Food: Henry Weinhard's Vanilla Cream

Since Thanksgiving is approaching, and Thanksgiving is all about food, I thought I'd do a little post about my new favorite cream soda.

Let me start by saying I love cream soda. There are the staples: A&W and IBC. These are fine. But I grew up drinking Big Red (which tastes nothing like cream soda, despite it calling itself that), and I used to also buy this weird blue cream soda whenever we went on car trips . . . Not sure what brand that was, but I don't think I've ever seen it outside of Texas and Louisiana. (Nerd alert: I used to pretend it was Romulan ale.) I always order the draught cream soda when I eat at BJ's, too. Sure, root beer is nice now and again—and I'm way pickier about my root beer than my cream soda—but when I want something sweet and smooth, cream soda is a go-to . . . If I can't have a milkshake, anyway.

I'm always on the lookout for new and better sodas. So when I came across Henry Weinhard's Vanilla Cream Gourmet Soda, well, I had to. And now I buy myself a six-pack whenever I'm at the store.

This soda is butterscotchy in flavor (though not quite as much as BJ's) and produces what the label calls a "Draught Style Head," which translates into lots of foam. Like, Snoopy-at-the-bar foam. Despite all the bubbles, though, it's a light touch. When poured out into a clear glass, the color is very pale. I haven't tried it with vanilla ice cream yet, but this soda begs for that; I'll bet it makes for amazing floats. The down side is, because it's so drinkable, I finish one within minutes. It's not a soda one can nurse or make last. And it does leave you thirsty for more. (I only allow myself one a day and go for water or tea after.)

In any case, Henry Weinhard's is, for me, the take-home version of a BJ's cream soda, which probably stands as my favorite. Makes for a nice afternoon pick-me-up, something to reward myself with after hard work.