Jones Soda Limited Edition Halloween Cans
Jason Draper and Mike Literman, the bloggers behind the Thirsty Dudes review four Halloween treats from the soda company with a cult following, Jones Soda’s 2013 Limited Edition Halloween Cans.
Blood Orange
Roberta Smith was new to town. She always dressed in black and her schoolmates used to call her “Wednesday Addams” because she wore black, collared dress almost every day. Her hair also looked like she had always freshly put something into a light socket. She always had her headphones on listening to the blackest of metal. When people would ask her what she was listening to, she would say that she was listening to “blood metal” which is not a real genre, but something to get the point across that it was very dark and often morbid. She had patches on her backpack for bands like Danzig, Type-O Negative, Necrophagist, and Cannibal Corpse and many more.
She came to school one day and sat alone to eat lunch. She had a turkey sandwich, apple, Star Crunch, and a small can of pop. One of the bullies in the school came over and took the can from Wednesday. She demanded that he give it back to her. He refused and asked her what it was. She told him it was blood orange. He squealed like pig and practically threw the can back at her thinking it was made with real blood. Fed up with the abuse that she had taken, she chased the kid through the lunch room and tackled him. She opened up the can of pop and started to pour some into his mouth. A teacher came in and broke up the scuffle and the students went on their way. The bully got up as Wednesday went back to the table with an arm full of sticky pop. He said, “this isn’t blood! It just tastes like orange pop and grapefruit pop mixed together! It’s actually pretty good. Thanks, Wednesday!” She smiled for the first time in front of her classmates.
After class, some students came up to her and told her that it was cool that she stood up to the bully and asked if she wanted to come over to their houses and play with dolls. She said, “sure! Do you want to come over to my house, listen to Slayer and pull the wings off butterflies.” When the kids backed up in disgust, she would tell them, “just kidding. We aren’t going to be mean to butterflies but we are still listening to Slayer.” 4/5 – Mike Literman
Red Licorice
Dear Trick or Treaters of the world,
When you are traversing the back streets of your town, begging for sugary confections I have one request for you. Actually it’s not a request; it’s a demand. You can keep all of your chocolates and suckers, your Wonkas and your Hersheys. I must request that you save all of your licorice and send it to me directly at the Thirsty Dudes offices (aka my apartment). I have no need of Sweet Tarts or Tootsie Rolls, I only need the sweet, sweet goodness of licorice. Let me be more specific, red licorice. You can keep any and all black licorice trash for yourself. Bring me your Twizzlers, your Red Vines, and your Australian soft eating varieties. Red licorice is the ultimate candy, and when it comes to ingesting it, I have no willpower. I will inhale an entire package before I know what happened.
The folks at Jones certainly had me in mind when they made this soda pop, as it legitimately tastes like licorice. Sure the flavor isn’t as overpoweringly strong as I wish it was, but it is more than just a hint. The flavor is more along the lines of Red Vines than anything else, and while it’s not my absolute favorite, I can’t really complain.
It’s lucky for me that these are available for a limited time only, as I don’t need this temptation on a yearly basis. Also, anything more than 8 oz of this would probably be too much. This candy liquefied and stored in a can with wonderful bubbles soaring through it is as close to a dream come true as any man could ask.
So on November first while your sorting through your night’s haul, dump all of your licorice into a box and mail it to Thirsty Dudes International Headquarters. The postmaster will make sure it gets to where it needs to be. 4/5 – Jason Draper
Caramel Apple
Earl loved celebrating. Too much. He was the guy at work that would somehow always find a reason for cake whether it be Sheryl in accounting, Sharon in accounts receivable, or Shannon in customer service. Cakes, assorted pies, and trays of cookies always seemed to be in tow when it came to Earl. On Halloween he came in and was very sad. Most of the people in the office were wearing at least some sort of hackneyed cat ears or devil horns. Sheila Larson from the front desk asked what was wrong and he told his sad story.
He was on his way to his car dressed to the nines in a zombie outfit. Full makeup, ripped shirt and shorts, colors contacts, and a well rehearsed limp. He was ten feet from the car and a car drove by and completely splashed him. It totally ruined his get-up. His makeup was running, he was cold and wet, and genuinely was not in the mood to have any sort of party.
Lunchtime had come and everyone made their way to the company picnic where the office had decided to have a little Halloween party. Earl walked in and sat down and started to eat his sandwich. Just then, a handful of the women from the office brought him a cupcake with a Jack-o-lantern on it and a tiny can of pop. He looked up and smiled and said thanks. He ate the cupcake and was in a better mood but it wasn’t until he drank that pop that he was back to his normal self. The pop they gave him was a Halloween exclusive flavored like a caramel apple. He had never seen anything like it. He loved to bring in candy and caramel apples to the girls at the office throughout fall so this little can was a treat. He took a couple sips and decided it tasted more like non-alcoholic apple cider with some caramel in it. That was close enough for him. He went outside and no one saw him for about ten minutes. Then, he came back in dressed as a janitor. All the ladies thought it was a great costume and wondered where he got it. Just then, Sam the janitor walked in wearing Earl’s clothes that he just had on. It was a Halloween that Consolidated Cardboard won’t soon forget. 3/5 – Mike Literman
Candy Corn
Being a werewolf isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. You know how in movies and books people only change in to the beast on nights of the full moon, well that’s a load of crap. You’re a wolf all year around. The only thing different about the full moon is that you have an undying craving for banana peanut butter sandwiches. Let me tell you those things are gross any other time, but as soon as that moon is shining down, it’s all you can think about.
So yeah, I have to live in hiding most of the time. It’s annoying and I hate it. I have to order out for food all the time and leave money for the deliveryman so he’ll leave the food at the door. I know what you are thinking and yes I do weigh nearly 300 lbs from eating pizza and Chinese food every night, not to mention those stupid sandwiches. I don’t even want to get in to how I get the money to pay for the food. Let’s just say it involves a web cam and a razor. At least Halloween is right around the corner. It’s the one time of year that I can go out and interact with people without them freaking out. I usually win some bar tabs for best costume as well. Pretty rad. I also love the candy of Halloween. I’m a fat wolf I’ve learned to deal with it. The bane (pun intended) of this festive candy is the candy corn. Everyone always has it out and without thinking I always throw a handful in my mouth, where I am reminded that it is gross and just a solid mass of sugar.
This year I saw this at a party and I had to grin and bear it as someone made a joke about me posing for the can. If I actually looked like that I would probably put a silver bullet right through my heart. That is one ugly creature. Well this was put in my hand, so I had to drink it. It really smelled like candy corn, so I was bracing for the worst. When I worked up the courage to take a sip I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it’s a cream soda with a little extra something to it. It’s 90% cream soda and 10% candy corn. It’s a great ratio. It hints at the candy corn without the terrible texture. I wish I could find this throughout the year.
I really need to get out more. My people skills are at an all time low. I’ve snarled at my fair share of people tonight and I’m starting to get weird looks. I should probably head home soon. I really need to look into moving into a colony of “furries”. I bet they wouldn’t even notice that I wasn’t wearing a costume. 4/5 – Jason Draper
Jones Soda Limited Edition Halloween Cans are available for a limited time in Target stores throughout the US. Check out www.thirstydudes.com for more drink reviews!
