Pop Flavored Reboot - now with More Lens Flare!

I'm going to restart this blog. There doesn't seem to be any other blog specifically reviewing types of sodapop. There's so much out there, why not? Here are my biases, right from the start:

 - I far prefer diet flavors to sugared flavors. Especially preferring aspartame, even if it's cut with sucralose, acesulfame K, saccharine, cyclamates, or stevia. The ... and this is the one and only time I'll ever use this word... mouthfeel of sucrose/fructose in pop syrup has turned me off for a long time. I know I'm a bit of an outlier when it comes to artificial sweeteners, but will always pick diet/sugarfree over sugared. That being said, if something is only available with sugar/corn syrup in it, I can make do by only drinking enough of it to get a good sense of the flavor and try to overlook the sticky syrupy sensation that comes with it.

 - I love carbonation. The more the better. That's why I think I may take a pass on non-carbonated drinks, unless there's something really spectacular that I need to taste. I think I may pass on the "flavored seltzer" stuff, too, despite its popularity. - I favor intense flavors. If I could get Blenheim's Old #3 in sugar free, it'd probably be my daily pop. And even though they reformulated it to tone the heat down, one of my daily favorites is Diet Vernors. Still the best nose-burning burps.

 - There can be a HUGE difference in flavor between bottled, canned, and fountain pops. Syrup sitting in a room temperature, very slightly acidic environment for a long time (bottled, canned) can have a whole other flavor profile from syrup plunged fresh into a cold, slightly acidic environment for a short time. Especially with an acid-sensitive sweetener like aspartame.

 I'm a big fan of useful review mechanisms. The long-dead Orbit Magazine, published around Detroit, had a very useful rating scheme back in their publishing days. Much of their review "numbers" were as objective as they could be, but they openly acknowledged that every reviewer had their own bias, and all reviews had an "X-Factor" number that the reviewer could use to enhance or tank a (movie, restaurant, album) review as they thought they needed to. For instance, a restaurant could have impeccably prepared cuisine, excellent service, reasonable prices, beautiful decor... and still need to be shot down for being a Gourmet Mashed Potatoes Only place.

There's a lot of pop out there, many companies going after a very similar flavor goal (see: Pepsi's Mountain Dew, Faygo's Moon Mist, Faygo's 60/40, Squirt, Coke's Mello Yello) and it's possible to be objective as to whether they meet the goal. One will always taste better to someone, though. In addition to the description of what I taste and sense when drinking it, my rating will be one of the four:

 1. Won't be drinking that again!
 2. I drank one. That was enough.
 3. I drank several.
 4. I drank a whole damn case!

My drinking methodology: If it's a canned/bottled pop, it'll be refrigerated and poured into an ice cold glass mug. No ice added. If it's fountain, imbibed as quickly as possible before the ice melts into it.