5 Spindrift Soda Flavors, Ranked

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

There is no shortage of new-age soda brands on the market right now. Fire-engine-red cans of Coca-Cola and its blue-canned rival seem like relics of a bygone era. Now, the attention is all on functional and prebiotic soda brands like Poppi and Olipop, along with other brands marketing themselves as healthier alternatives to the sugar-loaded sodas of years past. One of the newest brands to enter this sector is Spindrift. 

Founded in 2010, Spindrift made its name with sparkling waters flavored with real fruit juice. It also sold soda, but it discontinued the line in 2017 in an effort to "skip the soda for good" and refocus its attention on its waters. I suppose the phrase "never say never" applies here, as Spindrift announced it would be relaunching its soda lineup in late February 2025. Its selection is small compared to giants like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, but it does offer some health-conscious perks. Each can is made with no less than 20% real (not from concentrate) fruit juice and contains fewer than 8 grams of naturally sourced sugars. 

I'm not a big soda drinker, aside from the occasional Diet Coke, and I'm not a fan of overly sweet drinks. But I was excited to see how Spindrift's sodas would square up against the classics. I tasted all of the brand's offerings at the time of publication — a whopping five flavors — to see which one was the most approachable, the most flavorful, and most likely to win over a soda enthusiast. 

If you catch me willingly sipping on a grape Fanta, assume something is seriously wrong. I've never liked grape soda because it tastes way too much like cough medicine. I'm also not a fan of grape juice (fermented or not), so I didn't have high hopes for Spindrift's Concord Freeze soda going into this taste test.

This soda is flavored with a mixture of Concord grape juice, lemon juice, and apple juice. When I popped the tab, the apple juice was the first thing I smelled. I kept waiting for a stronger grape smell to follow – like the hyper-sweetened grape Fanta I remember — but it never really came through. Its color is striking. If someone handed you a glass without the can, your first thought might be alcoholic cider rather than grape "soda."

As expected, the flavor is quite weak. Since it doesn't have that knock-you-upside-the-head synthetic grape flavor, I was left guessing what flavor the brand was trying to achieve. The Concord Freeze has more acidic, lime-like undertones rather than anything distinctly grape. The lack of sweetness makes it taste more like a spritzer — but without the fizz to back it up. It's under-carbonated and left me wishing it was colder. It might work if you served it with prosecco to give it a sweetness and a bubbly boost, but straight from the can, it tastes more like watered-down, fizzy apple cider. 

Orange soda is on the same level as grape soda for me — I wouldn't go out of my way to drink it because it usually tastes cloying and artificial. Spindrift's Orange Cream Float flavor pairs carbonated water with fresh orange and lime juice. 

It wasn't the juice component that concerned me – it was the "cream" part of the label. How do you create that iconic, melted ice cream-like mouthfeel in a dairy-free soda? Spindrift uses vanilla extract, but I was worried that it wouldn't be enough to push it into cream soda territory. It smelled like I had just opened a bottle of store-bought orange juice — bright, fragrant, and sharp. Once I poured it out the can and got a better whiff, I picked up on some vanilla notes, but they were no match for the more dominant orange scent.

Unfortunately, this "soda" tastes more like a non-alcoholic orange juice and seltzer combination than a true soda. The orange flavor isn't particularly vibrant or fresh, and the carbonated water makes it taste very watered-down and almost cheap. I held out hope that the vanilla would come knocking, but it stood me up. I couldn't detect even the faintest shiver of vanilla, or any cream notes whatsoever. Instead, it tasted like frozen orange juice concentrate stirred with way too much seltzer. While its aroma was better than the Concord Freeze soda, the washed-out taste of the Orange Cream Float earned it at spot near the bottom of the ranking.

Strawberry Shortcake is Spindrift's attempt to blend strawberry, apple, and citrus juice with the same lackluster vanilla notes it tried to pull off in the Orange Cream Float soda. As you might expect, the vanilla flavor was once again a sticking point for me. I couldn't detect it at all — neither in the aroma nor the flavor. If Spindrift had just labeled this a strawberry soda, I would have been okay with it. But don't promise a flavor you can't deliver on, right?

