Today we're trying something really special! It's an international soda taste test!
Wait! 4 flavors? (I love that the caps match the sodas)
Needless to say, it's a very popular stop when we visit Epcot. If we're even close to the area, we'll stop by for a refreshing beverage, especially on the hotter days of the year.
We've actually had Country Club soda before. At Walt Disney World in Epcot, there's a place called Club Cool, sponsored by Coca Cola. Everyone who visits gets a FREE tasting cup and can sample 8 different sodas from around the world for FREE!
One of our favorite flavors of the 8 is Country Club, from the Dominican Republic. It's not your regular soda flavor, but something a little bit different.
And if it's not there, it's a bummer.
Even when Jacob is with us, we'll go to Club Cool, and his favorite is Country Club too.
And when we visited the World of Coca Cola in Atlanta Georgia, you know we tried a whole bunch of other flavors from around the world, including Country Club.
So when we got off the cruise ship in the Dominican Republic, Ian mentioned "Isn't that where the Country Club soda is from?"
It definitely is! But we're not exploring too far into the Dominican Republic. Really just the water park area that the cruise line owns. Not even into the nearest proper town. I don't have much hope for finding it.
But I was totally wrong!
In a little shop called Crew Center (a place where workers on the cruise line could shop), we found not just 1 flavor of Country Club, but 3 flavors!
I asked the worker behind the counter if there were more, and sure enough, she returned with a fourth flavor too! Wow! 4 flavors of Country Club!
Along with Merengue there's also Uva, Frambuesa, and Naranja. Wow! Is that all the flavors they have?
A quick online search shows...! No. Sigh... There's one more flavor. Pina. And they don't have it here. I don't love doing incomplete taste tests....
...
Looking a little closer at the Epcot Club Cool sign, I can see, in little letters, merengue, which is actually one of the flavors!
...
And so, when I got home, I went looking to find the fourth flavor! And behold! I FOUND IT!
According to the label, these are bottled in Milton New York.
And looking over the ingredient list, it seems the ones I found in the USA use High Fructose Corn Syrup as a sweetener.
While the ones from the Dominican Republic just say Azûcar (sugar).
And the sodas from the Dominican Republic don't have this little mascot guy, but the ones from the USA do. It's a Red Droplet giving us the thumbs up, and the background is the flag of the Dominican Republic.
Enough history and comparisons! Let's drink up!
While the original Country Club sodas were bottled right here in the Dominican Republic.
Where should we start? It's gotta be the original, right?
Country Club Merengue. Merengue Soda.
But what is merengue flavor? That's not something I'm familiar with.
Jacob - Delicious!
Ian - It's good!
Joe - That tastes like Epcot. Kinda bubble gummy. I'd describe it as sweet, fruity, and creamy.
Theresa - That's a flavor I don't like. That's yucky.
Alli - Not quite as good as Epcot's.
Joe - Really? Why?
Alli - More flavor.
Jacob - That's definitely Epcot. I like it. A lot.
Alli - I like it though.
For our next flavor, it's Country Club Frambuesa! Raspberry Soda.
Theresa - Can I just have a splash? I don't like raspberry.
Ian - I'm not getting a lot of raspberry.
Theresa - I get raspberry. I don't like raspberry still.
Joe - It's light raspberry. It's not a strong raspberry. I like it!
Alli - It tastes like that other raspberry soda from Epcot. Viva Raspberry from Moldova.
Jacob - The other one was so flavorful. This one is so muted.
Joe - Maybe a creamy raspberry.
Next we'll try Country Club Naranja. Orange Soda.
Jacob - That is like Orange Crush-ish.
Theresa - I don't really care for it. But I like it better than the Merengue flavor.
Ian - Nor do I.
Theresa - I guess I don't really like orange soda either.
Joe - It reminds me of McDonald's Orange Drink.
Jacob - It almost has a fake sugar aftertaste.
Jacob - It almost has a fake sugar aftertaste.
Joe - It has more of a Mandarin Orange flavor.
Country Club Pina. Pineapple Soda.
Jacob - It smells like pineapples.
Alli - It's pineapple, but it's not very sweet.
Ian - It's a fake pineapple taste.
Theresa - Oh! It's like a cross between a fake juice and a soda. It's not that carbonated.
Alli - And it's not sweet.
Ian - It's like a melted Icee flavor.
Joe - It's like a melted otter pop. It's a strong flavor. But I don't really like the flavor. To me, it's like you opened a tin of canned pineapple and that's the juice that goes with it. Not the best pineapple juice. Not the best flavor.
Theresa - It's like pineapple flavoring with sugar and water.
Country Club Uva. Grape Soda.
Joe - Saving it for last.
Alli - (whispers) Because it's the best!
Theresa - (whispers a little louder) No it's not!
Ian giving it a smell.
Alli - It smells just like medicine.
Jacob - Then I am not going to like it.
Theresa - That is the flavor of medicine, minus the cough syrup.
Joe - That's just like carbonated Dimetapp. But it's tasty. Like a sparkling grape juice.
Jacob - I'm pouring it out.
Theresa - It's not that bad. It's a little like Grape Crush.
Ian - It's just like medicine. Can I have more Merengue?
Jacob - Merengue is the best. Orange was not bad.
Theresa - Merengue is unique. So that's nice they bring in a unique flavor, but I don't like it. Orange is probably my favorite of all of them.
Alli -
Ian - Original Country Club Merengue caps them all.
It was a lot of fun to find these soda flavors in the country they came from! And I'm glad I was able to find the 5th one once we got back to the United States! Definitely a memorable taste test for us.
Determined to get that 5th flavor, Pina! Looks like the Merengue is the big winner in this international taste test. Since the US manufactured one uses a different sweetener than the Dominican Republic one, was the difference obvious? If so, which sweetener gave the better taste? EOM
ReplyDeleteMaybe if we had them next to one another we'd be able to tell a difference. We weren't allowed to bring "bottles" back onto the Carnival ships (according to the rules) so we didn't get to bring the ones from the Dominican Republic back with us. I didn't notice any dramatic flavor differences though.
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