Zevia Natural Ginger Root Beer Stevia Soda

Note: This is a review on the older flavor of Zevia root beer. To read about the newer flavor, go to this Zevia review post.

This zero-calorie diet Ginger Root Beer from Zevia did not dazzle my taste buds. (And Food Meister really, really wanted it to go down smoothly!) Since first hearing about Zevia, the diet soda sweetened with stevia, I was ecstatic with hope. Liquid stevia is my favorite natural sweetener to use in tea, coffee, and baked goods. So it makes sense that stevia would fare just as well in soda, right?

Apparently, good sense has gone fishing on this one. Where did Zevia Natural Ginger Root Beer stevia soda go wrong? Although it passed the sniff test, the diet soda sorely bombed during the taste test. There is a spicy, sharp undertone that doesn’t sit well with me.

The best way to describe this flavor … Have you ever eaten one of those jelly gumdrops, the kind with the granular sugar coating? This diet soda tastes like the red gumdrop flavor. But (and this is a mighty big but) this drink has the same dentist-inspired aftertaste as Hansen’s Pomegranate diet soda. I will say, though, that it's a step above the carbonated pomegranate in the taste department.

And speaking of carbonation, I use that term loosely here. While the flavor has a sharp bite to it, most certainly from the ginger, I couldn’t say the same for its fizzy attributes. The Zevia soda went near-flat within a few hours of opening, even though I took my initial sips and then promptly covered the top with a plastic baggie sealed by a rubber band. I do this all the time with Hansen’s diet sodas and those opened cans last a good day or two before starting to fizz out on me.

Sadly, Zevia’s Ginger Root Beer Diet Soda will not be replacing my usual Hansen’s Diet Root Beer Soda anytime soon. Perhaps I’ll try a different Zevia soda flavor in the future, but at $5.99 for a six-pack, it’s not quite on my short-list of things-to-do. Ole’ Food Meister’s quest for a suitable Splenda soda replacement will just have to wait.