best/worst soft drink ever

[The Big Ben]

Tab tastes like Coke poured through @$$crack.

I take it you have drunk Coke poured through @$$crack?

To be honest, we have great tap water here so I keep bottles of regular old water in the fridge and drink as many of them as I like.

[JCalkin]

If any of y'all find yourself in Atlanta, the Coke museum is a quite neat experience. You can sample coke products from all over the world.

Worst: Beverly


Best: Diet Coke Plus (yeah, really)

I went to the Coke "museum" (big gift shop) in Las Vegas... I suspect there are several of them. That "World Coke Tour" thing was really neat. Some great drinks, some that made want to toss my cookies.

Back on topic, agree the best is Coke, but ONLY if you go into a Mexican grocery and get the made-in-Mexico kind in the glass bottles. It's made with sugar rather than corn syrup and just tastes plain BETTER.

Ugh. Mt. Dew Voltage. I just gave away a case of that stuff last night, actually. Awful swill. It's the worst non-diet soda I've had.

...and it was the winner of the flavor contest, somehow. Remember that? It was a contest for "user submitted" Mountain Dew flavors. I'm guessing the Voltage is just like the "Flaming Homer"... regular ingredients with cough syrup dumped into it.

[bort]

How did I spend a week in Austria and not run across any Almdudler?

I must have been distracted by that other carbonated beverage:


(Yes, I realize this is *technically* an Italian beer, but until WWII was really part of Austria. You're as likely to find people speaking Italian as you are people speaking German. Beautiful place!)

[ken k]

best: diet pepsi
worst: don't know, don't drink anything else

[Rick Denney]

Back on topic, agree the best is Coke, but ONLY if you go into a Mexican grocery and get the made-in-Mexico kind in the glass bottles. It's made with sugar rather than corn syrup and just tastes plain BETTER.

You can buy Dr. Pepper made with cane sugar at the Dr. Pepper Museum (more than a gift shop) in Waco, Texas. And, yes, it's just plain better.

My current favorite is Boylan's Diet Black Cherry Soda. The regular stuff is better (and it's made with cane sugar), but the diet stuff is also quite good.



Jones Soda Diet Black Cherry is a distant second. And I like Jones Soda.

Of the caffeine-free diet drinks, Dr. Pepper actually tastes like Dr. Pepper.

Rick "who knows of only one place in the are that has Boylan's" Denney

[ken k]

Weirdest: The national Beverage of Austria - Almdudler! Yea, Almdudler! Herbal pop!

other wierd flavors at Coca-cola's Club Cool at Epcot in Florida

Smart Watermelon - China
The Chinese name for watermelon, his-kua [pronounced she-gua] means melon from the west, which introduced it to china nearly 1200 years ago. Today, the Chinese produce 40% of the world's watermelon crop and consume millions of watermelons each summer.

Kinley Lemon - Israel
Invading Mongols were probably the first to introduce lemonade to the Middle East. Historical records from the 12th century reveal that a drink made of lemons, water and honey was popular among Genghis Khan's thirsty warriors.

Lychee Mello - Thailand
This unique beverage is very popular in its home country of Thailand. It contains the essence of lychee, a very sweet and juicy grape-like fruit.

Vegitabeta - Japan
The Japanese have long recognized the importance of beverages for both nutrition and health benefits. In modern Japan, this interest in healthy consumption finds its ultimate expression in "health" vending machines that dispense vitamin drinks like Vegitabeta.

Fanta Kolita - Costa Rica
The sweet quality of this fruity flavor from Costa Rica makes it very popular with children of all ages.

Mezzo Mix - Germany
The best known German beverage is beer. Germans often mix their beer with other beverages to weaken the alcohol content and enhance the flavor. Mixing flavors has also become popular in non-alcoholic beverages like Mezzo Mix.

Beverly - Italy
Drinking an aperitif before dinner to stimulate the appetite is a traditional part of Italian refreshment culture. Beverly, with its bitter flavor, is a popular non-alcoholic aperitif.


Krest Ginger Ale - Mozambique
Ginger has long been used as a medicinal herb throughout Africa so it is not surprising that ginger ale is a popular drink in Mozambique. It is also popular in shebeens, informal bars where it is used as a mixer.

[UDELBR]

Worst soda: (this'll be hard to beat):

Rivella milk soda.

