Derek Neuland (479 reviews)
Bulldog Handcrafted Root Beer
You know when you drink something and it has a very distinct taste, but when you look at the ingredients it's not there? That happened with this bottle. My first sip I got a really strong pancake syrup flavor mixed with the root beer. Thinking it was a fluke, I took another sip and it was more of a brown sugar taste. Turning the bottle to see the ingredients, i was shocked to not find brown sugar. There is honey and "real vanilla" in this bottle. The honey isn't overpowering, but it's a nice and subtle aftertaste. The vanilla helps this be one of the sweetest and smoothest root beer's I've ever had. While it's a nice and smooth root beer, I wish it had a little more bite to it.
- Website
- http://www.bulldogrootbeer.com/
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- Cane Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 3/12/2011
- Comments
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Bulletproof Energy
I was all prepared to ramble about the movie Bulletproof starring Damon Wayans and Adam Sandler in this review, but then I tasted the drink. Let me preface by saying that I like sugar. I eat candy from time to time, prefer my iced tea sweetened, and put sugar (or sugar substitute) in my coffee. That being said, this is WAY too sweet. The phrase "terribly sweet" comes to mind, because nothing should be this sweet. I had 6 cavities filled 7 months ago and two sips of this makes it feel like I'm already developing another 6.
I would like to say that this would be better if it was sugar free, but Jay's review of that didn't fare well either.
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Categories
- Energy Drink
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland 4 weeks, 1 day ago
- Comments
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Calypso Black Cherry Lemonade
With all the drinks in the world, it's hard to keep up sometimes. That's why it's nice when people suggest drinks for us to try. It’s even better when they buy them for us. My friend Jenna was appalled that we hadn't reviewed her favorite flavor of Calypso so she bought me this bottle of Black Cherry Lemonade. She was talking it up a lot, and I was afraid of it not living up to the hype and thus ending our friendship when I gave it a bad review. I was kinda afraid to open the bottle because of how much was riding on its contents.
Luckily, it is as good as she made it out to be. The black cherry has such a strong and juicy taste to it. And then the perfectly tart lemonade kicks in and completes the drink. It's a little heavier (or maybe rich is the word I'm looking for) than most lemonade due to the great black cherry flavor, but it works and I like it a lot.
- Website
- http://www.kingjuice.com/
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- Pure Cane Sugar
- Categories
- Lemonade
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 6/11/2011
- Comments
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Calypso Southern Peach Lemonade
I have spent very little time in the south. I've been to New Orleans for a weekend, but was only there for a big music festival and barely saw the city. I also have never had a peach in the south, so I didn't know what to fully expect with this "southern peach" flavor.
I actually never eat peaches, but have consumed a good amount of peach flavored drinks over the years. Come to think of it, I have probably had 10 peach flavor drinks for every 1 whole peach I have consumed. I really don't eat that much fruit except for avocados.
Anyways, this is pretty good peach lemonade. There is no mistaking that this is a peach drink, as it smells and tastes just like a fresh peach. I wish it were a little more tart though. As far as lemonade goes, this is kind of weak in the sour department. Overall though, it's another pretty good drink by Calypso.
- Website
- http://www.kingjuice.com/
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- Cane Sugar
- Categories
- Lemonade
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 6/21/2011
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
Capt'n Eli's Ginger Beer
I have been waiting to try this bottle for a while now. I had heard good things about Capt'n Eli's soda so I was excited when I found this at Village Candy. The classic look of the label made me think this was going to be a premium ginger beer. Sadly, I was a bit let down. It's good, but not great in my opinion. It has a nice ginger flavor to it with a slight burn aftertaste. But it doesn't have the deep burn that I love with ginger beer. The kind of burn that makes my lips sting, and makes me wait minutes in-between sips.
So in a nutshell, good (not great) tasting ginger beer with a mild to slightly medium burn. I think the barrels that boy on the label is taking off with in the boat is the good stuff. Stupid kid.
