It's ALIVE - Trick or Treat: Mushroom-based Sodas?

While these are not overtly Halloween-themed, in my mind, they're Trick-or-Treat-adjacent. Stick with me and you'll see.

I don't drink booze, I rarely drink coffee, and I don't do artificial sweeteners or diet beverages. What I DO drink is a lot of water, seltzers, and soda. Soda is my coffee. (Soda is a god. Soda is the breeze in my hair on the weekend.) 

Soda is my go-to caffeine boost, but we all know soda is not good for you, and I do like to make healthier choices when I can, so when I spotted these "healthy" sodas at Lidl I thought this could be a great alternative. That is, if they actually taste good. 

So, healthy mushroom-based sodas, a trick? Or a treat? 

Grim is back! - Voo-Dew Year 5 (+ Actual Flavor Reveal)

Voo-Dew 2023

Mystery Voo-Dew has once again graced us with it's ghastly presence, and I could not be happier. 

In a world where McDonald's releases sub-par Boo-Buckets with mock-lids, Burger King releases a spooky bucket only available in 5 locations, and stores roll out their Christmas wares on October 1st... Mtn Dew is a spooky-season beacon of hope. This year marks it's 5th anniversary, and I hope it stays a seasonal tradition for years to come. 

So, what has the reaper bottled for us this year? Previously, the labels and their coloring offered us a hint. 

Ultimate Mystery - Coke Creations: Ultimate

"Ultimate," the newest flavor in Coke's Creations line, has been released, and the novelty of these whimsical concept-based soda flavors still draws me in like a moth to the flame. 

This flavor is branded with a video game theme, more specifically, League of Legends (abbreviated as, "LoL." No joke.) 

Arcane, the Netflix series, is loosely based on the characters from LoL, and I really liked it, but from what I understand, the plot of the show has nothing at all to do with the gameplay, and from the looks of it, neither does this soda. 

Sprite Lymonade Legacy

Sprite Lymonade Legacy - Walgreens

Sprite has released a new limited edition soda celebrating 50 years of Hip-Hop. It's Lemon-Lime, Strawberry, and Lemonade flavored, which is a little tricky to say, and awkward to type, but it sounds great for summer. I'm excited to get sippin'!

MOVE Peeps, Get out tha' Way! - Coke MOVE

I am VERY tired. It's been a really long week with me working overtime and I want nothing more than to just crawl right into bed, but I really want to get back into posting consistently, so here's a quickie.

Coke Creations is back again with another intangibly themed soda, this time we have "Move." A "transformation flavored" soda. What does that mean? Your guess is as good as mine! 

PEEPSI - Peeps Flavored Pepsi

Why is this not labeled "PEEPSI?" Sure, it's silly, but this is soda flavored like marshmallow chicks. If the time to be silly isn't now, then when? (It's very fun to say out loud. You should try it.) 

I've reviewed a veritable glut of Peep flavors on the blog, so even though they're a pretty divisive candy, safe to say, I fricken love them and, like I mentioned in my Dr. Pepper (Dr. Peepers) post, I prefer them aged like a fine wine. (AKA: Stale AF.) But I'm also a Pepsi drinker. So, Peeps flavored Pepsi for a Peep-loving Pepsi drinking casual food blogger? Yes, please! 

Dr. PEEPers!

Dr. Pepper Peeps - Walmart

I went to Target to grab some baby shower gifts, and was practically punched in the face with novelty Peep products: Ring pops, Peeps-on-a-stick, plushies, hot cocoa, Peep-flavored-Pepsi, (aka "Peep-si")...but not this. 

I think it's Walmart exclusive, which is where I picked it up, and while Target may have Peep-themed everything else, I think Walmart still came out on top. But I'm definitely biased. I love Dr. Pepper and I love Peeps (especially stale ones), so it's like this was made for me.

Berries 'n Cream - Dr. Pepper Edition

New Dr. Pepper has dropped and, for me, the timing could not be better.  

I've been craving strawberry ice cream for weeks, but I already have 4 different flavors in my freezer, so, until I consume what I have (and blog about it), I'm not letting myself buy anymore ice cream. (Sporadic food blogger problems.) I actually walked to a local ice cream shop for a scoop, so I could scratch the itch without taking up freezer space, but there was a note posted saying they were closed for the rest of the month. (Even though I saw them open the day before! A literal sign from the universe?) 