Rivella is a soft drink from Switzerland, created by Robert Barth in 1952, which is produced from milk plasma, and therefore includes ingredients such as lactose, lactic acid and minerals. It comes in four varieties:

* Red Rivella, the original version
* Blue Rivella, a low calorie version of Red Rivella
* Green Rivella, which is aromatized with green tea extract
* Yellow Rivella, which is made with soya rather than dairy milk extracts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivella" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

[ken k]

Worst soda: (this'll be hard to beat):

Rivella milk soda.

Rivella is a soft drink from Switzerland, created by Robert Barth in 1952, which is produced from milk plasma, and therefore includes ingredients such as lactose, lactic acid and minerals. It comes in four varieties:

* Red Rivella, the original version
* Blue Rivella, a low calorie version of Red Rivella
* Green Rivella, which is aromatized with green tea extract
* Yellow Rivella, which is made with soya rather than dairy milk extracts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivella" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

oh yeah?!?! try Yoo Hoo!
k

[Jonathan Fowler]

If we're going with best soft drink ever. I'd have to go with coke, with the original cocaine in it. Great way for a pick-me-up...
Or you might think it's the worst ever, your call.

Some really horrible ones that stand out
Squirt
Crystal Pepsi
Tab Clear
New Coke

[Tuba Guy]

If we're going with best soft drink ever. I'd have to go with coke, with the original cocaine in it. Great way for a pick-me-up...
Or you might think it's the worst ever, your call.

Some really horrible ones that stand out
Squirt
Crystal Pepsi
Tab Clear
New Coke

Haha, I read that right as I opened up a bottle of squirt. Which I would actually say is pretty good, but that's just me. And the lack of anything else in my fridge that is a bottle (so it can be reclosed) and still let me play in orchestra.
Favorite...I have actually been partial to Crush's Grape and Strawberry sodas lately. Always a fan of good black cherry soda, and a couple weeks ago I got an apple soda that was interesting.

Worst? Diet Coke that's about 4 years past the expiration date.

[windshieldbug]

[The Jackson]

I don't drink a lot of soda, but when I do, I really like a local-made, Cuba-originated pineapple soda, Jupiña.



I can't stand Malta, though. It tastes like fermented jock strap sweat.

[tubaguy9]

I'll second the Jones soda being the best. Any Jones soda. Never having a Jones is the only reason for not voting it the best.

I would have to argue the any Jones Soda point...
Grossest drink?: Jones Turkey and Gravy soda...

[Jeffrey Hicks]

I always liked this stuff. I drank it while in college till I was sick.
I also loved Josta.

[van]

This may be old news to all you soft drink connoisseurs, but there's a soft drink store in Los Angeles that carries many of the brands mentioned in this thread - even Almdudler. The store has a website with a brand search feature and on-line ordering: http://www.sodapopstop.com/home.cfm .

[iiipopes]

I may be young for this, but Fresca before cyclamates were banned actually tasted quite fresh, hence its name.

Nehi when real grape and orange flavorings were used.

Coca-cola and other standard beverages when cane sugar was used before everyone switched to (blech!) high fructose corn syrup.

And for the best mixer soda: a UK pineapple soda called Lilt, about half-and-half with Malibu coconut rum over ice on a hot day shared with a beautiful lady.

And just because, I'm developing an affinity for the Splenda sweetened sodas, as they have some of the smoothness of cane sugar sweetened sodas that high fructose corn syrup just does not have.

I really miss Dr. Pepper with real cane sugar.

[steve_decker]

Best Cheerwine

Worst Jones Candy Corn Soda

[NickJones]

Best - Irn Bru ( when used as the best hang over cure ever ) http://www.irn-bru.co.uk" target="_blank
root beer - any brands , get the australian bundberg brand over here in the uk , but did like a bit of root beer on trips to the states..

wurst - tab...what the hell was that!!

[NC_amateur_euph]

Best: Big Red .... but this Big Red was our post-softball libation: very cold, cheapest possible draft beer in a huge frosted mug with tomato juice added, hence the Big Red. Probably still found in bucket-of-blood bars along 28th St. in Fort Worth.

So it's not technically a soft drink - sue me!

Worst: soda fountain coke pulled by somebody who doesn't know how (soda JERK).

[TexTuba]

Best: Big Red .... but this Big Red was our post-softball libation: very cold, cheapest possible draft beer in a huge frosted mug with tomato juice added, hence the Big Red. Probably still found in bucket-of-blood bars along 28th St. in Fort Worth.

No offense, but why in the hell would you do THAT?! First, you mislead about Big Red...strike one....then, you drink cheap beer.....strike two....and THEN, you add tomato juice to a beer....STRIKE THREE!! YOU, GOOD SIR, ARE OUT!!!!!