Stewart's Cream Soda

Stewart's began making soda in 1924 with a focus on root beer. Now I've tasted their root beer and it is delicious, but it is a few of their other flavors that really intrigue me. First, their orange n'cream soda. This soda is readily available at my local store and it has been a favorite of mine over the past few holidays. Now while doing research on Stewart's I came across three other flavors that I did not know existed: a Stewart's grape, a cherries n'cream and a strawberries n'cream. All sound incredible, don't they? Too bad I've never had them. Can't even find them! Wish I could just taste them...

Roger...pass me a cream soda. And make it a double

The cream soda, however, is available in my local market and will be the featured cream soda of Day 3 of this, Cream Soda Week. Stewart's began as a root beer stand and the fountain style flows over to their bottles and taste. These bottles are clear with a red Stewart's logo, which is nicely offset by the golden soda behind it. The label itself reads "Fountain Classics" and everything here elicits a feeling of being at an ice cream parlor, ready to make a ice cream float or have Roger behind the counter slide you a frosty mug.

The first sip...for a cream soda...is something completely different from any other cream soda I've tasted. This shock leads me to turn the bottle around and study the ingredients: carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavor, a preservative, caramel color, citric acid and...quillaia extract. Is that it? Is that the something special that is giving a tiny bite to this traditionally smooth style of soda? I don't know but let me say, there is a bite to each sip of this soda. There is also a substantial difference in carbonation compared to the last few I've reviewed. The soda almost foams in your mouth and where other cream sodas coat tongue with vanilla creaminess, Stewart's does not. But the taste is so unique that I'm on my second bottle and still being hit with that mystery flavor, still wondering what makes this one so special.

For a traditional cream soda, Stewart's is lacking some of that vanilla flavor and some of that smoothness, but it is still a cream soda and still bears that overall likeness. What sets this soda apart from others is the fountain style that it claims. It is definitely foamy, crisp, worth chugging, and with that unique taste, Stewart's Cream Soda is almost in a class by itself.

Smoothness: 6.8 - It's the bite that takes away the smoothness
Overall Taste: 9.0 - Different, a must try, and a unique experience
Fizz Factor: 6.0 - That foaminess is almost a flavor in itself, the bubbles form in your mouth
Appearance: 8.0 - Nice label, nothing too fancy, and the soda is a golden tan
Flavor: 7.8 - A mild cream soda that satisfies

From the company: 12 oz has 180 calories, 0g of fat, 45g of carbs, 45g of sugar and 0g of protein.