Sugar - 840 Reviews

Yeah, it's just chocolate milk, mom. You don't understand what it's like. Do you know what it is like to be 13? It's hard. You've got girls and homework. Well...yeah, you might have had girls and homework, too. And you had to ride in cars without seat belts? Well whatever, mom. It's 2011 and everything is harder. This chocolate milk isn't even from here. It's from the Netherlands. I don't even know what it is. It's illegal to have in this country. Oh, you just can't sell it here, but it's fine if it comes in? Well, check it out. Glass bottle. Oh, everything you had was in a glass bottle? You must have had it rough? Do you want to share this Chocomel? It's pretty good. It's like a real Nesquik. It's not as creamy but tastes more natural. You know what? I know I'm all grown up at 13, but you're pretty cool, even if you do drive a minivan. Oh, you had to sell your motorcycle when you had me? Sorry, man, you're tough.

I didn't know, but did you know that in Europe, their lemonade is carbonated? Here is the good ol' U.S. of A, we don't carbonate it, nor do we offer the ability to get it. Here, we have it on lockdown. No bubbles or sparkles. Restrictive? I don't know. I think a little variation might be good. For this variation, I need to look no further. This San P is wonderful. I don't like the "original" flavor of San P. It's bitter. This is a little bitter, but a natural fruit bitter, not seltzer water bitter. My mom used to drink that stuff and it used to be gross. This, I feel like I could drink all of the day. It's a great lemon taste with just enough sugar that you don't feel guilty for slaying the whole can, but why should you? You're your own person and you dictate your life and if you want to drink a "whole can" of this in one sitting, hey, that's your nightmare, Jack.

I can't pick a favorite between this and the Aranciata. I do like them both better than the Chinotto, though.

I think it's funny when companies decide to put a name on a drink but not mention the flavor. Because of this, our database says this flavor is 'Vengence'. What exactly does vengeance taste like? If I had to guess by the color of the fonts and the liquid inside the can, I would say this would taste like green apple. In a way I was right, but also wrong.

It's pretty easy to recreate the taste. All you need is a sour green apple Jolly Rancher and a friend. First, put the Jolly Rancher in your mouth. After a few seconds, have your friend punch you in the stomach really hard. This is what this drink tastes like, plain and simple.

Ahh, the tropics. I've never been. I've been to Florida, but never anywhere tropical. I feel that everything is sand, everyone drives beach buggies, everyone wears hula skirts, and there is an abundance of fresh fruit everywhere. I am certain this place exists somewhere in the geographic world. No, I will not put money on it, but I can still be certain that it's there. In the case that you can't come up with the $1,000 it takes to go there, you can probably stop over to your local grocery store and try and find this drink. Although I am second guessing some of their "tropical" fruits, the taste is pretty good. Yes, there is the dreaded banana in it, but apple, peach, and pineapple juices mask it.

If I had things my way, I would be in a palm tree, drinking this out of a coconut with a little umbrella. My straw would be made of bamboo because that sounds awesome and I would be waiting for the pig roast below to be complete so that I may eat until my heart and stomach is content. Also, if you don't know me, in this fantasy I have also given myself the ability to climb trees. In high school I had to do the rope climb and might have made it as high as I can jump and hold on. Someday I'll master that rope and as soon as I do, bon voyage.

Here is the latest installment of our recent influx of protein/workout drinks. The point of this drink is to help out in muscle recovery after a workout. This specific formula was designed with three parts carbohydrates to each part protein to help with the muscles.

This is chocolaty. Dark chocolatey with only a little bit chalky texture. Not enough to be problematic. A friend said it tasted like a high end Yoo-Hoo. I can see that, except it's thicker. I should really work out more. Winter has made me lazy. When I finally shake this laziness off I will have to drink these afterward. How hysterical would it be if I got ripped? That would be laughable.

Coca-cola the way it should be, made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. I don't know if it's the free fancy hotel room I'm sitting it while drinking it (due to being bumped from a flight), but this is one of the best bottles of normal cola I've had in a while. It's smooth, delicious, and lacks the burn that most colas have. Mexican Coca-Cola for the win!

