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Cola is the quintessential carbonated drink. It’s the flavor that comes to mind when you say the words “soda” or “pop” (depending on where you live) — like pepperoni to “pizza” or chocolate chip to “cookies.” Featuring a crisp and refreshing combination of vanilla, cinnamon, citrus, and nutmeg notes with a caffeine kick and a subtle bite, when done right cola can be super addicting. (Note: the actual kola nut is rarely used in the states, though it’s not fully banned, like the “root” from root beer).

If cola is your soda flavor of choice, you most definitely have a favorite. And, to be real, that favorite is probably informed by what you grew up on. It’s a drink that just seems to lend itself to sense memory and a cursory check of food twitter shows that people rarely break their allegiances once they’re formed. I’m the exception. I grew up on RC Cola — the most common alternative to Pepsi and Coca-Cola — but somewhere along the lines I shifted and Coke is my current go-to. There’s just something about its sharp bite that I find almost problematically addicting.

It’s so bad that when I hear “We have Pepsi” after I’ve ordered my Coke, I usually just opt for water. Which, to be honest, worried both me and my editor. Could I even be a fair judge when my Coke love calibrated my cola palate? In order to get an honest answer, we decided I’d rank every cola I could find in a blind taste test.

The Lineup

For our blind taste test we rounded 17 different colas, including all of the big grocery store brands, a few artisan selections, and every iteration of plain-flavored Coca-Cola on the market. Here is our class:

• Afri Cola
• Boylan Cane Cola
• Coca-Cola
• Coca Cola Zero
• Colombiana La Nuestra
• Diet Coke
• Fentiman’s Curiosity Cola
• Inca Kola
• Jarritos Mexican Cola
• Mexican Coca-Cola
• Moxie
• Olipop Vintage Cola
• Pepsi
• Royal Crown Cola
• Sprecher Puma Kola
• Shasta Cola
• Virgil’s Zero Sugar Cola

PART I: The Tasting

Taste 1:

Highly botanic with a strong and powerful bite. This is definitely one of the artisan brands, herbaceous notes dominate this cola, with strong hits of nutmeg and citrus oils. A really strong start.

Taste 2:

After the herbaceous journey of Taste 1, this one comes across as flat and boring. It’s scentless and it doesn’t have that characteristic bite that cola has, it’s much smoother and has an off-putting quality to it. I know all soda is sugar water, but this one makes that a little too obvious.

Taste 3:

Intense sugary top notes with almost no fizz. It’s also very light in color, which makes it a little less appetizing — like soda made watery from melted ice. This one sticks to the teeth in this really off-putting way, I’m guessing this is one of the diet varieties.

Taste 4:

A dark rich color with a highly herbal scent. It has a candy-like sweetness, like one of those gummy colas but it takes a left turn and ends in a very interesting bitter, almost leathery, aftertaste. I like this one a lot, it’s not going to replace Coca-Cola for me but it’s definitely something worth revisiting.

Taste 5:

Hints of cinnamon and vanilla over a citrus oil body with a sharp bite on the backend. I know this flavor well, if this isn’t Coca-Cola Classic, it’s one of the Coke iterations.

Taste 6:

A bit of a giveaway here, I know this is Inca Kola because it’s the only cola with a gold color. Well, gold is what they say, it’s more like I-just-ate-a-b-vitamin-and-now-my-pee-is-fluorescent yellow. This stuff is called cola but.. is it? It sort of has a bubblegum flavor to it with a tropical banana quality.

Not a fan. Also, it doesn’t feel like it belongs here.

Taste 7:

Sweet initial taste with a nice bitter bite on the backend. Hints of vanilla and cinnamon dominate the flavor and the body provides a nice fizz. My guess is Pepsi.

From my notes: “This feels the closest to Coca-Cola but I can tell it’s not.”

Taste 8:

This one is really strange. It’s highly sweet on the palate but the flavors disappear quickly. It has a soft and… round quality to it. Not bad but it leaves you wanting.

Taste 9:

Highly gassy with a citrus rind and cinnamon flavor. This one is definitely made with cane sugar, it sticks to your teeth in a way where you can actually feel the decay happening in real-time. Maybe that’s just because I’m nine sodas in, but this one tastes like it will make your dentist hate you.

It’s good but doesn’t have enough of a bite for me.

Taste 10:

By far the best, cinnamon, vanilla, and citrus mingle in perfect balance and unlike the other tastes, this one has a strong burn from the second it hits your tongue all the way to the aftertaste.

From my notes: “This must be Coca-Cola Classic because it just tastes right to me.”

Taste 11:

A rush of sugar, this one is the sweetest I’ve tasted so far. Unfortunately, those characteristic cola notes have a hard time cutting through all the sweetness, and it’s not nearly fizzy enough to provide an adequate bite.

It’s not bad, but it’s far from my favorite.

Taste 12:

Awful. Wince-inducingly bad. This is truly foul, aside from having absolutely no fizz whatsoever, it has this really bitter herbal flavor and a dirty-tasting blunt aftertaste. Is there sugar in this thing?

Taste 13:

Very herbal with notes of cinnamon, vanilla, and a bitter citrus bite. It’s a bit too sweet on the backend, which muddles the bite, but otherwise very good. Top five for sure.

Taste 14:

This one tastes strangely familiar. It has a well-balanced flavor but isn’t nearly fizzy enough. Maybe this one is Pepsi, I’ve definitely had it before.

