Strawberry Vanilla Health-Ade Pop

I was at Whole Foods last night, and I saw these:

Is "last chance" a bad sign?...

I looked over the flavors, and I first thought about the "Apple Snap" on the left. But it was giving me kombucha vibes, and I'm not a fan of kombucha. So I went with the "Strawberry Vanilla:"

Brand: Strawberry Vanilla Health-Ade Pop.

Origin: Torrance, CA.

Purchase Place: Whole Foods, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: So there's still SLIGHT kombucha vibes here as the first ingredient is "organic fermented tea." But it's not as harsh and vinegar-heavy like kombucha is. (But there is a warning that there could be "small piece of culture" floating around.  NO THANKS.) There's only 35 calories in each can, so there's just a little sweetener. And there's also inulin which is supposed to be good for your lower gut.

At first sip, the sparkles hit hard, kind of like a La Croix. And there's a little kombucha-like tang, but it's subtle. The smooth vanilla mixes oddly with the sharpness of the carbonation. I'm left with more of an apple-like aftertaste, with not much strawberry flavor there. It's not bad... I thought it'd be worse. I still can't give this a GREAT score, but it's not horrible. My kombucha-loving wife would probably find this to be a little of a treat.

Score: 4.5 out of 10.

Belvoir Farm Organic Elderflower Lemonade Soft Drink

I opened this last night while cooking (sorry for the mess):

Brand: Belvoir Farm Organic Elderflower Lemonade Soft Drink.

Origin: United Kingdom.

Purchase Place: Whole Foods, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Organic Cane Sugar.

Review: This was pretty "elderflower heavy" (which is not a phrase I think I've ever said). It has just a HINT of sourness, but that's about all I could take away from the "lemonade" part of the flavor.  I wish it was a bit more equal on the elderflower and lemonade scale. The flavor is nice and subtle overall. Not bad (especially if you like elderflower), but I wanted a little more from this.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.

Zevia Strawberry Soda

Well, I didn't MEAN to do 2 strawberry reviews back-to-back, but I just happened to be at Whole Foods a few days ago, and this soda caught my eye:

Brand: Zevia Strawberry Soda.

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

Purchase Place: Whole Foods, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Stevia Leaf Extract.

Review: I've generally not cared for Zevia sodas as they all seem a little weak, but this was WAY better than last week's strawberry soda. It still has a similar complaint to other Zevia sodas in that it tastes SLIGHTLY "sharp," but it's not bad here - it's not overpowering. This is decently sweet for a Zevia soda. The strawberry flavor is nice and almost "fresh" (well... as "fresh" as strawberry "flavor" can be). This was nice on a warm afternoon - refreshing and tasty! And therefore it gets my highest Zevia score to date...

Score: 7 out of 10.

Zevia Cola

I stopped at Whole Foods today and tried this:

Brand: Zevia Cola.

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

Purchase Place: Whole Foods, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Stevia Leaf Extract.

Review: This wasn't great. It wasn't horrible, but I didn't care for it. The cola flavor was weak, and it was really "thin" like many diet sodas. It had a strange sharpness (that I think I get a lot from Stevia), but then a decent slightly fruity kick. Not great overall.

Score: 4.5 out of 10.

365 Lemon Lime

The boys and I swung by Whole Foods for a snack this past weekend, and I grabbed a lemon lime soda:

At a table at Whole Foods, with dark Selby Ave in the background.

Brand: 365 Lemon Lime.

Origin: Austin, TX.

Purchase Place: Whole Foods, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: There was nothing special about this, but it was good. It wasn't as sugary and sweet as "name brand" lemon lime sodas - it was a bit more crisp and subtle. Maybe it was because I was at Whole Foods, but I felt like this wasn't AS bad for me as normal sodas. (Yeah, that was all in my head.) Pretty good, and not overly sweet.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Zevia Black Cherry

I grabbed this while out shopping recently:

Brand: Zevia Black Cherry.

Origin: Culver City, California.

Purchase Place: Whole Foods, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Erythritol and Stevia.

Review: First things first: I had to Google what "Erythritol" was. It turns out it's a calorie-free sugar alcohol used as a sweetener. Here was an interesting note found on Wikipedia: "When compared with other sugar alcohols, it is also much more difficult for intestinal bacteria to digest, so it is less likely to cause gas or bloating than other polyols, such as maltitol, sorbitol, or lactitol."

Anyway, on to the review. This was a clear "soda," and it tasted like a flavored carbonated water. I think I just assumed "black cherry COLA," but it was just like a black cherry water. The sweetness was a little sharp, but the black cherry taste was pretty good. Nothing special.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.

Sky Valley Black Cherry

My wife and I recently took a trip to Colorado. (Some pics here.) I grabbed a soda to enjoy in our hotel room while we were there.

Brand: Sky Valley Black Cherry.

Origin: Danville, VA.

Purchase Place: Whole Foods, Fort Collins, CO.

Sweetener: Organic Cane Sugar.

Review: This wasn't good. I've had one other Sky Valley soda, and that wasn't good either. This had "balsamic vinegar" as one of the last ingredients, and that just has no place in a black cherry soda. Nothing really decent about this at all.

Score: 1.5 out of 10.

365 Root Beer

I had to stop for something at the new Whole Foods in St. Paul (yes, you're allowed to "read into" that - I don't care stopping there at that busy intersection), and I grabbed a can of root beer on the way out:

Brand: 365 Root Beer.

Origin: Austin, TX.

Purchase Place: Whole Foods, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was heavy on the wintergreen flavor, and it was just a bit too much. (It'd be great if you really like wintergreen.) There was a bit too much of a sharpness to this as well that wasn't enjoyable, and that could have been from the wintergreen. Once you get past the wintergreen and sharpness, it has a relatively classic root beer taste. If it were just toned down a bit more, I'd be able to give this 2-3 more points.

Score: 4 out of 10.

Sky Valley Organic Root Beer

I tried this earlier today:

Brand: Sky Valley Organic Root Beer.

Origin: Danville, VA.

Purchase Place: Whole Foods, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Organic Cane Sugar.

Review: This was terrible. Down right horrible. There was an odd sharpness to it, and I think it was from the sea salt and/or the apple cider vinegar found in the ingredients list. I thought the apple cider vinegar COULD be an interesting addition, but it made the root beer a little bitter. I only had a few sips - it was one of the worst sodas that I've had in a while. So this makes 2 horrible root beers that I'd have lately. I've got to change that soon...

Score: 1.5 out of 10.

365 Cherry Vanilla Creme Soda

My wife surprised me on my birthday. She showed up to my class with cake for me and all of my students. AND she brought me a soda. It was Whole Food's "store brand" 365 Cherry Vanilla Creme soda:

Because it's 365, it's all natural with nothing artificial. It had a pretty strong cherry flavor which I liked. It was really what I expected - it was "as advertised."

Brand: 365 Everyday Value Cherry Vanilla Creme Soda

Origin: Austin, TX.

Purchase Place: Whole Foods Market, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: 100% Cane Sugar.

Review: Good cherry flavor with the vanilla hitting more in the aftertaste. As "creme" would imply, it's very smooth. It's a good creme soda, and the fact that it's cherry sets it apart from other creme sodas that I've had. This would be a good summer soda.

Score: 7.5 out of 10.