Cactus Cooler Jam [Pineapple & Orange]

As a kid, Cactus Cooler was my favorite soda…

I hadn’t thought about it in YEARS.  Recently I made a quick trip to the store to pick up some ginger ale, and there on the shelves was CACTUS COOLER — it’s a soft drink/soda that is made by Canada Dry.   Amazed at seeing my childhood favorite sitting in front of me, I grabbed a six-pack and took it home with me.  As soon as I was home, I cracked one open, poured it over ice, and took a sip — and it was as wonderful as I remembered it being when I was a kid!

I was having cocktails with a friend, telling them about my Cactus Cooler reunion, and once all of the teasing subsided, my friend stated that I should give it the ‘jam treatment’… And I thought; why not?  So I set about experimenting… I used the orange combination that worked so well for me with the Orange Chocolate Jam, then worked on getting the balance between the pineapple and the orange blend correct… The end result is the jam we have here — a wonderful, fun blend of pineapple and orange flavor that is a smile inducing nod to that soda that brought me such joy as a kid… Cactus Cooler Jam – give it a try; you won’t be sorry!!