Q Kola and Ginger

The family and I got to spend a couple of hours at one of our favourite places again today, Roast Coffeehouse.  It's been too long since we've been!

We noticed some new sodas that we just had to try, Q Drinks.  There were 4 flavours, but we chose two; Kola - Superior Kola, the label tells us, and Ginger - A Superior Ginger Ale.

They come in pretty little bottles, with only 237 ml/8 fl oz rather than the 355 ml/12 fl oz you'd get from a canned drink, and quite a bit more expensive.  I don't remember the price per bottle, but after enviro fees and GST, it came out to just over $4 a bottle.

Ouch.

Aesthetic appeal was definitely something the makers paid attention to.

 Even under the caps.

The Kola bottle even went the extra mile, with a personal message from the company founder.

"Real trees and plants," huh.  As opposed to fake ones?  Looking at the website, one of the things that had me rolling my eyes a bit was their going on about using organic agave instead of "high fructose corn syrup and sugar."  It's always disappointing to me when I see companies playing on people's fears and health fads of the day.  Sugar is sugar is sugar, regardless of the source.  Still, I'm not a fan of super-sugary anything, so the promise of these being not too sweet was encouraging.

So were the ingredient lists.  The Kola lists carbonated water, organic agave, phosphoric acid, extracts of cinnamon, clove, coriander, kola nut, lemon, lime, orange and nutmeg. Caramel.  Caffeine.  The Ginger Ale lists Carbonated Water, organic agave, ginger extract, extracts of lemon juice, coriander, cardamom, capsicum, orange peel, rose oil.  Sounds really interesting!

The Ginger Ale bottle did not include a pretentious little message from the founder.

So, did the sodas live up to their hype?

Almost.

The Ginger Ale was not as overwhelmingly ginger flavoured, nor as ... chunky... as some sodas we've tried.

This is a good thing. 

Unfortunately, it didn't really have much else to make up for it.  We could taste a light phosphoric acid bite and a light ginger flavour, but there really wasn't much of anything else to make it stand out.  It was rather pleasant and light (this from someone who does not actually like ginger ale, nor almost any of the clear sodas).  It was nice.  Other family members who actually do like ginger ale didn't find it particularly appealing.  Nice to try, but not enough to want to buy it again.

It was much the same with the Kola.  Lightly flavoured with the light phosphoric acid bite, it was happily as not-sweet as promised, but... it was really rather boring.  I was hoping to taste more of the spices listed in the ingredients, and I really didn't.

They were both good, but not great.  I'm actually more impressed with the bottle design than I am with what was in them.

When it comes down to it, if I'm going to spend more money to get a more traditional sodas, I'll stick with Boylan for cola and Reed's for ginger.

Boylan Cane Cola

Boylan Bottling Company
Cane Cola

Normally, I'm a Coke Zero drinker, but if it's not available, I'll drink Coke or Pepsi, so long as it's not the diet versions.  Basically, I like cola. 

 

Usually, that means whatever is on sale at the grocery store. 

When I want to indulge, however, and we're shopping at The Italian Centre, we pick up some Boylan Soda.  It's more expensive at about $1.66 (plus deposit) for a 355ml bottle, and comes in a variety of flavours.  Black cherry, ginger ale, cream soda, birch beer, orange, grape, and basic cane cola - the cane referring to the type of sugar used to sweeten it.  Now, I don't particularly care whether the sugar came from cane or beets.  If anything, I lean toward beet sugar, since I'm from Manitoba, which has a fairly large sugar beet industry, and I like to support local industry.

No matter.  Sugar is sugar, and personally, I can't tell the difference in taste.  In many ways, Boylan Soda reminds me of the Pic a Pop of my childhood.  

Boylan Soda touts itself as "vintage soda pop," and we've worked our way through all the flavours available locally since discovering the brand. It's a family owned business that's been in operation since 1891.  The Cane Cola ingredients list is refreshingly short.  Carbonated water.  Cane sugar.  Natural flavours.  Colour.  Phosphoric acid.  Caffeine - from coffee (where else does one get caffeine from?  I'd never really thought of that before.)

But is it any good?

In a word, yes.

The Cane Cola has that cola taste without the harsh, tinny bite the big name versions have.  It's smooth and creamy, without tasting like over sugared crack.  This is a cola even Spindle likes, and she has never liked cola.  Her sister prefers the Birch Beer and they both really like the Ginger Ale.  I like the Black Cherry, but my preference is the Cane Cola.   

If you can find it, give it a try.