Review: Zevia, The First Soda Sweetened With Stevia

Track 4 from “Transistor”, by 311

-or a Star Wars Trilogy Sandwich.

Okay, this one’s been on the shelf and now the hot weather is officially here, I thought it was time to send it out.

Awhile back, I noticed a google ad here on the site and thought, “Soda with Stevia? -NO WAY!” -I immediately shot out an email, and Stacey + the good folks at Zevia were nice enough to send us out a sixpack of their soda.

 
If you hadn’t read them before, we’ve had a few posts here on HFCS and its many evils. (though, to be fair, not the monster HFCS==Armageddon post I’ve been promising for months)

So, in the effort to always find a healthier Alternative/Substitution for Anything, I set up a side-by-side taste-test between the mass-market brands’ sugared + diet sodas Vs. Zevia versions of: Orange, Lemon/Lime, and Cola.

 
(FYI: I also took care to rinse out with water inbetween and not bias any of the tastes.)

And to clear up a little of my foodie-cred experience:

I’ve traveled a bit, used all kinds of wacky supplements, drink-mixes, powders, etc. in the pursuit of muscle gain and fat loss, and at times eaten or drank some mildly strange and questionable stuff in various european countries, with the odd mad happy-hour government dignitary singing the song of his people.

 
Anyway, The Results!:
The clearest winners were Sunkist regular and a tie between Sprite and Sprite Zero, on taste and sweetness, with Coke as 1st runner up in the aroma category.

 
Every. single. one. of their sodas were under-flavored, under-sweet, under-perfumed, flat, watery and had a vague chemical smell & taste ranging between a whiff of formaldehyde and the Bottom of an Elephant’s Foot. (I assume the Elephant’s Foot was the Stevia. (or a circus near the factory))

The only notable exception was The Cola which had an Extremely Lemony note in addition to a Metric Asston of Acids that seemed to be added to match that same bite in Coke that feels like it’s peeling the enamel right off your teeth.


To be honest -up until the test, for me Zevia was Jessica Simpson as a film actress. I was absolutely DYing to give ‘er a good review because of the awesomeness as an Idea.

But now, there is just no way I’d recommend it to anyone; -even the French.

-And I’m not even a typical American jaded soda drinker who’s used to the neutron-bomb sweetness of Coke.


Also, COST!: Given the fact that at my local Royall Grocery Purveyours, where they dole out abalone half-teaspoonfuls of osetra caviar to every 10th visitor, charges about $6.00 for a six-pack, that makes an even better case against it.


++On a Food-Chemistry & Safety Note:

I have no idea if regular sugar (-or Stevia for that matter) doesn’t react to the acids in soda the exact same way HFCS does, but right now the only sodas I’d take a risk on would be Boylan’s and Jones.


Going Forward:
Maybe one day in Utopia when Zevia gets some more: Flavor, Sweetener, and Olfactory Artillery into their sodas, and Severely cuts the acid in their cola…

Instead of merely wheeling trollies of carbonated water through a room that Used to house flavorings, sweeteners and perfumes at some undisclosed date in history…

->Then, Maybe we’ll have a better alternative to the ravages of HFCS, Aspartame and their alchemical ilk,

but for now it’s just sodas with straight sugar.


Sorry, Zevia; -back to the drawing board. A+ for concept, D- for taste & execution.


*** Also: HT receives no compensation of any type, before or after this post, from Zevia at all. The only thing we got was a six-pack and a cardboard box.