Riley “Redzone” Morris

You know you are from the Midwest when an establishment, made popular by a reality show involving Mormon wives, becomes the talk of the school. Every day it’s “Have you had Swig?” and never “How has your day been?” This is our reality and honestly, I kind of love it. Swig has taken over our lives ounce by ounce and it’s about the only thing we can ever agree on in this class. So obviously, we wanted to highlight our favorite drinks from Swig, and if you don’t know what that is, then maybe you aren’t worthy. Check out our staff review of Swig below.

Nicholas Ryan (Reporter)

Shark Attack

Overall, I really loved this drink and the little gummy it came with. I think the combination of each syrup kind of makes it a unique approach to a blue raspberry drink. At times, the blue raspberry flavoring wasn’t completely mixed in with the lemonade. However, even within this, combining lemon flavoring between the syrup and the soda was a great utility of the drink.

Buttery Beer

Generally speaking, mixing something like butterscotch with a compound like colas has always been a contention. However, they do a really great job at refuting my pre-existing notions about this drink and how these very dominant tasting flavors only correspond with each other rather than fighting over which taste would become the main flavor. I really like it, I do wish they would give a piece of actual butterscotch hard candy after for like a gimmick.

Chance Parsons (Adviser)

Dirty Doctor Pepper

This is exactly what I came here for, and it was the only thing that was available. Turns out that the first 3 days the swig was open they gave out free drinks and it wiped them out of all their supplies. This drink is super straightforward, imagine Dr. Pepper with a side of coconut, which somehow makes it more smooth than it already is. The coconut flavor doesn’t feel artificial in taste, which is something that I think machines like the Coke Freestyles struggle with. My wife, who happens to hate both Dr. Pepper and Coconut, loved it so much that she ordered it the next time we pulled into the crowded Swig parking lot. I am happy that I tried it, but I am not sold on this being what made them popular. I give it a 3 out of 5 sips.

Cherry Bomb (not to be confused with the Tyler the Creator album of the same name)

Now this? This is what 8-year-old Chance’s dreams are made of. I LOVED ordering cherry vanilla anything at Sonic growing up, but Pepsi was never my first choice of a base. I had to trust Mr. Swig himself, and boy was I glad I did because I finished this drink by the time I got home. The vanilla cream had me hesitant, as I am a texture person and I was afraid that the drink would feel too thick. This is the second time I have ordered something with coconut in it, but I did not see a single coconut in the drive-thru window when I paid. Someone needs to check on that for me. I give this one a 4.5 out of 5 sips, as the only thing to make this better would be to swap the Pepsi with Coke.

Bloody Wild

This tasted like how those mystery-flavored Mountain Dews should taste. There were no chemical notes of the drink fought for dominance. It tasted like true world peace, and that peace existed on planet chance. This is by far the best drink I have tried, but the only thing that held me back on it was that I hoped there would be fruit pieces in the mid. I give this 4 out of 5 sips.

Sammie Purinton (Editor)

 The Fighter

This drink I found really enjoyable. This drink would be a very good choice for someone who does not enjoy soda or wants a healthier option. The flavors are not strong due to not having any sugar which I found pleasing because I was not given the ¨headache feel.¨ I would give this drink three sips out of five.

Poppin Pineapple

I really enjoyed this drink, I feel as if the strawberry pearls were the perfect touch to the drink. After a while the pearls did become a little too much, due to the fact that they are syrup. I do believe that the pineapple was hard to taste, however this is a good drink that I would recommend. I would give this drink four out of five sips.

Strawberry Breeze

When I first took a drink my original thought was ¨mmm this is really good.¨ However, the aftertaste was disgusting and only got nastier the more I drank it. The coconut cream in the drink was very overpowering, to the point where that was all I could taste. I do believe though that the drink would be good if it did not have so much coconut cream. I would give this drink one out of five sips.

Averi Van Winkle (editor)

Mango breeze

First of all, they should warn you that there are mango chunks in the drink. I took my first sip and wanted to puke because something chunky came up my straw. But then I took a second drink and actually got to taste the drink. I really like how creamy it is. After a sip, you feel very refreshed and hydrated. It would be perfect for a warm summer day. It was very similar to the Chick-fil-A lemonade I ordered the same night. I did find that I finished the mango breeze before the lemonade though. I think this drink would have been better after a hot summer run. Overall I think it was slightly overhyped for the line I had to sit in. I rate it 2 out of 5 sips. 

Drama Queen

I disliked this drink so much but I also don’t like carbonated drinks. I think it would be fine without carbonation. I think they should expand their menu to offer more drinks with no carbonation. There are many bases other than soda that could be used, lemonade, tea, juice, etc. I struggled to find a drink that sounded enjoyable to me because every drink began with soda or carbonated water. Paige, the friend I brought with me, said it tasted like the orange mango body armor flavor with carbonation. It’s also an energy drink and works very fast. Paige and I were bouncing off the walls in a single sip. Paige said she rated it a 3 out of 5 sips.

Kailee Rivera (contributor)

Texas tab

This drink was something I’ve wanted to try ever since I’ve heard of Swig. I thought it was going to be an extraordinary drink, in reality, it was a boring experience. The Texas tab was a very overhyped drink. I will say the more I drank it the better it tasted. It had a very overwhelming taste of coconut. To me, the taste could very much compare to the actual Dr. pepper coconut that had come out over the summertime. overall I would go back but I would definitely try something new!