Jason Draper - 2709 Reviews

As someone who used to fly semi-often I can tell you that when the flight attendant comes around and asks what kind of drink you want, the only correct answer is ginger ale. I don't know why but airplanes and ginger ale go hand in hand like hot dogs and corn relish. To be honest it's very rare that I partake in a ginger ale when I'm not flying. When I do I just feel like I'm missing out on part of the experience.

I may not be thousands of feet above the Earth right now, but I am still enjoying the heck out of this ginger ale. In fact I believe it may be the best I've ever had. It smells spicy, like a tame ginger beer, but when you take a sip it's all flavor and no burn. In my not so humble opinion it blows your Vernors and Schweppes clear out of the friendly skies. The secret is that it is made with natural gingers and not extracts or artificial flavors. Even though this line is marketed as a mixer for alcoholic drinks, it more than stands up on it's own.

Leave it to huckleberry to be the standout in a completely average line of sodas. Now don't get all upset, I didn't say they were bad. Every flavor I've had has been decent, but they just don't stand up and yell in my face that I need to drink them again or else they may kill my entire family with their awesomeness. I think it's also safe to say that if huckleberry was a more common flavor this would also seem mediocre, but as it stands I've only had two other companies version of this fruit pop. This may be my least favorite of the three, but I would still choose it over almost all other "every day" pops. The flavor falls somewhere between grenadine and grape. It's like a Shirley Temple with a splash of grape juice mixed in, except you know....better than it sounds.

As you may or may not know Sprecher has a team of various animals working for them that help gather the ingredients for their different sodas. They have foxes, cows, bears and even a penguin on the payroll. What many people don't know is that not only is the crow is not only employed, but he is actually the CEO of the company. The man in the suit in all of their commercials (that are on constantly during sporting events) is nothing more than a corporate puppet. The crow knows that America is not ready for a company run by a bird. I'm sorry for blowing up his spot, but the world needs to know and learn to accept that some species of birds have a more sophisticated taste palate. Learn and love America.

On a recent secret business trip to the UK Sprecher Crow stumbled across the Tango soda line. The orange flavor was in every gas station, but he found a single can of their apple soda and upon trying it he knew that he had to try and replicate it's flavor. Once he was back stateside he quickly got to work in "The Nest" to perfect it. When he was completed he realized that he hadn't quite got the flavor right, but what he did create was something that was fairly wonderful. Basically it tastes like a non-alcoholic British sweet apple cider. While it's in your mouth it has the classic Sprecher "fire brewed" taste. After you swallow the apple hits you fast and it hits you hard. It's definitely a red apple taste and not green, which I fully support. If you're an American it's closer to an apple juice than an American cider, but I certainly am not complaining. Perhaps Sprecher Crow should consider making this a staple flavor and not just available seasonally.

Dear Italy, I love what you've done with sodas. Your version is generally not as sweet, but still very flavorful. I'd like to think that you were trying to take the same approach with this tea, but you lost your way on the adventure. I think where you went wrong is that you concentrated on the peach instead of the tea. I can safely say that you got the peach down perfectly. You actually used peach juice instead of artificial garbage, and it shows. Well done. Unfortunately I think you used either all of your time or your capital working on that and forgot to give the tea the very special attention it deserved. You could have very easily brewed some fresh tea, that would have been great, but you went with a tea extract (poor choice). While this still tastes great, it's more like a peach drink than a tea drink. Sorry.
Sincerely,
The Thirsty Dudes

Eli was no captain at all. In fact he was nothing but a little punk kid with no friends save for his parrot, Perry. You may find yourself asking, "Where did Eli befriend a tropical bird such as Perry?" I'm going to let you in on some intel about our little Eli; he's a bit of a troublemaker and a thief. Last summer he hopped a train down to Boston and stole Perry from a zoo while it was closed. No one knows how Eli got back up to Maine, or how he got the bird to come with him but here he is rowing his stupid little thief boat out to sea. Just a bit earlier he and Perry filled their rowboat up with strawberries that they stole from the back of the local Co-Op. As they were rowing away the manager overheard Perry squawking about bubbly water (He is a stupid parrot, so he repeats everything Eli says. It's said that Eli only hangs out with the parrot because he is such a narcissist.). Cases of carbonated water were constantly going missing from the local Whole Foods. The manager had his suspicions of Eli, but to him the word of that mangy bird was all he needed.

