The Spindrift Soda Flavor You Should Stay Far Away From

In a vast sea of sparkling water options, Spindrift stands out for its use of fruit juices rather than artificial flavorings. It offers classic citrus flavors such as lime, lemon, and grapefruit, but also brings some more creative offerings to the table, such as Island Punch and Tropical Lemonade. So when the company announced it was launching sodas made from fruit juice and no added sugars, we were naturally excited to give them a try. To our dismay, these better-for-you sodas didn't quite hit the mark, and there's one flavor in particular you might want to steer clear of.

In Chowhound's tasting of Spindrift's five soda flavors, the Concord Freeze came in dead last. The soda is flavored with Concord grape juice, lemon juice, and apple juice, but according to our taster, the apple juice was the more forward scent of this soda. Because there are no concentrated juices or artificial flavorings present, the grape flavor was quite weak. This makes a lot of sense, as grapes naturally don't have a super strong flavor, but conventional grape sodas and candy often used a synthetic and more potent version of it. So if you're expecting the candy-like, in-your-face, fake grape flavor from Spindrift's Concord Freeze soda, you're bound to be disappointed.

The flavor wasn't the only letdown — the level of sweetness and lack of carbonation were also unimpressive. Even with two types of sweet juice, grape and apple, this beverage didn't have the sweetness level expected in a soda. Nor did it contain the bubbles of a soda, but rather a light effervescence.

It's best not to expect a traditional soda experience when you pick up a can of Spindrift's Concord Freeze. This is especially true if you are accustomed to conventional brands of soda like Sunkist or Crush, which have an almost overwhelming fake grape flavor. That said, grape soda, an iconic drink in the South, is rather divisive — there are those who love it and those who wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole. Ironically, if you typically don't like grape soda, this beverage might actually work for you.

For health-conscious eaters and drinkers, this "soda" might be the perfect beverage for an afternoon pick-me-up. If you think of it more as a lightly sparkling juice, then there is a lower chance of it being a letdown. We do love the fact that there are no added sugars and each can contains only 7 grams of natural fruit sugars — this is super impressive considering a 12-ounce can of Sunkist grape soda has a shocking 45 grams of added sugar per can.

Overall, the Spindrift sodas aren't the company's best product, and you might want to just stick with its sparkling water line — which actually experienced some controversy in 2023. If you do try the new line out, our favorite flavor was ginger ale. If you find yourself stuck with a pack of the sodas, you could also mix them into a mocktail or cocktail, or even add a bit of extra carbonation by cutting it with a stronger sparkling water.