Every Poppi Soda Flavor, Ranked
If you haven't heard of Poppi by now, we're pretty surprised, to say the least. One of the trendiest brands that seem to be in many major grocery stores at the moment, the prebiotic soda drink brand is blowing people away with its tastiness and supposed health benefits.
Poppi, originally called Mother, actually appeared on "Shark Tank" a few years ago, and though not all "Shark Tank" businesses take off, this one did. If you're curious about what a prebiotic soda is, it's basically a "healthier" carbonated drink that tastes very similar to soda without the extra sugar — but, more importantly, it contains apple cider vinegar, a natural prebiotic. It's also flavored with natural fruit juice concentrates and is often compared to another Olipop, another soda brand that touts digestive and other health benefits. Some Poppi flavors have come and gone, but there are currently nine on the market. We decided to put those flavors to the test to see which one came out on top as our favorite. Spoiler alert: There was some stiff competition for the No. 1 spot.
9. Root Beer
If you are a fan of classic soda that tastes like it has been watered down to the point where you can barely recognize it, this is the flavor for you. Now, don't get us wrong, we are big fans of Poppi (as you'll see for some of the higher-ranking flavors), but we're also pretty big fans of root beer. And when it's good, it's good. But when it's bad, well, you should probably skip it.
Poppi's root beer flavor earned last place in our ranking because it missed the mark on quality and flavor. It did have the classic root beer taste, but it just wasn't strong enough to be considered the real deal. Long story short, it tasted pretty akin to watered-down root beer, which we found especially disappointing considering our initial excitement over the flavor's existence. Do yourself a favor and skip this flavor. Instead, you might want to consider one of the best root beer brands we've tried before.
8. Doc Pop
With Doc Pop from Poppi, we felt bamboozled. On the first sip, we assumed it was grape-flavored soda. It tasted identical, actually. So when we discovered it was supposed to be cherry and vanilla-flavored soda (in a similar vein to Dr Pepper), we were a bit shell-shocked. That being said, this prebiotic soda actually tastes identical to traditional grape soda. If you poured a regular grape soda and the Poppi Doc Pop flavor in two cups and didn't tell us which was which, we wouldn't be able to tell them apart. It's pretty impressive. So even though it didn't nail cherry and vanilla soda, it did accidentally hit the mark with grape. However, we aren't exactly grape-flavored soda enthusiasts. (Though we can completely recognize that this flavor is miles ahead of Poppi's root beer flavor.)
The reason this flavor is ranked so low is that although it tastes exactly like grape soda, we didn't actually enjoy the flavor. It was very strong and pungent, and we wished that same energy had been applied to the root beer Poppi, as it could've benefitted from a stronger core flavor, rather than tasting like a hint of root beer in carbonated water. But, as far as the Doc Pop goes, we wouldn't buy it again. If you are a grape soda person, you need to check this out — don't expect notes of cherry or vanilla. If you're not keen on grape, though, choose a different flavor.
7. Watermelon
Watermelon can be delightful. It's light, sweet, and, ahem, watery — in the best way possible. Poppi should swap the flavor ratios of its watermelon and root beer drinks and they'd be golden, because this watermelon flavor was far, far too concentrated. In fact, we actually couldn't even take more than a few sips.
When capturing watermelon's essence, you don't want to overdo it. That's where this drink went wrong in our opinion. It tastes like you sucked all the watermelon essence out of the fruit and left none of the water — it's way too saturated. We think it's pretty unlikely that many people would enjoy this beverage, but if you happen to have one in your fridge that you don't want to go to waste, we suggest pouring it into a blender and adding frozen fruit, ice, and water to make a refreshing slushie (be very careful blending carbonated drinks, though; go slow). At least it'd be useful in that context.
6. Classic Cola
We know what you are thinking: There is no way a prebiotic soda brand managed to perfectly recreate everyone's favorite soft drink. Whether you love Coca-Cola, Pepsi, or another popular cola brand, we think you would be enamored with the Classic Cola flavor from Poppi. We genuinely can't believe the company got the flavor of cola on the money — which is exactly why we'd give this flavor our money.