Then Dr. Pepper swoops in with THIS! A 20 oz. bottle of strawberries and cream themed soda. 

Coca-Cola Tic Tacs

Six years. That's how long it's been since I posted a Tic-Tac review. It was the 2017 Minions re-release, because they were finally banana-flavored. (The 2015 version was passion fruit for reasons I will never understand.) So to say, "It's been a minute," would be an understatement. 

Like most millennials I grew up with a pack in my pocket, and pretended they were medicine, a totally normal and healthy thing for a child to do. But as the early 2000's obsession with all things minty-fresh ended, I found myself reaching for them less and less. It's time to check in and see what they're up to. 

Marshmello's Limited Edition Coca-Cola - Watermelon Strawberry Flavored

Coca-Cola Creations has been busy. We've already had four different flavors: Starlight, Byte, this collaboration with Marshmello, and Dreamworld in under a year! That's one flavor per season. 

New flavors are fun, but if you don't do it right, it leads to burn out. After a decade of blogging, and countless limited edition products from well known brands, I feel qualified to say, Coke is doing it right.

 

While Creations hasn't had enough time, or flavors, to be a proper one-to-one comparison to Oreos...I'm going to compare them to Oreos anyway.

Pin-pointing 2022 Voo-Dew's Flavor

Hello, I just woke up from an unplanned post-work couch-nap and now I'm about to drink a bottle of Mystery Mountain Dew at 11:45PM on a work night.  

In other totally great life-decision news, I still have an unopened bottle of 2021 Voo-Dew in my fridge that I never tried! It's over a year old at this point, but I'm sure it's probably fine, should I still review it?

One bad decision at a time, tonight, let's crack open the 2022 Voo-Dew and see what it's all about! 

This is What Dreams are Made of? - Coke Dreamworld

Coca-Cola's Creation line are sodas that are flavored using abstract concepts and unique labels. So far we've had Starlight, Byte, a collaboration with Marshmello (which was actually strawberry-watermelon flavored), and now we have Dreamworld. 

 

Normally I hate marketing that take a normal product and hypes it up to go viral, but I have actually been having a lot of fun with this! While I have found most of it's flavors to be rather conventional, with Starlight tasting like cotton candy, and Byte having a raspberry-fruity flavor, the elaborate labels and just barely unpretentious product descriptions keep me coming back for more every time. Is this the new limited edition Oreo for food bloggers? 

Old New Coke - Stranger Things Food Items Part 1

Stranger Things has the WORST product tie ins.

I fell in love with the show's first season, watching it through twice before it really took off and became the phenomenon we all know today. I loved the hair (except for Will's, hasn't he been through enough?), the costumes, the attention to details, the soundtracks, and all the homages to other movies and media I grew up with. What I don't love? The merch.

For something that is so popular, so beloved, created with so much passion and skilled craftsmanship...the merch is cheap as hell. But...I keep buying it. Well, the food stuff, anyway. 

For example, during the mall season, Netflix and Coke brought back NEW Coke as an online exclusive purchase with Stranger Things branding. 

The Cola that fell to Earth - Coke Starlight

I am fighting the urge to obnoxiously yell, "SPACE COKE," the same way Peter Dinklage yelled "SPACE PANTS" in his SNL skit a few years back. 

This is a novelty product. I know it, you know it, Coca-Cola knows it...but I had to buy it anyway. It's Space flavored Coca-Cola. SPACE flavored. What does that even mean? There aren't any descriptors on the packaging, and the press release online boasted a "subtle cooling sensation." Will this be like those cooling Chinese ice cream Oreos I tried a few years ago that were mentholated? (I hope not.) I guess we'll see!

KÖE Fruit Forward Kombucha

KÖE Organic Kombucha - Gift 

If you're new here, I have a reaction to sucralose, which is a very commonly used artificial sweetener. A sip is fine, but a normal 12-16oz beverage containing the stuff can trigger vertigo that will not go away without medical intervention. Vertigo, for those lucky people who've never experienced it, causes a feeling of dizziness. This can range from mild annoyance to debilitating. For me, I was bedridden for over 24 hours while I attempted to "sleep it off," but I ended up in the ER where they finally gave me medicine that made it stop. 

