Hmmm, I don't have any of that flavor, but I do have the stuff in the Yellow can that the Purple can seemingly is the replacement for. I'll give that a try. I was a bit skeptical that some of the higher dollar soaps were actually better than the cheap ones, but having tried a few there are some improvements over most of the cheaper soaps.
In terms of performance, there's nothing wrong with foam in a can, in my experience, and they perform at least as well as some of the lathering products that traditional shavers use. I've never found them to be drying, quite the contrary. The price is also negligible if properly used. Barbasol or Foamy are less than $2 per can where I live.
Personally, I think Edge Gel is wonderful stuff (and you can father lather it with a brush). I would be curious to find something like that, that didn't come in an aerosol can, however.