Growing up in Buffalo, going to Canada was no big deal at all. It was closer than most suburbs and all you needed was a photo ID to get in the country. On one of my first trips there, I came across a bottle of pink cream soda. I love cream soda, so it really intrigued me. After the first sip, I fell in love immediately. It became a staple for every trip to Canada after that (as well as 'all dressed' flavored chips and Coffee Crisp (before I was vegan)).

It had been far too long since I had a bottle of soda mousse. It is impossible to find in the states, and Portland is not conveniently located 20 minutes from the border. Two weeks ago as I was planning to come to the Chicago Zine Fest, my friend Amy Leigh from Toronto asked if I wanted her to bring me anything from the Great White North. I took her up on the offer and requested a bag of all dressed chips and a bottle of soda mousse. Not only did she deliver on her offer, she brought two of each! I couldn't dream up a better friend.

The taste is just as I remembered it, truly amazing. It's not the creamiest cream soda, but it's really smooth and delicious. My mind is trying to play tricks on me and think that it has a hint of strawberry flavor, but I think it's just due to the pink color. Maybe it's a good thing that I can't buy this at any store, because it's a wonderful treat every few years.

I'm proud to say that we are the first people outside of the production team to try the new recipe for Main St. Cafe smoothies. I have never tried the old formula, but I can only assume this is a step up, because it's pretty great.

For the first 29 years of my life I detested yogurt. I thought it was so completely foul. I tried it again and again, but the consistency and the weird nondescript yogurt aftertaste were things I just could not get down with. By repeatedly trying it, I somehow acclimated myself to the issues I had with it. Now I eat it all the time. As it turns out, mixed berry yogurt is my favorite. Look here, this is basically a drink version of that.

I was warned that if I drank this when it was too cold that it would be insanely thick. I took that advice, I'm drinking it chilled, and let me tell you, it's still pretty darn thick. I like it. It's about half the viscosity of a cup of yogurt. The fruit is completely pureed into the drink, so there are no chunks in this. This is not the type of smoothie you would get in the mall, but it's not something to be overlooked. If you don't abhor yogurt, give this a try.

Often times, nay, most times, I am surly. I've always got something to say about everything. I am not awful to be around, but I can get tiring. I know people worse than myself, but I'm man enough to admit it. I enjoy the company of others who complain, but to a certain point. I like to think that I complain in a humorous, reflective way, where others just don't know how to have a good time. This drink had good intentions, but as far as I'm concerned, it's just a good orange pop. Like the great Paul F. Tompkins once said, "The best barbecue is only good barbecue." Orange pop is alright if you're at a party or if you're nine. I guess it's also alright if you're going to have blood orange so you can call yourself "worldly" or some garbage, but this to me just tasted very medium. I've had an excellent blood orange Frizzante before, but this doesn't do it. Orange pop is just orange pop to me.

Dad, I don't want to go camping. I love spending time with you, I really do, but the thought of getting all muddy does not thrill me. Oh, I won't get muddy? Dude...sorry, Dad, it's been raining for like 3 days. They don't make boots waterproof enough to keep that much out of my feet. Not to mention, when you have a bonfire, you smell like it for days irregardless of how many showers you take. Sure "irregardless" is a word. I just used it in a sentence. It's always cold and there are so many mosquitoes that, as an adult, I feel that I am rightfully scared of contracting malaria. Can't we just stay home and drink that case of Kiri Spruce Beer? It tastes like spicy trees. Seriously, it tastes like if you bottled a forest and spiced it up a bit. I'm not trying to cop out here, but it really sounds like a miserable time. Look, I'll go, but I want to listen to my tapes in the car. I just got this fresh new Tony! Toni! Tonè! album from The Wall that I really want to listen to. If we can listen to that, drink a refreshing, conifer flavored drink in the truck, and stop at a Denny's on the way home, I'll go. Sweet, see you in the truck!

In the movie Clifford there is this one scene that I just love. Mary Steenbergen is berating Charles Grodin for not liking children. Charles Grodin yells, "I love kids. As a matter of fact I have a nephew I'm very fond of". She asks him his nephew's name and he responds: "I want to say.... Mason. Clifford! Little Clifford!" I can't get that out of my head when I'm drinking this.

