This week, Will and I have chosen to review Fentimans Botannically Brewed sodas. Fentimans has a large selection of flavors, and we chose six of them to comment on. We’d have reviewed them all, but the store only had six.
One thing to note about Fentimans is the process of how the soda is made. Botanical ingredients and natural plant substances are boiled and fermented for seven days to create the beverages. Due to this process, there are trace amounts of alcohol present in the sodas. This added a bit of a challenge for me to this review, as I have never once tasted an alcoholic drink that I liked. Granted, there is so little alcohol in these sodas that the taste of it was barely there, but in a few of them the taste was noticeable to me.
The first soda that we tried was called “Curiosity Cola”. This may not have been the best one for me to start with, as it was the one that smelled and tasted most strongly of alcohol out of all six. Getting through that, though, the soda tasted very much like Coca Cola to me, and reminded me of the time that I had tried a rum and coke.
Our second soda was the “Victorian Lemonade”. I liked this one very much. The soda had an incredibly sour lemon flavor, which was great. There was also very little alcohol flavor to this one.
Third on our plate was the “Ginger Beer”. Right off the bat, I wasn’t too fond of this one. The soda smelled strongly of ginger, but not in the good way like other ginger ales. The flavor did remind me of ginger ale, but it was much more bitter than any I had tasted before. This soda also made me realize what people meant when they said that a drink was “dry”.
“Mandarin and Seville Orange Jigger” was the next soda that we tasted. This one definitely tasted like an orange, but was so strong that I had actually recoiled when I tasted it. I know that April got a picture of my face when I did it, so I’m sure we’ll be putting that up on the blog somewhere. This was probably my least favorite of the bunch, just due to how strong the tartness of the orange was. The lemonade was sour, but this seems completely different.
Soda number five was the “Dandelion and Burdock”. I’ll come right out and say it, this was by far the best out of the entire bunch. As far as I’m aware, I had never tasted dandelion flavor, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to be getting into with this one. When I tasted it, it reminded me strongly of Bazooka Bubble Gum. It even had the same odor.
Our final soda to review was the “Cherry Tree Cola”. Out of all of the soda’s, this one had the lightest odor of the bunch. I had expected it to have a noticeable cherry smell, but if it was there I couldn’t sense it. Another thing that I had noticed was that this one did not seem to have any trace of the alcohol taste or smell. Either it wasn’t there, or I had grown acclimated to it from tasting all of the other sodas. Finally, this was the thickest of the sodas. Much like the Pepsi Next from a couple weeks ago, the “Cherry Tree Cola” stuck to my mouth like none of the rest. Fortunately, this tasted much better than the Pepsi Next did. (Side note: Since the Pepsi review, I have grown to like the Pepsi Next. Either that bottle was bad, or it was just something I needed to warm up to.)
Over all, I definitely enjoyed the Fentiman brand of sodas, and will probably have them again in the future. Definitely the “Dandelion and Burdock” flavor, at least. If you’re interested in finding out more about these sodas, visit www.drinkfentimans.com. There, you can see the other flavors available, and what stores nearby carry them.
One thing to note about Fentimans is the process of how the soda is made. Botanical ingredients and natural plant substances are boiled and fermented for seven days to create the beverages. Due to this process, there are trace amounts of alcohol present in the sodas. This added a bit of a challenge for me to this review, as I have never once tasted an alcoholic drink that I liked. Granted, there is so little alcohol in these sodas that the taste of it was barely there, but in a few of them the taste was noticeable to me.
The first soda that we tried was called “Curiosity Cola”. This may not have been the best one for me to start with, as it was the one that smelled and tasted most strongly of alcohol out of all six. Getting through that, though, the soda tasted very much like Coca Cola to me, and reminded me of the time that I had tried a rum and coke.
Our second soda was the “Victorian Lemonade”. I liked this one very much. The soda had an incredibly sour lemon flavor, which was great. There was also very little alcohol flavor to this one.
Third on our plate was the “Ginger Beer”. Right off the bat, I wasn’t too fond of this one. The soda smelled strongly of ginger, but not in the good way like other ginger ales. The flavor did remind me of ginger ale, but it was much more bitter than any I had tasted before. This soda also made me realize what people meant when they said that a drink was “dry”.
“Mandarin and Seville Orange Jigger” was the next soda that we tasted. This one definitely tasted like an orange, but was so strong that I had actually recoiled when I tasted it. I know that April got a picture of my face when I did it, so I’m sure we’ll be putting that up on the blog somewhere. This was probably my least favorite of the bunch, just due to how strong the tartness of the orange was. The lemonade was sour, but this seems completely different.
Soda number five was the “Dandelion and Burdock”. I’ll come right out and say it, this was by far the best out of the entire bunch. As far as I’m aware, I had never tasted dandelion flavor, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to be getting into with this one. When I tasted it, it reminded me strongly of Bazooka Bubble Gum. It even had the same odor.
Our final soda to review was the “Cherry Tree Cola”. Out of all of the soda’s, this one had the lightest odor of the bunch. I had expected it to have a noticeable cherry smell, but if it was there I couldn’t sense it. Another thing that I had noticed was that this one did not seem to have any trace of the alcohol taste or smell. Either it wasn’t there, or I had grown acclimated to it from tasting all of the other sodas. Finally, this was the thickest of the sodas. Much like the Pepsi Next from a couple weeks ago, the “Cherry Tree Cola” stuck to my mouth like none of the rest. Fortunately, this tasted much better than the Pepsi Next did. (Side note: Since the Pepsi review, I have grown to like the Pepsi Next. Either that bottle was bad, or it was just something I needed to warm up to.)
Over all, I definitely enjoyed the Fentiman brand of sodas, and will probably have them again in the future. Definitely the “Dandelion and Burdock” flavor, at least. If you’re interested in finding out more about these sodas, visit www.drinkfentimans.com. There, you can see the other flavors available, and what stores nearby carry them.
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