You see the end of all Eli's crime is that he is passionate about soda pop. He hated the gross syrupy sodas that he stole from the gas stations, so he took matters into his own hands. He found a cave down on a secluded beach, stole some vats and bottles and started brewing his own pop to his own specifications and tastes. Hi newest batch would be a strawberry soda that tasted more like those little strawberry candies whose wrappers look like the fruit. He wanted that in bubbly liquid form, but not so sickly sweet. Sadly Perry went nuts and overturned the boat. No one has seen Eli since. He was a menace to the town, but for some reason they missed him, so they brewed up a batch of strawberry soda for his send off. Since he had stolen all the actual strawberries they had to use artificial flavors, but I think they achieved their goal.

I've never had guanabana before. I was expecting it to be very bitter, very bland, or like guava (solely because they start with the same first two letters). Reality has it that it tastes like none of the above. I think it tastes like a smooth fake strawberry with a little bit of passionfruit in the mix. My ladyfriend thinks it tastes like melon. She is wrong. Dead wrong. Maybe I'm, just being a jerk. It's pretty thick, but it is a nectar and does have corn syrup in it.

Guanabana is also known as soursop, I just discovered. I searched our page and Mike also thought that it tasted kind of like passionfruit. Looks like great (and stupid) minds think alike. Since I thought this was going to be something on the grosser side of the taste spectrum, it was a nice pleasant surprise.

I have reached this conclusion from the name of this beverage; Karma. If I am to believe the nonsense that I just thought up the taste of this beverage is dependent on how well you have lived your life in regard to others. By this way of thinking I've just learned that I have had a very mediocre relationship with my fellow human beings. I haven't been terrible to them, but at the same time I have never done grand things for them either. If I ever want this to be a top-notch drink then I am going to have to start being a better human being. Damn.
The drink is along the same lines as the Activate line. It's a normal flavored beverage that has a packet of vitamins in the cap. Before you drink it you push down the to of the cap to release the vitamins into the drink. Then you shake it all up and take your maiden sip. I wish the base drink was actually a brewed green tea instead of just green tea leaf extract. That and the secondary sweetener of Stevia rebaudiana make the drink taste a little fake. If I had been a better person I have no doubt that it would have been brewed tea and just cane sugar. I can just imagine how much better the drink would be. It actually does taste like passionfruit, but the coldness of the Stevia kind of ruins it. It's basically a fresher version of a tea version of a Vitamin Water (that was a mouthful) that was unfortunately sweetened in a way that I'm not into. Guess I'm off to be a sweeter dude to the world. I really want better tasting drinks.

So you've finally made it to the coastline. You've been out in California for the past four days and all you have to show for it are awkward meals and events with family that you don't really know. It has been a dumb trip that your parents talked you into. They finally convinced you by pointing out that it wouldn't be all family stuff; there would still be fun in the sun. Well four days later and this is the first moment you've had to yourself, and you're heading back to Oklahoma first thing in the morning. At least you finally made it out to the beach at the end of your last day. It's quite a sight to behold. The sun is shining at the waves are crashing onto the rocks. The only thing that could make this more perfect is the nice crisp root beer you have in your bag. You reach in and pull it out...what the!? You had packed a nice Virgils, but in your hand you know hold a bottle of Monterey Bay with a note from your aunt that reads "Thought you might like some local flavor." Well I guess that's nice of her. I mean it's still root beer, and it's a company you've never tried. You twist off the cap, lean back against a rock and take a sip. That sip is nearly "spit-taked" everywhere. There is definitely something amiss with this root beer. You take another hesitant sip. Yup, something is wrong. It tastes like someone started to brew a batch of nice old-fashioned cowboy root beer and then forgot to put in 80% of the ingredients. You can't quite place what exactly it is that it tastes like, but it definitely is an incomplete root beer. You try to make the best of it and work through the bottle, but it's just not happening. Your stupid family has gone and ruined the only good thing about your vacation by swapping out your time test root beer for this bottle of liquid garbage. It truly is the worst "root beer" you have ever tasted. Now you have no choice but to go back and start a small fire in their garbage can.

