Reflecting the banana nature of the flavor, the drink is a light yellow, made possible by Yellow #5. In fact, taking a look at the ingredient list, the typical ones are there (carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, etc.), but what stood out to me was the last item on the list: medium chain triglyceride. According to Wikipeida, "MCTs passively diffuse from the GI tract to the portal system (longer fatty acids are absorbed into the lymphatic system) without requirement for modification like long chain fatty acids or very long chain fatty acids do. In addition MCTs do not require bile salts for digestion. Patients who have malnutrition or malabsorption syndromes are treated with MCTs because they do not require energy for absorption, utilization, or storage." So apparently this is some sort of turbo banana-flavored drink!

It should be noted that the photo of this bottle, Photo #6887, was taken by the CEO of Jones Soda, Peter Van Stock (Seattle, WA). I guess that would explain the "Jones Soda Company" T-shirt.

When you first open the bottle, it's obvious this is banana. It smells like banana. Specifically, like those dehydrated-but-tasty banana chips. Thankfully, the taste reflects that pleasant flavor. It's a yummy banana flavor with a pretty clean taste throughout and no yucky aftertaste. No wonder folks all wanted a second helping when I shared samples of this drink at a recent party. Jones Soda Banana Cream Pie Soda lives up to its name… and that's hard to do!

The drink is light yellow in color, almost that of apple juice, but not as dark as the latter. The labeling does feature a photo of an apple pie in an oven, which is an odd choice for Jones, given that their label photos often have nothing to do with the flavor. So congrats Allison O'Neill of Hippo, KY for getting Photo #6891 onto the bottle! (Hippo, KY, is apparently named after a local resident… "the husband of the woman who ran the first post office there. Because he complained all the time, the man was called 'Hippo' – once a not uncommon Southern nickname for a hypochondriac." And now you know!)

The scent the comes from the bottle once opened is definitely apple-influenced, almost along the lines of taffy apples. There's a distinct sweetness in the smell. As for the taste, not too bad. Somewhat of a watered-down apple juice. You know those mix-with-water packets you can buy to make hot apple cider? Imagine that, but cold and carbonated… and with 160 calories. Overall, pretty impressive of a flavor, even while being handicapped with a syrupy sweetener like high fructose corn syrup.

Jones Soda Apple Pie Soda is pretty tasty.

I must say that right off the bat, the color of this drink is quite attractive, thanks to the combination of Red #40 and Blue #1. Blue soft drinks aren't always so appealing (see Pepsi Blue), but the dark tone found in Blueberry Pie Soda is an exception.

Also quite appealing is the photo on the label, which in this case, was actually a picture of a blueberry pie! (Photo #6869 by Lisa Hitcheson of Blueball, PA… even the name of her city is blue!)

Sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, Jones Soda Blueberry Pie Soda contains 180 calories. Upon opening the bottle, you aren't exactly greeted with a wonderful scent, as would be expected in any sort of berry-influenced drink. This is sort of a cluttered scent, not quite medicinal, but also not clean. It's definitely not berry.

The flavor is quite syrupy, with a hint of blueberry, and a lingering aftertaste that isn't very comforting. It's not a light drink… almost feels to "heavy" in the way the flavors are pulled together. Quite disappointing, if you ask me. The taste almost reminds me of the berry/bubble gum-flavored cleaning paste that my dentist uses when he cleans my teeth every 6 months. That experience is not something I want to relive in bottle of pop.

Overall, Blueberry Pie Soda is somewhat of a dud in execution.

I'll tell you right off the bat that I don't like the taste of Egg Nog. It's too "eggy", too "milky", and just too heavy. Don't even get me started on the health benefits, or lack thereof, in that drink. So realize that as I review this beverage, I'm taking one for the team!

This drink is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup and is packaged in the standard red/green labeling found in the 2006 4-Packs. It's colored yellow, in case you couldn't figure that out from the photos, made possible by both Yellow #5 and Yellow #6. So yes, it's a very yellow drink!

Opening the bottle, this drink smells like medicine. And that's not a good thing. Who wasn't to drink yellow medicine?

As for the taste, man, this is not very good. Not the "I want to vomit because it tastes like turkey" variety, but more along the lines of "why am I putting this in my mouth instead of spraying it on my windows to clean them" tone of voice. This is not a good drink.

There is a revolting aftertaste and I'm not even sure what the main taste is supposed to be. Whatever it is, it's not clean, as the flavor just lingers in your mouth. Quick, grab a cracker to cleanse your palette!

Here are the facial reactions of some friends who tried this drink with me:

This drink is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, unlike the traditional Holiday Pack flavors, which tend to use artificial sweeteners. The obvious reaction when one sees a bottle of Candy Cane Soda is that it's very… pink!

The hue reminds one of 7Up Plus: Cherry, which didn't taste very good, but looked nice with its reddish-pink color.

