What is the best soda? It’s a quest many brave souls set out to conquer—but few return with a definitive answer. We at Sporked have done the hard work. We cracked open can after can. Twisted off cap after cap. And now we are ready to tell you all about the best soda.
Of course, we couldn’t pick just one. Because if you want the best soda and you like something citrusy, then you’re going to want the best orange soda—not the best root beer. So we gathered together the top six best sodas we’ve tasted over the course of our taste tests. They’re fizzy, they’re sweet, and they’re ready to make you say, “Ahhh.” Here’s the best soda, no matter what your taste.
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- Crush
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“I could not believe how superior Crush Orange Soda is to every other orange soda we tried,” Jordan Myrick in their review. “The first thing you notice when you open the bottle is that this soda is sensationally fragrant. I want a Crush candle in my apartment. And luckily, the taste lives up to the scent. It’s super carbonated and tastes almost like there’s real orange juice in it. Don’t worry though, it’s still soda that contains 0% juice.” Phew, we would never live down including a “natural” soda on this list of the best sodas.
Read the full results of our best orange soda taste test
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Sunkist Orange Zero Sugar
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Crush may have taken the title of best orange soda, but a different orange soda made the number one spot in our best tasting diet soda ranking. “Sunkist Zero Sugar tastes like regular Sunkist. Maybe even better than regular Sunkist? I can’t believe I actually liked this, but I did,” Jordan wrote. “It’s citrusy and fresh. There’s no weird chemical-y taste. It tastes just like the delicious, non-diet sodas I know and love. If you want a diet soda but don’t want a diet soda, grab a can of Sunkist Zero Sugar.”
Read the full results of our best diet soda taste test
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Boylan Cream Soda
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If you’re an old-timey soda lover, there’s nothing better than an ice-cold, frothy glass of cream soda (okay, maybe you’re super old-school and prefer birch beer, we’ll get to that). The best cream soda we tried was undeniably Boylan. “[It] has totally nailed that delicate alchemy of vanilla flavor and fizz,” Gwynedd Stuart wrote in her review. “It even smells delicious from the moment you crack the lid. The secret could be in the real cane sugar Boylan uses in its sodas, which gives it a crisp, natural flavor.”
Read the full results of our best cream soda taste test
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- Coca-Cola
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No surprise here, Coca-Cola was our number one best cola. “There is nothing, and I mean nothing, more delicious than an ice-cold Coca-Cola. It’s so crisp and carbonated and sweet and refreshing,” Jordan wrote. “I can’t say enough good things about Coca-Cola. Now that I’ve tried the [other colas], I can say it truly is the best cola on the market. I am a diehard Coke lover and this taste test only confirmed it more.”
Read the full results of our best cola taste test
Credit: Merc / Target
- Canada Dry Bold
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Here’s a bit of a curve ball. “If you’re accustomed to the flavor of regular ol’ Canada Dry, their Bold variation is a punch in the nostrils in the absolute best way possible,” Gwynedd wrote. We chose it over all other ginger ales in our best ginger ale taste test. “There is strong ginger flavor in this can, but it’s definitely still an ale rather than a beer… This is a big improvement on a tried-and-true original, but it still strikes a familiar note flavor-wise.”
Read the full results of our best ginger ale taste test
Credit: Walmart / Merc
- Frostie
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People have strong opinions when it comes to the best root beer. But we stand by our pick. “This tasted the way root beer is supposed to taste. It’s like a better version of your childhood memories of root beer,” Justine Sterling wrote in her review. “This is perfect root beer,” Gwynedd commented after tasting it. And you really can’t deny how incredibly appealing and adorable the packaging is.
Read the full results of our best root beer taste test
Credit: Ryan Martin / Instacart
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