Zevia Cherry Cola

I grabbed this while out earlier today:

Enjoying it in my car.

Brand: Zevia Cherry Cola.

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

Purchase Place: Kowalski's Market, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Stevia Leaf Extract.

Review: Over 7 years ago, I tried "Black Cherry Zevia" and just thought it was OK. (It was weird to me that it was clear.) Well, this was a cherry COLA (not just a SODA) which meant I expected it to be darker, but it was clear as well. This started strong, but it seemed to get worse the more I sipped on it. The cherry flavor wasn't nearly as refined as I expected it to be - it was a bit of an over-the-top child-like cherry. Overall, it wasn't bad, but had that sharpness from Zevia that I sometimes don't care for. I drank it all, but didn't care for it much by the end as it felt sharper and sharper. I'll rank this a bit lower than average.

Score: 4 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 Ginger Root Beer

I was at Fresh Thyme recently and grabbed a large can of ginger root beer:

Brand: Zevia Ginger Root Beer

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

Purchase Place: Fresh Thyme Farmer's Market, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Stevia Leaf.

Review: My 3 other "Zevia" sodas were all just OK (receiving "average" scores of 4.5, 5, and 5.5), so I was ready for this to be just OK. I poured some out for my boys to taste, and it was CLEAR, so that was weird. It had a strange tartness (that I think is from the Stevia) that I didn't care for. I didn't taste any of the ginger flavor in it - it was just a kinda strange root beer. And it was so weak that it tasted almost like a flavored water. It didn't taste that great, and it was weak, so no thanks.

Score: 3 out of 10.
 

Zevia Zero Calorie Grape

I was walking through "Fresh Thyme" in Minneapolis, and I grabbed this large can:

Brand: Zevia Zero Calorie Grape.

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

Purchase Place: Fresh Thyme, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Stevia Leaf Extract.

Review: Recent "grape soda" posts came to mind with my first sip: last month, I said "I don't know that I've had a 'bad' grape soda," and earlier this year, I said "I think most grape sodas can win me over pretty easily."

But this wasn't great. And it didn't win me over easily. I had to look at the label again to make sure I wasn't drinking flavored carbonated water. Because it had that "sharp/weak" taste of a La Croix. But no, it was a soda. Just a weak weak weak soda.

What's funny though is that the more I sipped it, the more I was OK with it. It wasn't a "drinkable" soda that you'd gulp down in 1 minute. But it was something I kept taking sips of over an hour, and I was OK with that. So initially (like after the first 2 sips), I would have ranked this more like a 3, but after spending some more time with it (in it's large 16 oz can), I became OK with it's weaker flavor and ranked it a bit higher.

Score: 5 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.

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.