Better Libations | Healthy Drink Reviews

Time to try out another entry from Zevia, the number one soda from our top 10 list of 2009.  Zevia already has a good lineup of soda flavors, including a lemon-lime, a cola, a ginger ale, and a root beer.  Following the soda chain of command, Zevia has developed a flavor called Dr. Zevia.  (Perhaps an ubercaffienated Zevia Dew is next?)  I like Dr. Pepper’s flavor anyway, so I’m curious to see what Zevia does with it.  So without further ado…

Fragrance: I smell a light, sweet cherry scent that reminds me of Zevia’s Black Cherry flavor, except not as deep.

Taste: Cherry is the prominent player in this flavor, backed up by hints of cola and spices.  It is similar to Dr. Pepper, but with more of a fruity twist.  In fact, it’s exactly what I imagine Dr. Pepper Cherry tastes like.  It’s pleasantly fizzy and just sweet enough.  A lot of flavor comes out in the aftertaste, too, possibly because of Zevia’s use of flavor oils.  As with the other Zevia flavors (or any stevia/erythritol-sweetened drinks), you can tell that there is something different from sugar-sweetened drinks.  But I find the stevia flavor to be much more palate-pleasing than any artificial sweetener.

Health: We’re all about natural at BL, and Zevia is good at that.  (They were the first all-natural diet soda, actually).  The stevia/erythritol sweetening combo delivers the illusive package of flavor and health properties.  It’s hard to argue with zero carbs, zero calories, and zero glycemic index.  I dare say that if we as a country were able to cut even half of our liquid sugar intake, we’d be in a whole lot better shape.  And Zevia is one great way to do it without sacrificing your penchant for sweet bubbly liquid.

Overall: This is another solid entry for Zevia.  Think of Dr. Pepper with a fruitier, cherry twist.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

-Danithius-

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***Review Rebuttal!***

I agree with Danithius, which renders this less a rebuttal than a yes-man follow-up.  The taste is slightly reminiscent of a Dr. or Mr. soda, with that obvious cherry kick at the end. I like the oils and flavors Esteban added, giving this soda an original taste that is sorely needed among the copycat formulation heavily prevalent in the industry.  Another win by Zevia!

4-Star Reviews, Zevia

For our final Zevia review, I bring you Natural Orange, Zevia’s calorie-free, all-natural answer to every other generic orange soda out there.  Even the pleasant orange color is all natural, pulled from the annatto plant (where achiote comes from, for you foodies).

The scent reminds me of Sunkist, although, I’ve always been partial to Hi-C.  The taste is a tad more subtle than other, uber-sweet orange drinks.  The carbonation bite hits you first, and the orange is ushered in after, a tangy-sweet that is light on your tongue but lasting.  I have noticed this about the Zevia drinks, the sweetness always lingers for a while, with no bitterness accompanying it.  The lack of chemicals and preservatives is my top suspect in this case.

This comes off as a little weak in flavor in comparison to more well-known orange refreshers, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  The fake citrus taste in many of these is often too strong and sugary to enjoy, and this is where the simplicity of Zevia lifts itself above the crowd of generic, knock-off sodas as well as the top-sellers.  The stevia/erythritol combination gives it a distinct taste, which rises over the carbonation and then tapers off to the lasting sweetness.

One thing that bugs me about Zevia, despite the great re-design, is that it’s damn hard to see the ingredients list on the side of the can.  It blends in too well with the background.  Other then that, I have had a generally positive experience with Zevia, despite my bias against diet-sodas.  Kudos to Zevia for putting an all-natural, calorie-free soda out in a market saturated with chemically-sweetened drinks.  Now that those who like soda but not the sugar have a better option, I hope they do well.

Score: 4.5 out of 5. Not a flavor explosion, but subtle, sweet and better for you.

