From colas to root beers to just plain old the bubbles, there isn’t a soda flavor out there that I don’t love. While I generally reach for the dark stuff when I’m sipping on the Devil’s nectar (what I call soda — will it stick?), I love clear fruit-flavored sodas too. Which is why I set out to blind taste test all the best brands in search of the tastiest.
I’ve wanted to do this for some time but wasn’t sure how I should break it up — Focus on citrus? Strawberry only? What about cherry? Fruit sodas are a wide umbrella, but rather than create separate articles for lemon-lime, orange, strawberry, and everything in between, I decided to just throw them all together into one super article. Does that mean something is inevitably going to be left out? Yes, but we’re focusing on the most market-present here — meaning you’ve definitely seen all of these flavors before.
Here are the 15 most popular fruit sodas blind taste tested and ranked.
PART I — Methodology
For this blind taste test, I went to four different convenience stores (Mobile, Chevron, 7-11, and a local donut shop) and rounded up every single fruit soda I could find. In my search, I discovered a few things: 1) Sierra Mist doesn’t exist anymore. 2) Welch’s soda is exclusive to the Dollar Tree and doesn’t exist outside of that store. 3) Apple soda is a thing. 4) I couldn’t find a single Grape soda at four different stores, leading me to believe grape soda isn’t nearly as popular as I thought.
I also couldn’t find cherry Sprite or 7-Up, but we covered that in our cherry soda ranking so I didn’t feel too bad about leaving those out. Cherry soda is a big enough category that it deserves its own article, which we gave it already.
Our class of sodas for this article includes:
- 7-Up — Lemon Lime
- Cactus Cooler — Orange Pineapple Blast
- Crush — Orange
- Crush — Strawberry
- Fanta — Orange
- Fanta — Strawberry
- Jarritos — Mandarin
- Jarritos — Lime
- Manzanita Sol — Apple
- Mountain Dew
- Mountain Dew — Code Red
- Sunkist — Orange
- Sprite — Lemon Lime
- Starry — Lemon Lime
- Squirt — Grapefruit Soda
Once the 15 sodas were acquired, I chilled them at home overnight and had my girlfriend serve me each one at random the next morning while I wore a blindfold. Considering just about every flavor had a double I don’t think the blindfold was completely necessary but I wanted to see if I could pick out the flavors with my senses alone. It turns out this was way easier than I thought but about a third of the flavors legitimately stumped me. Most fruit sodas do taste like the fruit they’re marketed as, but a lot of them don’t taste like fruit at all. I also discovered that most fruit sodas have considerably more sugar than cola, which surprised me. My teeth felt absolutely insane after I was done with the 15.
On to the tasting!
Part II — The Blind Taste Test
Taste 1:
Incredibly refreshing with a strong fizz and a biting aftertaste. There is a nice balance between juicy lemon and zesty lime flavors that soak into the tongue in the best way. This is a great start, simply one of the best fruit sodas I’ve ever tasted.
Taste 2:
An orange soda with an initial creamsicle flavor that settles into blank overly carbonated territory. The orange flavor here hovers just above the fizz but it doesn’t really connect. I found myself constantly trying to taste more orange, but it just wouldn’t deliver.
Taste 3:
Very orange-forward, and incredibly natural tasting. This tastes eerily similar to orange juice with a hint of fizz injected into it. Has a sort of navel orange sweetness to it, very delicate and refreshing.
Taste 4:
Amazing sizzling burn! This one has a great citrusy zest to it that bounced around my taste buds. There is a sour almost wince-inducing aftertaste. I really like this one, it has the sort of bite I look for in a soda.
Taste 5:
Awful. The worst soda I’ve ever tasted. It tastes like some sort of overly candied cider with a weak amount of fizz. Imagine if Kool-Aid made an Apple cider flavor, and then let it sit out in the sun for a year.
Taste 6:
Another fruit soda that’s weak on the fizz, this one tastes like straight-up candy. I’m getting the slightest hint of cherry or strawberry but that’s a real struggle to pull out, it tastes like someone melted down a Tootsie Pop and then carbonated it just a little bit.
Taste 7:
Very sweet and round character. It has a noticeable citrus flavor to it but it’s not at all zesty or tart. I’m getting the slightest hint of lime, but it’s a bit hard to pin down. Very delicious and unique.
