Bubble Up | Cool Drink, Even Cooler Jersey

The day has finally come. All of us here at Weekly Fizz can now say we have a favorite caffeine-free lemon-lime beverage. We've been drinking it around the offices all week long and asking each other "Why didn't we know about this stuff at the beginning of summer? (chuckle chuckle)." Unlike Sprite or 7Up or Ting or Weis Up! or That Lemon-Lime Drink Your Uncle Used to Swear By, Bubble Up packs an unexpected, special lemon kick in the blue jeans.

As for the taste, it's extra crisp, and best served chilled. Even better than drinking one bottle cold though is chilling several thousand, filling up an entire pool with 'em and inviting a dozen or so scantily-clad ladies over for a snorkeling party. Just make sure your goggles are on tight-- don't wanna get any in your eyes. As your mother and I know, it could send you to the hospital, and bills could get rather expensive since we had to cancel your policy a couple months back.

Alright, now open your textbooks to page 137. It's history time:
The Bubble Up product was first introduced in 1917 and later sold to the Dad's Root Beer dudes (and later on, overseas, to the Monarch Beverage Company). I like to think of it as the orphan child of lemon-lime bevs, since it was first made in Ohio, then in Atlanta, and now has found a special home in Indiana. Hey.. in the back of the class.. stop yawning or I'll saw your toes off!

I got my bottle, along with others to minimize shipping costs, from my good buddy the Sodaking.

Weis Up! and The Awful Salesperson Who Should

Quick story. An unusually disturbingly outrageously wrong thing happened while buying this drink. At Sodamania/Subs-N-Such (the place I've already plugged twice, and was planning on remaining complete loyal to for eternity), I went to the counter to purchase this funny little can.  the guy told me the Weis Up! would be 81 cents. As I handed him a ten I watched as he handed back four dollars and some change. I said, "How much was that again?" and kindly explained he must've forgotten to throw a five in there with all the ones. He looked at me like I was an idiot, told me I should check my pockets better because he definitely gave me a five, and then made me wait- embarassed, people were looking, waiting- while he kicked his feet around, whispering something to the (presumed) manager about whatever stunt he believed I was trying to pull. He eventually forked over the rest of my change as I held my tongue. It was a tense situation. Quite the Larry David moment, I must say, as I almost told the guy, "Yeah, that's what I do. I go into stores for a drink every **ing day and try accusing salespeople of giving back incorrect change." Sigh.

Oh well. I'll still be returning there, because a) I have no choice, the place is an incredibly convenient source for my "research," b) this guy probably just has a mean-spirited soul and the rest of the staff (who have always seemed plenty friendly thus far) have to fight back the impulse to kick his ass daily also, and c) though implausible, the drink might be cursed*.

But ANYWAY.. on to the soda itself..
Weis Up! was created by Weis Choice, a division of (to my surprise) Weis Markets, based in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. We've all seen this sort of thing: a supermarket making generic sodas and foods under their private label. I mean, anyone who's ever thrown a BBQ party knows purchasing these fakeys is the only thrifty way to keep a cooler stocked. But how their lemon-lime soda ended up in a store's tiny cooler all the way down in Tampa Bay puzzles me. I would've stuck around and gathered information had I not been so angry at the aforementioned employee. Though direct comparisons to 7 Up are inevitable, the light drink seems more in line with Sprite. Whichever of the two it more resembles, one thing's for certain: unlike many predecessors, Weis Up! doesn't taste over-sweetened, probably due in part to the natural lemon and lime flavors (the soda still does have 38g of sugar). No unbearable aftertaste, either.

To my knowledge, Weis Choice colas can't be found on the internet. My advice is to decide how much drinking this product means to you, and remember if need be you can always find a lovely place of residence in the northeast. 

(*Implausible indeed. The rest of my day ended up alright.)