Every time I read Squamscot on one of these bottles I instantly start thinking about Sasquatch. Then my mind starts to wonder and I create a scenario where Squamscot is actually a close relative of Sasquatch that has moved down to New Hampshire. He decided he needed a change in his life so why not move to a coastal town on the east coast? Perhaps he hopped a train, or maybe he just walked across the United States. I doubt the latter because the mid-west is awful flat and I'm pretty sure someone who notices some variety of Bigfoot just trekking across the prairie. Who knows? Maybe he even shaved up his fur a bit and took a bus. Obviously planes aren't an option. I mean where is Squamscot going to get a government issued ID to board a plane? However he got there, he now resides in historic New Hampshire.

The townspeople know the stories and a group of them got together to create some soda to honor their guest from the Pacific North East. Unfortunately this cola doesn't have the same bite that I can only assume the Squamscot has. It's actually one of the smoothest colas I have ever had, and that isn't something I look for in this type of soda. It definitely has more of an old fashioned brewed taste, but it just doesn't quite reach the goals it was trying to achieve. If they had taken this recipe and added a bit of a bite to it I could see myself really loving it. As it stands let's just hope it doesn't upset the Squamscot creature. We don't want it going into a rampage and destroying the tourist area of town.

Dear Internet, Please fill me in on the health benefits, if any, that comes along with fermented juice. This can does not boast any health aspects of fermentation. It just states that it helps bring out flavors. The flavors that it normally brings out I am not a fan of. It always ends up tasting quasi alcoholic. Not far off from what I remember the base of beer tasting like (It's been over 17 years since I've tasted it). Normally it really turns me off. I mean it's a taste I also equate to spoiling foods. Everyone I know who doesn't drink who has a fermented juice things that is absolutely vile, and that it tastes like alcohol. Those that do drink always seem to enjoy it, and don't get the alcohol taste at all. Are their taste buds just acclimated with that flavor?

Those are all the reasons that I was skeptical to try this, and kept putting it off. The allure of jasmine and mango in any drink was just too strong for me though. The first sip was as I expected it to be. It had that "turning" fruit flavor to it with a hint of the tropics. The more I drank, and the less I thought about the fermentation, the more I enjoyed the drink. You can definitely taste a mixture of mango and apple juices with a little lime in there for some kick. I unfortunately did not taste any jasmine (it's also not listed in the ingredients). I would have like it to have a nice floral twist to it, but oh well. This ended up being better than I expected. I did not anticipate making through half the can, but here I sit with some empty aluminum and I don't want to throw up. It's still not anything that I would seek out, but I would expect those that do imbibe alcohol would really enjoy this, and I urge you to give it a try. On the back of the can it also recommends to try it with BBQ or Thai food. If I had another can I would totally take that challenge. I could see this pairing incredibly with some nice sloppy BBQ.

I've lived about an hour from the Pennsylvanian border for all my life. I can't even count the number of times I've down to the lady of the south (that's right, I just came up with a nickname for PA). In all the years that I've made that drive it wasn't until last fall that I realized that the thruway from about Fredonia, NY onward is basically all grape orchards. Is that what they are called? Do orchards imply trees, or can vines count? Either way it was a warm autumn afternoon and I was driving home from places south and the scent hit me like crazy. The strongest grape fragrance I have ever experienced was in the air for a good portion of the drive. It was so strong that I have no idea how I never noticed it before. I wish that stretch of road always smelled like that, because let's face it the I-90 is the most boring highway in the country and anything to spice it up is a blessing.

Upon opening this bottle I was greeted with a similar smell. I had expected this to be a standard grape pop, maybe with a little bit of fruit punch mixed in. In reality it's taste falls somewhere between actual red grape juice and the candy pop we're used to. It's not quite grape juice, but it's definitely closer than any other pop I've ever tasted that wasn't considered a sparkling grape juice that us non-drinkers down at celebrations. I can only hope that some if not all of that "natural flavor" listed on the ingredients is actually grapes harvested from that small stretch of the I-90.

Oh and the strange thing is I just noticed that the bottle says that it's non-carbonated, but I swear it fizzed when I opened it, and I really didn't even give it a thought of not being carbonated until I finished it and noticed that written on the label. Are they liars, or have I finally cracked?

Before I even begin to think about describing the flavor of this drink I have to mention the packaging. Is it necessary? I don't know, but I can tell you that it is really, really cool, even if it is a bit impractical. It's like someone took a 20oz bottle, but it in half and put the top of a can of pop on top to seal the goodness in. I really don't see any benefits of this, besides looking awesome. The joy of plastic is that it is resealable, which this is not. Also, I don't know how well it would work for stacking the cans. It seems like they would fall over a lot easier with that bottom. Oh well, I'm not a stock boy so it's not my problem. I'll just sit back and admire the strangeness of it.

