And the winner is..

I do not have video editing software at my disposal so just follow this link.

I started this adventure thinking that I could find the best soda out in the market. I have since realized however that these aren't those types of sodas. These aren't the types that can be judged purely on taste, carbonation, and design. These beverages aren't even made for that.

They are made for the memory.

If you want a good soda, go get some Coke or Pepsi shenanigans.

If you want a great soda, something that will last, something that you will remember, something where you can look back and think, "Damn, that was a really tasty soda." then this is what you want.

When you get these types of sodas at a restaurant, you don't just chalk it up as another occasion dining out. When you get these sodas at a restaurant, you remember the experience. You remember that you had that blue raspberry, or watermelon soda. You remember why you went there. Perhaps, you were visiting Salem, Mass. and had just come out of an awesome museum (which ironically wasn't even about witches..--it was about pirates--). You remember the excitement when you saw the list of sodas and marveled at all the flavors they had in store. Which would you pick? "Can I manage two sodas in one sitting? When I come back I have to come here so I can try this one!"

These smaller brewers, Boylans, Stewart's, Frostop, The Pop Shoppe..they are making experiences. They are making memories.

And memories taste damn good.

So I can't just judge these sodas on taste alone. They have to bring something to the table. Something that can't be bottled.

Maybe, they bring the experience of eating an apple, and the surprise that it can be done by a soda.

Maybe, it is reminding you of a snow cone. Perhaps ice cream? How about a warm sunny day, even though it is 35 degrees out?

Chocolate, can they really make a soda out of that?...Yes, they can.

My winner doesn't just excel in flavor, but it excels in experience. It has created a memory that will never be forgotten. Just the scent, the look, the thought, can bring about a smile on my face.

So that is why the winner is Stewart's Orange and Cream Soda.

Yes, I am biased. I am biased in the memories it has established.

This doesn't mean that I haven't found other fantastic beverages. This whole experience has created a memory of its own. A memory that applies to each and every soda I tasted, and also a memory that adds to those I have of Stewart's Orange and Cream Soda.

Maybe it is true that I have tasted the best years ago when the orange cream first touched my lips. But the flavor has grown. It has become ingrained in my summers. It has become joy.

Second place is awarded to Frostie's Cherry Limeade. Third to Virgil's Black Cherry Cream Soda, then Cool Mountain Green Apple and finally Boylan's Birch Beer.

All these will have a place in my thoughts and I will think back on them whenever I taste a delicious beverage.

Orange and Cream is my favorite. But it is my memories. What I have found to be the best is completely unique to me. You may find different.

So I urge you to go out and find your favorite. Find those wonderful experiences.

Go out and drink down those delicious memories.

The Finals: Virgil's Black Cherry Cream Soda

The Burgundy Brawler!

For an instant I smelled cream, and then black cherry overwhelmed. A brilliant teaser.

The black cherry comes off strong for my first sip. There is a slightly creamy undertone. As with most cream sodas, there is a smooth aftertaste, but even here the black cherry lingers. Black cherry is deep, and powerful. Vanilla is also strong even in small doses.

Vanilla may be strong, but it is swift..like a ninja! It's there and you don't even realize it. Then when you do realize that vanillaninja is there, it is the end.

This bottle breaks the ever shortening bottleneck trend. It is also the only one to sport a collar label.

The label is quite complex. "Virgil's Black Cherry Cream Soda" graces the label with its western font. Two kids, a boy and girl are sitting in rather large chairs, being served a pitcher of soda by a rather burly man.

Complex, kind of like the flavor. Black cherry by itself is complex. It's cherry, of course, but deep, and rich, and bold. Vanillaninja is ever present but you have to look for it.

The Finals: Frostie Cherry Limeade

The Red Ranger!

It smells of a mixture of coke and citrus.

The cherry is predominant and delicious. The lime is more of a lingering flavor. Individually these two flavors can be pretty strong. Limeade may not be as strong as lemonade can be but still. These two flavors are competing for the spotlight in this soda. Cherry comes out fast and strong. Lime, goes at a steady pace and has the endurance to last till after the sip. Together, they work out very well. Cherry, being a bold flavor hits your tongue first, and a few seconds later the lime slices through the cherry and presents itself. Red and green may be contrasting colors but the flavors are complimentary.

The carbonation is just right.

These bottle necks are getting shorter and shorter with each day!

The label here is probably my favorite out of the bunch. An odd wintry scene is the basis of this label. I don't think of winter when I taste this drink but, whatever. It is snowing in what presume is a night time sky. What I believe is the moon is partially covered by Jack Frost's face. Cherries and one and a half limes are covered with snow, as is the "Frostie".

The drink itself is a bright candy red. It makes the bottle really pop!

I have been waiting quite a while to retry this soda. The first time I tasted it, WAAAY back ago (t'was the second soda) I knew this would be a contender. I am reminded why I liked it so much. These two flavors just go so well together. Lime is a perfect partner to cut down the strong flavor that is cherry.

The Finals: Stewart's Orange 'n Cream

The Orange Originator!

The bottle is filled almost completely to the top. Oh yeah.

I know I've mentioned this before but it has the smell of a creamsicle snow cone. The type of snow cone where the ice is actually crushed and doesn't clump. The kind where "OOPS!" they put in a little too much orange flavoring. Better add some more creamy marshmallow goodness to make up for it.

I take a sip worth three glugs of air bubbles. Taking one sip at a time I realize that it tends to err on the creamy side of the orange and cream. However, if I take multiple sips at a time, that's when I really get the orange. The aftertaste has some of the bolder citrus taste. But lingering in the back of my mouth is the cream.