Taste 15:

What the fuck is this? It has an almost rust color to it and the same bubblegum smell to it as Inca Cola. Is there another strain of colas that I had no idea about? What’s with all this tropical cola?

That said, this one isn’t nearly as off-putting as Inca Cola. It’s more balanced with a subtler bubblegum flavor and hints of vanilla.

Taste 16:

This is definitely one of the more artisan brands but… I don’t like it. It has no bite and instead leaves you with a dirty bitter flavor that lingers between sips. You can sort of taste how it’s cola, but it goes a little too hard on those citrus peel notes.

Taste 17:

Very sweet, but in a noticeably different way than the other tastings. It’s hard to put my finger on it, but I can say with confidence that this isn’t high fructose syrup or cane sugar sweetened. This is an almost floral quality to the sweetness which is joined by notes of vanilla. It’s got a great flavor, but it’s not really my thing.

PART II: The Ranking

17. Olipop Vintage Cola (Taste 12)

Price: $2.49

The fact that this cola dubs itself a “Sparkling Tonic” should be the first red flag, followed by the “supports digestive health” claim on the can. This is some sort of health cola with only two grams of sugar. I get it, it’s marketed toward people who love soda but know that drinking it is bad for their health, in other words, adults. But… just drink club soda if that’s the case. This is a waste of two grams of sugar.

The Bottom Line:

A healthy cola with a truly awful taste.

16. Inca Kola (Taste 6)

Price:. $11.98 (Cans, buy at a Mexican market for half the price)

I’m sure this soda has its fans but if you’re all about the flavors of cola, don’t let your curiosity get the best of you. This isn’t cola, at least not how you know it. If you do however want bubblegum and banana-flavored soda, give this a try.

The Bottom Line:

It’s not really cola.

15. Afri Cola (Taste 16)

Price: $3.25

Afri Cola is a German-based soda brand that was first introduced in the 1930s. The drink was pretty successful in its home country but was soon surpassed by Coca-Cola and Pepsi in the 1980s. It’s easy to see why, this has all the same flavor notes we’ve come to expect from cola but in a much different ratio.

The Bottom Line:

The cola flavors you love in a different ratio. Leans heavily on those citrus oil notes.

14. Virgil’s — Zero Sugar Cola (Taste 2)

Price: $5.29 (6-Pack)

At some point in the last few years, Virgil’s ditched their cola formula and now only sells this sugar-free version. The zero sugar version is sweetened with a proprietary blend of stevia, monk fruit, and erythritol. From what I remember, this tastes pretty much identical to the sugar version, which is to say, unremarkable.

The Bottom Line:

If you’re staying away from sugar this gets the job done, but it lacks that satisfying bite.

13. Colombiana La Nuestra (Taste 15)

Price:: $16.99 (Buy for much cheaper at your local Mexican market)

Colombiana La Nuestra showed me that there is another strain of colas from south of the border that favor tropical notes over the darker citrus oil and cinnamon-tinged colas that we know here in the states. I think the flavor is distinctively different enough to deserve its own separate flavor, but hey, it’s called cola, so we’re ranking it.

Colombiana La Nuestra hails from Colombia and has an interesting rust color I’ve never seen in another soda.

The Bottom Line:

The best tropical cola your money can buy. Not as sickly sweet as Inca Kola.

12. Shasta Cola (Taste 11)

Price: $26.25 (Pack of 24)

Shasta Cola is the budget buy, it’s cheaper than Pepsi, Coke, and RC Cola, and sometimes comes in rare triple liter bottles. It has all the right cola notes in a pretty good balance, but because it’s not fizzy enough and a bit too sweet — so we have to rank it twelfth.

The Bottom Line:

Not fizzy enough and way too sweet, but it delivers on that cola bite.

11. Pepsi (Taste 3)

Price: $2.89

I thought a couple of different tastings might’ve been Pepsi and I was wrong on both occasions. It’s hard to believe Pepsi is as popular as it is when it tastes this mediocre. It tastes flat with no bite with an emphasis on vanilla notes and a sickly sweet aftertaste. It’s cola, but it tastes like it’s missing something.

The Bottom Line:

Pepsi comes across as flat Coke with a weak bite. Still, I’m surprised it fell this low. Could I have bought a bad batch? Pepsi heads: Is it better canned?

10. Coca-Cola Zero (Taste 14)

Price: $6.28 (12 Pack)

I was surprised by Coca-Cola Zero. Until this tasting I had never tried it before, it has the flavor of Coca-Cola Classic but doesn’t provide the same bite. I’m just not sure why this and Diet Coke exist.

The Bottom Line:

Coca-Cola Classic without the bite. Which might be a deal-breaker for you.

9. Sprecher Puma Kola (Taste 17)

Price: $1.99

Hailing from a brewery in Wisconsin, Sprecher Puma Kola is sweetened with honey, which explains those floral notes I was picking up in the blind taste. I like this one a lot, it’s complex and distinct, but the floral quality is a bit distracting from the bite, which is what I come to cola for.

The Bottom Line:

An interesting alternative to the big brands but there are more interesting-tasting artisan brands out there.

8. Diet Coke (Taste 8)

Price: $10.18 (24 Pack)

I’ve spent so much of my life bad-mouthing Diet Coke, but I have e to admit that when tasted blind I didn’t even notice it was sugar-free. I think when you drink a whole can of this stuff it comes off as chemical tasting but in small bursts it came across as a true cola.

