not debatable. Some are amazing and delicious and some just taste like they were dragged through the river. Simpson Spring has always done us good as far as soda goes, so this cream soda already had a leg up before I opened it up.

Lo and behold, I was right. This bottle is delicious! If they were to add a tagline to this flavor, it would be "very vanilla". I don't know if I’ve ever had a cream soda that has this strong of a vanilla flavor to it. Some people might prefer more subtle cream sodas, but the creamier the better in my opinion.

Website: http://www.simpsonspring.com/

Country: United States

Sweetener: Cane Sugar

Categories: Soda Pop

Rating: 4/5

Reviewed By: Derek Neuland on 7/30/2012

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Pop Shoppe Cream Soda

One of the many things that I love about Canada is that their cream soda is red. I don’t know if it was a ruling made by Parliament (speaking of which, why is their a unicorn sticking it’s tongue out on the front of their Parliament building?) or if it was just a coincidence. Either way I love it. It has a very average cream soda flavor (you know subtly vanilla) mixed with a little bit of berry. The extra flavor does nothing but enhance the cream soda. This tastes very similar to the Crush soda mousse.

I have no idea why I found this Canadian made soda at a Big Lots in Western Pennsylvania, but who am I to question the universe? I’m simply a man who enjoys the beverages from the country to the north of him.

Website: http://www.thepopshoppe.com/

Country: Canada

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup

Categories: Soda Pop

Rating: 3/5

Reviewed By: Jason Draper on 5/23/2012

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Jersey-Creme Cream Soda

This is another old soda that the good folks at Orca Beverage Soda Works had the right mind to bring back from the grave. Apparently Jersey-Creme was originally available as flavored concentrate used to make cream flavored products in the early 1900's. This magical concentrate was so good it was turned into a cream flavored beverage that had the slogan "The Perfect Drink".

Calling yourself the perfect drink is a bold and dangerous statement. It almost makes people have more scrutiny over you. This is a good cream soda, but I would never say it was perfect. In a weird way, I think it's too creamy. I like it when cream soda has a little bite to it, a little edge. This is just smooth sailing all the way down. Maybe I'm the weirdo that thinks cream soda shouldn't be extra creamy. All this talk about 'cream' is starting to gross me out a little.