Before I tell you what I think about Zevia pop, I want to tell you why I came to this place of doing a Zevia review. The fact is that I grew up on pop, as I’m sure many people did. My dad is a hardcore Pepsi drinker, and because I wanted to be just like my dad, I drank Pepsi all the time too. In fact, I remember getting into those crazy Pepsi versus Coke arguments that seemed to be popular when I was a teenager (in the 90s) and it made Pepsi really important to me somehow. When I got older, I started to like Coke. Thank god all those people who I argued with don’t know me anymore.
Anyway, eventually I gained a ton of weight and became a little more health conscious, and I realized that I probably shouldn’t be drinking either Pepsi or Coke, so I started to look for different options.
The first I found was a Krisda drink that I loved! It used stevia as its sweetener. But they stopped supplying our store with their pop, and as far as I can tell they don’t make it anymore.
After that, I tried the Zevia’s Cola and Black Cherry, and they didn’t even compare to regular pop. In fact, they were disgusting.
So, I went back to the Coke and then eventually got on to the dreaded artificial sweetener kick with Fresca. I drank that stuff for years. But it started to hurt my stomach.
I didn’t realize it was the Fresca hurting my stomach at first, but my husband convinced me to stop drinking stuff with artificial sweeteners for a while and the pain went away within about a week. When I started up again, the pain came back instantly. I started to read up on the negative effects of artificial sweetener, and I knew I had to quit that too.
I’ve been trying to drink sparkling water, but it is not as satisfying as pop. I guess I miss the sweetness of pop. So, I’ve been occasionally drinking those tiny Coke cans trying to trick myself into believing they are not that bad. But, I’ve been keeping my eyes open for something new.
Giving Zevia One More Chance
The other day, I was walking through the supermarket and Zevia stood out to me for some reason. I decided to give Zevia one more try. It’s been at least 5 or 6 years since I tried it last. This time I got the Black Cherry (because it seemed to call to me most) and holy crap is it good! Zevia must have changed the formula for their pop.
It tastes REALLY good.
It’s satisfying.
It does the trick.
I Like What Goes Into It
What I like about Zevia pop is that it fits right into my criteria for food: It is vegan and non-GMO. And believe me, not all pop is considered vegan, including some Coke products. Some formulas use gelatin and other non-vegan products in the processing part.
Apparently, they cut out caramel color in their pop last year, so all of their pop is clear. That’s fine by me! I don’t eat or drink by color, I eat or drink by taste and ingredients.
Zevia lists ‘Reb A’ as an ingredient, which is apparently the sweetest of all the compounds found in the stevia leaf. And I can attest, it’s pretty darn sweet, which you would think would be a bad thing. But, an article from Authority Nutrition showed that Stevia has some health benefits, which makes me think that I’m on to something better than I was drinking Coke again.
It also contains Monk Fruit Extract, which I don’t remember being there years ago. So maybe that’s why the taste is better? Maybe that balances out the stevia?
It also contains citric acid, and the biggest problem I found with that is that it can be produced with GMOs. But, the Zevia people say that their pop is non-GMO, so I’m good with it.
As an additional note, citric acid has been shown to cause digestive issues, so that’s definitely something to keep your eyes open for. However, I’m not too concerned about it.
And it also contains Erythritol. This is ANOTHER sweetener. And I don’t remember this being in Zevia when I checked years ago (I could be mistaken), but I imagine it helps to take away the taste of the stevia that many people don’t like, just like the Monk Fruit Extract probably does.
Lastly, there is ‘natural flavor’ listed. I wish companies would just list what they are, but no such luck. I’m not too worried about this either, though.
Do I Think You Should Give Zevia A Try?
I see that there are 16 different types of drinks to choose from, including a Grapefruit Citrus that may remind me of Fresca. I’m excited about it. If they are as good as the Black Cherry, they should be good.
I will definitely be drinking these sodas as long as they are available near me or until I decide I don’t need soda in my life anymore. And, I totally recommend you give them a try if you want to satisfy your pop needs without the sugar or artificial sweetener.
Update: Tried the Cream Soda in Zevia, and, to me, it’s just as good as any other cream soda I’ve had. Even my husband liked it. Although he did say he tasted a bit of stevia at the end, but not as much as he has in other stevia products. With the Black Cherry pop, he never said anything about the stevia taste. We think that the stevia taste is a lot like the aspartame taste – once you get used to it, you don’t notice it anymore.
Update 2: Tried Zevia’s Ginger Ale and it tastes like Ginger Ale to me and to my husband. Also, my mother came over the other day and tried the Cream Soda. She is a hardcore aspartame woman. She drinks everything in ‘diet’ and she uses fake sugar in her coffee. She has also hated stevia products I’ve given her in the past, including Krisda which didn’t taste anything like stevia to me. She liked it! She said it tasted like cream soda and even though she got a hint of stevia (or some flavor she couldn’t put her finger on) at the end, she liked the cream soda flavor so much that it didn’t matter.