Sucralose is in a LOT of products (Sparkling ICE beverages were the cause of my ER visit), so I avoid them like the plague. That said, A PR rep for this kombucha brand reached out and sent me a pack of all five flavors to try. So while I got these products for free, this is not a paid promotion, and I always say exactly what I think, so this is, like always, a honest review. These contain less than 2% of erythritol, and I am not a foodie scientist (I'll leave that to CandyHunting), but after reading this 2005 article about sucralose vs erythritol, I felt safe enough to give these a try. 

We have 5 flavors in total, Strawberry Lemonade, Tropical, Lemon Lime, Raspeberyr Dragonfruit and Blueberry Ginger.  

I Don't Know If I Need You - Pepsi-Cola Soda Shop Black Cherry

Pepsi Cola Black Cherry Soda Shop - Wawa

Maybe it's because I was a rebellious teenager in a Coke-household, but I prefer Pepsi. 

I'll drink Cherry Coke when I visit my mom (who usually keeps a few cans for me), but when I'm buying soda for myself, I always go Pepsi. I feel like Pepsi tastes a bit zippier, bolder, and their Generation-themed ads in the 90's with the Spice Girls continue to take up space in my brain all these years later. (Move over, yeah! Don't do it over!~) 

Cherry cola is my go-to drive-thru beverage. I prefer Pepsi, but I'll take Coke when needed and if neither is available it's good ol' Dr. Pepper. (BUT If there is a Coke Remix machine, it raspberry Coke, 100%) Basically, I love fruity colas. So when I saw Pepsi launched this semi-retro Soda Shop line I headed straight for the cherry flavor. 

Blue are the feelings that live inside me - Pepsi Blue

Pepsi Blue - 7-Eleven

I wanted to introduce this as a "taste from my childhood" but I was in high school. So it's more accurate to say it's a taste from frizzy-haired-awkward-teens.

I remember getting this from gas stations from time to time, so I was excited for it's return. Just looking at it brings back every lyric to Eiffel 65's, Blue (Da Be Dee.) I had their CD back in the day and used to stay up watching MTV2 on the weekends so I could see their weird music video with CG aliens (along with other animated videos like Daft Punk and Gorillaz.) 

Without further ado, let's drink some Windex Da Ba Dee Da Ba Di!  

Double Dose of Melon Goodness - Haribo Watermelon and Major Melon MTN Dew

Watermelon Haribo & Major Melon MTN Dew

Spring has sprung, literally yesterday, but I'm already craving summer, and nothing says "summer" like watermelon. I have two different products today, one a candy, the other essentially humming bird nectar, who wants to take bets that I'll be bouncing off the walls later? 

Was this a mistake? - Dark Blend Coffee Coca-Cola

Dark Blend Coffee Coca-Cola - Aldi

We heard you like caffeine, so we put some caffeine in your caffeine. (Any of you out there even remember Pimp My Ride?)  Anyway, Coke released a new line of sodas blended with coffee. There are three flavors available: caramel, vanilla and dark blend. That said, my opening line is true, these do have more caffeine than normal Coca Cola, but it's still far less than a typical espresso drink or any of the energy drinks on the market. So their angle  is less about energy boosting, and more about flavor.

I guess there is an audience out there for such a product? Personally, I was really skeptical about the whole mash-up. I thought it would either be so lightly flavored you could barely taste the coffee, or it would be so over the top it would be disgusting. Needless to say, I ended up seeing a 4-pack at Aldi and decided to jump in with both feet. 

So, I have four cans of this stuff (three now that I gave one to my buddy Jared, @farbeyondsippin on Instagram), so let's see how it tastes and what I can do with it!

Quickie Review: Dr. Pepper & Cream Soda, Better than the Original?

Dr. Pepper & Cream Soda

Last I heard, Dr. Pepper had a limited edition birthday cake flavor that was only available through some kind of online birthday club thing. I love Dr. Pepper, but I hate the anxiety and rush that comes from chasing down limited edition products, especially when they're limited to online releases, raffles, sign-ups, and social media contests. So, I didn't participate, but I was sad that I missed out. Then there was a 2015 Dr. Pepper themed water ice at Rita's that was only available in Texas, no where near me. Again, kinda bummed I missed out on that as well. 

That was the last I had heard about anything Dr. Pepper related. So when I saw Dr. Pepper and Cream soda at Walmart I thought, "huh, why not?"