Taste 8:
This one has a weird powdery texture to it and I can’t really pin down what flavor it’s supposed to be. It tastes unlike any fruit soda I’ve ever had, it’s very juicy but doesn’t really taste like orange or lemon-lime, yet it has a tart citrus quality to it. It gives a bit of a burn on the back of the throat and a good aftertaste but that powdery quality is really strange. Soda isn’t supposed to have a textural mouthfeel, but somehow this does.
Taste 9:
Very strawberry candy forward and artificial. There is a nice fizz and bite here, but it’s off-puttingly sweet.
Taste 10:
Another strawberry soda but a lot less sweet than Taste 9. This one is highly carbonated and juicy without tasting like straight-up candy.
Taste 11:
I have no idea what this flavor is. It doesn’t even taste like fruit. It’s dangerously sweet and it has a unique aftertaste but it comes across as a bit flat tasting and lifeless. There is no bite here whatsoever.
Taste 12:
Delicious, this soda has a sort of shifting flavor to it. I can tell it’s lemon-lime, but it presents itself across the palate in a really interesting way. It starts off very lime-forward and settles into juicy lemon territory with a nice crispy snap. Great level of fizz here.
Taste 13:
Another lemon-lime, this one is much more carbonated than Taste 12 but doesn’t have the same complexity to it. I’m getting more of a blank carbonated flavor than I am citrus notes. It’s good, but not great.
Taste 14:
Very natural mandarin orange flavor. Very round character, not very fizzy but the juicy orange notes are really pleasant. I can see this one working as a great mix for a cocktail. It provides a nice burn on the throat.
Taste 15:
Ending it on an orange soda, this one has a really delicious natural orange flavor but almost no fizz. Unlike Taste 14, this one doesn’t have that nice round character, making it come across as incredibly flat and lifeless. A sorry close to a delicious round of drinks.
Part 2: The Ranking
15. Manzanita Sol — Apple Soda (Taste 5)
Price: $5.98 (12 pack)
So it turns out apple soda is a thing! Manzanita Sol was located at all four locations I picked up drinks from which means not only is apple soda a thing, but people really seem to like it. Why I’ll never know. This was by far the worst-tasting soda I’ve ever had, it tasted like fermented apple juice.
The brand is owned by PepsiCo and its primary audience is in Mexico. Mexico makes some great sodas, but Manzanita Sol is not one of them. I blame PepsiCo for that!
The Bottom Line:
Avoid this soda at all costs. Did Apple flavor soda? Get out of here with that shit.
14. Mountain Dew (Taste 11)
Price: $5.98 (12 pack)
At the start of this article, I said I had never tasted a flavor of soda I didn’t like, but I was wrong, I don’t like Mountain Dew. Even a little bit. I always assumed this was a lemon-lime soda but after tasting it blind I started to have some doubts. Does Mountain Dew taste like lemon-lime? Not at all. So I looked it up and Mountain Dew is apparently a “citrus-flavored” soda. What sort of citrus? They don’t specify.
Mountain Dew doesn’t have the zest of any sort of citrus, instead, it just tastes like melted candy in the worst way.
The Bottom Line:
I can’t believe Mountain Dew has fans, this is the worst citrus soda I’ve ever tasted.
13. Fanta — Orange (Taste 3)
Price: $7.46 (12 pack)
Fanta has a long and very interesting history. Currently, the brand is an American-owned German soda that started as a Coca-Cola alternative in the 1940s due to an American trade embargo. Despite the brand’s Nazi roots, the formulation of the soda we know today is actually the result of Italian influence, after Italy reformulated the brand in the mid-50s. Today the brand produces over 200 flavors worldwide.
I’m not a fan of this orange soda, it just tastes a bit too natural, which seems like a weird complaint to have but this is soda we’re talking about, it’s not supposed to taste natural. If I wanted that, I’d be drinking orange juice.
The Bottom Line:
Of the many brands of orange soda we tried, this one was by far the weakest.
12. Mountain Dew — Code Red (Taste 6)
Price: $19.75 (12 pack)
I’m ashamed to admit that at one point in my life when I was a tween, this was my favorite soda. Maybe it was the super bright red color, maybe I thought the words “code red” sounded cool — look I can’t really explain why I liked this other than saying it’s because I must’ve been stupid.