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**Danithius Review Rebuttal!**

Well, it’s not so much a rebuttal, because I am in complete agreement with Wise Guise on this one.  It’s true, the real orange flavor of this contender is in the aftertaste, which blends nicely with the sweeteners as they build up to a nice climax a few seconds after it hits your tongue.  It’s pleasantly different from other orange sodas, and like the other Zevia flavors I don’t really get a “diet soda” vibe from it.  You can tell it’s different from sugar-sweetened sodas, of course, but it’s a subtle, natural sweet that I’ve taken a liking to.  I’ll drink this stuff any time.

Danithius’ score: 4.5 out of 5

4-Star Reviews, Zevia all natural, drink reviews, Stevia, Zevia

Yes, those are bright red cabinets.

Danithius thought that he could steal this review from me, but I’m going to one-up him and steal it back.  That’s right, take that, my soda-loving friend. I promised the people my words, and they will have them! I completely agree with the following.

I split my remaining sodas with my roommate, who enjoyed this drink as much as I did.  After opening the can, your nostrils are lovingly caressed by a rich, earthy root beer scent.  It has all the right ingredients – anise oil, wintergreen oil, cassia and citrus oils, and ginger root extract.  So how is the flavor for this one?

I can taste a little bit of the ginger and anise extracts immediately, but the real flavor of this root beer comes through in the aftertaste, as all of the different flavor oils mingle on your tongue.  This is good, because any Stevia/Erythritol flavor seems to come out in the aftertaste as well.  It’s a different sensation that I’m used to with sugar-sweetened root beers, who usually have a very up-front bite that fades away at a steady pace.  This root beer seems to have a bite that builds for another second or so after you swallow, and a flavor that lingers longer than the norm.  I can still taste the sip I drank over 30 seconds ago.  But it’s a good, savory flavor that I don’t mind hanging around.

Score: 4.5 out of 5

-Danithius-
and
–WiseGuise

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4-Star Reviews, Zevia drink reviews, Zevia

Au natural, on concrete.

I’ll be taking up the reins for the rest of the Zevia reviews, since I’ve been slacking off a little due to school and now have more time to burn.  Danithius should be adding his two-cents in rebuttal form later.  Enjoy my sarcasm and superfluous links.

This is my favorite, so far, of the Zevia products I have tried, a simple, citrus-based soda.  It has a pleasant aroma that reminds me of Sprite, and the flavor is close to it as well, but without the carbonation bite I recall from my days of chugging it relentlessly.  This leaves a lingering sweetness on the back of your tongue, not at all like a diet soda that leaves that chemical taste behind. It is overall refreshing and I have a hard time detecting the erythritol/stevia blend, which I like.  The citrus oils blend nicely and make me wish I have more than just this can left.

Something I found out while preparing this post: Zevia packages their drinks in cans made from recycled aluminum, which is earth-friendly and awesome.  I support recycling and recycle aluminum myself, so it’s quite possible I’m drinking out of a can that I may have helped make.  I urge all BL readers to try and recycle whenever and whatever possible, especially aluminum, if you have local recyclers.  And hey, it’s a little free money.

Score: 5 out of 5. Refreshing and familiar, but different.

–WiseGuise

**Danithius Review Rebuttal!**

Yep, Mr. Guise is right, this doesn’t taste diet to me, either.  (Although I seem to have become immune to the Stevia taste.)  It’s light and smooth, with a nice hit of citrus.  It has a more natural flavor than Sprite does, likely because they use lemon and lime oil as the primary flavorings.  I’m down with this stuff.  Personally, I think it could benefit from a bit more pronounced lemon-limey bite.  But, when it comes right down to it, I, like WiseGuise, am sitting here with an empty can, wishing I had more.

Danithius Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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5-Star Reviews, Zevia drink reviews, Zevia

Time for the next entry in our Zevia-spree!  Today’s contender is the Natural Cola flavor, which I’ve been told has gotten a #1 sales ranking in the “Natural Cola” category, as per a firm called “SPINS“.  From what I can tell, SPINS seems legit, but I do wish they had more publicly searchable information on their web site so I could get some confirmation.

