Phoenix Food Blog

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.