When you first smell the drink, however, there's a distinct medicinal overtone. It's not very attractive. I mean, who really wants to drink something that smells like cough syrup? That's exactly the impression that one gets with Candy Cane Soda as you raise the bottle to your mouth.

As for the taste? While not bile-inducing like Turkey & Gravy Soda, it was not pleasant. You know when you go to the dentist and they clean your teeth with something on the automatic brush-thing that is somewhat pepperminty in flavor? Yeah, Candy Cane Soda is the liquid form of that. Throw in an aftertaste that really sticks with you and one wonders what Jones was thinking with this flavor.

For those wondering about the nutritional information and ingredient breakdown, here's the scoop:

Nutrition Facts: Calories – 180, Sodium – 35 mg, Total Carbohydrate – 45 g, Sugars – 45 g

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Phosphoric Acid, Natural Flavors, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate (as preservatives), Acacia Gum, Citric Acid, Medium Chain Triglyceride, Red 40.

Candy Cane Soda had a lot of potential, as the idea of a mint-flavored drink has been done elsewhere, typically not in the United States. Drinks like Sprite Ice has brought a light mint beverage to market with notable success. Candy Cane Soda, however, is that not drink.

After tasting it, I can unequivocally say… there isn't.

Interestingly, nothing else in the press release even mentioned Pea Soda. It's like they picked a random flavor to feature in the title and moved on. But I digress.

The drink itself is green, as would be expected. I'm not sure it matches the color of any other beverage I've had. Like others in the Holiday Pack, it's sweetened with sucralose, contains no caffeine, and is calorie free. As an added bonus, it's packed with 250mg of sodium!

Looking at my bottle, I'm greeted by a label photo (Photo #6837) featuring an adorable kid building a snowman. There are no peas in the photo, nor is any part of the snowman green. The least one would expect is for Julia Kohl of Oren, UT to drape the snow contraption with green blood or something. Oh well!

The smell of Pea Soda? Not very good. You know right away that if the smell is bad, the taste is going to be much, much worse. I mean, we're talking the Jones Soda Holiday flavors here. There are no surprises. There is sort of a stench that emanates from the bottle. It's more like some sort of odd herbs or something your grandma probably had packed away in the back of a moldy closet. Not appealing at all.

Of course, then you actually bring the drink to your lips… and something buttery greets you, followed but that classic Splenda aftertaste. It's really not as bad as you think based on the smell. There's something there that burns at the back of your throat, but also somewhat of a maple flavor… similar to 2005's Broccoli Casserole Soda. Interestingly, that was green as well! Maybe these flavors have something in common. Perhaps that hinted at by the saying under the bottlecap: "Old acquaintances are important this week." Welcome back, Broccoli Casserole!

Jones Soda Dinner Roll Soda is part of the Holiday Pack, which in itself is part of the 2006 Jones Soda Holiday collection. Yes, it's a drink that's supposed to taste like bread.

I don't know the last time I did have any bread that contained 290mg of sodium by itself, sweetened with sucralose, caffeine-free, and carbonated… but there is always a first time. Dinner Roll Soda actually smells pretty good. It doesn't smell like rolls or butter or bread, but it does have a pleasant scent. Kinda fruity, like a Sprite Remix Aruba Jam or 7Up. That's odd, I know. Blame my nose.

The coloring is almost clear, with a slight hint of yellow. It's obvious they were going for the "buttery" look here. The taste, however, removes any pleasantness from the experience. The large dose of salty flavor hits you right away, forcing your nose to scrunch up painfully. If that was reduced somehow, it wouldn't be as bad. But then a buttery flavor kicks in, followed by an artificial aftertaste. Not fun, nor something that you want more than one sip to test.

It's a wonder why the photo on the front of my bottle (Photo #6847) features what seems to be a broken glass of some sort. Maybe contributor Alyssa Ryan or East Greenwich, RI, was trying to illustrate what happens when you first drink Dinner Roll Soda. You are first enticed with the nice scent, you drink… then you are appalled by the flavor and drop your beverage to the ground!

Under the cap, the Jones saying reads, "Place confidence in a personal relationship." If you do take that advice, don't do it over a shared bottle of Jones Soda Dinner Roll Soda!

This flavor, part of the Holiday Pack, is pretty much what it's made out to be… a carbonated version of Pepto-Bismol. Oh sure, the cover label (Photo #6863) denotes a nice holiday collage that someone set up in their home (could it be Lisa Archuleta of Brea, CA?) But on the inside is pure pink wonderment!

But unlike other installments in this collection, Anatacid Flavored Soda offers something more… it's own medicinal measuring cup! Yes, you do to measure off 30ml of your favorite Jones Soda beverage!

But not only that… Jones found the product to be so odd that it actually had to publish a disclaimer on the Holiday Pack box.

