Chow Bella

Pop Culture: Dry Soda (Lemongrass)


As I've mentioned a few times before, our tasting panel seems to loathe super-sweet sodas. In our last review, we made them get over it to appreciate Mountain Dew Voltage, a brilliant new Pepsi product. This week, we picked up something your dentist would like: Dry Soda's Lemongrass. With 50 calories of cane sugar, it's not so much sweet as bubbly.

According to their web site, Dry Soda was started by a Seattle woman frustrated by the lack of high-end non-alcoholic beverages during her four pregnancies. So she started bubbling up Dry in her kitchen, then sold it to fine-dining restaurants. It retains that aim in the wider market -- it's $2 a bottle and not widely available.

And what did we think of it?


Verdict: When it comes to the definition of soda, this is borderline. I've had Dry's rhubarb and lavender flavors before (rhubarb was delicious, lavender tastes like licking an air freshener) so I knew not to expect any overpowering flavors, but Dry's lemongrass was too mild for me. It tastes more like a Perrier stirred with a few blades of lemongrass that anything else, and I worry that the bubbles would limit it's usefulness in pairing with food.

Peter: It smells wonderful... It's a lot like tonic water, I wouldn't call this a soda, but I would drink this everyday.

Jasmine: It tastes healthy. It's smooth.

Jonathan: I don't think I'd ever drink this at home but I'd order it in a restaurant.

Jay: I was hoping for a little more of a kick.

KEEP PHOENIX NEW TIMES FREE... Since we started Phoenix New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix, and we'd like to keep it that way. With local media under siege, it's more important than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" program, allowing us to keep offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food and culture with no paywalls.
Martin Cizmar
Contact: Martin Cizmar

Latest Stories