Derek Neuland - 489 Reviews

If you love nutmeg then you will love this soda. I honestly don't taste much pumpkin in it at all, but it has so much awesome nutmeg flavor that I don't care. This is what I imagine a pumpkin pie would taste like if the cap on the nutmeg accidentally fell off when the baker was pouring it in. At that point they already had so much work put into it that they just mixed it all up and hoped for the best. I know a lot of people would hate to eat that pumpkin pie, but I would have at least 3 slices of that delicious mistake.

I woke up today with a sore throat. I thought it was just one of those morning sore throats and it would eventually go away. I'm sad to say that it's not, 7 hours later and it still hurts. What does this have to do with this tea? Well I learned the hard way that drinking a sugary drink does not help a sore throat. In fact, I probably made it worse.

I wish I had waited until my throat wasn't hurting to drink this because it's pretty delicious. It has a really strong and juicy peach flavor to it. It's possibly one of the best peach tea's I've ever had. Sadly though, it hurts my throat with every sip. Now I'm trying to retrace my steps to try and figure out how I might have gotten a sore throat. Wish me luck.

This is one of those times that I REALLY wish a company had a working website. The website http://www.way2coolsodas.com is on the side of the bottle but it leads to nothing. I doubt this company is out of business because I found this bottle at a Whole Foods in Santa Fe, NM a few months ago. Since I have no way of contacting anyone from this company, I am going to conduct a fictional interview with their owner.

Who are you?
I'm Lloyd, I live in Santa Fe, NM and I founded Way 2 Cool Sodas.

Why did you name it "Way 2 Cool"
I was sitting in my dorm room one day and I was thinking about how awesome it would be if I made my own soda. I thought to myself that if I actually did it, it would be way too cool. So since I couldn't think of anything more radical than that, it stuck.

Do you realize that "Way 2 Cool" is possible the worst beverage name I have ever seen? Even Kronik is better than that.
No way dude! You just don't get it.

And look at the artwork on the bottle! It looks like someone on an acid trip painted it.
I painted that and I do not admit that I did an eighth of shrooms and smoked a bowl before painting it.

The only way the horrible name and art would be redeemable would be if this root beer was exceptional, but it's not. It's pretty generic tasting root beer. I wouldn't be surprised if you took Safeway brand root beer, poured it into these glass bottles, and called it "micro brewed"
That's like, your opinion man.

There you have it. How this got on the shelves of Whole Foods, I will never know.

I found this on tour and was pretty excited to find it. Caffeine in root beer is a very rare thing. Of the 130+ root beers we have reviewed so far, only three have contained caffeine (Skeleteens Jack Black's Dead Red Root Beer, Barq's, and Bawl's G33K Beer). This bottle I have in my hand brings us to number 4. With all the added energy ingredients in this, I was fearing that it would taste more like a gross energy drink with artificial root beer flavor sprinkled in. To my surprise, it was actually really good! It has a very classic root beer taste, with a medium bite to it. If I had not seen the label, I would have never known this was also an energy drink.

I see that Eric's Famous also makes a cola. Hopefully we'll be able to find that one soon, and hopefully it's as good as this.

You know that feeling you get in your mouth after you just brushed your teeth? Or had a minty gum? It's a pretty awesome feeling. Now imagine that times 10. That's what it's like drinking this tea. It's seriously the mintiest tea/anything I have ever tasted. It feels like I just brushed my teeth for 5 hours straight after just drinking a couple sips of this. I'm not usually a huge fan of unsweetened teas, but this is incredible. It's definitely a sipping tea as far as I'm concerned. I've had to take a minute or two between sips due to the intensity of the mint flavor.

It's been a long time since I've had an aloe drink. It's not that I have been avoiding them. I just haven't been able to find any that we haven't already reviewed. With a cupboard full of drinks to review, it's kind of hard to justify buying a drink for pleasure. Needless to say, I was excited when I found this bottle at a local Asian market.

First thing, there are barely any chunks of aloe in this. That is my favorite part of aloe drinks so this is already off to a bad start. You know how honey makes some root beers really good? Well it ruins this drink. Even though it's one of the last ingredients on the list, it somehow manages to ruin the delicious taste of pomegranate in this.

If I were to protest outside of the Jayone factory, my sign would say, "Less honey, more chunks!"

I turned 30 one hour ago. Most people fear turning 30, but I have actually been excited for it. It's probably because I have a lot of friends who are over 30 (including our very own Jason Draper) and they are still awesome.

I decided to break out a fancy soda for my first soda of my 30's. I've been waiting to try this one for a while, and it was well worth the wait. The blackberry is the first taste that hits your tongue, and it tastes like the juice that sits in your mouth after you just ate you're 20th blackberry in a row. A tangy pomegranate comes next, but it doesn't stick around long.

The only disappointing thing about this is the ginger, or should I say lack of ginger. It's what I was most excited about and it's barely there. I wanted it to have a deep burn in the aftertaste, but it's so subtle it's barely there. It's still a great soda. I just wish the ginger had more kick to it.

