The Switch to Diet

After some startling news a few months ago at the doctor (no, my blood was not found to be 75% corn syrup) I decided to make some changes with my diet. Being an enormous fan of candy and soda I did not want to remove either from my daily intake but I also realized that they might be the cause of some of the new health issues. The answer that became more evident as days passed and I continued to imbibe the sweet nectar of the gods was to switch to diet soda.

Yes. Diet. Soda. I can understand if many of you want to stop reading the blog.

Regardless of that huge change in my life, I still plan to have a Coke Heavy once in a while and yesterday I went to Target and bought a huge bag of Halloween candy. So my soda and candy love is not gone but it has been altered.

Anyway, that is the backdrop for linking you to this Yahoo article about the worst and best sodas (non-diet) out there. No surprise that fruity orange and grape sodas top the list of the worst as they pack some serious calories but I was happy to see that some non-diet sodas still came in to top the list of the best, albeit these sodas are not as savory as the worst.

Where does your soda stack up? Check it out here.

Personal Opinions on "Ten Cokes a Day"

Thanks to the Internet I was exposed to "an experiment in drinking sugar" about a guy who wants to raise awareness of how much sugar the average person drinks by drinking ten cans of Coke each day. My first thought? HELL YEAH!

But before I get into some personal opinions on this experiment, you may want to read more about Ten Cokes a Day.

What did you think?

Emotional roller coaster, right? You start with the title, screaming "Hey, why would you do this? Who drinks ten Cokes a day?" Then he answers those two questions. You then say "Hey buddy, was this Diet Coke?" And again, he answers that question. Even sneaks a Cherry Coke in for variety. That's my boy.

I like this article but there are two things that get to me. For starters, he seems like a pretty healthy guy with "sort of a Paleo diet." No matter the type of diet, the only message I would like put out there about food is moderation. Sugar, protein, fats...whatever your diet, use mo-der-a-tion. I mean, I could post a video response to this guy's Ten Cokes video with me eating a pound of bacon each morning. Ten Cokes is excessive but so is a pound of bacon. And you know why I haven't posted a response video of me eating a pound of bacon each day? Because I think I might actually die if I try it. Moderation folks. Moderation.

The second and albeit minor thing I don't like is the part about the beer. I drink a soda to relax sometimes. Or if I have a pizza, I like a soda. Hey, some people want a beer with their pizza. I think that using soda as the scapegoat puts me on the attack as a soda fan. I hate the bad rap soda is getting and you know what? I don't blame this guy for wanting to make a video like this. I hate to see kids in danger of becoming obese and not knowing the ways of a proper diet, chugging soda instead of water, day after day. It scares me. But I need to defend soda because I am an enormous fan, but only in heart, not in size. I enjoy a soda, maybe one to four a day, and some days none, and this guy enjoys a beer, who knows how many or how frequently, but we all unwind in our own way. I guess I'm just defensive about my sugar.

Surge is Back!

I know I haven't blogged in a while, mainly due to moving and enjoying the summer, but this news could not be kept from readers. For those who haven't heard, Coke is bringing Surge back!!! Now the details lead me to believe it is for a limited time and there will be a limited amount produced so fans should get out there and search online retailers ASAP because it won't last long.

For me, Surge represents a pivotal time in my life. The late high school and early college years heavily involved soda for me. My first dorm room purchase was a large mini-fridge that could hold a vast array of flavors and was usually stocked to the door with cans.

For more details, click here.

Sprecher Cherry Cola

Possibly one of the best sodas I've ever tasted. A contender for top cherry cola ever. This is the penultimate cherry cola behind the cherry vanilla Coke that only comes from a magnificent creation called the "Freestyle Machine." I want to stand on a mountain and sing the praises of Sprecher Cherry Cola to the world!

"Mmmm Jimmy, this is some
serious gourmet sh*t." - Jules

Background: While at The Fizzary I noticed Sprecher Cherry Cola but was not able to purchase. I vowed I would try it, mainly because it sounded German. After a quick search on Amazon I was able to find a 4-pack with free shipping so I had to buy. How often do you get free shipping on soda? Right. Less than a week later they showed up, individually bubble-wrapped for their protection. After letting them chill I popped one open...

I was overwhelmed. Never had I tasted a cherry cola so sweet and so cherry that I could not stop chugging from the bottle. It was like they put cherry candy in a seriously delicious cola and said "Hey taste buds, suck on this!" The Door County cherry is so strong that this cherry cola almost stands in a class of its own. Sprecher adds a little raw honey and it shines through all the other flavors with extra sweetness in every drop that passes by your lips. You can sip this soda and you will savor this soda because it is a delicacy, one of only a few beverages I've ever enjoyed that truly earns the moniker "gourmet."

There's a few other things I just have to mention. The soda is all business. It comes in a dark bottle, 16 oz, and delivers a whopping 120 calories per 8 oz serving. The bottle is bulky, like a little keg in your hand, and there is something to be said for the label: a smiling bear gently dangling a honey colored trio of cherries in front of his gaping maw. Everything about this soda is perfect. The brewery that makes it is pretty awesome too.