For a newer brand like Poppi to break into the incredibly saturated soda market, it's smart to get (most) of the classic soda flavors right while also introducing brand-new flavor combinations for people to try. The reason the Classic Cola flavor isn't ranked higher is that, as we noted, it's been done before by bigger, legendary brands. It's a classic, for sure, but we weren't as impressed with the innovative flavor combinations here as we were with some of the other flavors.
5. Orange
We would like to think that most people know what popular orange soda tastes like, but if for whatever reason you don't, the orange flavor from Poppi would absolutely be an accurate representation of it. We also think that, in this case, there is no reason to mess with something that's not broken. Orange soda has been around for a while for a reason, and Poppi gets that. We are pleased that the brand decided to recreate the soda we enjoyed as kids into a prebiotic version we could savor as adults with stomach issues (if you get it, you get it).
One other thing about Poppi worth noting is that we also immensely enjoy the packaging. It's fun, colorful, creative, eye-catching, and most importantly quite reflective of the drink flavors. You wouldn't pick up a can of Poppi Orange thinking it was anything else but that. We certainly appreciate that element.
4. Raspberry Rose
The first time we saw one of these cans in the drink aisle at Target, we misunderstood the label as reading "Raspberry Rosé," like in rhyme with the catchy song "Raspberry Beret" by Prince. Though this drink is sadly not a punny '80s song reference, it is still pretty fun in our book. And we also understand that if it were called "Raspberry Rosé," that could totally be misconstrued as an alcoholic beverage, which it is not.
Raspberry Rose by Poppi is, in a word, delightful. It is a lovely balance of sweet and light, without ever being overpowering (side-eye to watermelon). We would enjoy this raspberry-forward flavor any day and love that the rose essence takes a backseat in this drink. It's not in our top three simply because the next few flavors blew us away. Raspberry Rose is a solid pick, and a safe one to choose if you've never tried Poppi.
3. Cherry Limeade
Lime truly can make anything better. The Cherry Limeade flavor from Poppi achieved the top three in the ranking for us because, luckily, it did not taste like horrible cough medicine, nor did it taste like an overly sweet cherry-flavored item. This beverage had the perfect balance of cherry and lime, not leaning too far in any one direction.
We found this flavor in particular to be both fruity and refreshing, and we can't wait to crack one open on a hot summer day (we can hear the crack of the can opening now). Even if you are not typically the biggest fan of cherry, it couldn't hurt to give this flavor a try to potentially change your mind. The lime really pulls its weight here and it adds the perfect citrus notes for us. We also think lime was the perfect complement to cherry instead of another citrus like lemon, though lemon does work beautifully when paired with strawberry (more on that later). Nicely done, Poppi.
2. Ginger Lime
It was a really, really tough decision putting this flavor in second place instead of first. We don't think we've ever had a soda that tastes like the Ginger Lime Poppi flavor, and we mean that in the best way possible. Before trying out this flavor, we were unsure if it was going to lean more towards a ginger ale vibe or a lemon-lime soda vibe (like Sprite or 7UP).
It turns out that it is a pleasant combination of both. As a base, it's a bit more similar to ginger ale. But when you get that pop of lime, it actually balances out the overall beverage quite nicely and adds a depth we previously wouldn't have gotten from ginger ale. That being said, this flavor would make the perfect mixer for a mocktail or cocktail. We think a Moscow Mule would be the perfect drink to make Ginger Lime Poppi the star of the show. Do yourself a favor and try this drink out, as we could see it easily replacing Sprite or ginger ale at dinnertime.
1. Strawberry Lemon
Folks, we have finally arrived at the top Poppi flavor. Did you think it was going to be Strawberry Lemon? If you're surprised, we're honestly not. We were absolutely blown away by this beverage. This soda flavor is so multi-dimensional. It's incredibly unique, as it doesn't taste sickly sweet like strawberry lemonade and is unlike any traditional soda flavor we've had before. This flavor also balances the citrus of the lemon well with the fruitiness of the strawberry, and that combo is a winner in our book.
Ultimately, Strawberry Lemon secured first place over Ginger Lime because of its uniqueness — you can find similar (though not exact) iterations of the Ginger Lime flavor in grocery stores almost anywhere. But a strawberry lemon prebiotic soda? That's pretty unheard of. This Poppi flavor is dynamite, and we will 100% be repurchasing it in the future.
Static Media owns and operates Tasting Table and Mashed.