- Website
- http://www.captneli.com/
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- Cane Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 8/9/2011
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
Carabao Energy Drink
A carabao is a domesticated subspecies of the water buffalo found in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. This is the reason for the skull on the front of this can. Why am I rambling about this? I have no idea.
I was surprised that this wasn't carbonated, as most energy drinks are I believe. Maybe that's just how they do it in Thailand. I was also surprised how not awful tasting this was. It's really sweet and doesn't have the awful aftertaste that most energy drinks have. It has a slight pineapple taste to it. But it tastes very similar to red bull minus the bite.
- Website
- http://www.carabao.co.th/
- Country
- Thailand
- Sweetener
- Sucrose
- Categories
- Energy Drink
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 1/25/2011
- Comments
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Cascal Handcrafted Cherry, Apples, and Anise
This bottle looks like it was taken from a fancy dinner party on the 23rd floor in Manhattan. Instead of a flavor, this has "notes of apple, cherry, and anise". All of this intrigued and also scared me.
Upon opening this, it smelled like alcohol. This is probably because it has fermented barley malt in it. While I have never tasted alcohol, it tasted exactly how it smelled, which really grossed me out. Then upon further tasting, it tasted like apple juice that has been in the fridge past it's expiration date. You know when the bottle starts to bulge a little and it lets off that strong fermented smell when you open it, and then you take a sip of it to see if it's still good? They managed to bottle that, for whatever reason. Maybe some people like that but it's not for me. This isn't necessarily bad, but it's nothing I want to drink.
- Website
- http://cheerscascal.com/
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- No Sugar Added
- Categories
- Soda Pop
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 3/16/2011
- Comments
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Cascal Fermented Black Currant and Mirabelle
I hate fermented drinks. I have not been looking forward to trying this. But as a Thirsty Dude, I had to give this a try. Mary Liz says this tastes like a red wine spritzer. While I have never had one, I can only say that this is gross. This reminds me a lot of other fermented/barley sodas I've had in the past. I can't get into this at all. It taste dry and does not agree with my mouth.
The bottle says: "Cascal is made with fermented juices and fermented malt for a "grown-up" taste. In the words of Mary Liz, "Grown-up tastes means mildly disgusting". I agree 100%.
- Website
- http://cheerscascal.com/
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- No Sugar Added
- Categories
- Soda Pop
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 4/27/2011
- Comments
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Celsius Green Tea Peach Mango
Jay has been hyping this drink up to me for a while. I don't think it was this flavor, but he swears by it and bought a case for himself. For a guy who tries several new drinks a day to buy a whole case of one flavor means a lot.
Most people wouldn't dream of drinking something that is supposed to give you energy at 1:45 am. Luckily, I'm not most people. I am very much a night owl and usually get my best work done between the hours of 10pm and 4am. I've only had a few sips so far and I'm already feeling much more awake then I was 20 minutes ago as I was lugging my laundry up from the basement. So for functionality, this is awesome!
As far as taste goes, much like Jay's experience with the raspberry acai flavor, this leaves a lot to be desired. It has a strong green tea flavor, which is great for someone who loves green tea (I am not one of those people). The peach mango flavors are much more subtle, and are almost afterthoughts in each sip. And then of course you have the fake sugar (sucralose) which makes it all the more undesirable. It's cool to have a non-carbonated, non-soda like energy drink for a change. Unfortunately, I won't be running to the store and buying a case of this flavor.
- Website
- http://www.celsius.com/
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- Sucralose
- Categories
- Diet, Energy Drink, Sports/Dietary Supplement
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 6/24/2011
- Comments
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Cheerwine Cherry
When I first saw this bottle on the shelf, I dismissed this at first because I thought it was some sort of carbonated wine. I looked into it more and found out it was a cherry soda. Like most drinks I have never seen before, I had to try it. The cherry flavor is really rich and good. While this is definitely the best cherry soda I've ever had, I don't think I'll ever buy it again because it wasn't anything special. But for cherry soda lovers, this is definitely recommended.
- Website
- http://www.cheerwinecorp.com/
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- Cane Sugar
- Categories
- Soda Pop
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 10/3/2010
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