I crack open the blue-and-red can, and am met with a spot-on Coca-Cola scent.  As I take a drink, I taste an immediate, bold cola nut flavor with some nice citrus-y overtones.  Wow.  I cannot even detect a trace of the stevia or erythritol sweeteners, they blend flawlessly into the cola flavor.  This does not taste like a diet drink.

Some quick background info – I tried the previous version of Zevia’s Cola flavor, and I even wrote the first draft of a review on it, but I never got around to publishing it.  It’s a good thing – this new reformulated flavor is a night and day comparison.  In my draft, I wrote that the last version had “an OK flavor, but it wouldn’t be enough to wean Coke-addicts off the sugar-bottle”.  I was going to give it a 3-star rating.  Not so anymore!  Now Coke is going to have a serious run for its money.  You nailed this one, Zevia.

Rating: 5.0/5  – for a bold, rich cola that you’d never guess is sugar-free.

-Danithius-

**WiseGuise ReviewRebuttal!**
First off, let me mention that I abhor ‘diet’ anything, and as these are marketed as such, it tends to bias my reviews a little.  I have mentioned before that I seem to have a very acute sweet-taste sense, and I can pick out anything that isn’t sugar right away.  That being said, these are a leap in the right direction, away from the use of artificial sweeteners, and those already used to diet sodas could effortlessly make the switch to Zevia.  No calories or lab-created sweeteners are a huge plus.

As for the cola, these were my impressions.  It smells very much like Coke, but tastes more like diet Pepsi.  The citrus hint is a nice addition, and the soda doesn’t have the bite that Coke does, finishing smooth without the acidic after-burn.  I’ll give it a 4.

User Ratings: (2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
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5-Star Reviews, Zevia drink reviews

Time to bust open another entry by Zevia – this time I think I’ll try the Ginger Ale, which was heartily recommended by the President of Zevia. (As was the Black Cherry, which I liked a lot).

I crack it open and take a whiff, finding a very light scent of… well, whatever ginger ale smells like.  I suppose it smells like a Schwepps or a Canada Dry ginger ale.  As a born Michigander, I’m a long-time fan of Vernors brand ginger ale, which has a much bolder, richer ginger scent and flavor.  (And get this: ironically, it was sweetened with Stevia before it was banned!)  Now, unfortunately, Vernors has succumbed to the high-fructose demons, presumably in an effort to lower costs for its national distribution efforts, and so it will not be reviewed on this site until they come to their senses.  Dammit, what’s the point of barrel-aging anything with high-fructose corn syrup in it??  You should have stayed as an exclusive, Michigan-only secret instead of watering yourself down for the masses!  But I digress…

Right.  Back to Zevia.  I think Zevia’s sweetener mix does well with potent-flavored drinks like this.  The ginger flavor in this entry is sufficient to compete with the stevia/erythritol mix, and indeed makes it almost undetectable.  (Then again, maybe I’m just getting used to it.  It seems that Wise Guise has been able to pick up on it more than me.)

Zevia’s ginger ale has a slight ginger tang and a dry finish, again similar to a Canada Dry-type flavor, but with a slightly more natural, gingery taste.  If this went head-to-head with the other dry ginger ales on a purely flavor basis, I think the ginger-kick in Zevia would win out.  To give you an idea, I’d give Schwepps and Canada Dry a 2.5/5 for flavor, while I’d give Zevia closer to a 3.5.  The thing is, Zevia pulls this off with no sugar whatsoever, and no artificial sweeteners, so yes, it does get extra points for that.

Rating: 4.0/5 A natural-tasting, dry ginger ale that won’t make you morbidly obese.

-Danithius-

**WiseGuise Review Rebuttal!**

I agree a little more with Danithius on this one, the sweeteners are not so apparent as in some of the other flavors. This reminds me of a 7-up with a bit of a ginger kick, also, I’m not quite as familiar with ginger ales as my amigo here is, although I do know Vernors.  It’s pleasantly bubbly and sweet, with a citrus/ginger taste to it.  And yes, I can pick up on it, even in this.  I think it may be an acquired taste.  I’ll give it a 4 as well.

