Reviews of 6 non-alcoholic beverages

With a rating from ★ - ★★★★★

Hoplark - 0.0 Citra ★★

Hoppy, light, bitter

Smells and tastes like a beer, but with a lighter body and more seltzery - mouth feel. Better to drink it in the can if you want to trick yourself into thinking it’s a beer, since the very pale yellow color gives it away if poured into a glass.

De La Calle Tepache - Tradicional Pineapple Spice ★★★★★

Tropical, cinnamon, lightly sweet

Created by the indigenous people of modern-day Mexico, this is the most uniquely delicious beverage I’ve tasted in a while. Read more about the history here.

Health-Ade Kombucha - Passion Fruit Tangerine ★★★★★

Tart, sweet, juicy

I’m always surprised by how many people still haven’t tried kombucha, given how popular it’s been for years, but alas…there are a lot of you out there! This particular flavor is a favorite of mine because it amps up the natural tartness and acidity of kombucha with a strong citrusy flavor. My go-to way of drinking kombucha is to mix it with seltzer at about a 50:50 ratio.

Olipop - Tropical Punch ★★

Sweet, pineapple, apple

When my friend Katie and I were drinking this, we kept trying to put our finger on exactly what it tasted like, and we concluded it was sort of like a bubbly Capri Sun. It wasn’t my favorite, but I appreciated how strong the flavor was compared to it’s main competitor, Poppi, which tasted more watered down to me.

Sanzo - Lychee Sparkling Water ★★★★

Floral, pure-lychee flavor, subtly sweet

In a word: lovely. It’s a pleasure to drink and tastes fresh. I gave it 4 stars because I would have liked just a bit more lychee juice to pump up the flavor.

Poppi - Ginger Lime ★

Sweet, lime, soda

To me, this one tasted like a kind of flat, watery Sprite. I was not a fan, but I know a lot of people are. Leave a comment if you have a favorite flavor so I can give it another shot!