Wild Bill's Rocket Pop Soda

 

Celebrating Independence Day with a Wild Bill's Rocket Pop soda. As suggested by the side of the can, this is soda that's meant to taste like a Rocket Pop (or Bomb Pop) which is a name I only recently learned. Bomb Pops are the red, white and blue popsicles sometimes shaped like rockets.

Does it succeed? It does! It absolutely succeeds in simulating that Rocket Pop taste and it independently succeeds in being a great tasting soda.

If I'm being a soda critic, it comes in a taller, thinner can that's in-style these days, which I don't like and I think the carbonation could be bumped up a bit higher. It's made with sugar, which is nice and it's caffeine-free. One of the things I was curious about with a soda that's supposed to be red, white and blue is what color would it be? And it's clear, so that's as it probably should be.

Happy Independence Day to you.

8.5/10. Very good, recommended.

Weird Soda Reviews #2

 1) Rocket Fizz - Cotton Candy Soda

Let's start out with the fact that making a soda that tastes like cotton candy is an impossible task. Cotton candy is pretty much all texture and sodas don't do texture. So with that out of the way, what do we got? We got nothing.

There is a certain "softness" here. They did try, I can see what they were going for. The taste is like the Bazooka Joe Gum Soda from #1. Not good, not bad, not recommended.

2) Duff (Soda)

Duff soda is not made to taste like beer, but rather is Orange (titled "A L'Orange"). And so although you don't really feel you're in the world of The Simpsons, it's pretty great.

I couldn't figure out why Orange, but now I see they wanted it to look like beer when poured in a glass.

The taste is almost as good as a Sanpellegrino but lighter. And the lightness can be explained or excused by the fact that it's only 20 calories. They're doing a semi-La-Croix kind of thing. They've also added B-Vitamins for some reason. I would highly recommend it for everyday drinking if it was more widely available.

3) Rocket Fizz - Marshmallow Soda

Most of what I said about Cotton Candy Soda still applies here. Marshmallow is mostly about texture but I will give this one respect in that it's a little closer - I see where they're going with this one even more than the last.

There's a taste of - not raw marshmallow - but slightly burned, roasted marshmallow. That's pretty good. So I give this the edge above the Cotton Candy. This one is not bad, some goodness in there. Still, in the flavor there is somehow a commonality between this, the Cotton Candy and the Bazooka Joe... which is weird.

4) Flaming Moe (Energy Drink)

The main thing I wish to do with this is light it on fire. Realistically, I accept that that's off the table. The second thing I wish is that it would have the taste of cough syrup. That also didn't happen.

So what are we left with? Well, it's an energy drink so I can't drink it. But, I need something to review so I took one or two sips and that was as far as I could safely go. It tastes bad. I don't it's bad at all within context of energy drinks though. I can't be be entirely sure. It's slightly fruity and fizzy but also bitter and way too much caffeine for me. 

I wouldn't recommend it unless you're an energy drink person and then I don't know how it ranks. It's fun for the branding, obviously.

All of these are available at Vat19.com.

Weird Soda Reviews #1

 1) Bazooka Joe Bubble Gum Soda

Actually, scratch that, there is no "Joe" in the name for some reason. Suspicious. And it should be noted that Bazooka Joe Soda does not come with a comic.

I applaud how accurate this is and yet it falls a little short for me. This is 95% Bazooka Joe flavor with just an aftertaste that feels like something else indescribable (but not good). Still, very close and impressive.

What's really interesting is the website description. They describe Bubble Gum flavor as the combination of "strawberry, banana, and fruit punch." Never in my life have I heard anyone breakdown what Bubble Gum Flavor actually means. I would love to experiment with that to see if I can recreate it. One problem is: "fruit punch" itself has a lot of wiggle room.

Why is bubble gum pink? Because pink was the only color that the inventor, Walter Diemer, had on hand.

2) Canadian Maple Syrup Soda

I initially ordered this thinking, "I wonder what Maple Syrup Soda tastes like." One sip and I realized how dumb that was. It tastes like maple syrup, of course. Just imagine Maple Syrup (Log Cabin for instance) but watered down and carbonated and that's it exactly. It's not bad but I don't think it's going to be a new staple for me.

3) Chocolate Soda with Banana & Real Cocoa

Though not eating chocolate currently, I'm a big fan of Banana Splits, historically speaking. When I was a kid I would sometimes cut up a banana and add it to a glass of chocolate milk. It seemed to me that, at its essence, that was the main taste of banana splits.

And that's exactly what this tastes like. They are not fooling around with the labeling - this is EXACTLY chocolate and banana in soda form. It tastes great. Holy moley and wow. It's so spot-on that I wonder if I run a risk drinking it - how much chocolate can a soda really contain? I have no idea.

4) Chocolate Soda with Strawberry

I don't know about you but I'm not a big fan of chocolate covered strawberries. Chocolate is great and strawberries are great but you combine the two together and I don't think the result is greater than the sum of its parts.

But what of the soda? Well, we already established that the chocolate part is strong, but the question is the chocolate/strawberry combo. I don't taste it. I'm not getting a strawberry taste. Maybe it's me but I'm not getting it.

If you want to try for yourself, I got all of these from Vat19.com. Not a sponsor.