Boylan Limited Release Sodas

If you haven't seen Boylan's sodas then you must be blind. These sodas are literally everywhere and are quickly taking over Jones shelf space. I got a batch of these to review courtesy of the good folks at Pacific Bottleworks and I am so very grateful.

Sparkling Cider

Boylan's Sparkling Cider is a limited release, so get yourself a bottle right now if you are a fan of Boylan and ciders.

This sparkling cider has a bold apple aroma with notes of both sweet and sour apples, and just a tiny bit of caramel. The soda is not as carbonated as I expected it and starts off with a rounded, creamy mouth-feel bringing the caramel and sweet apple notes to the taste buds. The sour apples come in after and tend to stick to the back of the tongue. The sweetness suppresses most of the sourness and results in an interesting cola-like twist at the finish, which also carries some of the creamy character of the start of the drink. Very interesting and satisfying soda.

Taste - 9.0/10

Birch Beer

Coming from Europe, we do love our birch products. I grew up with birch juice and was happy when it started becoming popular here at places like Shoppers. I have also had alcoholic birch beer, but I have never had birch soda drinks before.

Boylan takes a slightly different approach with birch beer. The birch flavors come from birch oils, which are dark and give the soda its dark, cola-like color. The soda has a sharp anise aroma with hints of vanilla and caramel and something that reminds me of the basic Crest toothpaste. The taste carries the same notes, but it is much softer than the aroma. The anise much less pronounced and you get a subtle influx of earthier notes and some of that familiar, but hard to explain Crest toothpaste hint...could be a blend of mint and anise. The vanilla, caramel and mint-like notes come out near the finish and form the aftertaste.

I would compare this to an intense root beer with a touch of anise and mint. Very interesting and rather enjoyable.

Taste - 8.8/10

Orange

This is a staple flavor that is rather hard to pull off if you want to skimp on the depth and complexity of it. Boylan's orange flavor does come through, though. The aroma has a strong orange and tangerine peel bouquet while the flavor has multiple layers. It starts off with a mild candy-like orange, followed by a sweet tangerine, which takes you all the way to the end. I must admit that this is a little too sweet for my liking, but that cane sugar really rounds off the corners. There doesn't seem to be any harshness as you would get from a high fructose corn and I do like the tangerine finish. It helps round off the end.

To try something different, I diluted the last bit of this soda and it was absolutely awesome. The sweetness was cut down a bit, but the flavors remained there.

Taste - 8/10...it is sweet

Creme

Not the biggest fan of straight up cream sodas, but the deep golden color really intrigued me about this one. This creme soda has a very warm and inviting aroma that reminds me of sweet glazed donuts, vanilla and caramel. The flavor is sweet and comes at you head on with the sugary goodness of a dozen glazed donuts, followed by a sprinkling of vanilla. The finish reveals a combination of caramel and butterscotch which reminds me of Werther's candies, but damn is this sweet...oh well, at least it has cane sugar which gives the soda a very round, smooth sweetness.

Taste - 8.1/10

Root Beer

This root beer has an aroma that is very similar to the Birch Beer but with a touch more sweetness and spice. The taste is also very similar at first, but give it a few moments and the flavor starts to diverge. Vanilla and caramel will stay behind with a very minimal anise hint and a very round sweetness profile thanks to the cane sugar. The aftertaste is an interesting blend of candy cola-like and root beer-like flavors.

Man, I am sold on cane sugar. Love how it rounds off the flavors in all of these sodas.

Taste - 9/10

Rumble Supershake Coffee Bean Review

I came across the Rumble Supershake line up at a Bulk Barn near my place. I don't normally go for protein shakes, but the Coffee Bean flavor intrigued me as it had a decent dose of caffeine in it. I sucked it up, paid the $3.99 for the aluminium bottle (or is it a can then?) and went home to give it a shot.

But before I left, I checked the other flavors Bulk Barn had and none of them had caffeine so I didn't get any of the other ones...at least for now.

Taste

First off, follow the steps outlined on the cap - "Shake gently" and "Open slowly". I opened mine quickly and the coffee rich contents exploded all over my hands and bottle.

