Favourite brands of soda pop!

[Hepcat]

I'm not into sodey-pop myself - 2 or 3 bottles a year perhaps.

"Sodey-pop"? Is that an attempt to be snooty or condescending toward pop drinkers? If so you're doing it in the wrong place.

[Hepcat]

After decades of drinking Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew and the like, this carbonated drink has been my go to for the last several years...

I remember seeing the exact(?) same can here in Toronto a few years ago but the brand name was AriZona. I've not seen it for a couple of years anyway though.

[Buzzybean]

I remember seeing the exact(?) same can here in Toronto a few years ago but the brand name was AriZona. I've not seen it for a couple of years anyway though.

It is Arizona brand. Their distribution sucks. They are difficult to find.

[Hepcat]

I finally tracked down a corner store carrying the Arizona Cherry Lime Rickey about a mile and a half away from my house. It's good and I'll continue to buy it occasionally but it won't supplant my regulars.

[Hepcat]

A really strong bubble gum flavour!



Wild!

Sadly nothing of the original concept of Pop Shoppe's but the name and logo remains. The Pop Shoppe was launched in 1969 in London, Ontario and sold its pop at deep discount prices through its own stores and franchised outlets inside refillable bottles in 24-count plastic cases for 10 ounce bottles and 12-count plastic cases for 25 ounce bottles with a deposit on both the bottles and the cases. Flavours included cola, (Festival Dry) ginger ale, root beer, orange, (Sparkle Up) lemon-lime, lemon, lime rickey, grape, cream soda, fruit punch, black cherry, cherry cola,  grapefruit, strawberry, pineapple, tonic water and soda water. Many including most of the fruit flavours were really good. Within three years there were over 500 outlets and by the middle of the 1970's Pop Shoppe products were available across Canada and in twelve American states. Sales surpassed one million bottles per day in 1977.

By the late 1970's though Pop Shoppe was starting to incur stiff competition in its market segment from private label grocery store brands packaged in throwaway containers. This caused sales to fall off dramatically in the early 1980's and Pop Shoppe Int. ceased operations in 1983. Very sad.

By the early years of the 21st century nostalgia for the days when soda pop was sold in glass bottles acted to create a market niche for "craft" pop brands sold in glass bottles. This enabled the Pop Shoppe brand to be resurrected in 2004 as a premium (of all things) brand sold in throwaway bottles.  There's nothing right about the way the brand is sold these days but I must admit that the bubble gum flavour tastes great.

[Dr.Cyclops]

A really strong bubble gum flavour!



Wild!

Sadly nothing of the original concept of Pop Shoppes but the name and logo remains. The Pop Shoppe was launched in 1969 in London, Ontario and sold its pop through its own stores and franchised outlets inside refillable bottles in 24-count plastic cases for 10 ounce bottles and 12-count plastic cases for 25 ounce bottles with a deposit on both the bottles and the cases. Flavours included cola, (Festival Dry) ginger ale, root beer, orange, (Sparkle Up) lemon-lime, lemon, lime rickey, grape, cream soda, fruit punch, black cherry, cherry cola,  grapefruit, strawberry, pineapple, tonic water and soda water. Many including most of the fruit flavours were really good. Within three years there were over 500 outlets and by the middle of the 1970's Pop Shoppe products were available across Canada and in twelve American states. Sales surpassed one million bottles per day in 1977.

By the late 1970's though Pop Shoppe was starting to incur stiff competition in its market segment from private label grocery store brands packaged in throwaway containers. This caused sales to fall off dramatically in the early 1980's and Pop Shoppe Int. ceased operations in 1983. Very sad.

By the early years of the 21st century nostalgia for the days when soda pop was sold in glass bottles acted to create a market niche for "craft" pop brands sold in glass bottles. This enabled the Pop Shoppe brand to be resurrected in 2004 as a premium (of all things) brand sold in throwaway bottles.  There's nothing right about the way the brand is sold these days but I must admit that the bubble gum flavour tastes great.

