Roxbury Mountain Maple Maple Lemon Ginger Beer: Soda from farmers market are almost always a gamble. They’re rarely labeled with nutrition facts and sometimes don’t even have an ingredients list. Yet, the mere fact that they’re only available directly from small producers is often appealing enough for me to want to try them. There was no question when I saw this intriguing combination of maple with lemon and ginger. Remarkably, the soda tastes purely of those three flavors and nothing else. The ginger is prominent and spicy, the maple add... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional drinks soda gingerbeer roxburymountainmaple maple lemon ginger beer 4.5
Kimura Fukumaneki Soda: After having previously reviewed yuzu soda from Kimino (a 5.0!), I looked up other distributors of the fantastic beverage and came across Umami Mart in Oakland. I decided to pay it a visit to see what other tasty snacks it might sell. Umami Mart is a largely sake-focused store that sells a variety of barware and ceramics. In the back of the store is where the snacks are, with products like Japan’s famed KitKat flavors and bags of Umaibo. It’s basically a limited selection of what you can get... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks soda japanese ramune kimura fukumaneki 2.5
Coca Cola Coke Zero Sugar: I'm in the Coke Zero camp (I.e., I prefer it to Diet Coke for its better depth of flavor and less metallic taste). Though, to be honest, they both pale in comparison to the more fully body Coca-Cola, which unfortunately has too much sugar. Apparently, Coke improved the flavor of Coke Zero while also emphasizing that it's a zero-calorie beverage through rebranding, for those who were unaware. I didn't taste much difference from the original Coke Zero which is neither good nor bad. So if you w... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks soda cocacola coke zero sugar 2.5
Dr. Pepper Diet soda: Like most kids, I enjoyed mixing sodas at the fountain Machine whenever my family went out for fast food. Dr. Pepper always reminds me of that, a well-proportioned combination of cola, root beer, and a little something extra (probably cloves and allspice, I'm guessing). Their diet soda is my go-to for vending machine options. 3.5/5.0
recommended drinks drpepper diet soda 3.5
A&W 10 Root Beer: I can't pinpoint exactly when it started, but sometime in undergrad (when I was severely overworked as most MIT undergrads are), I chose diet soda as my caffeinated-beverage-of-choice. I wasn't reliant on it the same way my classmates depended on coffee, but I knew it was an effective way to keep myself alert, and I was scared of the unnecessarily high sugar content of non-diet soda. It took me a while to acclimate to the off-taste of aspartame, but once I did, I started to try different die... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks soda rootbeer aw 10 root beer 2.5
La Croix Coconut sparkling water: I tend to avoid La Croix, largely because I never buy cases of soda. But ever time I try it, I'm surprised how decent it is given its mass appeal. This coconut one had a concentrated tropical flavor and good level of carbonation. Good job people of America in promoting a quality product. 3.0/5.0
drinks soda seltzer lacroix coconut sparkling water 3.0