Does it Float or will it Pop?
Welcome to the revival of the Bob and Booch float reviews.For those of you who received our emails when we were in Japan back in 04 you might remember our experiments. Well an Indian grocery store recently opened here in town and as I was exploring I found a stash of sodas and saw a great chance to revive and extend the ice cream float experiment.
1.) Thumbs UpThis Indian soda was originally bought by Coca Cola just to kill it (maybe because of its Pepsi like flavor) but it was just too popular to die. I'm sure we've all heard of Vanilla Pepsi and Wild Cherry Pepsi. Well along those lines I think the best way to describe India's Thumbs Ups soda is to call it Mild Ginger Pepsi. That's right this soda is famous for the hint of ginger that is added to the cola. You might have your doubts but rest assured Thumbs Up has a very well balanced flavor.
But let's get to the part we all came for. The FLOAT!!Does Thumbs Up indeed get a Thumbs up as a Float. I say Yes yes yes!! (And miles away Bob agrees in theory) It has a great fizz and a good cola flavor. However the ginger and vanilla mix might get a split review from others.
Overall I liked it and I have to give it a 7/10.
2.) Limca
After my purchase I learned that this is India's 7 up or Sprite. The Coca-Cola India web page states that Limca is "the number 1 Sparkling Drink in the Cloudy Lemon segment." But it is important to note two distinctions for Limca; it has much less carbonation than American lemon lime soda's, and we once again find a mild ginger flavor mixed in as well.
So how does Limca cut it as an ice cream float? (Maybe you have already seen the writing on the wall.) Sadly it falls FLAT. Low carbonation is a big death blow to any ice cream float. But the other problem is simply flavor overload. Lemon, Lime, Ginger, Vanilla just don't combine for a smooth flavor. Final score 1/10, sadly even if your searching for something new it's just not worth your time. (Bob found this one hard to believe after our experience with a 2/10 Grapefruit float in Japan. But I assured him this was indeed worse.)
3.) Kolashampan Soda Cristal
My original thought was that Kolashampan was also an Indian soda, but I have since learned that is indeed an El Salvadorian soda. Surprising, no? If your Spanish is rusty like mine then we all just have to guess that this name means it's a champagne cola.
So what's a champagne cola like? Oddly there was very little carbonation in this bottle, but buying international always raises freshness question so I am left believing it's meant to have more.
Despite its relative flatness this bright orange drink develops a great head of foam and it came across with a strong similarity to a cream soda flavor, but there was a flavor lurking in the background that I could never pin down. But the more the ice cream melted the more I enjoyed the flavor.
So my final rating for our brothers down south is 8/10.
(Knowing Bob's love of our Orange Fanta Floats I think he'd give this high marks too.)
Now that my taste buds are primed I am craving more flavor excursions. I will be buying Kolashampan again to further determine the flavor and intended carbonation. I'll also be hunting down some Pakistani and Brazilian Sodas.
So until next time this is Booch (and a distant Bob) signing out!
posted by Keith @ 1:17 PM
2 Comments:
ooh "thumbs up" sounds so good! i love ginger!
If you want to try it yourself they sold out at Bombay but I just found it stocked at World Harvest, in the soda cooler, third door down bottom shelf.
Post a Comment
<< Home