Now on for the purpose of this site, to let the public know how different beverages taste. I shockingly really enjoyed this. Flavored sparkling water isn't really my forte (I can't stand the seltzer taste), but I guess when you add a bunch of sugar to a carbonated water it technically becomes a pop. This tastes like a very light pop that actually tastes just like mangoes. There is no seltzer flavor in this can at all. My only issue is that by the time you get towards the bottom of the bottle/can (should we embrace "bottan" or "cannle" for it's name?) you get a slight hint of the aspartame that is hiding towards the bottom of the ingredients list. Other than that this is great with about half the sugar of normal soda.

I'm pretty sure that Bruce Cost is a television detective. No, I don't think he does sleuth work for or about television. That would be ridiculous, even for me. I simply meant that with a name like that he has to be a dark mysterious detective from some drama that aired in the late 80's or early 90's. He always gets his man in the end. The ladies fall for him every time, but like Short Round and Indy he simply has no time for love. He is a man with a clear view of his future and that is to solve crimes in 30-minute increments. That and to produce some of the finest ginger ale's this world has ever seen. What did you think he solely spent his life fighting crime? Everyone needs hobbies and his just happens to be crafting sodas. He's grown quite good at it as well.

While he was wrapping up the case of the Albuquerque Exsanguinater he dreamed up this little fella. The murderer always scouted out his victims at a fancy Chinese restaurant. It always smelled of jasmine tea in there and the smell haunted Cost. He knew he needed to fuse it with his beloved ginger ale. Sure he may have cut some corners on the case so he could get to his "soda lab" quickly, but he gets results and isn't that all that really matters when a killer is on the loose?

Mixing soda pop and teas is a tricky game that can easily turn to garbage. I'd say about 1/4 of the ones I've tried are actually decent. The rest, well they can rest on the trash heap for all I care. Cost went through an ridiculous amount of recipes before he hit pay dirt. He finally figured out the correct formula to make a jasmine ginger ale that comes through on every front. It has a distinct ginger taste, due to the tiny pieces of ginger that he realized just should not be filtered out. It also has a faint burn, but not nearly enough to consider it a ginger beer. Finally he had to get the proper flowery flavor without tasting too much like soap. Unlike in his cases he cut no corners with this soda. Everything it contains is a top notch ingredient and it shows in the flavor. My ladyfriend said it did taste like soap, but she only had a tiny sip. I could see where she was coming from at first, but after another sip that flavor was completely gone. The ginger had neutralized it. If you like a little kick of a treat at the end of your soda, make sure to drink the last sip that has the remaining remnants of ginger. It will give you a nice little parting gift of a burn, like the burn Bruce Cost feels in his heart when he knows their are crimes left unsolved and ginger ale left unbrewed.

I always find it strange when companies have zero presence on the internet. It really takes two seconds to set up something online to help promote your product. Perhaps the Pearson boys want to keep it local, after all we can only assume it's a family company. Hopefully this review won't cause one, or all, of them to take a leap off the bridge featured on their labels.

This is a pretty bad cream soda. I actually feel weird even calling it a cream soda because it tastes more like "caramel color" than anything. It tastes like they had started putting the ingredients together to make a cola and changed their mind halfway through. It tastes like it has everything that makes a cola a cola minus whatever it is that gives it a bite. Instead of said ingredient they put in the smallest amount of vanilla. Actually that's it. This tastes like a vanilla coke, minus some key ingredients. The closer to the bottom of the bottle I get the more vanilla I taste, but for the first 3/4 of it I had to think pretty hard to see if I actually tasted it.

Our fuzzy little friends the kiwis (no I'm not talking about the indigenous people) are always a nice little treat in their fruit form. I don't know anyone who would ever turn down a kiwi if offered. The problem is that when this little guy gets transformed into a soda it's flavor somehow gets transformed into something resembling green apple. It's not 100% green apple, but the similarities are definitely there, and it only vaguely resembles the great fruit it once was. It comes in waves. First a very brief kiwi taste, then the apple and then a milder kiwi flavor returns in the aftertaste. I don't understand the science behind it and I'm wearing a white lab coat and everything. My hypothesis would normally be that it has something to do with the hibiscus in it, but I've had a different kiwi soda recently that had a similar taste. I guess the answer was lost hundreds of years ago with the ancients. It's sad too because I really like kiwi, and I'm not a big fan of green apple flavored things so this was kind of ruined for me.