The Bottom Line:

A passable substitute for the real thing.

7. Royal Crown Cola (Taste 7)

Price: $24.99 (15-Pack)

In the blind taste test, I knew that I had tasted this one before, but I falsely assumed it was Pepsi. I rarely have RC Cola, when I do I’m usually visiting my mom who still swears by the stuff. It’s great, fizzy, sweet, but lacking a bit of bite.

The brand was first introduced in 1905 as a budget version of Coca-Cola. It’s lasted this long so they must be doing something right.

The Bottom Line:

If Coca-Cola is sold out, grab RC over Pepsi every time.

6. Moxie (Taste 4)

Price: $39.97 (24 Pack)

Is Moxie even cola? I’m not entirely sure. Moxie was first introduced in 1884 and like most early American sodas came with dubious health claims attached. Moxie was marketed as a “nerve food” that promised to strengthen the nervous system, geared specifically towards athletes. Its flavor comes from the gentian root, which is the root of a flower. I guess this makes it more in line with a root beer than cola, but in flavor, it leans much closer to a cola.

The Bottom Line:

It’s probably not a cola, but it has that same bite that we can’t get enough of.

5. Jarritos Mexican Cola (Taste 9)

Price: $1.25

Of all the flavors Jarritos makes, Mexican Cola is the brand’s weakest. Having said that, it’s still very good. What it lacks in bite it makes up for in gassy fizziness. This one is cane sugar-sweetened and highly addictive, but it’s a little hard to drink this and not wish you were sipping on a more traditional Jarritos flavor like Mandarin.

The Bottom Line:

Delicious and a great tasting but cheap alternative to the big brands. But if you’re going Jarritos, go with one of the brand’s other flavors over this.

4. Boylan Cane Cola (Taste 13)

Price: $38.25 (12 Pack)

Boylan Bottle Co claims this Cane Cola is made from orange, lemon, and lime oils, I’m not really tasting any of the lemon and lime, but this definitely has a zesty quality to it with a nice herbal journey of flavors. I like it a lot, it tastes like an artisan version of Coca-Cola, but it’s missing a strong bite. And that holds it back.

The Bottom Line:

Flavorful and complex but lacking bite.

3. Coca-Cola Classic (Taste 5)

Price: $5.89 (12 Pack)

In truth, it’s a toss-up between Coca-Cola Classic and our next entry for second and third place — I’m only putting this one third for variety’s sake. Coca-Cola Classic is, well classic, but it came across as a bit unremarkable in the blind. It was still a clear and easy favorite, but I couldn’t help but feel slightly unsatisfied like it wasn’t… Coke enough.

This will all make more sense when we get to my number one choice.

The Bottom Line:

It’s the GOAT, but a better version exists. Consider this tied for second.

2. Fentiman’s Curiosity Cola (Taste 1)

Price: $19.30 (4 Pack)

The reason I gave Fentiman’s the second-place spot over Coca-Cola Classic is because I think this brand deserves to be on the radar of every person who rides hard for team Coke. This has an equivalent bite but leans heavier on the cinnamon notes, giving this a distinctively different flavor that really could be your new favorite. The ingredients list shows that the drink is sweetened with beet sugar and pear concentrate, with some ginger root extract thrown in there which helps to give it an herbaceous quality that Coke just doesn’t have.

This is the “discovery” of the blind test for me. A brand I’ll certainly go back to.

The Bottom Line:

Highly herbal with that sharp bite that Coke fans love. It’s the best artisan cola I’ve ever had. By a mile.

1. Mexican Coca-Cola (Taste 10)

Price: $34.50 (12 Pack)

If you thought Mexican Coca-Cola was just Coca-Cola Classic in a taller bottle with “Hecho en Mexico” printed on the side, you couldn’t be more wrong. This features the same recipe as Coca-Cola Classic with one key difference — it’s made with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. This puts it more along the lines of the Coca-Cola people knew and loved before the disastrous launch of New Coke in the ’80s. When Coca-Cola finally killed New Coke and brought Coca-Cola back under the name “Coca-Cola Classic” they tweaked the OG formula with the high fructose corn syrup flavored version because it was cheaper to produce.

That cane sugar makes all the difference, it imparts an earthy and floral sweetness to the already familiar blend of cinnamon, citrus oil, and vanilla and supplies a more intense bite that hits the moment it touches your palate.

The Bottom Line:

This just tastes more like Coca-Cola than what Coca-Cola Classic tastes like. It’s Coca-Cola in its most pure form. Blissfully bite-y and a clear winner.

On Tuesday, two weeks after the tragic gun massacre in Uvalde, Texas, Matthew McConaughey — native of the small southwestern city — came to D.C. to make a speech. The actor was one of the first celebrity responses to the mass shooting, and he followed that up with an op-ed for USA Today. Now he was in the White House press room, further elaborating on how to thread the needle between protecting people from gun violence while also not enraging gun rights advocates (and those offering dodgy solutions). And he did such a good job that at least a couple Fox News reporters seemed moved.

As per Mediaite, when McConaughey’s speech, which ran 20 minutes, was over, the response wasn’t kneejerk rejection. Indeed, both John Roberts and Brett Baier (and maybe even Sandra Smith) couldn’t find that much fault with it.

