Customer Reviews

Fentimans Curiosity Cola 275ml

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I feel bad. Like I'm cheating on my own other review. But I have to be honest. A year or two ago, I wrote a review praising another brand of "small batch" colas, proclaiming it as the "real" Real Thing. I won't completely disown that review, but that was all before I tried Fentiman's. Holy Moley. I love Boylan's. I love the Coca Cola from Mexico. I loved Pepsi Throwback. I even loved that complex, black sheep of colas, Red Bull cola. Heck, I even enjoyed the strange, toasty flavor of Pepsi Raw... in small portions. But this... this stuff is AMAZING! Not too heavily carbonated. Bursting with a variety of fruit flavors, this cola provides a multilayered tasting experience where the authentic cola taste gently unifies the other ingredients. Sodas aren't supposed to taste this good. Drinks like Fentimen's Curiosity Cola are why we fell in love with soda pop as kids. For a special treat, it's well worth the price. In a world of Scotch snobs, beer snobs, and wine snobs, this is the ultimate answer to what may emerge as the cola snob. It is the Glenmorangie Scotch or Montecristo Cigar of colas.

Sorry, Boylan's. You've been my favourite for years, but you just came in a very comfortable second.

I came across this Fentimans soda locally, being sold either by the bottle or in four packs, and it intrigued me. The glass bottle is an interesting design that reminds me of an English beer, the label has that classy old-timey look, and when you turn it to the important side (yes, the ingredients side is the important side), it hits you with stuff like... ginger... speedwell... juniper... yarrow--wait, does that say JUNIPER?

I popped it in the cart with a couple other varieties of the same brand--that Dandelion & Burdock stuff is an abomination, by the way--and saved it for a while, because I had a suspicion that I'd like it better than the others, if I liked any of it.

Well... you could have knocked me down with my first sip. I was alone and literally said aloud, "Wow." I have tried a lot of old timey, natural, and organic colas: Blue Sky, China Cola, Boylan's, GuS. I try to avoid the HFCS. There are some good ones out there: China Cola cherry, for instance (so hard to find these days); Boylan's Cane Cola. Good stuff. There are some not-so-good ones, too (Blue Sky, I'm looking at you; try harder.)

But this stuff? This stuff is like the king of all colas: Among the rest of us, there might be some extraordinary individuals, but no one measures up to the king, and with so much going for him, it's almost silly to try to surpass his greatness.

The flavours in there are complex, with multiple things happening all at once--the bite of ginger, the softness of various herbs--but in the end, it's cola, and a damn good one--a GREAT one, I'd go even so far as to say.

I think it is a very good thing that this soda is not cheap. If it was, I'd have a hard time ever drinking water again.

This soda will knock you out it's so good! I bought one at a specialty shop and had to go back just for another soda! I realized later that the caffeine content is pretty high. Since then I have sworn off caffeinated cola and if they made a caffeine free version I would give it 5 stars. Expensive but like the other reviewer said some people pay extra for a bottle of good wine and I would rather pay extra for a good cola! The best I have ever tasted. Brewed COLA! How do they do that? I'm not sure how but I know why. Because it tastes better. Many different fruity flavors. I think it's made in the UK.

this has got to be the best cola i have ever had and it 10 time better than coca cola. it have a soft carbonation witch I like and a very complexed flavor you'll get a fruity taste with some ginger at the back of you tongue at the end OMG its the best.its is highly recommended get this soda.

I placed an order at a local shop for lunch and ordered a Root Beer. They said they were out of Root Beer but had in "Curiosity Cola" instead. I said I'd give it a shot. This is a cola I just loved to sip. Not something I could just guzzle. I wanted to enjoy every last bit of it. I think it's the ginger that seals the deal for me. The only downfall is that it is not available for casual sale anywhere around me. I guess I could go back to The Flaming Ice Cube and buy out their stock (may not be so bad since their price is a buck cheaper per bottle than what I'm seeing online). I'd have to be able to get a 4-pack for under $9 to beat what I am currently paying. In a way, it may be good that it is not available so easily because I probably wouldn't be saving it as a treat and would be shelling out lots of money in cola per week...

I like Coca Cola, too. Don't get me wrong (love Mr Pibb). But, don't be expecting that type of cola with this. It is different.

I really enjoyed Fentiman's Curiosity Cola when I was looking for something "different" in a drink. The flavor is robust, full bodied, and like nothing else I've ever tasted in a soda. The best way I could describe it is like Coke with a "kick" of spices. Make sure to drink it ice cold. Yum.

I like the way it tastes. My neighbor used to sunbath in her backyard for hours at a time. I think she was drinking one of these one time, but maybe not. The shape of the bottle reminded me of a lint roller at first, and it still does. Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to be trapped in a lamp, like a genie. This soda is trapped in bottle, which is good, because it makes it easier to drink. My friend says he'd never drink this cola, but he did yesterday. He said it was awesome. Umm... Oh yeah! You DON'T have to keep the bottles after you drink all the cola out of it. You can throw it away. Or recycle it. Or buy another Fenitman's and put the cola from the new bottle into the old bottle. The possibilities are endless!!!

Cola is by far my favorite drink. My wife and I usually have a debate of Pepsi vs. Coke, me preferring Coke, and neither one of us will ever win. So I saw this bottle and was very hopeful to find something which would stop the argument once and for all.

Fentiman's cola comes in a nice looking bottle, it has an old fashioned feel to it, and even the name "Curiosity" beckons something forth from the early 1900s -- a certain naivité if you will.

When I first opened the bottle I found that it was not as heavily carbonated as say my favorite Coke or my wife's Pepsi, something which might prove a boon to the product. I sniffed it, and it had a distinct smell of cheap no-brand colas (to which I have resorted in the past during periods of smaller wallets). That's not to say it was bad, it just is what it is. I took a sip of the liquid and managed to get out the words "This really isn't too--" before my face contorted in waves of disgust. It was one of the foulest sodas I have tasted to date, and that includes the old Tab drink. For the first couple of seconds it just tastes like a cheaper cola, but then the aftertaste hits you, and it is vile.

I would get this for someone for a gag gift (emphasis on the word "gag" here), but I will never purchase another bottle for my own sake.

Having spent money on the bottle, however, I did not wish to waste it, so I guzzled the whole thing (this is where the limited carbonation indeed became a boon for the product). This did turn out, in the end, to be a mistake, as every time the carbonation would force a burp I'd get nothing of the "not so bad" taste from the first couple of seconds, but instead I got all the horrible aftertaste.

This may be close to what Cola once was. It is, however, important to remember that it has evolved for a few reasons, and taste is one of those reasons. Give me a Coke any day, or even a Pepsi.