Soda Selector: June 2021

It would be difficult to top the seven-soda frenzy that occurred in the previous edition of this column (as much fun as that was), but I think I’ve got a solid enough lineup to follow. Below are a few new sodas I’ve tried in the last month, plus a couple I’m on the search for.

The first of these bevs is Mountain Dew’s Dew-S-A which I grabbed at some convenience store (maybe Fast Stop, maybe Midtown Market, maybe Shell. Who’s to say?) Apparently the flavor was given a limited release back in 2017 and has been revived this summer, possibly in support of Team America as they compete in the Olympics. The games this year stretch from late July through early August, but according to the Mountain Dew Fandom page, this flavor will be gone by June 14. All I’ll say is that you’re not really missing much here unless you’re an extremely devoted Dew-head. The drink is purple and comes with red, white, and blue packaging and apparently mixes three other Dew variants (Voltage, Code Red, and Whiteout) into one bottle. Though it is sweet and no less drinkable than other lesser Dew variants, it’s not much to write home about. No one flavor really stands out within the mix. What I am more interested in is procuring these two new Baja Blast variants (Baja Flash and Baja Punch) which are currently being bottled and distributed. Drop me a line if you see either of those in the metro, please!

Another beverage I’m on the lookout for is Faygo. In particular, the iconic Detroit brand and ICP-backers’ new Firework flavor, which allegedly tastes like a bombpop. It sounds like the perfect summertime treat to me! I looked at the Faygo website’s tracker and punched in my KC area code and a Johnson County one and neither yielded any results. The only two places I remember seeing Faygo in the metro before are at the Great Mall Of The Great Plains (RIP) as a child and maybe at a BP or Shell station out in Shawnee Mission long ago. I respect this brand and hope they can make for appearances in this column! Tips on this are welcome.

On an indie soda tip, I recently grabbed lunch at the Green Room in Westport -- a tasty frisco melt and some fries -- and had the opportunity to enjoy a can of Andy’s root beer, brewed by Pine River Brewing. It’s among my favorite root beers I’ve had as of late -- equally crisp and foamy -- and felt great to sip on a breezy patio afternoon. The can boasts of using no GMO’s, fresh spring water, and pure cane sugar. There’s also a fun feature about Andy’s process on the Pine River website if you care to check it out. He was just 12 years old when he first made it. Salute to all the young soda heads out there -- keep the faith. The Ozarks have something to say.

A company that’s been on my radar for two or three months now is called Exotic Pop. From what I can tell, it’s a Texas-based company that bottles its own hip-hop themed soda drinks and imports rare/international flavors from other brands. The Hub Smoke Shops in Kansas City have coolers stocked with some of these selections (there is a KC-based distributor that brings them to town, @ExoticPop_KC on Instagram), so I finally stopped by to try one. Over a dozen different rappers, past and present, have their own flavors of Exotic Pop, but I thought there would be no better starting point than Mac Dre’s bubble gum thizzle pop. It’s a standard but very solid pink bubble gum flavor and it comes in a very stylish bottle featuring the Golden Gate Bridge, a cool car (I know nothing about cars), an illustration of Dre, and a wavy psychedelic backdrop. I might hold on to this bottle as a collectible, as I may with future Exotic Pops I acquire. The perfect combo with a bag of Rap Snacks, yeah?

Lastly, a couple people told me that they were sad that the Sippin’ On Some Soda podcast is currently on hiatus. It came down to personnel issues when we went on break earlier this year and while that situation has been resolved, Kirby is in fact moving out of Kansas City sometime in the next month or so. So, to celebrate our short but glorious carbonated pod careers, we’ve decided we’ll be recording a farewell episode sometime in the next month or two before he leaves town. Expect fun guests, a blind taste test challenge, and all the other Sippin’ antics you came to love over the first 13 episodes.

 

Editor's note: since this article was published, KC Soda Co. posted about carrying some Faygo, but I believe they don't have the Firework flavor. So do feel free to send tips on that one still.

[This article first appeared in Issue 3 of Shuttlecock's free monthly print edition. Click here to order a copy online, or pick one up for free at locations around KC/Lawrence/JoCo.]