First off, what is going on with this bottle? It looks like it was left too close to an open flame and it melted. I know there are a lot of cool ergonomical bottles out there, but this really just makes no sense. It's not comfortable to hold and I really just feel like it's going to slip out of my hands every time I pick it up. Whoever drew up the plans for this is more than likely scouring the paper looking for a new job.

Secondly, this is a very appropriate name. It's very peachy (and a bit on the melon side as well) and it really tastes like I should be drinking this at a beach. The oppressive sun is beating down and I'd doing the best to find some shade so that my skin won't combust. I'm failing, as per usual, but at least I have this nice ice-cold juice to cool me down. Sure it tastes like fake peaches and melon, but hey who wants real juice at the beach. When you're knee deep in sand you want a party drink, and that is what Mistic provides. It's just too bad that in the time it took me to write that last sentence it went from ice cold to body temperature.

Bad bottle. Appropriate name. Average taste.

I belong to the 1%. No, not the 1% of high income/making all the decision. I am in the 1% of people in the world that prefer RC Cola to Coke or Pepsi. I respect the monarchy. I wouldn't go as far as to say that I bow before the king and queen of cola, but out of the three companies I would go with RC every time.

It has more of a "natural" cola taste then it's mainstream competitors. To me it's not as harsh and the cola taste sticks around instead of a general sugary taste. You know that quasi-earthy taste. I love it. It's a bummer that it's not available around Western New York any more.

Could this possibly resemble cough syrup any more? From the colored plastic bottle to the name (sounds suspiciously like Robitussin) this just screams medicine. I can see a new trend of kids "robo-tripping" on this stuff. They down a couple of bottles and then just pass out. How is that fun? Really though, the packaging on this thing is just terrible. If I saw this in the store I would never even give it a second glance. With all its flaws in the looks department the flavor of this isn't too bad. They managed to get a green apple flavor that doesn't taste like a Jolly Rancher. It's still a little candy tasting, but over all it's like an apple soda that is well on its way to going flat.

I got home at 3:30 last night and I just wasn't tired. I downed both servings in this bottle and by 5:30 my mind was still racing and I wasn't relaxed at all. When Derek had another flavor he said it worked great for him. Maybe I'm just broken.

Does the rest of the country/world outside of the northeastern United States have any idea what real apple cider is like? I just realized that I'm pretty sure it's a regional drink. I mean if you don't live near apple orchards then you're not going to have proper cider. I feel bad for everyone else now, because cider is one of the big reasons to go on living. I have no qualms with apple juice, but it really will never step out of the shadow of cider. I don't know what causes the change in greatness, and I don't want to know because I'd like to believe it's magic.

Grower's Best did do...well their best to create a cider that would have a longer life span. You see real cider only lasts maybe two weeks before it starts to "turn." Then it becomes alcoholic, and then even grosser; vinegar. The taste of this falls somewhere between a traditional cider and plain apple juice. It's be best pasteurized cider I've ever had but it still doesn't compare to the beverage I know and love. Nice try Grower's Best, but I just don't think what you're trying to do it possible.

It's "Black Friday" and guess what the only things I bought all day were a couple of tacos and a smoothie. I hate shopping and I'm not about to do it on a day like today. Instead I went and hung out in the woods with two of the best dudes I know. Seeing as it's unseasonably warm for the season (over 50 degrees at the end of November, who says global warming doesn't exist?) we decided we couldn't pass up this opportunity to be outdoors one more time before the snows come and force us to never leave our homes. I'll tell you what it was nothing but good times, and I would choose it over shopping any day.

So anyways we hiked, build a bridge over a creek and made fun of each other a lot. A perfect day to me. When we got back to the car I opened this puppy up and sat back in the seat and enjoyed the ride home. I really don't have much to say about this. It's pretty much a knock off of Vitamin Water's XXX flavor. If you've had that, then you pretty much have had this. To be honest I don't know why this exists. I would understand if it was a store brand, but it seems to be it's own generic entity. With Vitamin Water being 10 for $10 pretty much everywhere I don't know what they mean to achieve with this.