Thursday, November 16, 2006

POP OF THE DAY: Cricket Cola









Category: Flavored Cola
Ratings (out of 5)
Taste: 4
Fizziness Factor: 3
Bottle/Can Design: 4
Availability: 2

Tasting Notes: Some things taste delicious but not interesting, like toast. Other things taste more interesting than delicious, like guava or Cricket Cola. As you can see from the equation above, it combines real kola nuts with green tea to create what the Cricket people call "Happiness in a Bottle." (Hey, that's a great B-movie title: The Cricket People. Tagline: Chirp This!) Cricket also contains cane sugar rather than the hated high fructose corn syrup (ptoo!*), and it comes in a slender bottle with a hipsterish, earth-toney label. In short, all the planets are aligned for this to be a great drink—but Cricket doesn't quite click. The molasses part of the taste works for me, but a shortage of fizz coupled with the green tea flavor give Cricket a slightly flat, metallic aftertaste that remind me of the old days when I licked batteries for fun. Wait a minute. Batteries tasted good once you got used to the tingle. Maybe I need to try Cricket again. (Total Score 13/20)

Suggested Food Pairings: Fried plantains, cucumber rolls

*This is the sound of me expressing scorn for high fructose corn syrup by spitting vehemently on the ground. Tomorrow I will love it again.

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