Smith herself seemed to marvel that “someone from Hollywood” would make a call to “restore our family values in the wake of that mass shooting at the elementary school in Texas.”

Roberts, meanwhile, called it an “impassioned plea,” as well as “the best presentation we have seen from that podium in an awfully long time.” He was a bit skeptical about a compromise between Republican and Democratic lawmakers, noting that while the idea is to make “laws that save lives but don’t infringe on second amendment rights,” such a thing is “difficult.”

But Baier — who had booked McConaughey on Fox News that evening — was a bit more optimistic:

You know, his specifics are, it seems like, a compromised position and I think there are a lot of Americans who get, can get around raising the age to 21 for AR-15. I think there are a lot of Americans who can get around a four-day waiting period to make sure that, you know, somebody just does not get it in the passion of the moment and does something. I think red flag laws raise other red flags that we have seen in other places, maybe that gets worked out. But there are compromised positions here and I think Capitol Hill is working on this.

Of course, these are just initial reactions. Surely when Fox News hits the primetime hours, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham will have their say.

In the meantime, you can watch McConaughey’s full speech in the video above.

(Via Mediaite)

If you weren’t an avid IPA drinker and someone asked you to describe the beer’s flavor, you’d probably say “bitter.” And… maybe not much else. But while that makes sense for those unacquainted with IPAs, we think that’s a fairly narrow look at this complex, flavorful beer style.

Sure, we agree that many IPAs (especially some West Coast IPAs) border on aggressively and sometimes uncomfortably hoppy, dank notes, there are others that feature more nuanced flavors as well. We’re talking about bright floral hints, grassy notes, fresh hay, tropical fruits, and our favorite vibrant, sweet, and sometimes tart citrus flavors. Especially grapefruit, lemon, lime, and tangerine.

Don’t get us wrong, we can throw down an in-your-face bitterly hopped banger with the best of them. But we prefer our IPAs to be more balanced and drinkable, especially in summer.

In order to find the best IPAs for fans of bold, tart citrus flavors, we went to the pros. We asked a few well-known craft beer experts, brewers, and beer professionals to reveal their favorite IPAs for fans of citrus. Keep reading to see their picks!

Rockford HopLust

David Ringler, director of happiness at Cedar Springs Brewing Company in Cedar Springs, Wisconsin

ABV: 7.1%

Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

I’m a huge fan of Rockford Brewing Company’s HopLust IPA. They’re a past Great American Beer Fest Brewery of the Year and they hit a home run with this beer. It has a hearty backbone and a blend of big citrus and pine bitterness that begs the next sip.

Trillium Farnsworth Street

Thomas Reese, brewer at Ghost Harbor Brewing Co. in Elizabeth City, North Carolina

ABV: 7.2%

Average Price: Limited Availability

Why This Beer?

Farnsworth Street from Trillium Brewing in Boston. What flavors make it great? This beer blew me away and really opened my mind to the possibilities of where IPA can go as a style. Bursting with flavors of pineapple, cantaloupe, and mango. Smooth, full-bodied with restrained bitterness lends an orange creamsicle character.

It’s my all-time favorite beer.

Kane High Head

Kevin Beachem, head brewer at Taproot Brewing Company in Newport, Rhode Island

ABV: 6.6%

Average Price: $12.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

Why This Beer?

I’ll have to be biased and rep my old brewery on this one and say Kane Head High. They were the brewery that got me into drinking beer, and I was fortunate enough to work for them for over three years in both the taproom and production side. Their IPAs were just an awesome riff on your classic west coast IPAs but with an east coast twist.

Head High is their flagship and just bursts with flavors of pine resin, Cara orange, ruby red grapefruit and has a nice lingering hop bitterness that keeps you wanting more. It was the IPA that got me into IPAs. We delve more into the juicy New England style IPAs but would love to do more west coast inspired beers like this one down the road.

City Barrel Rad AF

Eric Martens, founder and owner at Border Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri

ABV: 6.4%

Average Price: $17 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

There are so many great options for citrus-forward IPAs, but one of my favorites has become Rad AFfrom City Barrel Brewing in Kansas City. It’s a hazy IPA that is light, easy-drinking but still packs a huge citrus-bursting hop character that makes it very enjoyable to drink.

Community Beer Citra Slice

Hector Cavazos, owner and head brewer at Rebel Toad Brewery in Corpus Christi, Texas

ABV: 7%

Average Price: $10 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

Community Beer Citra Slice. It tastes like lemon and orange peel. This bold, bright, vibrant, 7% ABV IPA is brewed with Citra hops to give it an authentically citrus flavor. It’s only heightened by the addition of lemon and orange peel.

It’s definitely a citrus bomb of an IPA.

Deschutes Fresh Squeezed

Kevin Smolar, production and quality lab manager at Sun King Brewery in Indianapolis

ABV: 6.4%

Average Price: $10.50 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA. The first time I had this beer it took a lot of convincing for me to believe there wasn’t actually fruit added to it. It has such bright pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine, and passionfruit flavors that I crushed the first beer and immediately ordered a second. I’ll always reach for one of these when I have the opportunity.

Lagunitas IPA

Kyle Park, director of marketing at Neshaminy Creek Brewing Co. in Croydon, Pennsylvania

ABV: 6.2%

Average Price: $9.99 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

I tend to gravitate towards the classics and Lagunitas IPA checks all the boxes for classic IPAs with bold citrus flavors. They load it up with all the classic ‘C’ hops and continue to show the rest of us what an IPA can and should be. What could be better?