Rumble's Coffee Bean flavor looks and smells like any caffeinated iced coffee from the major energy players. The flavor is not like the major brands, though. It starts off watery, but starts to build up flavor near the middle. Unfortunately, the flavor never builds up to the intensity I expected. The coffee flavor is very mild and doesn't come out until the aftertaste. Milk and protein dominate the second half of the flavor and turn the mouth feel more into a moderately thick shake with a chalky consistency that sticks to your tongue. The aftertaste has some of the coffee notes, but it also has a bit of the milk raunchiness.

Overall, this Rumble Supershake is very easy to drink with its mild flavor and low sweetness level, but flavor-wise, it doesn't compare well to other caffeinated protein shakes, like Monster's Muscle Coffee shake. It does, however, hide the protein better than Blu Dot.

Energy

There are 111 mg of caffeine, which is a bit more than I expected when I picked it up. Again, this isn't comparable to Monster's Muscle line-up, but the 111 mg is enough for a product with Non GMOs and other goodness.

The effects are fairly quick yet gradual. I felt awake, yet calm and focused within 10 minutes. No jitters for me yal! The caffeine kick came in after another 20 or so minutes and I was pumped. But a happy pumped kind of a thing. I wasn't so overenergized that I wanted to run around which is always a good thing for me. I like products that can deliver this kind of a calm energy.

The kick lasted for around 2.5 hours and ended without drama. Great kick!

Scores:
Cost - $3.99 from Bulk Barn
Taste - 7/10
Energy - 7.8/10

Overall - 14.8/20...mild flavor, but a focused kick

Suja Essentials Organic Sweet Beets

I am trying to remember where I got this from, but I am drawing a blank. It was definitely somewhere in Michigan, but I cannot recall if it was from Target or Meijer. In any case, I found this almost expired Suja Essentials beet juice hiding in the back of our fridge. I thought it was my wife's and she thought it was mine so no one touched it for the past couple of months. Damn.

The dark red color is an easy indicator of what is inside the bottle - beet juice. But there are a few other fruits/vegetables tossed in there for a good measure as well - apple, carrot, orange, banana, pineapple and turmeric (no, it is not a fruit, nor a vegetable).

Unfortunately (or fortunately if you are a fan of it), the beet remains the king of both the aroma and the taste. Some carrot finds its way through the aroma, but it is no match for the mighty beet. The flavor is a bit different and you get a clear, distinct pineapple and turmeric at the finish, and well into the aftertaste, but the beet still remains the king. I like beets, but I still found it to be a bit overpowering, considering that when blended with some of the other flavors, an interesting damp/cellar note emerges.

Despite the heavy beet presence, the beverage is surprisingly smooth, light, easy to drink and refreshing.

Scores:
Cost - ~$3
Taste - 8.8/10

Joker Tropical Mango Energy Drink

Aaah, the last of the Joker energy drinks...the one that threw me a curve ball and dig up some long-forgotten memories, the moment an almost clear liquid started pouring out of the can. Yes, this energy drink barely has any color to it. Fill up a glass and you will get a very light pink/faded orange combo.

Taste

On to the taste itself. Despite the light color, the aroma is heavy on the mango and on an unidentifiable mix of tropical scents. Seeing how the previous Joker energy drinks were Monster/Red Rain clones, I was expecting a mix between Monster Khaos and Red Bull Summer Edition, but what I got instead was a clone of another clone - Red Rain Tropical Mango...OK and a bit of the Red Bull mixed in for a good measure.

It is hard to remember exactly what the Red Rain tasted like 7 years ago, when I first reviewed it, but based on my notes, this energy drink is very similar to it...maybe it even uses the same formula. There is plenty of citric acid here, giving the beverage a bite. And the flavors are light, but I think were slightly improved over the Red Rain as they taste slightly less artificial...but still sort of artificial.

Overall, the drink is light on the flavor, but delivers the taste the label advertises. The sour bite give the drinker a refreshing and clean finish.

Energy

There are 150 mg of caffeine, which is not surprising. The effects are also not surprising with a quick burst of sugary energy, followed by a period of jitters, followed by a period of uncontrollable physical energy, followed by 2-3 hours of just plain physical energy. A mild crash will come at the end of the can and if you are consuming this beverage later on in the day when you don't have as much energy, be ready to experience a full crash.

Scores:
Cost - $2.29
Taste - 8/10
Energy - 8/10

Overall - 16/20...light, but clean flavor