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4-Star Reviews, Zevia drink reviews

Zevia, post-makeover

You may remember some of my previous Zevia reviews as being, well, less than sparkling – particularly the “Natural Twist” flavor.  It didn’t have any real flavor or sweetness to it – it was like drinking club soda with a milligram of sugar and a 1/2 drop of lime.  Well, it turns out that the guys at Zevia were listening, and they revamped their entire product line, including the drink formulas.  They were good enough to notify us about this, and they sent us a box of the new drinks for review.

A note to our readers – while we always like receiving sample products from companies for review, this does not entitle the company to preferential treatment in our product rating.  The only thing we offer these companies is first priority in the review queue.  (i.e, in exchange for the trouble and expense of shipping out the samples, we guarantee that we’ll review them first, before any of our own drinks that we had lined up).  That way you know the people sending the samples actually believe in their products.  So with that said, get ready for a big batch of Zevia Reviews!

OK, first up: Black Cherry.  I am hit by a strong, tart, cherry scent from the second I crack it open.  It smells like “sugared” Black Cherry sodas that I’ve tasted in the past, even though it’s sweetened with Stevia and erythritol.

I take a sip, and find a deep, tart-sweet cherry taste.  The cherry flavor lingers for a while, and finally disappears into a light, dry finish.  It has a slight overtone of the stevia/erythritol flavor.

As you know, we don’t review artificially-sweetened drinks, but both the stevia and erythritol in this are natural.  Barring any findings that they cause brain hemorrhages or something, they have our support at Better Libations.  The flavor of these sweeteners definitely differs from sugar, but it’s much better than your sucraloses or your aspartames or anything else artificial that I’ve tasted.  It is mostly non-intrusive.  In this particular entry, it isn’t very noticeable at all due to the strong cherry flavor – a few sips in and you won’t be able to tell.

Rating: 4.5/5 – A refreshingly complex, natural, sugar-free soda.

-Danithius-

**WiseGuise Review Rebuttal!**
I’m afraid I have to disagree with my comrade on this one.  On the cloying cherry soda smell he is correct, but on the false-sugar flavor, my palette say otherwise.  It has an almost diet soda-y taste, which attempts to hide under the cherry sweet/sourness.  The aftertaste is not nearly as bad as a regular diet soda, and the sweeteners are natural, but the combination may be causing the odd pseudo-sweetness taste.  Still not too bad, as diet sodas go, you get used to the taste.
Score: 3.5 out of 5.

User Rating: (6 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
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4-Star Reviews, Zevia drink reviews

You may remember that I didn’t like the first two flavors of Stevia-sweetened Zevia that I reviewed (Orange and Lemon Lime), but a few nights ago I found my thirsty self in the drink aisle of a natural food store,  and root beer just sounded good.  And it was on sale.  So back off, all right?  Everyone gets a second (well, third) chance.

So, did they redeem themselves?  Actually, yes.  The root beer has a little bit of a fake-sugar aftertaste, but the up-front boldness of  the hearty root beer flavor is satisfying.  It’s a night-and-day comparison with the two citrus “flavors”, which are incredibly weak.  Good job, Zevia, you get the BL gold star award for “most improved”!  I would actually drink this on a regular basis instead of normal root beer.

Rating: 4.0/5 – A tasty, natural, stevia-sweetened root beer.

-Danithius-

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4-Star Reviews, Zevia drink reviews

***Note: this is a review of the pre-2009 version of Zevia’s Natural Twist.  See the other Zevia reviews to find a review of  the new reformulated flavor.***

Smells like sprite lite!

This stuff is sweetened with Stevia, an herb extract that was banned by the FDA, reportedly after receiving one anonymous complaint.  Hmm… I wonder if that call could be traced back to the Corn Refiners Association.  Anyway, check out the Orange flavor for a more detailed exploration of the Stevia topic.

