Halloween usually means the colors of black and orange are seen everywhere… and now Jones Soda has added a flavor as part of their 2008 Jones Soda Halloween collection that matches the part. Introducing the orange-colored Jones Soda Blood Orange Soda!
This flavor is part of the bottled 4-Pack of drinks available for a limited time. The color of the drink is typical of an orange soda like Crush, Sunkist, or Fanta Orange. But that's where the similarities end.
Upon opening the bottle, you are greeted by an orange scent that is more like a naval orange than others typically used in soft drink smells. And your first taste starts like a typical orange drink, but then it changes. There's a fruity flavor, but it's not quite orange. Instead, it's more like a grapefruit-type of flavor, as if you were to combine Squirt and orange juice.
The flavor itself is clean, but frankly, not very strong. I felt is was quite weak in the middle part of the drinking process. The aftertaste is clean, but leaves you with a little sour/bitter/fruity experience to finish things off. Not what I expected at all.
I was glad that this drink wasn't gross as it typical of a lot of Jones Soda novelty flavors, but I was really hoping for a more robust orange flavor, especially since it uses cane sugar as a sweetener.
Let's take a look at the customer-contributed photos that appeared on this flavor during the Halloween season…
Let's start off with this color image (Photo #10101) sent in by Anthony Pavone of Nanuet, NY. I'm going to guess that this baby wasn't a big fan of pumpkins… or Halloween… or anything.
Following up with another color image (Photo #10089), we have what appears to be a carved and illuminated pumpkin face with more skull-like tendencies. This art was submitted by Ryan Miller of St. John's, Newfoundland. Wow, hitting the scary stuff up there in Canada, I see.
Moving on to a black & white image (Photo #10093) submitted simply by Kirsten of Warren, MI. It's quite the unique robot costume that reminds me of a large cardboard outfit I wore as a kid around Halloween. It was in the shape of an old Kodak Instamatic camera, complete with flashcube. It was well-praised, but man, what a pain to walk in!
Finally we have a rather poor image (Photo #10095) submitted by Juli Dimichele of Canton, MI. It appears to be some sort of dog wearing a pumpkin costume. Frankly, it looks ridiculous and I'm not even sure why Jones would have selected this photo. Not a fan.
And before we go, let's touch on the images found on the 4-Pack box. On Side 1 we have Photo #10086 submitted by Christina Sirimanivong of Waukesha, WI. First of all, that's quite a last name! Secondly, I actually know where Waukesha is! Finally, the pirate cat.. cute and good color. Nice job.
Then over on Side 2 we have Photo #10094 sent in by Desiree Wainscott of Cody, WY. It's a small girl wearing a which costume. What sells this shot is the expression on the girl's face. Kudos!
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Thomas Kemper–the Pacific-Northwest based company known for its "microbrewed" root beer, and other specialty soft drinks: sweetened with cane sugar & distributed in glass bottles–has introduced a new line of flavors, aimed at those preferring a less-sweet drink. (Not as spartan and astringent as Dry Soda however.)
One of the new flavors is Blood Orange. Its flavor is very strong and distinctive; I'd have been unlikely to have recognized it as a type of orange, had I not known the name of the beverage. Enjoyable with food providing a much-needed contrast. By itself, I'd likely find it overpowering and bitter.
An authentic blood-orange flavor might not appeal to a mass market, which explains why Jones went for a milder variation.