Dry Soda Co. - Lavender Soda

  Today’s installment caught my eye while I was perusing the drinks at HEB. Lavender Soda. Now, when I think of lavender I think of bathroom spray, or hand soap, or something you plug into the wall to make the room smell good. All of those things deal with smell not taste. Oddly enough the reason I bought Lavender Soda is because I like the smell of Lavender, and I was hoping it would translate well into taste form. As I looked at the Lavender Soda I noticed that the flavors of Rhubarb, and Lemon Grass were sitting next to it. While rhubarb is an actual food, I figured that lavender was my best bet.

   The packaging is very nice, simple, and pure. It’s a clear bottle with very few words on it, making the soda look very sophisticated. In fact the website tells you ideas of foods to pair with their sodas. Lavender Soda apparently goes well with - Mini Muscovy Duck Burgers with Sharp Cheddar, Caramelized Onions and Huckleberry Ketchup. The site also tells you how to prepare such a meal, which is very nice of them. I don’t cook that well, so fortunately they also say that it’s also ok to drink it with no pairing at all. This is a relief to me, but I’m still going to do half of the review with a pairing... corndogs. Most any soda should go well with corndogs, so we’ll give it a go.

   Upon opening the bottle I notice no lavender smell, but once I put my nose to the top and strongly inhale I get a sense of it. It smells quite nice actually. My first impression of this is a flavored sparkling water. I guess that’s a fair assessment as it’s a clear liquid. I had a feeling the “Soda” labeling in it was pretty liberal, so no surprise there. While it says it’s sweetened with natural cane sugar, there can’t be much in there as it’s not sweet at all to me, if anything it’s a little bitter. Don’t be scared off with the phrase “a little bitter”, as I don’t like bitter things and I’m having no problem at all drinking this. It’s just not a sweet beverage, a lot like tame seltzer water. The lavender does not translate into taste I’m sad to say. If someone were to give me this in a cup, and told me to guess the flavor I’d say a berry, but I wouldn’t be able to guess one because of how lightly flavored it is. As a standalone beverage it’s ok, but not flavored enough for my liking. Now for the corndogs.

   Mmmm all beef corndogs, nothing says America like Lavender Soda and corndogs. With a bite of corndog recently leaving the premise of my mouth, we’ll take a swig. Well the good news is that food takes away most of that slight seltzer taste, so I can see why they’d have food pairings. If I was given a choice of drinking it solo, or with a food, I’d have to say with food is the better way to go. Overall, it’s nice that a company tried to make a fancy soda, but to me this is still just flavored sparkling water. Which is fine as it meets our requirements of a non-alcoholic carbonated beverage, but still don’t put the word soda on it. In this day and age the word soda holds different connotations than it did back when “soda water” was used... respect that.

Verdict: Buy a Bottle!

~A

Comments

[Stacey E]

I'm surprised at the amount of not so good stuff that you recommend people buy. I find the Dry Soda line to be pretty awful. It seems to be sort of the Zima of the pop ("soda") world, where only the self appointed hipsters are enthusiastic about it.
I've had lavender infused drinks before, and this stuff doesn't taste right at all. I also tried the lemongrass, because that SHOULD resemble lemon flavoring, and that was vile, too.
I have to guess that you recommend things like this because it's interesting to try things that are different, and not because you mistake their product as being good.
I challenge any beret wearing philosophy student to refute my claims.

[The Soda Jerks]

If you look at our rating scale "Buy a Bottle" is in the lower half, but that doesn't mean it's so bad no one should try it. Dry Soda Co has a niche market with their sodas, and I respect what their trying to do. You are right on the money for the reason I recommended this though. I'm all for opening the eyes, and mouths, of our readers... but I will only do that to a point. Dry Soda Co has never been something I just couldn't finish, or something that me nauseous... so I won't rank it as such. Thanks for your comment though, it's most appreciated. I'd like to eventually get a forum up on this site so comments like yours can be discussed more at length.

~A