Those were the days.On Saturdays I would accompany my Dad to the Pop Shoppe (on  O'Connor Dr. I believe?) Since as an ex-WW2 Merchant Mariner, where he had gotten a taste for Rum & Cokes, my Dad would grab a half dozen Colas while I stocked up on Root Beer, Orange and the dreaded Black Cherry. Now by dreaded, I mean once the crown bottle cap was off there was no other markings on the bottle to denote Cola-type.Well every so often you would here swearing coming from our Rec room/Home Bar where my Dad had erroneously added Black Cherry to his Rum. Good Times 

[Hepcat]

Those were the days.On Saturdays I would accompany my Dad to the Pop Shoppe (on  O'Connor Dr. I believe?) Since as an ex-WW2 Merchant Mariner, where he had gotten a taste for Rum & Cokes, my Dad would grab a half dozen Colas while I stocked up on Root Beer, Orange and the dreaded Black Cherry.

Were you buying the 10-ounce or the 25-ounce bottles?

Now by dreaded, I mean once the crown bottle cap was off there was no other markings on the bottle to denote Cola-type.Well every so often you would here swearing coming from our Rec room/Home Bar where my Dad had erroneously added Black Cherry to his Rum.

Were you using those soft plastic stoppers to cap off the bottle after pouring out some of the pop? You could perhaps have colour coded the stoppers with the flavours to prevent such mistakes, but I suppose garnering such pyrotechnics from your dad was a desirable end in and of itself.

[BigShadow]

I don't like pop with a lot of sugar and chemicals, so I usually drink Zevia brand.  It's a good taste with no sugar.  When I did drink "regular" pop I always when with Mr. Pibb.  The Pibb from the 80's and 90's was awesome!  Unfortunately, I believe they tweeked their recipe over the years and it went down hill.

[Mike...In 3-D!]

I've recently been treating myself to Sprecher Cherry Cola:

[Dr.Cyclops]

Were you buying the 10-ounce or the 25-ounce bottles?

Were you using those soft plastic stoppers to cap off the bottle after pouring out some of the pop? You could perhaps have colour coded the stoppers with the flavours to prevent such mistakes, but I suppose garnering such pyrotechnics from your dad was a disireable end in and of itself.

I remember getting the small bottle but I Seem to remember us getting the larger size more often then nought. The stoppers we used had a lever
http://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5431485/il_fullxfull.257045473.jpg

[Hepcat]

Soda pop was a significant part of my life when I was a kid.

The refillable bottles in which pop was sold left such a profound mark on my psyche that for the last twenty years I've been accumulating the ones I remember together with any other ones that catch my fancy because of the graphics. I keep all my bottles in a custom built kitchen pantry:

Here are some close-up shots of a few of the pop bottles:

[Hepcat]

And here from my collection are a few glasses into which one could pour the pop from the bottles:



Squirrel Peanut Butter Glass Featuring Joe Kapp





Johnny DC Glass

[Hepcat]

Here are a few more glasses from my collection:

[Monsters For Sale]

I always liked Pepsi better than Coke - don't know why.

I also liked a couple you don't have here.  Bubble-Up was a pretty good lemon-lime soda.

In the q950's, Dad's Root Beer was always far and away the best root beer to me.  Dad's also made a pretty good Cream Soda.  Either of these made a really good "float" with vanilla ice cream.

I recently saw an Internet rating of root beers and Dad's came out on top, after all these years.  It is hard to find around here, but Big Lots carries the brand.

Today, I drink Diet Rite Cola.  It is a really good tasting diet cola that advertises they have no sodium, no sugar and no carbohydrates.  I don't need the extra calories, but sodium is a big deal for this old codger.

[Hepcat]

I always liked Pepsi better than Coke - don't know why.

Pepsi is sweeter. It therefore is more appealing to kids and wins out against Coke in blind taste tests involving just a mouthful.

In the 1950's, Dad's Root Beer was always far and away the best root beer to me.

Hmmmm, Dad's you say?





I'll have to give Dad's Root Beer a try. I've seen it in recent years in bottles at premium prices in certain convenience stores. The premium prices have of course put me off till now.

I also liked a couple you don't have here.  Bubble-Up was a pretty good lemon-lime soda.

Bubble Up was actually a Dad's Root Beer brand created to compete with 7-up, Sprite, Teem, Snort, etc!



I don't even have a bottle in my collection and I'll keep an eye out for one (plus an Uptown) at the next big bottle show I visit.