Cigar City White Oak Jai Alai

Chris Elliott, chief brewing officer at Wild Leap Brew Co. in LaGrange, Georgia

ABV: 7.5%

Average Price: $10.99 for a four-pack

Why This Beer?

I feel like I have hundreds of favorite IPAs, but one classic regional IPA that is citrusy and juicy, with traditional IPA bitterness and a unique oak character is White Oak Jai Alai by Cigar City. This was a beer that I used to chase the beer truck for when Cigar City was first available. I really love the combo of wood and hops and this one never disappoints.

North Park Hop Fu!

Douglas Hasker, head brewer at Puesto Cerveceria in San Diego

ABV: 7.5%

Average Price: $19.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

Why This Beer?

Hop Fu! from North Park Beer Co. The 2022 World Beer Cup Gold Medal winning IPA, Hop Fu! is bursting with bright orange and grapefruit zest underpinned by a solid malt foundation that is anything but a second thought. An old-school West Coast IPA at heart, everything about this IPA is bold and flavorful while remaining eminently drinkable.

Civil Society Fresh

Marshall Hendrickson co-founder and head of operations at Veza Sur Brewing Co. in Miami

ABV: 6.2%

Average Price: $16.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

Why This Beer?

Civil Society Fresh. It is packed with all of the amazing citrus fruit flavors for IPA lovers. Even before your first sip, the aroma hits you hard with full grapefruit, lemon, and lime aromas. This beer is truly one of my favorites, so delicious.

The Fermentorium Juice Packets

Chris Wittemann, area sales at Specher Brewing Company in Glendale, Wisconsin

ABV: 6.6%

Average Price: Limited Availability

Why This Beer?

Juice Packets IPA by The Fermentorium). Every brewery and beer drinker is overly familiar with the Citra hop. Every brewery makes a Citra IPA, juicy IPA, or something similar featuring the Citra hop. What really distinguishes a good IPA is if you can use the hops to create a balanced beer. The citrusy flavors of Juice packets is top notch and brings out a nice piney flavor compliments of the double dry-hopping.

Bob Saget always had many sides. To some, he was the patient dad on Full House and amiable host of America’s Funniest Home Videos. To others, he was also one of the filthiest stand-ups on the circuit. After his sudden passing in early January, at only 65, tributes poured in, some of them appropriately blue. We also learned he’d become more reflective, particularly about death, dying, and the afterlife, with age.

Now we have further proof of that. As per People, an unreleased episode of the podcast This Day with Radio Rahim, recorded eight months before his death, will be made available on Luminary, broken into three parts and released over the week. In the first part, Saget can be heard delving deep into how he’d come to think about mortality a lot over the years, and how the death of loved ones helped him “grow.”

“I’m proud of myself because I’m onto a new thing,” Saget explained. “At 65, I’m different than I was. We’re all rethinking what we said 20 years ago, 10 years ago, four years ago. I’m not even rethinking it, I just don’t have the same way of doing humor or conversation.

“I guess therapy, having three kids, watching people pass away in the past few years, mortality, all that stuff has fortunately changed me,” he added. “My kids tell me, ‘Dad, you’re different. It’s so nice to watch you grow.’”

Saget also discussed how he’d been surrounded by death growing up — how his father wound up outliving all his siblings, and how he even helped write a funeral speech one late night when he was only nine. That wound up driving him into the arts, first by obtaining a 16mm camera, all in an attempt to help him cope. Later in life, he lost both his sisters, including one to the disease Scleroderma. He wound up helping make a TV movie about the disease and spent the next three decades doing benefits and raising money for a foundation that researches it.

“It’s one of my life’s works because my sister died at 47,” Saget said. “That’s the best part about being an only child, man. You don’t have to worry about losing a sibling.”

The first part of the episode is now available on Luminary. The other two will be released throughout the week. The star-studded A Tribute to Bob Saget will be released on Netflix on June 10.

(Via People)

Ever since being arrested last month on charges of racketeering, Young Thug has received plenty of support from the rap community — even from unexpected sources, like YFN Lucci‘s lawyer, who called the RICO case against Thug “racist.” The latest of Thug’s peers to weigh in on the ongoing case is The Game. The Compton rapper appeared on Complex with Speedy Morman where he discussed a number of topics, including the case against Young Thug and YSL Records and the use of lyrics as evidence in it.

“I think it’s bullsh*t,” he said, with no equivocation. “Because when Sylvester Stallone plays Rambo, and he’s shooting up motherf*ckers, get in trouble in real life, they not gon’ bring up Rambo 1 through 5, and be like, ‘You’ve been violent your whole career.’ It’s entertainment. And these days, a lot of rappers are cappin’ in their music — I’m not saying that Gunna and Thug are — … but there needs to be a law passed where they cannot use rappers’ “entertainment” lyrics in a court case.”

There’s good news for him on that front; the state of New York is getting nearer to passing a law limiting the use of lyrics in criminal trials — and others, from Jay-Z to Bobby Shmurda, support its adoption nationwide.