Code Red calls itself a “cherry-flavored” soda but it doesn’t taste anything like cherry, which is a shame because of the four stores I visited, it was the only clear cherry soda available. What happened to Cherry 7-Up and Cherry Sprite? Why does this dominate so much shelf space? It’s better than regular Mountain Dew but it’s still an awful tasting overly-sweet soda that you’d best avoid.
The Bottom Line:
All soda is bad for you, but Code Red truly tastes like it’s trying to kill you.
11. Fanta — Strawberry (Taste 9)
Price: $9.49 (12 pack)
While I thought Fanta’s Orange soda tasted a bit too natural, the Strawberry had the opposite problem. Now, I don’t expect anything that is artificially strawberry flavored to ever taste like actual strawberry, this one tastes a bit too much like candy.
With its overly juicy flavor and its lack of fizz, this soda really failed to deliver and served as a reminder of just how much I miss Welch’s strawberry soda, which if my memory serves correctly, was delicious.
The Bottom Line:
Too candied and not fizzy enough.
10. Sunkist — Orange (Taste 15)
Price: $4.98 (12 pack)
Sunkist was PepsiCo’s answer to Coca-Cola’s Fanta brand. When the brand launched in the 70s, orange sodas were the third most popular soft drink flavor, which is wild to think about. Today, I doubt orange even cracks the top five.
Today the brand is owned and produced by Keurig Dr. Pepper and has burned through several different slogans including “good vibrations,” “feel all orange inside,” “drinkin’ in the sun,” “head for the sun,” “taste the sun,” “drink the sun,” and my personal favorite, “run into the sun,” which is the current slogan — and would make an interesting invocation for a suicidal cult leader. I can’t for the life of me figure out why Sunkist hasn’t gone with the obvious slogan of “kissed by the sun,” but hey I don’t own a soda brand. Yet.
The Bottom Line:
A fine tasting orange soda… but not the best.
9. Cactus Cooler — Orange-Pineapple Blast (Taste 8)
Price: $8.99 (12 Pack)
And the award for weirdest soda of all time is Cactus Cooler. Part of Keurig Dr. Pepper’s portfolio, this soda is apparently orange-pineapple flavored, but it couldn’t taste less like either of those ingredients. The drink was originally inspired by the Flintstones (Fred’s favorite drink is Cactus Cooler) and is a Southwestern United States exclusive flavor.
If you live on the east coast and this soda strikes you as incredibly exotic, don’t worry, you’re not missing out on much. Still, it’s an interesting alternative to the other orange soda brands out there — we just wish it tasted even a little bit like what it’s advertised as.
The Bottom Line:
A southwestern exclusive, Cactus Cooler truly tastes unlike any soda you’ve ever had. We’re still not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
8. Crush — Orange (Taste 2)
Price: $5.98 (12 Pack)
Crush is a brand that has been around since 1911 and was originally marketed as Ward’s Orange Crush, named for Neil C. Ward, the partner of the company’s founder and president Clayton J. Howel. That means it predates most of the soda brands on this list!
In the ‘80s the brand was purchased by Procter and Gamble, then acquired by Cadbury Schweppes, and is now owned by Keurig Dr. Pepper. Even though it didn’t rank highly for me, I’m glad it exists! Few soda brands can say they’ve been around for 100 years, but Crush can — it must be doing something right.
The Bottom Line:
A fine orange soda, but it tastes more like carbonation than like orange. This soda just might be too fizzy.
7. Crush — Strawberry (Taste 10)
Price: $23.22 (12 pack)
Crush may have started as an orange soda brand but strawberry is the better flavor. There is a nice balance between sweet strawberry flavors and nice strong fizz here, making this so addictive we couldn’t put it down.
The Bottom Line:
It’ll never be as good as Welch’s but as of now, this is the best strawberry soda on the market.
6. Jarritos Lime (Taste 7)
Price: $0.88 (per bottle)
I’m a big Jarritos fan and that comes down to the fact that like most Mexican soda brands, this stuff uses real cane sugar as its sweetener, rather than high fructose corn syrup. Cane sugar just gives soda this delicious round character that I love! Yes, it feels like murder on your teeth, but it’s worth it.
Jarritos is one of the few brands that isn’t owned by PepsiCo (though they are a distributor), Coca-Cola, or Keurig Dr. Pepper. It is instead a Mexican import that makes 15 different fruity flavors, all of which are delicious.
Jarritos Lime tastes unlike any of the other citrus-based sodas out there, if you’ve never had one it’s definitely worth tracking down. But just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s the best.