Down to business.  While I’m an advocate of Stevia use (especially when compared to other artificial sweeteners on the market), it has to be used right.  If you don’t have the right flavor to begin with, it doesn’t matter what you use to sweeten it, you’ll still end up with a subpar finished product.  This drink had an off aftertaste, and hardly any citrus flavor, or any flavor at all, for that matter.  The lemon and lime flavor could be much more pronounced.  Nay, they must be more pronounced for a beverage that’s trying to subvert the diet drink market!  I’ve tasted lemongrass teas that had stronger flavor than this.  There’s no punch, and it leaves a bit of phlegm buildup in the back of your throat.

Again, I love the idea of getting away from heavy sugar use, but you still have to sport sufficient flavor to give me and the rest of the population a reason to switch to you.  If I was dieting and I had a choice between this and water, I’d go with water.  For the narrow segment of people that want something fizzy without any sugar and without chemical-based artificial sweeteners, this may do the trick.  But I warn you, Zevia, they’d be fair-weather consumers at best!  As soon as another Stevia option comes along with a halfway decent flavor, you’ll be wondering where your sales revenues have gone.

I love what you’re trying to do, but you could be so much more than than what you are now!  With the right flavors on your side, you could make something that would woo all soda drinkers into your sweet herbal embrace!

Rating 2.0/5 – great potential, but this particular entry fizzes out.

- Danithius -

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2-Star Reviews, Zevia drink reviews, Stevia, Zevia

Zevia on Maple, cir. 2008

***Note: this is a review of the pre-2009 version of Zevia’s Natural Twist.  See the other Zevia reviews to find a review of  the new reformulated flavor.***

I typically avoid diet sodas of any kind, but one sweetener has come to my attention more than once, and I’ve been looking around for a chance to try it. I heard about it first from an anecdote in The Four-Hour Workweek. It’s called Stevia. It’s South-American herb with the nickname of “sweetleaf” – extracts of Stevia can be 300 times the sweetness of sugar.

Stevia has been outlawed by the FDA as a sweetener, reportedly after only one anonymous complaint… probably by a corn industry executive…

The FDA’s official stance is that “no one has ever provided FDA with adequate evidence that the substance is safe”.

Psh. You’ve passed a lot more fishy stuff than this, FDA. Any negative studies you can find on Stevia are nowhere near as freaky as some of the fake sweeteners on your approved list! (You’ll notice on their site that they are still defending Saccharin.)

Stevia has been used for 30 years in Japan and for centuries in South America with no reported ill effects. Google it, there’s a whole mess of controversy out there.

OK, down to business. The makers of this soda get around the FDA by labeling it as a “carbonated stevia supplement”.  Smooth.  It has Erythritol, a sugar-alcohol also contained in SoBe Lifewater.  It can be purchased online at https://store.zevia.com, and at the time of writing, they were having a FREE 6 pack sampler special.  You only pay for S&H.  If you’re interested, check it out.  I don’t know how long it will last.

This soda has a kind of mellow after-sweetness with a light orange flavor. (Think Sobe Lifewater’s orange flavor, only carbonated and with a little less flavor punch). This is heavily carbonated – too much for my taste, but nothing to a hardcore soda chugger. The flavor and sweetness seem to grow on you as you drink it, but it never quite delivers the flavorful body I’m looking for. I have a feeling it will take more oomph to wean hardcore soda lovers (or diet soda lovers) off the bottle. Some intense herbs and spice will do amazing things for flavor, Zevia, just look at some of the totally non-sweetened drinks that we’ve reviewed!

This is an interesting entry, but not amazing. Yes, it is probably a lot better for you than teeth-rotting regular soda or the chemical sweeteners in the diet stuff, but that’s not enough to make my buddy list. I’m prepared to make some small flavor sacrifices for big returns on health, sure. But to get the big points, you need to give me the Holy Grail, that perfect combination of both flavor and health. I must have it all!

Rating: 3.0/5

Danithius

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3-Star Reviews, Stevia, Zevia