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Despite the fact that Netflix is pulling out all the stops for the fourth season of Stranger Things, the show still has another season left. It will be the final one, though, so expect the fifth season to break even more streaming records. While the fifth season has yet to begin production, the writers are aware that it needs to happen soon, mostly because the fans love it, but also because six years have passed in real life, though in the show it’s been more like three. Realistically, most of the cast would have already graduated college by now (looking at you, Charlie Heaton). So, the final season has to happen soon, and those kids need to get out of high school.

Of course, the show could follow in the footsteps of One Tree Hill and Riverdale and do the good, old-fashioned teen TV show time jump once the show resumes, whenever that may be. “I’m not sure we’re ready to say yet a start date for shooting,” co-creator Matt Duffer told TVLine. “But a lot of it is pretty well mapped out.”

Duffer adds that a lot of planning goes into the very complex seasons and they are extra careful when it comes to the ending. “We learn a lot every time we make a [season],” Duffer says. “We’ve learned a lot just working with all of our new actors and the ones that we’ve worked with for a long time over this year [making Season 4], so I’m sure it’ll change a little bit from that outline.”

The other Duffer brother, Ross, added, “I’m sure we will do a time jump. Ideally, we’d have shot [Seasons 4 and 5] back to back, but there was just no feasible way to do that.” Season four was famously halted for over a year due to COVID restrictions, along with every other TV show and movie at the time.

For now, the brothers are actually still perfecting the rest of the fourth season, which hits Netflix in July. Ross adds, “So these are all discussions we’re going to have with our writers when we start the room up,” he continues. “Believe it or not, we’re still working on Season 4. We’re trying to finish the final two episodes, they’re so massive.” So very massive!

(Via TVLine)

Post Malone dropped his new album Twelve Carat Toothache, Lana Del Rey’s manager confirmed that the pop star has an album coming soon, Solange’s son posted some of his music on social media and received not-so-great reactions, Muna covered “Sometimes” by Britney Spears — this is just some of what went on this past week in the world of pop. There was also a deluge of great new music, ranging from Remi Wolf to Panic! At the Disco, detailed below.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop releases. Listen up.

Vance Joy – “Every Side Of You”

Vance Joy’s new song “Every Side Of You” is a refreshing, heartwarming love ballad. Against a twinkly acoustic guitar, his voice is soft and clear as he expresses his yearning and gratitude: “I don’t know when we’ll be here again / So I memorize / Every inch of your body / Show me every side of you,” he croons on the chorus. It’s gorgeous from start to finish.

Maggie Rogers – “Want Want”

With her second album Surrender coming out soon, Maggie Rogers is hooking in listeners with bombastic singles. “Want Want” is a rock-tinged “sex + sensuality + desire anthem,” as she put it on Twitter, and that rush of endorphins is evident in the excitement of the track.

Panic! At the Disco – “Viva Las Vengeance”

Las Vegas-native hitmakers Panic! At the Disco are back with a bang with this theatrical “Viva Las Vengeance.” Frontman Brendon Urie’s vocals are sonorous and strong, and his words are clever and funny: “I don’t wanna be a diva / I just wanna be free / On a sofa with Sativa / Living the dream,” he belts.

Post Malone, Doja Cat – “I Like You”

Post Malone’s new album Twelve Carat Toothache is here, and this collaboration with Doja Cat is definitely a highlight. His knack for catchy melodies is obvious with this chorus: “Oh girl I like you, / I do / I wanna be your friend go shoppin’ in the Benz,” he sings.

Remi Wolf – “Cake”

Eclectic singer Remi Wolf kicks off “Cake” with a great quip: “I think I’ll get a cake tattoo / remind myself that I can’t have it and eat it too.” The hyperpop-tinged sound gives the song a texture of infectious chaos, and her vocals are powerful, convincing belts that add to the intensity.

Aespa – “Illusion”

South Korean girl group Aespa are unabashed and volatile on this new track “Illusion,” which booms with bass. Their gang vocals are unmatched against the clubby beat; it’s an instant hit that will both make the listener want to get up and dance and hit repeat when it ends.

Christina Aguilera, Tini – “Suéltame”

“Suéltame” by Christina Aguilera and Argentine singer Tini is a collaboration we never knew we needed. Their vocals together are gorgeous and alluring against a buoyant rhythm; it’s a perfect summer song.

Betty Who – “Blow Out My Candle”

While Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” climbs the charts once again, ’80s vibes radiate from this new track “Blow Out My Candle” by Betty Who. “I won’t stop running down that road / I’ll keep dancing ’til I die / You can blow out my candle / But you’ll never put out my fire,” she sings, and it’s as inspirational as Bush’s timeless hit.

Sub Urban – “Bandit”

This off-kilter song “Bandit” by Sub Urban attracts with its eerie atmosphere off the bat: “I need to move, sicced on me / Dogs on the loose, soiled knees,” he whisper-sings, Billie Eilish style. The track moves with this unsettling feeling, but it only makes it more addictive.

Clinton Kane – “14”

On “14,” 23-year-old singer Clinton Kane is already reflecting on his younger years and proves to be wiser than most people his age. He sings, “I’ve been fighting with who I am inside my head / And I don’t know me anymore,” but you get the sense that he’s not alone.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Physicality marked Golden State’s victory in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Boston enjoyed a barrage of three-point looks in Game 1 and made the Warriors pay for their tentative rotations by knocking down 21 three-pointers in Game 1. All of that changed in Game 2 when Draymond Green decided to ramp up the defensive pressure and play like the omnipresent defensive force he has been throughout his career.