The Bottom Line:
A delicious Mexican import made with real sugar.
5. Sprite — Lemon Lime (Taste 13)
Price: $5.99 (12 pack)
If you asked me to guess without tasting which of these brands would top the list, I would’ve guessed Sprite would take the number one spot. Until this blind taste test, I thought I was team Sprite. It turns out, it’s one of the weaker lemon-lime sodas out there. Now granted, that’s not saying much considering lemon-lime sodas are by far the best fruit-flavored sodas on the market, but that also means there is a lot of competition out there and unfortunately for Sprite, I don’t think they’ve got what it takes to compete at the highest level of the genre.
Don’t get me wrong, Sprite is delicious, but its lemon-lime flavor is kind of weak. All it really has going for it is that delicious fizz.
The Bottom Line:
A great soda, but there are better lemon-lime flavors out there.
4. Starry — Lemon Lime (Taste 12)
Price: $7.19 (12 pack)
This is a new soda brand, which is exciting because it’s not every day that a new soda brand launches that actually tastes good. Starry is owned by PepsiCo and first hit the scene in January of this year, coincidentally at the same time that Sierra Mist, which is also owned by PepsiCo, was discontinued. So is Starry just a re-branded Sierra Mist?
The answer is yes, in that they’re both lemon-lime sodas distributed by PepsiCo. But as far as flavor goes, this tastes significantly better than Sierra Mist. My guess is that Pepsi reformulated Sierra Mist and the flavor was so different (and better) that they felt like the best move was to re-brand and start from scratch. I think that pays off, if this was merely New Sierra Mist it may not have gone over as well.
The Bottom Line:
A brand new lemon-lime soda. It’s crispy, refreshing, and delicious. If you’re curious about the new brand, it’s definitely worth exploring that curiosity.
3. Jarritos — Mandarin (Taste 14)
Price: $0.88 (per bottle)
Jarritos Mandarin puts all other orange-flavored sodas to shame. There is a reason this is the flagship Jarritos flavor, it’s incredibly delicious with a juicy fruit-forward flavor that has an addictive round character to it. I’m not entirely sure what makes this taste so much better than all the other orange sodas on the market but I’m willing to bet it’s that cane sugar.
The Bottom Line:
The current best orange soda on the market by a significant margin.
2. 7-Up — Lemon-Lime (Taste 1)
Price: $6.49 (12 pack)
7-Up is the ultimate lemon-lime soda. I always wondered why In-N-Out, one of my favorite burger chains, had 7-Up in its Coca-Cola-branded soda machines rather than Sprite, which is owned by Coca-Cola, and now I know why. It’s better than Sprite in every way. It has a crisper texture, more carbonation, and a refreshing lemon-lime flavor that is unlike anything else on the market.
The brand is owned by Keurig Dr. Pepper but was initially distributed by PepsiCo and was first released in 1929 under the name “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda,” before being rebranded to “7 Up Lithiated Lemon Soda” and finally “7-Up” in 1936. The original recipe contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug used to treat mania, hypomania, depression, and bipolar disorders, back in the days when soda was being weirdly marketed as some sort of medicinal product.
The lithium citrate was removed in 1948.
The Bottom Line:
The best lemon-lime soda on the market. Every other citrus soda is trying to capture a little bit of 7-Up’s magic, whether they want to admit it or not.
1. Squirt — Grapefruit Soda (Taste 4)
Price: $6.49 (12 pack)
Maybe it’s controversial to give Squirt the number one spot over 7-Up but there is just something so satisfying about this soda, I can’t deny that it was far and above the best from this taste test. The brand’s current manufacturer is Keurig Dr. Pepper but this grapefruit soda first started back in 1938 in Phoenix Arizona as a competitor to Coca-Cola’s Fresca. I don’t know what it is about the southwestern United States, but they make the best fruit-flavored soda.
Unlike most fruit-flavored sodas, this one actually contains fruit juice, approximately 2% grapefruit juice. Is that enough to taste? Who knows, but Squirt has this sharp bite and burn that makes each sip incredibly delicious.
The Bottom Line:
It just edges out 7-Up for having more bite and a more novel flavor. Squirt is the best fruit-flavored soda on the market and the only thing that can truly compete with something as good as Coca-Cola or root beer. It single-handedly justifies the category of fruit-flavored sodas.