Cortese ginger soft drink: This Italian mixer strangely contains no ginger. Instead, it had carrot juice and safflower. The flavor is slightly acidic, on the sweet side, and has no expected kick. It comes in a vivid red color. 2.5/5.0
soda drinks cortese ginger carrot 2.5 italian soft drink
Crush Grape soda: Somehow manages to have "natural and artificial ingredients" yet contains no fruit juice (which is clearly marked on the can above the nutrition facts). An insane amount of sugar. Yet this formulated grape flavor harkens back to summer field days with freeze pops, ice cream sandwiches, and other highly processed yet nostalgic foods. In other words, this soda is childhood, albeit a completely unhealthy one. 2.5/5.0
grapesoda soda drinks crush grape 2.5
Dalton Cola soda: I spotted this intriguing bottle of cola on my colleague @sharingnicely's desk, but we noticed it was over a year expired. Still, the list of ingredients (which includes lemon, ginger, cinnamon, star anise, and lavender) was enticing enough that we gave it a taste. After chilling the beverage and sampling it, I found an expertly balanced cola with mild yet distinct floral and citric notes. The soda itself was slightly flat, but I'll attribute this to it being far past its intended shelf life... (read more)
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Dean & Co Ginger ale konatsu: This carbonated Japanese beverage mixes ginger with hyuganatsu citrus (a yuzu / pomelo hybrid), and cinnamon for a uniquely refreshing, pleasant drink. It's not particularly spicy, and the carbonation is light, but it does balance the three flavors perfectly and you can easily identify each. It reminds me of the fall, like a tart citrus take on apple cider with its spiced cinnamon and clove aftertaste. Haven't had anything like it before! Purchased at National Azabu. 4.0/5.0
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Doraemon Cafe Grapefruit and peach cream soda: I had planned to go to the “Doraemon” museum from before I came to Japan (technically the Fujiko Fujio museum, the artist who created Doraemon) since the robot cat is a favorite from my childhood. Last weekend, I finally got a solo ticket from Lawson after accepting I wouldn’t be able to convince any of my friends to go all the way out to Kanagawa, about an hour from Tokyo. I ended my trip at the small yet lovely museum with a trip to their cafe, ordering their Doraemon grapefruit and peach ... (read more) 2.5/5.0
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Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Celery Soda: I recently had my first celery soda from Court St Bottlers, so when I saw this old-school Dr. Brown's can, I decided to do a comparison. While Dr. Brown's design aims for nostalgia and the company has been around since 1869, it's also helpful to know they're now owned by Pepsi-Co. This celery soda was less balanced than the Court St Bottlers one, tasting more like a peppery Sprite because of its sweetness. You could taste some anise flavor, so it wasn't all sugar water, but it was just OK... (read more) 3.0/5.0
drinks drbrowns cel-ray celery soda 3.0