Blue Sky Grape

Blue Sky soda has an odd reputation. They make a series of natural-type sodas, often fruit flavored. I haven't had all that many of them, but those I've had have been all right.
On the other hand, I recommend this as an instructive tale as to how it can go wrong. The reviewer (Tim, of Soft Drink Reviews--see the blog list on this page) has a profoundly unpleasant experience with their Black Cherry flavor.
This one is just grape. How bad can it be? I mean, come on. Grapes. Grapes are nice, pleasant little fruits, used for much of history to make neat things like grape juice and wine. Like chardonnay.
Oh, wait, that chardonnay soda was not impressive.
And most grape sodas are not much like actual grape juice--more like grape Popsicles. Which is a good thing, except when it is a very bad thing.
Er. I have no fear. NO FEAR!

Where and when: purchased April 2009 at Frazier Farms, Vista, CA
Color: The palest pink, almost clear. White Zinfandel? Rose?
Scent: Grape popsicle. *whew* I have hope.
Taste: Quite sweet, with a surprising bite. Some of that bite is the carbonation, which is unexpectedly strong. The grape flavor isn't very strong, but it's underlaid with an odd chemical, slightly bitter taste. It's very faint, inobtrusive; not even noticeable unless you're paying attention. Now that I've noticed it, though, I keep noticing it. It's bitter like a pill.
The ingredient list is short: water, sugar, natural grape flavor, malic acid and graoe extract. Could it be part of the "natural grape flavor"?
Well, it's not bad. This stuff doesn't provoke anything like the reaction Tim had to the Black Cherry Cherish. I could even enjoy drinking this.
The aftertaste is oddly sweet--vaguely chemicalish, again, only the slightest hint. Just a bit of mystery to make it interesting.
It's really not very Weird, unfortunately. But I've still got a box full of Weird stuff from Galcos; much goodness to come.

Quaff rating: 3. Mostly pleasant.
Cough rating: 1. Slightly not pleasant.