Bette Jane's Ginger beer: Created in San Francisco, this bottled soda had a good level of potent ginger spice but also has a slight diluted taste overall. Level of sweetness and fizz is appropriate. 3.0/5.0
drinks soda gingerbeer bettejanes ginger beer 3.0
IKEA Dryck Julmust: IKEA describes it as a "Swedish festive drink" (though it seems slightly out of season to be selling in October). The drink has a dark cola color and does taste a little similar but with a more nuanced spiced flavor (the ingredients include malt, and I got a bit of clove and cinnamon). It's also far less sweet than Coke or Pepsi. If I could pick a cola-like beverage to drink during the holidays, this would be it. (In my haste to buy furniture for my new place, I forgot to photograph the ... (read more) 4.0/5.0
drinks soda recommended sweedish ikea dryck julmust 4.0
Alta Palla Sparkling blood orange soda: Having never seen this California-based brand, I purchased this can from my local Andronico's. Unfortunately, while it's an organic product, it tastes strikingly similar to Sunkist and is unnecessarily sweet. The one good thing I can say about is that the amount of carbonation was spot on. 2.5/5.0
drinks organic altapalla sparkling blood orange soda 2.5
Gina Mango nectar: Containing less than 25% juice, this thick mango flavored beverage has an aftertaste anyone that has had artificial mango bubble tea will recognize. Very sweet. Not recommended. 2.0/5.0
drinks avoid gina mango nectar 2.0
Happy Lemon Lemon cooler slushie: While some may find their drinks to be overwhelming tart, I appreciate the sharp, acidic lemon flavor of the Hapoy lemon classic lemon cooler slushie. This beverage checks all the boxes for an ideal drink: refreshing, well balanced, and affordable. Highly recommended! 4.0/5.0
drinks recommended happylemon lemon cooler slushie 4.0
Mr. Wish Black milk tea with boba: While I found the boba to be a bit too chewy, I otherwise found this classic beverage, which was not too sweet (I specified 25% sweetness) to be good. It is unfortunately too common to purchase black milk tea that doesn't actually have any herbal taste; this one fortunately avoids that pitfall. 3.0/5.0
recommended drinks boba milktea mrwish black milk tea 3.0