Kickstart the Night

Last year Mtn Dew debuted its energy drink Kickstart.  It came in two flavors, orange citrus and fruit punch, and was considered to be a breakfast drink to "kickstart your day."  You can read my post about them here. 

A couple of weeks ago I read an article that said Mtn Dew had just released two new flavors, black cherry and limeade.  This time they are energy drinks to "kickstart your night" for whatever it is you do after dark. 

I figured they'd be easy to find and sure enough... last week I bought both flavors at a local Walmart. 

I drank the limeade a couple of days ago.  I'm not a big fan of lime flavor, but it was all right.  I'm more excited about trying the black cherry this weekend.  But my reviews are going to be slightly off because I am drinking them during the day, not at night as intended.  Because I'm not 20 any more.

My 3000th can!!!

On April 11, 2011, I began my can collection.  Less than three years later, I have logged the 3000th can on my main collection site.

I recently received a box of cans in the mail.  And it was that box that held can #3000.  Which can was it?

It was this extruded steel, pull top Sprite can from Israel.  Not only is it the 3000th can in my collection, it's also my 1st can from Israel.

One of the things I like about this can is the list of ingredients.  It doesn't speak of synthetic chemicals or man-made compounds, it simply lists: water, sugar, flavours, CO2 and preservatives.  But the most amazing thing is that it took this can around three decades to travel nearly halfway around the world just to end up on my shelf.  That's worth the "3000" title to me!

International Trade

Because of my short hiatus last year, it's been a few months since I've traded cans.  So I was excited to start trading again recently.  This time it was with a collector in Canada whom I've traded with before.

This is the batch I got two days ago in the mail.  Many countries are represented here including Canada, UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong and others.

There are at least three more blog posts that will come from this batch, so be sure to come back soon...

Thanks, Ryan!

Fitz's Root Beer

Last month I was with a friend checking out some shops in the Delmar Loop in St. Louis.  I've always heard of Fitz's but didn't know where it was.  Well, it's on Delmar.

Fitz's has been around since 1947.  They are a restaurant and shop.  But most importantly they make, bottle and sell their own root beer.  As we walked past it, I jokingly said I would go inside if they sold cans.  We both knew they only sell bottles.

Side note:  I still have quite a few boxes of soda cans I haven't even seen yet.  As I get time, I pull out another batch of 40 or 50 cans, clean them up and add them to my collection website.  As I cleaned up a batch last week, what do you think I found?

Three Fitz's root beer cans!  Even though they just sell bottles now, at one point they did sell cans.  Two of the cans are steel and one aluminum.

And who knows?  I may even have more Fitz's cans.  I'll update this post if I do...

1/28/14 Update -  I found one more Fitz's can in my collection over the weekend.  This looks to be a newer design although I haven't been able to track down a year yet.  I looked through all the remaining cans and this is truly the last one I have.

 

For now...

Cans from Students - Part 2

I know a teacher who mentioned my can collection to her students.  This is the story of a student bringing a can to school for my collection.

One of the students had gone to North Carolina for vacation and this is the Cheerwine souvenir they brought back for me.

It's the newest design and features the phrase "Soft drink legend since 1917."

My only other Cheerwine can is the "Cherry Different Soft Drink" design from a few years ago. 

 

You never know where your next can will come from...

2013 Coca-Cola Holiday Cans

#1 Sakari and Kaia

#2 Jak and Zook

A couple of months ago I saw a polar bear Coca-Cola can at work.  That's this year's holiday can, I told myself.  So I brought it home and added it to my collection.

About a week ago, someone saved a Coca-Cola polar bear can for me.  I didn't tell them I already had one, so I said thanks and brought it home.  I wanted to see which can was in better condition, so I set them next to each other and that's when I noticed they were different!  Oh boy, a whole series of holiday cans?  I jumped online and saw there were three different designs.  I needed one more, but Christmas was over.

Today I read about two new flavors of Mountain Dew Kickstart that released today (watch for an upcoming post about those).  So I stopped by the local Dollar General on my way home from work but they didn't have the new Kickstarts yet.  So I cruised down the can aisle and that's when I saw it... the third polar bear can. 

#3 Jak and Kaskae

Each can features two polar bears from the 2013 Coca-Cola Polar Bears film produced by Ridley Scott.  Who knew?  I hadn't even heard of this.  I guess I would have had I been drinking Coca-Cola through the holiday season.

There were other holiday Coke cans, such as Diet Coke, Coke Zero and a 16 oz Coca-Cola, but it's the main Coca-Cola cans that I'm interested in.  I've got the Diet Coke snowflake can.  And if I stumble upon the others I won't complain.  

Cans from Students - Part 1

I know a teacher who mentioned my can collection to her students.  This is the story of a student bringing a can to school for my collection.

One of the students is from Colombia, South America.  She said her dad visited Colombia and brought back some Colombian soda.  When asked about the cans, she brought a full one to school and gave it to the teacher to give to me.  Presenting, the Ambassador...

When the teacher gave it to me, she said she wanted to taste it when I drained the can.  So last week a small group of us gathered 'round the can and I poured each of us a few swallows.  It was reddish in color and tasted like a cross between cream soda and bubble gum.  Whatever "Colombian style cola champagne" means, it sure tastes good!!

You never know where your next can will come from...

Oh Christmas [real]Tree

Back in 2011, I posted a story about finding my first Team Realtree energy drink.  Fast forward to Christmas 2013 and what did Santa leave for me?

The Realtree family photo

A bunch of aluminum.  My previous Realtree energy drinks were in aluminum bottles, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this array of cans.   Not only did I get a bunch of new cans for my collection, but I also get to try all the different drinks as well. 

So, kids, be good and Santa will make sure you have a Merry Christmas.

First Can of 2014

No new cans came my way yesterday.  But today, the second day of 2014, this beauty found me by way of a co-worker:

The Peace Tea website says this about Sno-Berry: 

Are you ready for an enchanting lifestyle in Arctic conditions under the Northern Lights?  Sno-Berry brings you there, complete with calming campfires, abundant fishing, Iditarod’s and igloo-living. After all, the Inuits are “the people” of Alaska and will welcome you with open arms and teach you their native language, Inuktitut. What are you waiting for?

An appropriate can to go with the chilling temperatures outside.  So now I wonder... what's going to be my second can of 2014?