Once again I have been derailed by the taste of a drink. I was planning on writing a big long story about a dog, named Sparky, on a boat and all the adventures she has had. But then I took my first sip of this and was blown away by the taste.

This may be the most complex root beer I have ever tasted. Given the tagline "old style", I was expecting this to be a middle of the road classic tasting root beer like Dad's or IBC. Instead, what I got was a wave of delicious and interesting flavors. At the base level, it's a nice hearty root beer with a medium bite. But once you sit back and take in all the other flavors, it's incredible.

The ingredients include wintergreen oil, anise, and vanilla which are all strongly present in the taste. Each sip tastes different, which is awesome. Sometimes you get a strong licorice aftertaste, and other times it's a smooth vanilla flavor followed by a minty tingle on your lips.

Congratulations Sea Dog, you have made my top 5 root beers of all time.

When I showed someone a picture of this, they said, "My teeth hurt just looking at that". Rightfully so, this drink is ridiculously sweet. I have described many drinks as tasting like Jolly Ranchers so I was pretty excited to try this branded soda. Did they pull it off? Of course they did, it's their recipe! Despite the overloading sweet taste, I really like how tangy this is. I wasn't expecting it, but it almost has a sour aftertaste that's pretty awesome. Even though it's hard to drink this all in one sitting due to the sweetness, I'm looking forward to trying the other flavors now.

I always forget I love chai tea until I'm at a coffee shop and a friend offers me a sip of theirs. I never order it because I love coffee too much. I probably haven't had more than a sip of chai tea in over 10 years. This is the first iced chai tea I've ever had, and I really enjoy it. It's not as sweet as a coffee shop chai tea, but it has a lot of flavor while still being a light drink. I would drink this all the time if I could.

Hey Fred, can you pour me a root beer? You might want to put down that licorice first or else you might... drop it in the glass like you just did. No, it's ok. Luckily I like licorice, so this should be interesting. Wow, that gave it a really strong licorice/anise taste! I love it. It has a good bite too. You might be on to something with this Fred, what a happy accident.

This delicious soda has a sordid past with Franklin Mercer. As you all know, he grew up in rural Pennsylvania and this soda was in every store. At a very young age, before he even had his first sip, Franklin knew he loved soda. From ages 3-7 he would bug his parents every time they were at the corner store for a bottle of it. Like clockwork, they said not until he turned 10. This made no sense to Franklin because his older brother had been drinking root beer since the age of 4. Those Mercers were always hard to understand.

This all took a turn for the worst one day when he was visiting his grandparents in Kingston, PA. While they were taking their usual afternoon nap, he ventured into the kitchen for a snack. He couldn't believe his eyes when he found a bottle of this Reading Draft Creamy Red Birch Beer in the fridge. Without hesitation, he cracked it open and took his first sip of liquid heaven. He promptly drank the whole bottle and hid the evidence behind some newspapers on the counter. He didn't hide it good enough because his father found it an hour later when he came and picked it up.

As you can guess, Mr. Mercer was furious! He thought long and hard about what Franklin's punishment should be and he came up with the meanest thing he could think of. As long as Franklin still lived with his parents (which ended up being around 23 more years), an unopened bottle of this soda would be permanently affixed to his bedroom dresser. That bottle just sat there everyday, taunting Franklin. You'd think this would have turned him off from soda, but it actually increased his appetite for the sugary drink.

Franklin never had another bottle of this creamy red birch beer, which is a shame, because it's really good. I'm more partial to birch beers with a good bite to them, but this tastes like a mix of birch beer and red cream soda.

When I first bought this, I thought it was a play on Nikola Tesla's name. I had this whole review written in my head about Tesla coils, electricity, etc. Then I did some research and turns out this soda is from the 1930's and its name comes from the fact that it used to cost a nickel. Like most things, Coca-Cola bought them out in the 1950's and the soda was just a faded memory after that.

Luckily there are great companies like Orca Beverages that brings these old flavors back for us to enjoy. I especially want to thank them for this one because this cola is incredible! It's really complex and has lots of interesting ingredients like kola nut, neroli, and coriander. One of the most distinct flavors in this is cinnamon. I never though cinnamon would go well with cola, but it definitely does. It gives it a slight kick, not as much as Dr. Pepper but it really helps make this soda unique.

It's only fitting that I write this while listening to a classic metal band. I chose Iron Maiden's album "Piece of Mind" as the soundtrack for this behemoth of an energy drink. Sure it doesn't look that big in that picture, but check out what it looks like next to 12 and 16 oz cans: http://instagr.am/p/geEO7/.

I can easily say this is the biggest energy drink I've ever seen. Even the snapping sound it let off when I opened the can was a little intimating. Despite the similar appearance, this isn't just a repackaging of the original Monster flavor, which is good. It tastes similar to it, but is much lighter ironically. I would probably drink this every once in a while if it weren't for the can. The size of the can is very impractical to drink, unless you just want a workout. Or perhaps as a joke gift. I wonder how many of these will make an appearance at Maryland Deathfest this year.

This has LAN party written all over it. Then again, I could see this going one of two ways in the eyes of a gamer.

