"jones soda" news and stories

I used to love weird candy when I was a kid. As a matter of fact I still do, although I don't actually eat much candy nowadays. I just write about them occasionally. Big Sky Brands in conjunction with Jones Soda Company, known for their tasty and wacky holiday sodas, came out with carbonated candy in soda flavors last summer, and has started adding to the flavor line-up.

The candy flavors are now available in Cream Soda, M.F. Grape, Fufu Berry, Berry Lemonade, Green Apple, and Orange & Cream. The candy has "an oddly enjoyable tongue-tingling sensation," and come 50 to a tin for around $2.00.

Jones Soda Carbonated Candy is now being sold nationwide at chains including Target, Kroger, Speedway SuperAmerica, 7- Eleven, Hot Topic, Spencer's, Zumiez, and Albertson's.

Starting on January 1st, Jones Soda will be pushing its canned sodas to consumers instead of the bottled sodas that it is known for. They will continue to package the soda in bottles, but the switch to cans is intended to make the product more accessible as the company expands. Coinciding with that launch, Jones Soda has announced that they will be sweetening their sodas with pure cane sugar, rather than the high fructose corn syrup that they use now (the diet flavors are made with sucralose/Splenda). All of their canned sodas will use cane sugar and, by mid-2007, so will all of their bottled drinks.

Jones Soda says that the change is being made with consumer health in mind, even though nutritionists say that it is not any more harmful than other forms of sugar. The reality is that the switch is being made because shoppers are interested in anything that they think is good for their health. Neither sugar nor corn syrup is all that good for you, especially in large amounts, so claiming that it is healthier to drink the sugar-sweetened soda at the same time as they are trying to push sales seems to be a bit contradictory. That said, the taste is really the most important factor in soda selection and if the change improves the flavor of their sodas, which is already excellent (with a few exceptions), then it sounds like a good one.

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Last year, when the holiday pack of Jones Sodas came out, I picked one up and reviewed all the flavors. When this year's pack was released, I was relieved to see that the most disgusting soda flavor ever created, Salmon Paté, from the 2005 pack was no longer included, replaced with an antacid soda I surely could have used after tasting the salmon. With a charitable spirit, since the proceeds go to Toys for Tots, I decided to sample the new flavors. The flavors include: Turkey and Gravy soda, Sweet Potato Soda, Dinner Roll Soda, Pea Soda, as well as the Antacid Flavored Soda I previously mentioned. The reviews of each soda follow the same format I used last year, rating the "ick factor" of each flavor on a scale of 1-10, 1 being enjoyable and 10 being smoked salmon paté.

Reviews and photos are after the jump.

Looking for a fat free, zero calorie, no caffeine, vegetarian option for Thanksgiving? Continuing a three-year tradition, Jones Soda has just unveiled its new 2006 Holiday Pack, which is a complete holiday meal packaged neatly into five little bottles. The flavors include Turkey and Gravy soda, Sweet Potato Soda, Dinner Roll Soda and Pea Soda, as well as an Antacid Flavored Soda, a popular pre-dessert choice of many holiday diners. Jones Soda prides itself on producing accurate profiles of the flavors that it features on its drinks, so you can feel confident that your Turkey and Gravy soda will taste quite real -- as I learned last year, when I sampled a previous pack.

Like all of the prior releases of the holiday packs, sales of this particular limited edition item will go to benefit Toys for Tots. The company also has a dessert pack (possibly a nod to consumers who don't want turkey and gravy soda) on sale at Target that benefits St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

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The Jones Soda Company has been tempting soda lovers for ten years with flavors from Root Beer and Strawberry to Fufu Berry and Blue Bubblegum. Their unusual - and unusually realistic - flavors have taken them from a small niche company, to a national brand, with lines of organic drinks, energy drinks, popsicles and candy in addition to their famous sodas.

To celebrate a decade of drinks, Jones has put together a new limited edition soda pack. Unlike the somewhat disturbing holiday pack, this one is a winner with all its flavors. It includes Blue Bubblegum and Green Apple sodas, as well as two of the original hits, Raspberry and Pineapple Upside Down sodas. The drinks come with a numbered, special-edition Hot Wheels "replica of the original black and silver-flamed Jones vans," which the company used for distribution in its early days.

There will probably be collectors out there who will not open the box to preserve it for posterity, but if you do get one, you really should taste the Pineapple Upside Down soda. It's light, tangy and delicious, so it's no wonder that fans have been asking for it to be reinstated for so long.

This pack won't be sold in stores, but is available for purchase online.

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