A Sugar High for the Sodadood

This has been quite a week for the Sodadood.

First, I got a box of various US sodas from a trading friend of mine. He was nice enough to send me some of the new diet Coke with Splenda, Barq's French Vanilla, Barq's Floatz, Dr. Wham & Diet Dr. Wham, Mountain Dew Pitch Black II, and Grapico. The one

I was looking most forward to trying was the diet Coke with Splenda, since I live and die by the DC (if there's a Heaven, I don't wanna go there unless they have diet Coke on tap). I was surprised how different DC with Splenda tasted from the 'normal' stuff that I'm used to. To be honest, it tasted NOTHING like diet Coke... so I won't be tripping over to Buffalo to fill up the car with this stuff, that's for sure.

This October, here in Canada we were treated to Mountain Dew Pitch Black (the same formula that was out in the US last year, which we DIDN'T get until this year). So in the US this year was Pitch Black II - I wanted to try both side by side and do a comparison... whoa - PB II is much more sour than I anticipated. No doubt we'll get it next year when those of you in the States get PB III. ;0)

What can I say about Barq's french vanilla.... it was heavenly - and left a happy taste in my mouth (always a sign that the Sodadood likes what he's pouring down his pie-hole). Dr. Wham - a concoction from Pepsi in a very narrow distribution tastes remarkably like Dr Pepper (except WITH the . after Dr). It's got some funky packaging and flashy graphics, no doubt to suck in the youthful generation of which I am no longer a part of.

Grapico? Well, the verdict's still out on this stuff since it's the only thing left from the soda box that I have yet to try.

Just when I was about to muster up the gusto to crack open a bottle of Grapico, what should appear in my mailbox? A box of 'NEW' Pop Shoppe pop, courtesy of the owner of the chain. I've written extensively about Pop Shoppe in the past, but the stuff they sent me this week... oh boy, are these bottles fantastically retro.

If you remember the Pop Shoppe chain from the 1970s, you'll remember the old stubbies with the red/white acl logo. When Brian at the Pop Shoppe brought the chain back last year, his first bottle was a paper label - same familiar logo. But now he's gone back to the drawing board with the bottle design, and it's perfect. A more fitting tribute to the soda of old there will never be. Incidentally, the flavors that I LOVE from Pop Shoppe are: Black Cherry and Pineapple.

And if those two soda events weren't enough, the SODA LIBRARY website is now up and running. We've weeded out some of the earlier bugs in the system and there's a TON of stuff going up there in the next couple of weeks. If you're a fan of old beverages, new beverages, retro sodas, or you're a collector of bottles, cans, signs, etc. - this is the website for you.

OK, that's all for now. Happy Collecting, and I'll chat back to you soon!