March | 2015 | Five Star Soda

History: Sioux City is a soda brand all about havin’ a rootin’ tootin’ good time. The company really wants you to drink in that nostalgic feel. That’s why they put a heavy emphasis on the old west on their bottles. They’re proud of their packaging. They use embossing, with raised ceramic lettering directly on the bottle’s glass as opposed to paper labels. This won’t make the soda taste better, but it’s kind of like your girlfriend walking around in lingerie as opposed to mom jeans. The look matters. Sioux City is a brand of White Rock Beverages, a company that also produces Olde Brooklyn. The company produces seven flavors, none more exotic than the one we’re reviewing right here – prickly pear. Prickly pears are the red fruits that grow from the Opuntia cactus and can be found from Mexico to Texas to southern California. It’s one of the rarer soda flavors out there. It’s also the newest flavor in the Sioux City line. An interesting fact about Sioux City’s Prickly Pear soda: it’s naturally flavored by using cabbage. Don’t ask us how.

Where to get: Sioux City is widely distributed throughout the Midwest, but if ya kick your cowboy boots together and head to Amazon, you can get ‘yer fix too.

Nose: Jolly ranchers; candied watermelon.

Taste: This has a very pronounced, bold flavor. If you’ve ever had cherry Jolly Ranchers, this is almost a dead ringer for the same flavor. Prickly pear traditionally has a sweet flavor, with undertones of kiwi citrus. This is more of a candied, tart cherry flavor with some notes of watermelon. It’s very sweet, but in this soda, the sweetness really works with the flavor profiles. That tart crispness helps to distract from the sugar, yet balances perfectly with it. It could probably use a little more carbonation to bring out the watermelon and tart flavors, but this is a sweet, refreshing soda that delights the taste buds.

Finish: Light watermelon, faint kiwi that trails off back into a more mellow cherry Jolly Rancher flavor.

Rating: Unless you’re ~~a weirdo~~ an avid eater of prickly pear, this is something that’ll be new for you. It’s bold and flavorful, has a wonderful color, and doggone it, I like it. It’s cherry Jolly Rancher, candied watermelon taste pairs deliciously with subtle undertones of kiwi in the finish. This is a fun take on fruit soda that many companies won’t have the desire or resources to a take a risk on. We’re glad Sioux City did. Still, it’s a very sweet soda. Very sweet. If you drank a six pack of these in one night, you’d probably need an IV afterward. The watermelon flavor gives the soda a mild bite that helps undercut the sugariness, but it does taste a little syrupy at times. A little more carbonation would help cut that back. One or two of these will go a long way, but it’s certainly a road you should travel down at some point. Also pairs really well with vodka or rum and lemon juice. Have enough of those and you’ll forget all about the sugar.

History: The Caruso’s are fourth-generation brewers of root beer. That should tell you a lot. Today, it’s Pete Caruso who runs the family business. But it was his grandfather who started it all when he purchased the Black Bear bottling plant in Milwaukee, Wiconsin in 1961. Root beer was the drink that started it all for them. Back then it didn’t have a fancy name; it was just grandpa’s root beer. Well, grandpa’s root beer hasn’t changed recipes since 1978. All of its ingredients are sourced from Wisconsin. If that doesn’t tickle your little craft soda purest heart, then I dunno about you. Robusto Root Beer was designed to be bold up front and mellow on the finish. It continues to be the company’s flagship beverage. Out of Old Creek, Wisconsin, Caruso’s Legacy is a brand underneath the WIT Beverage umbrella, a company that also houses familiar craft soda names like Jelly Belly and Green River. Root beer is one of five soda flavors the Caruso’s produce.

Where to get: Caruso’s Legacy is primarily sold regionally throughout the northern Midwest. If it isn’t available in your area, the company encourages you to contact them directly to figure out the best way to fill an order.

Nose: Earthy; classic root beer; root bark; light vanilla.

Taste: Earthy bite up front followed by a more mellow, traditional root beer flavor. Upon each sip, the tongue is greeted with a bold root beer bite that makes itself known before anything else. There’s a little bit of a minty note there as well, more akin to birch beers than root beers, but it’s definitely there. In fact, I’d say just a smidge too much mint on the initial mouth feel. The flavor up front is potent, but certainly drinkable and pleasant. Next, the earthy root bark profile very slowly begins to fade into a more subtle version of itself. If you want to get the full range of flavors, take your time in between sips. This root beer needs some spacing to let the subtleties come though. The backend of Robusto Root Beer glides down the tongue smoothly with light creaminess and very faint vanilla. This tastes a little bit like A&W, but infused with bolder flavors and not as foamy. The soft creamy mouth feel here really lets the flavors come through more than other root beers that drown them in vanilla. The use of sugar in this is impeccable. It’s there, but you don’t really notice it; it’s more of a companion to the flavor profiles the company is trying to get across.

Finish: Root bark, sassafras, light creamy vanilla. The finish is consistent every sip.

Rating: This is a traditional root beer done well. There’s a reason this recipe has stayed the exact same since 1961. It works. This is a good root beer to introduce your buddies to who think your craft soda habit is weird. It’s a classic, but with kicked up, better flavors. The wintergreen up front does distract a little bit on the initial taste, but doesn’t linger long enough to discourage you from drinking. This is a soda for any occasion, any season and any partaker of beverages. If what you seek in a root beer is extreme creamy taste and lots of vanilla, you won’t find that here. This roots itself (get it?) in more natural-tasting, earthy flavors. I taste root bark, sassafras, wintergreen, birch oil and cane sugar the most. No one flavor overpowers the other, but they do take time to make themselves aware to your taste buds. So, like my ex-wife used to say, be patient. This has staying power. Throw a mug in the freezer and pour one out. Get robust.