This hasn't gotten that good of reviews before, but I really like it a lot. It's very creamy and has almost a caramel flavor to it. Apparently the company that makes Dad's root beer used to make it. This seems like a much better version of Dad's. Way to move backwards. Oh and Clifford is criminally underrated.

Flying Bison has improved upon their Ginger Soda. This is not as sweet and has way more ginger added to it. I still think it needs some work, but they are fairly new to the game and are still messing with their recipes. In most drinks, if there is a peach flavor involved it is the main attraction. In this soda it is only faintly there. I don't know if I would have even noticed it if it wasn't labeled "peach". It was getting to the end of the batch, so that may affect the levels of peach to ginger. I still think there is great potential in the Flying Bison sodas, so I will continue to try them as they become available.

For the first time in a long time, I can taste pomegranate as pomegranate when it's mixed with something. Assume for a minute that pomegranates are people and there is a king. No, not king. Boss. Yes. Pomegranates are a company and they named their company "Pomegranates", you know, like how the band New Kids On The Block had a song called "New Kids On The Block" off of the album "New Kids On The Block". Pretty original. At least don't give it a title so it inherently becomes "Self Titled" or "S/T". Anyhow, the boss has all these people making sales. Selling themselves as contractors to juice companies. For example, Juice Co. is making an orange pomegranate drink and they need pomegranate, obviously. So these pomegranate workers go to Juice Co. in order to flavor their drinks with their own skilled labor. Here's the thing, though. Pomegranates are crappy workers. They aren't good at getting their distinct flavor into anything and it reflects poorly on Pomegranate (the company) and therefore, reflects poorly on the boss.

Snapple has hired only the best Pomegranate workers and, for once, they've done their job well. You can taste the raspberry and the pomegranate together in a harmonious blend. Harmonious is a strong word, but I wanted to be complimentary. It's a bit strong. It's good, but it's pretty sweet. Fruity yes. Cardboard no. I mean...my favorite, no.

It's 1991. City of Compton. Rough, rough streets. Kids killing kids over things you and I would laugh at. They don't laugh, they kill, as I mentioned before. Not a day goes by where you don't hear a gun shot or at very least, a domestic dispute. These are hard times. Hard times turn people to drink. Alcohol. 40's. Big alcohol. 40's are like the party sub of malt liquor.

Here's my proposal. Let's go back in time and instead of having overpriced bodegas sell 40's of St. Ides, carry the 40(ish)'s of Archer Farms Wild Berry. People could have been in a bad mood because of financial times and street warfare, but they also could have been upset at the fact that they were drinking a clearly low quality beverage. Archer Farms Wild Berry Italian soda is a bright, clean, and crisp drink. So many flavors roll across your tongue with every sip, like elderberry and blackcurrant to name a few...and it's more than affordable.

Cleaning up the streets is a rough job and since it clearly can't be left in the under-capable hands of O'Shea Jackson, leave it up to the Archer Farms Italian soda lineup.

This has been sitting in my fridge for quite some time. After drinking Malta Goya anything that is malted makes me weary. I'm also 99% sure I was racially profiled when I purchased this. I got it from a tiny African market. When I walked in all ongoing conversation ceased. When I brought my drink to the counter there was no price on it. The two employees shot each other a look, nodded, and then told me a price that was higher than expected. Oh well, it was the only drink they had that we had yet to review so, I won't have to deal with them again.

Tonight I decided I finally needed to get it over with. I grabbed the bottle (that eerily looks like a beer bottle) from the fridge, sighed, and twisted off the cap. I expected it to have a super malty smell, but was shocked to discover it had the scent of a freshly sliced green apple. Things were starting to look up so I took a big gulp. This is exactly what I want out of an apple soda. It tastes like a perfect apple. It tastes crisp and has a slight malt/barley aftertaste. It's not enough to distract you from the glorious apple taste. So many apple sodas out there have that disgusting fake green apple flavor, but Bavaria got it right. For that I salute them. I was expecting this to taste like liquid garbage, but it ended up being in the higher spectrum of drinks we reviewed.