Overall Taste - 10.0 - Sprecher Cherry Cola delivers a powerful cherry cola that has yet to be matched.
Fizz Factor - 7.5 - Not overly carbonated but it is perfect for the taste. The cola does not lose any carbonation throughout and that is saying something for a 16 oz bottle. While not bubbly, it fits the soda.
Appearance - 10.0 - I'm going to straight up. None of this soda ever got further than the bottle to my lips. I couldn't tell you if this soda is purple. The dark bottle limited my ability to examine. But do you see that bear? The big, burly bottle? For this alone it deserves a 10.0. I'm also pretty sure it's not purple.
Flavor - 9.5 - A cherry like no other. Coming from the Door County region of Wisconsin this is a unique cherry taste.


From the company: 8 oz has 120 calories, 0g of fat, 30g of carbs, 27g of of sugar, and yes, 0g of protein.

The Fizzary

Never in my wildest soda dreams did I ever imagine a place like The Fizzary existed. Years of seeking out special brands on the Internet dulled my soda senses and with that I lost my edge; my ability to go grass roots and uncover flavors hidden in bodegas and high-end grocery stores in every area I visited. I thought finding sodas from across the country would mean a trip across the country. Never did I fathom a store, a beautiful little store, could offer me this and so much more.






The Fizzary is a Graceland of mind-blowing proportions for soda fans and worth a pilgrimage to Haight Street in San Francisco. The sign on the wall says it all: 900 Flavors. 900 flavors!!! I couldn't and still can't believe it. 900 flavors...and I only had 2 hours before a flight to drink what I could because I firmly believe if I drank what I wanted the gas bubbles in my body would expand and cause me to literally explode once the airplane ascended to 10,000 feet. Instead I opted for four bottles (because the nice clerk told me buy three and get one free!).

With 900 to chose from and not a great deal of time I formulated the plan to try two cherry colas (possibly my favorite soda), a cream soda and a root beer. I wanted to see what sparked my interest as well as what I should try based on geographical limitations that could prevent me from obtaining the same soda brand at a later date. For the cream soda I picked Waialua Soda Works from Hawaii since the likelihood of going to Hawaii soon was small. My root beer was Crater Lake from Oregon, another location far from my home. My two cherry colas were closer, Cicero Beverages Cherry Cola out of the Windy City and Squamscot Cherry Cola from New Hampshire. I'll save my reviews for a later date because this post really belongs to The Fizzary.

The soda selection is overwhelming and it would take weeks to truly sample all The Fizzary has to offer. For those reading this that are irked by the idea that these bottles are warm, The Fizzary has a solution: a chiller that cools soda bottles in four minutes by submerging them in a bath of cold water so if the soda you would like to taste is not located in one of the two refrigerated coolers you can still walk out sipping your beverage of choice. Every wall is lined with shining bottles of soda and arranged by flavor, such as colas, orange sodas, root beers, etc. There is even an area for ones that can't be categorized as well as one for foreign sodas.


The Fizzary also offers a selection of candy, naturally, for those bozos who want to get an extremely ecliptic sugar high on. One candy that surprised me was Super Ropes, 34" of licorice I have not had in years. But my main focus here was the soda and when it comes to soda The Fizzary can not be topped. A true store for soda aficionados and my first stop the next time I am in San Francisco.

Peeps Party Cake

Cake, cake, cake, cake, cake, cake, cake, cake, cake,
 cake, cake, cake, cake, cake, cake...

 

I danced around my room and sang Birthday Cake immediately after tearing open the new Peeps Party Cake flavored marshmallows for one reason and one reason only: it felt right. Peeps delivers another solid new flavor with Party Cake and they are as delicious as any other Peep flavor out there. Classic Peeps are still a favorite candy of mine and the brand has come a long way in my lifetime, growing from an Easter specialty to a candy for all holidays. A coworker of mine informed me about a ginger bread flavor, a flavor I missed, but her enthusiasm showed me that Peeps had also succeeded with that new offering as well.

Texture and taste are the keys to Peeps. True candy aficionados reading that will instantly think about the Peep texture, a mouthful of marshmallow coated in fine, colored sugar. These aficionados might also think about a Peep that has been out of the package for a day and growing hint of staleness that crisps the sugary outside a fraction while keeping the marshmallow fluffy inside. But I digress. The Party Cake peeps are an instant classic. They taste like cake without an overload of frosting. They are something different and a must try. Peeps just hit me with a Party Cake bomb I want to bite and it's not even my birthday.

...it's not even my birthday.

Blue Meth Candy

"Say my name." - Walter White

FOTB and overall superstar Melissa again comes through with a delicious treat right from her own kitchen: blue meth candy. While brainstorming ideas for her daughter's birthday cake she decided on a Disney's Frozen cake and what better way to make Elsa's palace from the movie than clear blue hard candy. One of the benefits of being Melissa's friend is that the hard candy she made to practice in preparation for the final cake becomes a treat for me and the rest of her friends. Fans of the show Breaking Bad will also see a little bit of Walt's blue meth in the look, color and glass-like pieces that make up this wonderful treat. The taste is pretty good too and likened to a Jolly Rancher watermelon, although I detect a hint of something else in there, maybe even blueberry. Although, that could be the meth talking.