Current Excitement: Arabic Cans

I'm close to sealing a deal with a fellow collector who is currently visiting the Middle East.  He put out an offer to send Arabian cans back to the United States.  So I jumped on that offer.

These are some of the soda cans he has.  He also has at least this many non-alcoholic malt beverage cans.  Since those contain no alcohol, they technically fall within the guidelines of cans I collect.  So I told him I'm interested in everything he has.

Barring any jaw-dropping shipping charges, we'll be sealing this deal soon.  I'll be sure to write a follow-up post whether I get the set or not. 

Can Watch: Dr Pepper Ten

Dr Pepper Ten

I heard about this a while back, but I thought I would give it time to make it to my area before I started to look for it.  So now I am watching for Dr Pepper's new product, Dr Pepper Ten.  It is a hybrid drink that's supposed to have low calories (like Diet Dr Pepper) but the same taste as regular Dr Pepper.  Each can has only ten calories.  Get it?

Dr Pepper is marketing it for men, claiming the drink is "not for women."  They hope to get a firm foothold on the middle-age male market for low-calorie sodas. 

For more information, you can read the article Time published about it here.

The above picture is not mine, I found it on the world-wide interwebs.

From my collection

December 28 update - I met up with a friend from high school last night.  We hadn't seen each other for over ten years.  He drove here from Wisconsin.  When I got in his car and we pulled away, I heard a familiar sound rolling around in his back floorboard.  I reached back and pulled up this Dr Pepper Ten can.  I told him about my cans and he graciously donated it to my collection.  Maybe he could box up some other cans from Wisconsin and ship them to me... 

Thanks Joe

O Canada

Canadian cans

I received a shipment of steel Canadian cans in the mail today.  What makes them Canadian?  Let me count thy ways:

     1.  They have cities such as Toronto and Montreal printed on the cans
     2.  The cans have both French and English printing
     3.  They are 10 oz. liq. as opposed to the USA 12 fl. oz. standard
     4.  Some of them have funky opening mechanisms *
     5.  Plus, the guy I bought them from said they were Canadian

* Eleven of the thirteen cans are pull tops.  Two of those eleven are still sealed and have the pull rings attached (they are different than the standard USA pull rings)








* The Carlton Club can is a flat top (this particular can was opened with a churchkey)

* The Crush can has a press button mechanism

Can Watch: 7 Up Mixed Berry Antioxidant

To be discontinued

I just found an article that says 7 Up will be coming out with Mixed Berry Antioxidant this holiday season.  It will replace their holiday Pomegranate Antioxidant flavor (yay, another discontinued can that I have). 

I'm looking forward to my first holiday season of can hunting.  I'm sure the hunt will be on for new cans around Halloween and Christmas. 

For more info on the new 7 Up, read the full article at BevReview.com. 

Is There A Dr (Clone) in the House?

Do an internet search on Dr Pepper clones and you will find there are dozens of them!  Collecting DP clones could easily be a subset of someone's main collection.  Thus far in my collecting adventures, I have accumulated ten clones.

Top row: Dr Pop, Dr Phizz, Dr. Wow, Dr Shasta, Dr. Choice
Bottom row: Dr Thunder, Dr. Chill, Dr Vess, Dr. K, Dr. Topper

Oh, and if you get a headache from the caffeine, I recommend a call to Dr. Brown...

Not For City Boys

Blaze Orange

On my way home from work today, a blaze orange object near the edge of someone's yard caught my eye.  As I passed by I noticed it was in the shape of a can/bottle.  A quick mental inventory of my collection told me I had nothing this color at home and should circle around for a second look.  Was it crazy packaging for an alcoholic drink?  Or was it even a drink at all?

I stopped on the side of the road and darted the 20' or so into the yard to grab the item.  It was a metal bottle.  After I was back in the car and safely away, I examined the bottle to find it was an energy drink called Team Realtree Outdoor Energy.  This particular "flavor" was called Blaze Orange.  I love discovering brands I don't know exist, such as my discovery of Marley's Mellow Mood last month.

The Team Realtree website has a photo section showing hunters with the deer they've bagged and other outdoor activities.  It also claims right up front "Not For City Boys."  There are four flavors available: Low Carb Cream Soda, AP, White Buck and Blaze Orange. 


So while the "country boys" are out hunting their deer and other wild game, I'll be hunting the other three flavors of this manly energy drink.

The Aftertaste Report Podcast

The Aftertaste Report is a new podcast on the Collective Brain Network which features Jason and Nikki reviewing two drinks per episode.

The podcast may eventually become a bi-weekly show with a new episode every two weeks, but for now it is a weekly podcast with a new episode posted every Sunday evening.  

And while you're there, you can check out the flagship podcast called The Collective Brain.  The show is on summer hiatus but season one (episodes 1-20) can still be heard on the site.  Season two will be starting soon.

My 1000th Can!!!

It was almost four months ago that I started collecting cans.  I wanted to try to get 100 different cans.  If I could do that, I would try for 250.  And my ultimate lifetime goal was 500 cans.  And now...

Today I logged the 1000th can in my collection!

Current can count = 1000

And the lucky 1000th can was...

