First off, Happy Thanksgiving!

Secondly, today was the day when I drank the final bottle of soda from the Jones Holiday Pack of 2005: Turkey and Gravy Soda. I assumed it was appropriate to save the oddest and most memorable drink of the bunch for turkey day.

Following standard procedure, I first took a few sniffs of the orange hued carbonated liquid. As was the case with the others, this one didn’t smell like I had expected. The scent was something along the lines of boiled carrots or some other musky vegetable.

The first taste was also somewhat surprising in that it actually tasted like turkey and gravy! It really did! Strangely enough, that flavor is what this drink most closely resembles. In addition, it didn’t seem to have that sugar free taste that the others had. Had I not been full from dinner earlier, I would have finished the full bottle. The soda was easily the best tasting of the group.

So to rank the beverages, I would say they would fall into this order:

• Turkey and Gravy
• Cranberry
• Pumpkin Pie
• Brussels Sprout
• Wild Herb Stuffing

To be honest, I’m glad that the 2005 pack is done. There must be something to the expiration dates on soda, and especially on specialty ones like these. Hopefully the upcoming Jones Soda Holiday 2006 and Dessert packs I’m going to be drinking (and blogging) will fare better that these out-of-code beverages.

Just two bottles away from finishing off the Jones Holiday Pack from 2005. With just the two left, the final pre-turkey day beverage was the Jones Pumpkin Pie Soda.

I had higher hopes for this one over the Brussels Sprout and Wild Herb Stuffing drinks. I assumed that with it being dessert themed, it would actually be pleasant tasting and be more along the lines of the cranberry flavored one.

As I had done with the others, I first partook of the beverage’s aroma. The scent definitely smelled like what manufactured pumpkin pie would smell like. Almost like a scented candle from this time of year.

The first sip led to the standard, “Ugh, sugar free” reaction. Nothing like trying to make something taste good by leaving out the sugar.

The flavor was bland and about as strong as I had expected. It was “pumpkiny”, but nothing to really say this was made from pumpkins.

I’ve kind of come to the conclusion that for the majority of these holiday themed drinks; they simply carbonate the water, add some food coloring, and then add the essence of said flavor so at least your nose helps with the illusion. I’d imagine that if you couldn’t smell or had a stuffy nose, these drinks would pretty much taste like diet seltzer.

We’re just a few days out of Thanksgiving, and I still have 3 more Jones sodas to drink. Today’s drink of choice, Wild Herb Stuffing.

I must admit that the bottle looked quite pretty. The pale yellow hue of the liquid inside looked like it might taste somewhat decent.

Upon cracking the bottle cap, I was surprised to find that the aroma was shockingly sweet. I would have expected this scent from something that would be much more fruity. It almost smelled like a fruit punch of sorts, which was very odd.

“Maybe this one won’t be as bad as I think it will…”

The first swig didn’t taste like anything. Like it literally tasted like nothing other than seltzer water. No fruit taste or other taste to speak of. I took two more sips.

Then the after-taste hit.

What followed the first swallow was a taste far worse than the brussels sprout soda. Coating my entire tongue was a bitter taste of rotten and putrid herbs. It felt like someone had painted my entire tongue with crushed weeds. I instantly winced when the flavor appeared and ran to grab another drink. I quickly washed the bitterness away with some watered down Sprite.

All in all, it didn’t take more than 3 sips of this particular soda to call it a day. It has be delegated to sit next to the previous bottles, where it is destined not to be finished.

Tonight’s drink of choice was the cranberry flavored Jones Soda, the second soda I’ve tried from the Jones Holiday Pack.

Jessica was kind enough to grant me a respite from the previous disgusting soda by grabbing the red hued bottle from the fridge.

The initial scent of the freshly opened drink wasn’t appealing at first. It didn’t smell anything like cranberries, and it most certainly didn’t smell “fresh”. The first taste also wasn’t anything I’d consider good. Maybe I had waited too long to drink these.

As it turned out, it did start tasting like cranberries about a quarter into the bottle. The problem that I found was that like most recent Jones sodas, it was sugar free. The missing sugar taste is what I was missing.

So unlike the Brussels Sprout soda, I did finish this one. Not much of a challenge I must admit, but those other flavors will have to wait for another day.

Well my self-pledge to drink each soda to the last drop didn’t last long. At least not with this Brussels Sprout Soda.

I let Jessica pick out which one to drink first, and much to my dread she picked the Brussels Sprout Soda from the fridge. I guess it is better to get it out of the way first, because I assumed it is going to be the worst.

Upon cracking the seal upon the bottle cap, the odd putrid aroma snuck into my nostrils. A smell that I assume is just like the sweaty feet of a dead man, I winced the first two times I tried to take a sniff.

The taste itself wasn’t as bad as the smell, it was almost buttery in flavor, but the dark green liquid did not go down all that well. It did not taste in anyway like a vegetable either.

I had planned to down it all eventually, sip by sip, but Jessica made me see the error of my ways. She stopped me from drinking it and in such prevented myself from getting sick.

So I still assume it’ll be the worst of the bunch (and they are over a year old), and the half filled bottle still sits upon our kitchen countertop.

So last year around Christmas-time, we picked up one of those Jones Holiday Packs. The packs are sold at places like Target and some grocery stores, and consist of rather odd flavored beverages. In the pack were 5 different holiday themed flavors, a serving spoon (spork), a moistened towelette, and a wine list. Definitely odd stuff.

So I meant to try them last year, but I guess I never got around to it. So for the past 12 months they have been sitting in our pantry collecting dust.

I think it’s about time I drank them.

So that is what I’m going to do, drink one of the five beverages per every two days starting with this evening. I vow to finish every drop of every bottle even if they are beyond putrid up until Thanksgiving. It should be a hoot.