I'm reminded of the one time I went to Rita's and they had orange flavored custard. That is something they really should do more often..

The bottle is fairly standard. The neck is so far the shortest of the bunch. The label sports a green diamond with a orange popsicle on the covering the bottom corner.

I've never really noticed the difference in flavor from one sip to multiple sips at a time. It is quite pleasant.

Stewart's Orange 'n Cream gives you everything you might want from a soda. First being cream soda. Who doesn't want cream soda? Second, orange soda. Who doesn't want orange soda? Lastly, a blending of these two flavors that is greater than the sum of its parts. Individually, one is a little strong and one is nice, but would benefit from a partner. Combined they interact to make something spectacular.

The Finals: Cool Mountain Green Apple

Round 2 for the Green Goblin!

It smells like it should be a candy green apple. But I know that it is not!

Ahh, that fresh, organic, fruity taste. It is refreshing on this dreary day. When I think, and taste, apples, I see sunshine. As long as I don't look out my window I am happy.

It does a spectacular job at mimicking the feel of sucking the juices out of a bite of apple. It puts that flavor in the back of my mouth just like a real apple would. And the best part is that there is no pesky skin to deal with!

This soda has the taste of the juices and the taste of the...well this is going to be hard to explain. The stuff that actually makes up the apple. You know, the stuff that gives it structure. If you were to suck all the juices out of the apples you'd be left with this. This soda also has the taste of that.

The bottle has a somewhat tall body and a shorter neck. The shoulder of the bottle transitions smoothly into the neck. Not as smoothly as Boylan's which has no shoulder at all. The label sports a sweet alpine mountain scene. As I mentioned before the color of the mountains start green from the soda and disappears as you empty the bottle. The top right of the label, and the bottle cap asks me, "Are you thirsty?"

To be honest I'm not really thirsty but this is the only time of the day that I would have a chance to type this post. So I took one for the team.

Perhaps this soda has slightly amplified the apple taste, compared to an actual apple. But that's understandable, it is a soda.

The reason this soda is in the finals is because it is just amazing how well it does at getting that apple flavor down perfect. At least in my opinion (but that is obvious because it is MY blog). Some may say otherwise but to me it is just shocking how well a soda can taste just like a fruit.

The flavor gets bonus points for doing a great job at hitting its target. Also, uniqueness because have you seen any other apple flavored sodas? Mountains are cool so points for the label.

The Finals: Boylan's Birch Beer

To start, the Red Raider!

I can smell the delicious sweet rootiness of the Birch Beer.

The taste consists mostly of root beer, of course. But the Birch beer adds a little something extra special. The bitter root is out down by the pure cane sugar. Enough so that it doesn't completely hide the bitterness, but puts it at the perfect level that one can handle it and enjoy it. The Birch adds a distinctly almost indescribable flavor. It isn't JUST root beer but something much more.

The carbonation is fine. I get hardly any FUD. Right around the edge where the soda meets the bottle is a ring of carbonation. A purpleish deep redish hue.

The bottle is of the tall and skinny variety. If bottles were athletes Boylan would probably find itself on track and field.

The label is reminiscent of the 20's. Simple, yet eye catching. It stands out from the rest in that it doesn't stand out. If you are acting crazy in a crowd of people acting crazy, are you really acting crazy? Loud is only loud in the presence of soothing quiet. Label-wise, Boylan's maybe the soothing quiet.

Boylan's Birch beer is one that stands out in the sea of root beers. It adds a unique flavor to the generic root beer. It's deep red is attractive and so is the tall slender bottle. Is it enough to surpass the other 4 finalists?

The Final Finalists

and some added awards.

First we shall start off with the third finalist: Virgil's Black Cherry Cream Soda. It wasn't an original entry. This soda did not appear on the fateful thirsty day in the middle of the summer. The day I decided to start this adventure. It took the place of a spiced apple cider beverage. Personally, I am very grad I had to make this switch.

Next an award! The goal of this journey is to find the best soda in the market. But, along the way I have also found one of the worst.

The award for the worst soda is none other than Reed's Cherry Ginger Brew. I first at Reed's original ginger ale and thought that was the worst. When the cherry version came up, I figured maybe the cherry will distract me from the overwhelming ginger flavor. Well, Reed needed to make sure that would never happen so the added 5 extra grams, to a total of 22 grams of ginger to Reed's Cherry Ginger Brew. The flavor is just too strong and it makes me make a face like a baby that just had its first taste of liquid medicine.

On to better things, the fourth finalist!

Cool Mountain Green Apple finds a way into the final 5 with only one entry! I fully expected a candy sour green apple much like a Jolly Rancher. What I got was a lovely fresh apple taste that somehow mimicked the mouth feel of a real apple.

For this reason, Cool Mountain Green Apple also wins the award for biggest surprise!

The last finalist is...Boylan's Birch Beer!

Root Beer may be the most prolific entry (that or cream soda but I don't feel like counting right now). I figured Root Beer should have some sort of representation in the finals *coughVirginiaPlancough*. As I said in the post about Birch Beer, if there is a Root Beer in the final it will probably be this one.

Our last bit of business before the finals officially go underway on Monday is the last award. This award is for the Most Original. The Soda with the most spirit!

The winner is Pop Goes the Bubble! This Bubble Gum flavored soda found itself in a close race with Cooper's Cave Chocolate Soda. The tie breaker was that I found Pop Goes the Bubble to be a better overall beverage.

Next week starts tournament play. Stewart's Orange 'n' Cream, Frostie Cherry Limeade, Virgil's Black Cherry Cream Soda, Cool Mountain Green Apple, and Boylan's Birch Beer. All will shoot fora spot as the most delicious soda I have ever tasted.