It reads, "This product is non-medicinal. It is not intended to treat upset stomach, indigestion, nausea, heartburn, or diarrhea." Maybe they should have added, "but this product will CAUSE all of those symptoms!"

Overall, however, Anatacid Flavored Soda wasn't horrible. I mean, it wasn't great, but it also wasn't bad on the scale of "Turkey & Gravy Bad", if you want to put things into perspective. It did rather taste like Pepto… with some bubbles added. I think the use of artificial sweetener (Sucralose) did not help the taste. Rather, the bitter aftertaste that provided only made the drink worse… but hey, it kept the calorie count down to 0.

We tried Turkey & Gravy Soda two times last year, as it was included as part of the National Holiday Pack as well as part of the Regional Holiday Pack. It doesn't matter how many times you test it, the outcome is always the same. Amazingly vile!

As always, the primary driver of this flavor is the fact that it does in fact smell like turkey, which really throws your senses off. However, the taste isn't quite there. Instead you are welcomed by 300mg of sodium, which when combined with the Splenda, makes for a rather unpleasant drinking experience.

This time around, we were greeted with a bottle that featured a photo on the label (Photo #6831) submitted by Maggie Kill of Crescent City, CA. It looks like a closeup of the exterior of a gingerbread house… which is nothing like drinking Jones Soda Turkey & Gravy Soda! Maybe the image is to distract you from the vomit that you experience afterwards. But don't take my word for it…

Ah Jones… what would a holiday party be without your nostalgic Turkey & Gravy Soda! Sure, it's disgusting… but you guys are probably laughing all the way to the bank!

Unlike the beverages in the Holiday Pack and Dessert Pack, the label style was a little different for a 4-Pack drink. (It should also be noted that, duh, we have 4 different bottles here!)

These drinks have a lot in common design-wise as the 4-Packs found in the 2006 Halloween collection (Jones Lemon Drop Dead Soda, Jones Creepy Cranberry Soda, Jones Monster Mojito Soda).

Whereas the label style on the Halloween bottles featured black lettering and borders on an orange background, the Holiday 4-Packs possess red borders, green backgrounds, and silver lettering. This is in contrast to the Holiday and Dessert Packs which feature classic Jones black backgrounds, white borders, and silver lettering.

Before you ask, "a sugar plum is a piece of candy that is made of sugar and shaped in a small round or oval shape. They are similar to truffles with a dark chocolate exterior and a plum-flavored interior." I can't say that I've ever had a sugar plum. But I would assume that this soda would work off that plum flavor. I don't eat plums, so I guess I'm taste testing blind here!

Jones Sugar Plum Soda is a light purple in color, very clearish. It resembles window cleaner in appearance… kinda like the Sparkle brand.

When you smell the drink, it actually has somewhat of an alcoholic overtone for some reason, even those it's just a regular soft drink. Very fruity, but weak aroma. Like all 4-Pack and Dessert Pack sodas in 2006, Sugar Plum is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.

Frankly, the taste wasn't all that great, which was surprising to me. The bottled 4-Packs from the Halloween collection tended to buck the trend of "gross" sodas from Jones. I was thinking that the Holiday versions would do the same. I believe I was wrong.

In this case, you have a flavor that resembled watered-down grape soda with some sort of obscure aftertaste. I can't quite place it. It's not gag-inducing, but it's not very pleasant either. Tastes very chemical, if that makes any sense.

As Sugar Plum Soda is bundled in a handy 4-Pack, we have 4 different customer-contributed labels to inspect. First off we have an "adorable" baby in a Santa hat sent by Steve Spegal of Butler, KY. Never been there, but it's south of Cincinnati if anyone cares. Population 613 in 2000. Gee, sounds like a wonderful place to do nothing but take photos of your kids and send them into a soda company!

If anyone should be the poster child for Sugar Plum Soda, it's the cute little girl in the photo sent by Cassandra N. Tiensivu of Chester Township, MI. This lovely little spot is northwest of Grand Rapids and probably features classic Michigan stupidity, the Michigan Left. I feel sorry that this girl will probably never grow up to learn to drive like normal people.

Libby Head of Iowa City, IA submitted this out-of-focus photo of an ugly Christmas tree ornament. Not much to do there in Iowa, is there Libby?

Finally there is a nifty image of a gingerbread house found on a bottle label contributed by Milly H. of The Boro, TN. Um, where? After a little research, I found that "The Boro" refers to Murfreesboro, TN, a city that Milly is so embarrassed to be part of that she had to use a fake name for it and withhold her own last name. Per Wikipedia, "although Murfreesboro is sometimes considered a suburb or exurb of Nashville, Tennessee, it is far enough away and has a large enough population to maintain a separate identity from its larger neighbor."

I guess it doesn't really matter what label you throw on Jones Sugar Plum Soda. It's just not very good.