AJ Stephan's Wild Strawberry

AJ Stephan's calls their wild strawberry soda an "elixer."  While this draws up pictures of men with curly mustaches selling patent cures, what you get instead is an old-fashioned soda like your grandma used to make. 

Or didn't make.  My grandma spent more time studying political science than making cookies, but surely, someone's grandma made soda at home.  And it probably tasted like this.

The wonderful thing about AJ Stephan's Wild Strawberry is it isn't too sweet, even though the second ingredient is sugar.  (real sugar, not that HFCS garbage).

The taste is somewhere between a summery wine and strawberry jam, with a nice amount of carbonation.  A good choice for a lazy Sunday afternoon in a hammock.  Wear gingham.

INGREDIENTS: Made with Pure Carbonated New England Water, Cane Sugar, Flavoring, Color & Sodium Benzoate.

Strawberry Zevia

First off, Zevia is a stevia-sweetened pop.  It is not going to taste like sugar.  It does not taste like splenda or saccharine or aspartame.  You need to know this going into it because you will not be happy with this soda if you expect it to taste like a regular, sugar based soda. 

Zevia is an aquired taste. 

Yet when you can't have artificial sweeteners or sugar on a daily basis, it suddenly tastes like the most awesome soda EVER.

The best way to get used to a stevia-sweetened pop is by tasting an unusual flavor.  You'll notice the "off" taste more if you're drinking cola than if you're drinking something that you don't typically drink.

I give you Strawberry Zevia.

The ingredients are simple:  CARBONATED WATER, ERYTHRITOL, NATURAL FLAVORS, CITRIC ACID, REB A (STEVIA EXTRACT).

None of these are scary ingredients, and they won't spike your blood sugar.  Stevia is an herb that is naturally many times sweeter than sugar.  Erythritol is a sugar alchohol that is used to improve the flavor of stevia, it has far less side effects than other sugar alcohols like malitol. (Your mileage may vary)

So...what does it taste like?  Bubble gum.  In a good way.  It has a great amount of carbonation and no sugary mouth feel.  I highly recommend it if you can't drink traditional diet sodas.