Green’s fingerprints were all over this matchup whether it was pressuring Al Horford, locking down Jaylen Brown, setting screens that would make a left tackle blush, or calling Grant Williams a bozo. His energy had a cascading effect on the Warriors’ defensive disposition that clearly bothered the Celtics.

After the Game 2 victory, former NBA players Gary Payton and Cedric Maxwell talked about Green’s physical performance and joked that would have been knocked out if Green had played that way in the 80s. Green was asked about those comments after practice, and as always, gave a delightfully sharp response.

“One thing that baffles me about the 80s or 90s when basketball was so much more physical, some of the guys that be talking were not the guys that were punching people. They act like guys were walking around the court like I’m going to hit this guy in the nose. There were a few guys back then that would lay you out, knock you out, that would foul you and get you out the game: Bill Lambier Rick Mahorn. But everybody walking around like they were that; y’all were getting bullied.”

The constant references by former NBA players on the physicality of the 80’s and 90’s have begun to fall on deaf ears. Draymond rightly pointed out small minority of players who would actually throw a punch on the court and the relative lack of consequences for doing so. Green toes the line as much as any player but notes the punishment system from the league is as much a deterrent as anything, as a punch now might cost him $1 million. The on-court physicality is just enough for him, as he’s proven time and again.

The Los Angeles Sparks will have a new head coach moving forward. According to multiple media reports, the team has decided to part ways with head coach Derek Fisher, who has served in that role since 2018. Fisher has likewise held the position of the Sparks’ general manager since December of 2020.

The news of Fisher’s ouster originally came from Bobbi Mullis of HoopSocial, and was confirmed by Howard Megdal of The Next.

Megdal went on to report that Fred Williams — who has served on the Sparks’ staff since 2019 and has experience as a head coach in the league with the Utah Starzz, Atlanta Dream, and Dallas Wings — will take over in the interim. It is unclear how long he will spend with the team, as he was hired as the associate head coach of the Auburn Tigers last month and was expected to join the program in “mid-summer.”

After starting the 2022 WNBA campaign 2-0, the Sparks have gone 3-7 over their last 10 games and currently sit in fourth place in the Western Conference. Coming into this season, Fisher recorded a 49-39 career record, but the team struggled last season — Los Angeles went 12-20 and finished in sixth place in the West, which led to them missing the postseason altogether. It marked the first time in a decade and the fifth time in franchise history that the Sparks failed the qualify for the playoffs.

When it comes to the hierarchy of warm weather beers, American wheat beers are situated at or near the top of the heap. Lighter and closer to lagers or pilsners than their European counterparts, the American wheat beer is still often unfiltered and hazy, but tends more towards thirst-quenching and refreshing, less reliant on spices like cloves or coriander or the banana-like malt German hefeweizen fans are used to.

With summer weather already upon us, the time is right to stock up on these approachable, highly drinkable, hazy, refreshing summer beers. While you can go to your local beer or grocery store and ask a clerk for help, we prefer to use online experts whenever possible. That’s why we turned to BeerAdvocate and its massive index of beers to find the list of the site’s most popular.

Of course, we had to try them. We blindly tasted and ranked eight of the most popular beers of the style on the site (with the occasional retired beers removed for obvious reasons) and got to work nosing, sipping, and rating. Keep scrolling to see how everything turned out.

• Bell’s Oberon (most popular)
• 3 Floyds Gumballhead (second most popular)
• Samuel Adams Summer Ale (third most popular)
• Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale (fourth most popular)
• Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat (sixth most popular)
• Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss (ninth most popular)
• Modern Times Fortunate Islands (12th most popular)
• Breckenridge Agave Wheat (14th most popular)

Part 1: The Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

I was greeted by a nose of bright orange and lemon as well as bready malts, yeast, and slight banana. The flavor follows suit with tangerine, lemon curd, lime, banana bread, floral hops, and slight spices. The finish is dry and lightly bitter. Overall, this is a multi-dimensional, highly flavorful, summery beer.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

The nose is filled with notes of earthy wet grass, freshly baked bread, floral hops, wheat, and slightly fruity aromas. The flavor continues this trend with sweet wheat, yeasty bread, lemon zest, ripe tangerine, and a slightly spicy finish that ties everything together nicely.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, I found biscuit malts, lemon zest, tangerine, grapefruit, and earthy, grassy hops. The palate is centered on more grapefruit, lemon curd, orange peel, cracker-like malts, yeast, and earthy, herbal, slightly bitter hops at the finish. All in all, a very well-rounded wheat beer perfect for summer drinking.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

I really had to try hard to find anything on this beer’s nose. Slight caramel malts and maybe some honey. Otherwise, nothing discernible. Luckily, the palate has a little more going on with it. There’s some sweet wheat, slight spices, and overly sugary, sweet honey. It’s not horrible, but it’s a little too sweet for my liking. Not the kind of beer I’d order twice.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

The nose is all citrus peels, bready malts, yeast, tropical fruits, and bright, floral hops. Drinking it brings forth notes of biscuity malts, honey sweetness, orange peels, passion fruit, mango, and slight, floral bitter hops at the finish. When it comes to the style, this is a great beer.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, I found slight wheat and some utterly indiscernible fruit flavors. Something tropical. Maybe mango? It’s very mild and bland though. Sipping it revealed a slightly sour, sweet beer with more mystery fruity flavors and a dry finish. Honestly, this beer was okay but weird.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

The nose is light with some floral hops and citrus zest, but really not much else. Fairly bland overall. The palate has a lot of citrus with lemon, orange, and grapefruit, but mostly one-dimensional. Slight hops presence, but not enough to make up for the lack of balance. Overall, a very boring beer.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

A complex aroma of yeast, lemon, orange peel, wet grass, and slight malts are prevalent on the nose. The palate is highlighted by bready malts, more citrus peels, earthy grass, wheat bread, and some lightly bitter, spicy hops. All in all, a well-balanced take on the classic wheat beer style.

