Manzanita Sol

While adventuring among the antique stores and flea markets of Southern Illinois today, only one strange can caught my eye.  I snapped a picture of the red beauty (in the center of the below pic) as it sat among other drinks the shop was selling to its customers.

I approached and saw a $1 price tag on it.  I'd never heard of Manzanita Sol before.  And the can said it was an apple-flavored soda from Mexico.  Wow, what a rare treasure to stumble upon.

Well, I got home and did some research.  I overpaid!  Sure, it's from Mexico, but the Wiki for it says it's owned by PepsiCo and can be found at Walmart, Kmart, Target, H-E-B, etc.  The list goes on and on.  In fact, looking at the above pic a few minutes ago I noticed a couple of 12-packs of the drink on the floor in the lower-left corner.

Sometimes the rare prize you snatch up at an antique store isn't quite as valuable as you think.  But now I have a new drink to taste-test, and it sure sounds delicious.  And the most important thing... I have another can for my collection.

Natural Cabana

This is what was sitting on my desk at work a couple of days ago:

Natural Cabana coconut water.  One of the guys had picked these up at a discount store and put them on my desk after he drank them.  I'm not a coconut water fan (especially of the chunky, pulpy kind), but if someone else wants to drink it and give the cans to me, I'm good with that.

He said these tasted ok.  I'm not sure if there's much variance in taste from one brand to another.  These are the regular and pineapple flavors.  He said if there are other flavors he'll pick those cans up for me too.

The coincidental part of this story is the fact that these cans are tropical and show scenes of palm trees on the beach and a beautiful sunset... I have family that just went to Orlando, FL, for a warm, tropical vacation.  So relax and enjoy, we're all winners...

1893 Citrus

Almost two years ago I posted about a can of 1893 someone gave me.   And now I'm writing about another can of 1893 I just got.  It's another can with an interesting design "from the makers of Pepsi-Cola."

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm curious as to what it tastes like.  Being an orange can and listed as a Citrus Cola, I thought it might be orange flavored but the can says it's "infused with grapefruit essence."

Prior to 1893's release, Pepsi claimed this would change the taste of soda forever.  I don't think that really happened since I haven't heard anything about the brand since it released a couple of years ago.  But it must have a following if it's still being made.

But I'm still not sure why it's called 1893.

I Have a Gronk!

I've had this cool stainless steel-looking can in my pantry for a while.  I'm not sure where I got it or when, but it was at least a year or two ago.  Today I decided to get it out and see what it is.

Well, it's a Monster energy drink.  And I'll be honest, I had to Google what a "Gronk" is.  But I didn't really need to do that, the can says it all...

There's a signature at the top which turns out to be Rob Gronkowski's.  The side of the can shows a football player in a #87 jersey.  So the Gronk is obviously a football player, but for which team?



I went back to Google and found out he's on the Patriots.  Yes, even I'm aware of the Patriots.

There's also a story on the side of the can about how much of a party animal and beast he is... in other words, a real "Monster."

For me, TMI.  I like the design of the can.  I may even get around to drinking it someday.  But for now, it's back to the pantry to see what other can gems I might dig up...