Bernie's Best Organic Autumn's Best Apple Cider: I live very close to Cheeseboard in Berkeley and hadn't had their pizza since I moved in. On a whim back from running errands, and noticing there was a shorter line than normal, I stopped by this popular spot to re-taste the pizza I found exceptional five years earlier. To accompany the pizza, I grabbed an apple cider I hadn't seen before from their drinks fridge: Bernie's Best. The drink lists no nutrition facts, only that the cider is made fresh with apples from Pomo Tierra Orchards in Yo... (read more) 5.0/5.0
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Sharetea Hokkaido black milk tea with boba: I stopped by this branch of Sharetea to scout out tea shops in downtown Berkeley; this one is located right on the edge of campus. Coming in around lunchtime meant there was a sizeable line of college students, and it took about 10 minutes total from getting in line to retrieving my drink. Their menu has several variants of classic black milk tea, including Hokkaido black tea, which supposedly has a roasted brown sugar flavor. Though I ordered it at 30% sweetness, it was more sweet than I wo... (read more) 2.5/5.0
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Bette Jane's Ginger beer: Created in San Francisco, this bottled soda had a good level of potent ginger spice but also has a slight diluted taste overall. Level of sweetness and fizz is appropriate. 3.0/5.0
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IKEA Dryck Julmust: IKEA describes it as a "Swedish festive drink" (though it seems slightly out of season to be selling in October). The drink has a dark cola color and does taste a little similar but with a more nuanced spiced flavor (the ingredients include malt, and I got a bit of clove and cinnamon). It's also far less sweet than Coke or Pepsi. If I could pick a cola-like beverage to drink during the holidays, this would be it. (In my haste to buy furniture for my new place, I forgot to photograph the ... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Alta Palla Sparkling blood orange soda: Having never seen this California-based brand, I purchased this can from my local Andronico's. Unfortunately, while it's an organic product, it tastes strikingly similar to Sunkist and is unnecessarily sweet. The one good thing I can say about is that the amount of carbonation was spot on. 2.5/5.0
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