Jones GABA tea-juice

Jones GABA fuji apple tea-juice I purchased at Big Lots in West Virginia for $.50 on July 21.  Click here to browse my entire collection.

A Real Monster

When I visited the Big Lots in Williamson, WV, on July 21, I bought a few cans that I didn't have.  One of those was Monster Heavy Metal.

I've seen some big cans in my time, but this thing is HUGE (compared to a standard 12 oz can above)!  It is 32 oz and Big Lots had it for $1.50.  I don't even drink Monster but I knew that was a great deal!

Upon doing some research on the internets, I discovered that Heavy Metal has been discontinued.  This, along with the discontinued Red Bull Cola that I bought at Big Lots, leads me to believe they are a great place to find remaining inventory of discontinued items.

I will continue to visit Big Lots in hopes of finding more of these interesting beverages.

Summit Energy Drink



Summit Gridlock



As I've stated before, I like finding cans of brands/flavors that I didn't even know existed.  And that was the case this evening when I was handed an empty Gridlock can.

Even though I don't drink energy drinks, I've been aware of the big three (Red Bull, Monster and Rockstar) for a while.  But since I've started collecting cans, that list of brands continues to grow. 

It seems everyone wants their share of the energy drink market.  For example, Coca-Cola has Full Throttle and NOS while Pepsi has AMP.  So, in a way, I wasn't too surprised to see Summit (an ALDI brand) also has their own energy drink. 

What will they think of next?

Family Reunion

I found another good reason to attend family reunions... CANS!

We went to a reunion today.  Notice the line of coolers on the right side of the picture... open season for can hunting!!  But with a collection my size, it's getting harder to find day-to-day cans I don't have.  There were more than a dozen cans there that I already had, but I did find a few I needed.
 

To be honest, a couple of these cans were found on the road on the way home (Xyience and Sprite).  But still, I wouldn't have them had I not gone to the reunion.  So when's the next reunion?

Current Excitement: I Have Can #1000 in My Possession

According to my can collection site, as of this morning I have 881 cans in my collection.  In addition to those, I have at least another 150 cans that I haven't "processed" yet.  By "process," I mean adding it to my master Excel file, taking its picture, adding the picture to the website, then moving the can over to the display shelf or storage box.  On a good weeknight, I can find time to process 20-25 cans.  But some nights I don't have time to deal with any of it.  And on weekends I sometimes have time to do more cans.

So taking all of that into account, I think I will process my 1000th can this weekend or early next week.  I have the can already.  It could be any of the 150 or so that are standing in line.  But which one will it be?  I will not play favorites, I will continue to pick random cans to be processed until I hit that 1000th can. 

The lucky can will be announced here soon...

Beverage Industry News

During the last couple of months I have been searching the nets for good sources of soft drink news or info about can collection general.  So if you are looking for the same thing, then sit back and let me share what I have found.

As far as news of the beverage industry, the best site I have found is Bevnet.  They usually publish 6-12 articles a day; some of it's news, some are product reviews, etc.  They have even started a video series called Bevnet TV.  They've had three episodes to date; Ep 1 - Coconut Water and Aloe Drinks, Ep 2 - The Emergence of Chia Drinks, and Ep 3 - C20 Coconut Water.  They also have a digital magazine they publish every few months called Beverage Spectrum Magazine.

And speaking of magazines, I also found Soda Spectrum Magazine.  They offer a print version and you can buy all the back issues in PDF format on a CD for a reasonable price.  I bought the CD and told myself once I finished reading those issues then I'd subscribe for the new issues.  But I'm not even close to finishing the 50+ issues that came on the CD!!

And if you're looking for some good websites, I've added some good ones in the links section on the right of this site.  There are plenty of other sites I've found, but those seem to be the ones I frequent the most.

And with that info, have fun learning about the beverage industry. And if you know of any useful sites I haven't mentioned, please leave them in the comments.

Pepsi Jazzed Up

In 2006, Diet Pepsi came out with three flavors of their new variant called Jazz; Black Cherry and French Vanilla, Caramel Cream, and Strawberries & Cream.  The cans used the 2003 Pepsi logo. 

I had never heard of Jazz until I saw the three cans in a seller's collection on eBay early last month.  I was already buying some cans from him, so I added these three to the list.  I wish I could have tasted them, the flavors sound interesting.  But alas, Pepsi Jazz was discontinued in 2009.

Cans from West Virginia

We got back from our West Virginia trip yesterday.  Last night I took pictures of the cans I collected while in West Virginia.

Older cans

The picture above shows the cans I got from my dump diving experience on a mountain.  You can read about that here.  I also have about a dozen more cans I found in the dumps that I'm not sure I can restore, so they are not in the picture.

Newer cans

The picture above shows the cans I got from shopping or grabbing the cans people were drinking around the house. 

Overall I would have to say it was a fruitful week with almost 100 cans added to the collection.  Now where are we going on our next vacation?

The Coca-Cola Mecca

There is a house in West Virginia I've been watching for the last few years when we visit the area.  Each year there are a few more Coke items in the yard.  This year's most obvious addition was the giant black Coke bottle.