Despite Rhino's track record with energy drinks so far, I was excited to try this one. When companies add real juice to an energy drink, it usually works out well. For example, take Jason's review of Monster Khaos.

No matter how hard I try, cranberry always reminds me of Thanksgiving. More specifically, it reminds me of my great grandmother cheating at rummy and swearing during dinner. In a weird way, that's a very fond memory of mine. I'm bringing this up because this drink has a very strong cranberry taste to it. In fact, it's the only taste I can decipher. It completely masks the energy drink taste, which is good. Unfortunately, despite the memories cranberry drinks conjure up for me, I have never liked it's taste. But as far as energy drinks go, I'd drink this one over 90% out there.

Have you ever tried to eat a mango without the proper utensils? It's one of the sloppiest meals I've ever had. Once on tour in Indiana we were given a handful of these wonderful fruits. The only thing I had to eat them with was a pocketknife. I cut them in half lengthwise and then we basically ripped the fruit from it's casing with our teeth like we were the feral kid from Mad Max. We really didn't think it through. In a matter of moments we were a dripping sticky mess, with no means to clean ourselves up. Worth it. Mangoes are incredible and so is their juice. Maaza understands this and has done a great job bottling its greatness. They let you enjoy it without the mess. It may be less fun, but it's just as tasty.

I'm American. I am probably a poor American for the following reasons:
1. I do not own a Bruce Springsteen record. Not my fault. I bought one and it was out of stock.
2. I do not drive a truck.
3. I do not drive an American car, although Mazda is partially owned by Ford so that's kind of close.
4. I am not a Christian, nor religious at all.
5. I am skinny.

I live on the border of the US and Canada. No, really. From where I am sitting, I can see Canada with ease. For this reason, I know what Coffee Crisp and Smarties are. I also know what a Crispy Crunch is. This does taste like a Crispy Crunch, but half of the fun is the crunch that you get from the candy bar itself. Also, who doesn't love to eat something like a Kit Kat over a nice, dark wood desk, love it, then look down and feel accomplished at the mess you've made. Just brush it on the floor. "The help" comes at night, like ninjas with mops. This isn't bad. It's beyond horrific for you, but it's good. It's just lacking what makes the candy bar good.

If I had to use one word to describe this drink it would be "hammock." It's the kind of drink you should be sipping while gently swaying in a hammock outside of your private bungalow on a tropical island. The salty sea breeze cooling the sweat on your brow as your monkey butler comes out to refill your glass and fan you with giant palm leaves. That monkey sure knows how to make a good juice. Even his tiny primate brain understands that a pure passion fruit juice would be way to harsh to enjoy. He watered it down a little bit, added a dash of sugar, and put it on ice. It's strong and sweet just the way you like it. Now lay back down and let the sound of those waves lull you to sleep.

Can we all be honest here for a moment? Let's all just admit that the Lipton Brisk line was one of the biggest blunders in the history of tea. Sure it probably made them millions of dollars, but at what cost? A world of children now think that iced tea is actually just sugar water. Seriously brisk doesn't even taste like iced tea. It's just some ghetto sugar drink. It's something you should find in gallon containers at your local mini mart. I need to sit down and look at the ingredients, but I bet there's not actual tea in it at all. Ugh!

Brisk had me turned off from Lipton for years. Yesterday while hiking we stopped at a small town gas station for refreshments. They had one of the worst selections of drinks I've ever seen, but hey it was a very, very small town, so I can't really expect much. I saw this, and I decided to give it a try. I think it may have been the only drink in the place that didn't have HFCS in it. I didn't even see any bottled water there. So I begrudgingly bought this bottle of Lipton PureLeaf. I now have a renewed interest in their company. It's still pretty sweet, but it doesn't taste like sugar water. It actually has tea in it, and that is evident in the flavor. It also has a classic raspberry tea flavor. It was definitely something I enjoyed after a few hours hiking in the snow and watching a cow run full speed. If you have never seen a cow run, you my friend are missing something spectacular.