Beyond that, this canned soda tastes like the last two sips of a Dunkin' Refresher that's sat in your car all day. When you come back and sip it, you find the flavor is so diluted and decidedly un-fruity it makes you recoil. This soda seems so watered down; I doubt pouring it over ice would help. To Spindrift's credit, the strawberry flavor is reminiscent of freshly muddled fruit. Even if you don't typically like strawberry-flavored things, like candy, you can probably appreciate the subtle and authentic strawberry flavor that this drink brings to the table. I don't even mind that the flavor lingered on my palate. But the washed-out flavor made it far from refreshing, and if someone served it to me and called it soda, I might honestly laugh.

The Spindrift Shirley Temple was arguably the soda flavor I was most excited to try for this ranking. I'm a fan of all things cherry – Haribo's Happy Cherries candy included – so I suspected that this one would be a winner for me. That said, I can see why cherry is divisive: It often comes off as medicinal or metallic. 

Thankfully, this Spindrift flavor didn't taste anything like cough syrup. In fact, the combination of tart cherry, sweet cherry, pomegranate, apple, and citrus juice created a surprisingly complex, multilayered profile. I could pick out the pomegranate and the tart cherry notes in both the aroma and the flavor. They gave the drink a unique tanginess and bite that was both refreshing and juicy — though it was definitely not like any cherry soda I've ever tasted. If I were blindfolded, my first guesses would be pomegranate — or perhaps even grape — long before cherry. So while its taste was interesting, it really didn't deliver the flavor promised on its label. 

Out of all the Spindrift sodas I tried, this one is the heaviest on the palate. It's not heavy or syrupy, but I still wanted more effervescence to lift up each sip and make it taste more balanced. I would have also liked to see Spindrift lean more on the classic, regular cherry flavor and add a lemon-lime component to mimic the classic Shirley temple. It's not a bad beverage, but I wish it were as refreshing and easy to sip on as my top pick. 

I'm a big fan of ginger ale and ginger beer, so I assumed that Spindrift's version of the classic soda would resonate with me. While most ginger ales are made with ginger extract, which gives it a punchy, but not overwhelming flavor, Spindrift's soda adds lime, lemon, and apple juice to the equation. I assumed this juice blend would either elevate the gingery flavor or distract from it. Ginger meshes well with lime, lemon, and apple, but ginger is usually used to bolster the flavor of the others — like in a pie. Here, ginger takes the lead, not a backup role. This beverage also lacks the sweetness of a traditional ginger ale, meaning it doesn't taste like a can of Schweppes. 

On the nose, I could pick up on a mature, ginger beer-like intensity — one that prioritized ginger over sweetness. As I suspected, ginger hits first on the palate, and I'm glad Spindrift at least delivered on that flavor. After that, I was met with a subtle lemon-lime undertone — like the carbonated base was indeed mixed with real, tart lemon juice. It almost tastes like a slightly bubbly ginger lemonade, which makes it one of the most approachable and easy-to-like flavors on this list. While it was more refreshing than the other sodas I sampled, earning it the top spot among the Spindrift sodas, I still think it tastes more like a fizzy juice than a soda. 

You can order a 12-pack of soda online from Spindrift for $25.99 or look for a slightly lower cost on Amazon or from select retailers. I purchased a 6-pack sampler online. I sipped each one of these 12-ounce sodas straight from the fridge. To maximize carbonation, I made sure each one was thoroughly chilled and gave it a light shake before opening it to redistribute any settled juice. I drank each one straight from a glass, as I didn't want to dilute the flavors with ice. 

I noted both the aroma and flavor of each soda before ranking the five flavors from worst to best. The sodas that delivered their promised flavors ranked higher than those that were missing out on key elements, like vanilla in both the Strawberry Shortcake and the Orange Cream Float. While it was clear that the composition, sweetness, and overall flavor profile of these Spindrift sodas were nothing like a cold bottle of Coke, I still gave high marks to the cans that were refreshing, light, and easily sippable. 

As a whole, I wasn't really impressed with Spindrift's sodas, and I wouldn't recommend any of them. You're better off mixing your own seltzer and fruit juice — not only will you get punchier, brighter flavors, but also a more cost-effective and refreshing drink than Spindrift offers.