I wanted to stop to talk to the couple that collects the Coke memorabilia, but they own the pizza parlor in town and were always at work when I passed by their cola mecca.  We were passing by yesterday when we stopped to get a few pictures from across the road.  That's when I posed for the Golden Refreshment picture below.

Maybe next year I'll be able to meet them and see how real soda fanatics grow their collection.

Red Bull Cola to Be Discontinued

8.4 oz Cola

I read an article earlier today that Red Bull is discontinuing their Cola and Energy Shots to refocus efforts on growth of their core brand.  This news doesn't affect me because I don't drink any of it any way.  In fact, I wasn't aware that either of those products existed.

But while at Big Lots in Williamson, WV, this afternoon, I saw both the Red Bull Cola and Energy Shots.  Knowing they aren't going to make any more, I went ahead and bought this 8.4 oz can of Cola for $.50.  I should have bought the Energy Shot for $1 but I didn't.  So I now have a can that will soon no longer be available.  Yay.

12 oz Cola

July 29 Update - I went to a local Big Lots this evening and found this 12 oz can of Red Bull Cola for $.75, so I bought it.  They did not have the energy shots, so I'll keep looking for those.

Dump Diving on a Mountain

An exhaustive day for sure!  Sweating in the heat, swatting at flies and gnats, peeling the spider webs off my head, slipping down damp inclines, tripping through the thick underbrush, avoiding poison ivy, splashing through shallow creeks and putting up with the smell of garbage.  I loved my first real can hunt!!!

Old creek bed near a dump site

My wife's relatives live in the mountains of western West Virginia.  Along many of the one-lane rock and dirt roads that wind up and down the mountains are small areas where people in cars, for many years, have pulled over to throw out their garbage, creating small dumps along the roads.  And these dumps were our destination.

Small dump site

The first area was down a steep incline where a creek had cut a small valley along the side of the mountain.  The foliage was very thick and I soon wished I had brought some boots.  I also wished I had brought some gloves and a shovel to dig through the layers of trash bags and mattresses and junk that covered the ground.  I found many cans in these dumps, but most had rusted to the point it was either hard to read the labels or the cans just fell apart.  But the cans that were still inside trash bags or buried deep in a pile were still intact.  I also need to take bigger bags to collect the cans, my three Walmart bags were soon overflowing.

Old cemetery at the top of the mountain

We moved on to a second, third and even fourth dump area until we finally reached a very old cemetery at the top of the mountain.  I was the only one of the eight in our group really having fun, so we called it a day and went home for refreshments and a good cleaning.

The cans I found ranged from modern Mtn Dew and Pepsi cans to old pull top steel cans.  Several cans I found were RC Cola circa1977 and 1978 from their baseball player sets, but they were too rusted to bring home.  Some of the steel 7 Up cans I did bring home are from the 1970's.  I'll have to try to date the others when I get them cleaned up.

I took the picture below after we got home from our WV trip.  I rinsed the cans slightly to get the mud off, but I still have to try to remove dents and really clean up the cans.  In addition, I have about a dozen cans not pictured that I'm not sure I can save.  And there were a couple dozen that I just left at the dumps, they were too rusted to bring home.  And I'm sure there were many more cans there because without the proper gear/tools I wasn't digging too deep.  So next time I will be better prepared and come back with even more cans!

Some of my loot

A Tale of Ales

Ale 8 and Diet Ale 8

We made the trek from southern IL to western West Virginia today.  It's not a long drive, about 9 hours.  We stopped at a Marathon gas station in Mount Sterling, KY, for gas and bathrooms.  After filling up the van, I strolled inside to see what sodas they offered.  And that's when I saw Ale-8-One, the first brand I had seen on the trip not available in my area.  And next to it was Diet Ale 8.  I checked the single cans but they didn't have any Ale-8-One.  It was only available in 12-packs.  And I was not going to buy a 12-pack just to get a single can for my collection, so we finished our business and left.

 When we arrived in West Virginia, my brother-in-law said he had a present for me.  We walked to their car and from the back seat he pulled out a single can of Ale-8-One and Diet Ale 8.  They had also stopped in Kentucky for gas (the previous night) and their station sold the cans singly, so he bought one of each for me.  My father-in-law said that brand is only sold in areas around Kentucky.  So I had got my cans of Ale-8-One after all.  By the way, the name of the drink is a play on words of "A Late One."  Clever.

And how did I repay my brother-in-law for the cans?  I bought a can of Rockstar Cola energy drink (which he had mentioned he likes) and after he drank it, I kept that can too for my collection.  We all came out ahead in the deal.

Current Excitement: West Virginia Cans

We leave bright and early tomorrow morning for West Virginia to visit some of my wife's family.  We'll be there almost a week.  And it's a true vacation where we lie around and relax, watch TV, read, etc.  It's a place where we give no thought to schedules, deadlines, bills or bedtimes.  But this year I will make my rounds at the small mom & pop grocery stores to see what kind of sodas they stock.  I mostly expect the same big names we have here (but with their own regional promotional cans), but there may be a local soda or two to be found.  We do have limited internet access there, so I will post if I find anything interesting.  Otherwise this site may be quiet for the next week.