"Whoa! I love Mountain Dew AND Call of Duty! I gotta get this so I can drink it during that tournament my clan is entering next week!"

OR

"How clichè. Do they think they're going to sell more just by tying it in with COD: MW3? Let me guess, next Monster is going to release a special flavor to drink while you play Skyrim?"

Say what you will about game/movie tie-ins, if it brings a new flavor to our shelves I'm all for it. Given the color and the fact that it's flavor is "citrus cherry", I was expecting it to just be Code Red. They did add a little more citrus to the mix, but it's basically Code Red with more citrus and less cherry. I actually like it better than Code Red.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some gaming to do.

Dear Hansens,
You make some very tasty beverages, but this isn't one of them. I bought this from Big Lots for 70 cents so you obviously already know this and have taken the steps to discontinue this awful iced tea. I'd expect this bland taste from a generic gas station iced tea, but not you. The worst part is that this is sweetened with cane sugar but it tastes like high fructose corn syrup. I can't even taste the pomegranate and the green tea tastes more like black tea. I bought a few flavors from this same discontinued line from Big Lots that I'm suddenly not so excited to try.

I was finally asked to a sleepover at The Sandlot Crew's tree house last night. To put in lightly, it was AMAZING! I had so much fun! We didn't have parents bugging us, we ate junk food, and Squints told us the story of The Beast. I'll admit, it made me a little scared to go back to the sandlot today. I was supposed to be there a half hour ago.

Anyways, probably the coolest thing was when Ham offered me my first s'more. I had no idea what he was talking about and I thought he was offering me more of nothing. Chocolate, marshmallow, and graham crackers were meant to be eaten together. It was a heavenly treat. When I got home this morning I told my mom that I loved s'mores now. With the biggest smile on her face, she went to the fridge and brought me this bottle of pop back. I had no idea they made this!! The people at Rocket Fizz must be rocket scientists because this tastes exactly like the s'mores I had last night. It's like chocolate and marshmallow in liquid form.

Don't tell the other guys, but I think I like this s'mores soda more than the actually food. It's less messy and tastes more consistently awesome. Okay I gotta go, if I don't get to the baseball field soon I'll be stuck batting last again.

Water is great. It's super refreshing and I drink it all the time unlike some people I know. A lot of people hate that water tastes like nothing, so that's where companies like MiO come in. The tag line on this little bottle says it all, it's a "liquid water enhancer". Unlike other varieties of MiO, this also has caffeine in it so it turns your water into delicious energy water.

Let's be honest, most energy drinks are gross. Sure we have found a few that are good, but for the most part they are vile things in a can. Most are also carbonated, and I'm not always in the mood for a carbonated drink. As far as energy drinks go, this is one of the best I've ever had. The black cherry taste is delicious and sweet. I know they recommend only using one squirt per 8 oz glass but I put a little extra in because I really like the strong cherry taste.

Now I don't recommend this to other people, but in the name of science I squeezed some of this straight into my mouth. It was INTENSE! It is concentrated for a reason, because drinking it straight is like taking a shot of liquid caffeine. It instantly woke me up. I'm really glad Kraft sent these to us to sample because I never knew a delicious energy drink could come in such a small bottle.

I'm Ron and I work at the Large Hadron Collider. Well, that should be the past tense actually. I USED to work there. Why don't I work there anymore you ask? Well I have that sweet and delicious Neutron Energy drink to blame.

You see, we weren't allowed to go out much. Long hours, 80+ hours a week. It was rough. Anyways, to keep us alert they put in an energy drink vending machine. Sure it had the standard Amp, Red Bull, Rockstar, etc... The bosses thought they were so clever when they found this Neutron Energy drink and put it in there. My favorite was the citrus. It has a really delicious orange taste to it, almost a tangerine if you will. I'm getting off topic, sorry.

So one day I'm checking the gauges to make sure everything is running smoothly. I was in the middle of a 16-hour shift so I started to doze a little while I was standing up. Olaf saw this and asked if I wanted an energy drink. After accepting his offer, he throws it to me from 30 feet away. Now on a good day, I can catch a fly ball in right field. Unfortunately this was not a good day due to my lack of sleep. My attempts to catch it only made its trajectory worse. Looking back, I should have just stepped out of the way. If I had done that, the can wouldn't have ended up in the air intake valve causing a 15-hour shut down.

I tried to blame Olaf, but the security video just shows me knocking a can into the multi-billion dollar machine. I'm actually lucky I only got fired. They probably could have sued me. You know what the best part is? The engineer who fixed it is a friend of mine gave me the can. It's pretty badly mangled, but I have it on my mantle now. It reminds me of a better time, a time when I wasn't bagging groceries at Safeway.

File this under the list of drinks that kids love to buy just because of the name. See also Fukola, Cocaine and Not See Kola. I'm sure this drink is "banned" from high schools all over the country. I don't think it should be banned because of the name, but the taste. I really liked the original version of this, but this sugar free variety is gross. I have been drinking a lot of diet drinks lately, and this is one of the worst I've had in a while.