Part 2: The Ranking

8) Samuel Adams Summer Ale (Taste 7)

ABV: 5.3%

Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

A summer staple, Samuel Adams Summer Ale is a citrus-centric American wheat ale. It gets its zest, tart, citrus flavor from the addition of malted wheat, orange, lime, and lemon peels as well as a slight hint of spice from the addition of grains of paradise.

Bottom Line:

I can’t remember the last time I had a Samuel Adams Summer Ale. It’s still easy to drink and crushable, it just lacks the flavor I require in an American wheat beer I’d actually buy.

7) Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss (Taste 4)

ABV: 4.9%

Average Price: $8.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Leinenkugel’s seems like the kind of brewery that has a beer for any summer drinker. One of its most popular is its Honey Weiss. This award-winning beer is known for its slightly citrusy, refreshing flavor that’s highlighted by the addition of real Wisconsin honey (hence the name).

Bottom Line:

You know what you’re going to get when you crack open a beer from Leinenkugel’s. They’re easy-drinking, fairly muted beers. Besides the honey sweetness, this one is no different.

6) Breckenridge Agave Wheat (Taste 6)

ABV: 4.4%

Average Price: $8.50 for a six-pack

The Beer:

The light, refreshing flavor profile of American wheat beers is well-suited for the addition of other flavors. In this beer’s case, the flavor is agave. Specifically, it’s an unfiltered wheat beer with sweet agave syrup added to it to give it a unique, summery flavor.

Bottom Line:

I had no idea what to expect with this beer. It wasn’t horrible by any means. But it also wasn’t that good an idea. It rated a big “meh” from me.

5) Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat (Taste 8)

ABV: 4.4%

Average Price: $9.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Kansas City’s Boulevard is a well-known name in the US beer marketplace. It makes a ton of noteworthy beers, but one of the best summery offerings is its Unfiltered Wheat. Brewed since 1990, it’s known for its fruity, malty, slightly bitter flavor.

Bottom Line:

If you’ve been crafting the same beer since 1990, there’s a decent chance you’ve perfected it. Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat is well-balanced and has a nice hit of hops that will appeal to non-wheat beer fans.

4) Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale (Taste 2)

ABV: 4.2%

Average Price: $8.50 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Goose Island is well-known for its iconic IPA and its highly coveted Bourbon County Stout. But the Chicago-based brewery also makes a popular wheat beer called 312 Urban Wheat Ale. Brewed with 2-row malt and wheat as well as Millenium, Cascade, and Hallertau hops, it’s known for its crisp, fruit-filled flavor.

Bottom Line:

I didn’t know what to expect with Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale, but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a very complex, well-balanced, flavorful wheat beer.

3) Modern Times Fortunate Islands (Taste 5)

ABV: 5%

Average Price: $12.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

Modern Times Fortunate Islands is a complicated beer. It’s listed as a pale ale, but it’s listed as an American wheat beer on BeerAdvocate because it’s brewed with Citra, Amarillo hops as well as two-row and Caravienne malts, and wheat malt. The result is a crisp, tropical fruit-filled wheat-centric pale ale that bridges the gap between multiple styles.

Bottom Line:

It’s no surprise that Modern Times Fortunate Islands landed so highly on this list. It’s a complex, flavorful beer that splits the difference between a pale ale and wheat beer. Two great beer styles for summer in one isn’t a bad thing.

2) Bell’s Oberon (Taste 1)

ABV: 5.8%

Average Price: $9.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This is one of the most eagerly awaited beers each spring as it’s only available from March until September. Brewed with simple ingredients like water, barley, wheat, hops, and a house ale yeast, it’s known for its slightly hazy appearance with a nice mix of citrus, tropical fruits, and floral hops.

Bottom Line:

Bell’s Oberon is a highly coveted beer and it shows. It’s a great, balanced, flavorful summer beer that I’ll go back to again and again.

1) 3 Floyds Gumballhead (Taste 3)

ABV: 5.6%

Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack

The Beer:

3 Floyds is a popular name in the craft beer world. While some of the Indiana-based brewery’s beers are difficult to find, that’s not the case with the summer wheat beer Gumballhead. This 5.6% ABV, year-round offering is brewed with white wheat and is dry-hopped with Yakima Valley hops.

Bottom Line:

After blindly trying 3 Floyds Gumballhead, I’m not surprised that it’s one of the most popular wheat beers. It’s fruity, filled with citrus flavors, but has a nice malt backbone and earthy hops presence to tie everything together well.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

After blindly tasting these eight American wheat ales it’s quite clear that I prefer well-balanced beers without any additional flavors. If I’m going to spend my summer drinking a beer, it better have a vast flavor profile, nice balance, and be crushable on a hot, humid, sunny day.