Top 10 Best Soft Drinks You Need To Try!

Soft drinks or sodas have been popular carbonated drinks for about a hundred years now, and they don’t show any signs of fizzing out. From colas to orange to ginger ale, there are plenty of flavors for everyone to enjoy. So, take a sip of the Top 10 Best Soft Drinks You Need To Try! 

 10. Welch’s Grape

Grape soda might not be the first soft drink flavor you think of when you need a sweet fix, even if you like Welch’s grape juices and jams. However, you shouldn’t underestimate the refreshing fruit flavor that Welch’s grape soda offers. Welch Foods, Inc. was founded in Vineland, New Jersey, in 1869 by Thomas Welch and his son Charles Welch. Today, Welch’s Grape Soda is licensed to Global Beverage Corporation. Most companies that make grape soda simply use sugar and artificial grape flavor, but Welch’s is committed to using real grape juice in its signature soft drink. This makes a big difference in the flavor because you get the taste of real juice flavor instead of the taste of a very sweet purple-colored soft drink. Welch’s has also expanded beyond grape soda and offers other fruit flavors like strawberry and pineapple. There’s no denying that these other flavors are good and people enjoy them, but Welch’s specialty will always remain anything grape related. A number of brands of colas are available everywhere you go, and orange sodas usually get more attention, but if you’re willing to expand your horizons a bit and give Welch’s Grape Soda a try, you won’t be disappointed! 

9. Coke Zero

If Coca-Cola is one of the big dogs in the cola game, then Coke Zero might be considered one of its puppies. Coke Zero is billed as a zero sugar, low-calorie alternative to regular Coca-Cola, which is no small task since a can of Coke contains about 140 calories. Diet Coke is also a zero-calorie soft drink, but apparently, too many people think it doesn’t taste enough like regular Coca-Cola. Tastes are, of course, very subjective, but the overall response has been much more favorable to Coke Zero compared to other diet soda options. This zero-calorie soft drink was introduced in 2005 and has been growing in popularity ever since. In 2017, the recipe was modified, and the name was changed to Coke Zero Sugar. Some customers weren’t happy with these changes, but Coca-Cola has continued to aggressively market this soft drink as an alternative to regular Coca-Cola. The changes didn’t seem to hurt the drink’s popularity over the long term. The soft drink company has come out with several Coke Zero Sugar variants, including vanilla, lemon, and cherry. Like Diet Coke, Coke Zero Sugar uses artificial sweetener – aspartame –  as well as a combination of different sweeteners, depending on the particular market. Even if you can’t be convinced Coke Zero Sugar tastes just like standard Coke, its improved taste and zero calories make it one of the best soft drinks of 2021. 

8. Barq’s Root Beer

Edward Barq sold his first bottle of Barq’s Root Beer in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1897. This uniquely flavored soft drink developed a following, and its popularity continues to grow to this day. Unlike major competitors like A&W, Barq’s Root Beer has a kick of caffeine that sets it apart. Soft drinks like Barq’s Root Beer got a boost from Prohibition in the 1920s, and people had a hard time getting their hands on alcoholic drinks to quench their thirst. The Coca-Cola Company was aware of Barq’s success, so it bought the root beer in 1995 and moved its headquarters from Mississippi to Atlanta, Georgia. the Barq’s name will always be associated with its signature drink: root beer – and for good reasons. However, the brand has branched out with other products such as Diet Root Beer, French Vanilla Creme Soda, and Red Creme Soda. The Red Creme Soda has a reputation of being a little hard to find, so you might have to go out of your way to find this flavor. Barq’s Root Beer stands out as the soft drink known as “the One with Bite” and continues to go head to head with A&W Root Beer in the highly competitive soft drink business. If you’re looking for a refreshing and tasty change of pace, Barq’s Root Beer is the perfect choice for you!

7. Fanta Orange

Fanta was created as a Coca-Cola substitute in Germany in 1940 because of a trade embargo imposed by the United States. A number of important ingredients were hard to come by in Germany, but the Germans did the best they could with what they had. Using only ingredients they could get locally, the makers of Fanta were able to come up with a soft drink people actually liked. Even though World War II is long over, the soda wars keep raging on, and Fanta Orange Soda continues to grow its brand in the fiercely competitive soft drink industry. Today, Fanta offers a refreshing orange-flavored soft drink that is caffeine-free. Fanta Orange Soda comes in the standard version as well as a calorie-free version called Fanta Zero Sugar. However, Fanta isn’t just about orange soda anymore; the soft drink brand also offers fruit flavors like Berry, Pineapple, Fruit Punch, and even a Pina Colada flavor. There’s a fruit flavor for every taste, but Fanta is still defined by its orange soda. A lot of people also enjoy one of Fanta’s competitors, Sunkist, which also offers orange soda and other varieties such as a lemonade flavor. However, Fanta has successfully marketed itself as the more hip and fun brand of orange soda on the market, so in theory, it should be good to go for a while still and keep a place on this list of best soft drinks in 2021!

6. 7 Up

7 Up is a colorless lemon and lime flavored soda made in America and licensed by Keurig Dr. Pepper. Outside of America, the soft drink is licensed by 7 Up International. Either way, it’s a very popular soft drink all over the world. Unlike colas that almost always include caffeine, the clear and refreshing 7 Up has always proudly been caffeine-free. This soft drink is often compared to Sprite, but 7 Up is considered by many to have a less sweet, crisper flavor than its competitor. There is a zero-sugar version of the popular soft drink as well as one that adds cherry flavor to the standard mix of lemon and lime. But, some online reviewers have complained that Cherry 7 Up tastes too much like lime and not enough like cherry. But, once again, tastes are very subjective, so you’ll have to try these soft drink variations for yourself to see if they can satisfy your cravings. 7 Up’s official site offers a plethora of cocktail recipes featuring the soft drink. These soda-infused recipes include a Cherry 7 Up Float and a Sour Apple Martini. However, don’t think that the recipes end with drinks. You can also find a no-bake cheesecake and a pork chop recipe that uses the soft drink as an ingredient. In other words, 7 Up has a lot to offer, both as a refreshing soft drink and apparently as an ingredient in a number of tasty recipes, which makes it one of the best choices next time you’re in need of a nice can of soda.

5. A&W Cream Soda

While A&W is most famous for its root beer, it also came out with a cream soda in 1986, as well as a diet version that gets pretty good marks in the taste department. A&W Cream Soda is the number one brand of cream soda, so the company made the right decision to branch out from its root beer roots. The original formulation of this cream soda included caffeine, but in 2017 A&W changed the recipe and remade it into a caffeine-free drink. Some people might have been disappointed with this decision, but it still kept its title as the top-ranked cream soda on the market. A&W made a big marketing push in 1991 when it enlisted characters from the classic Peanuts comic strips. Cans of cream soda featured the beloved characters Snoopy and Woodstock participating in fun activities like playing baseball and riding a bike while enjoying A&W Cream Soda. These cans turned out to be pretty popular and even became collector items. A&W also came up with another popular advertising campaign that featured the clever tagline “a little sparkle in a vanilla world.” This campaign was centered around ordinary New Yorkers out on the streets talking about the positive feelings they have about their favorite cream soda. Successful promotions of A&W Cream Soda over the years have helped make it one of the top 10 best soft drinks.

4. Pepsi

What’s now known as Pepsi Cola was invented in 1893 by Caleb Bradham. He originally named his new soft drink Brad’s Drink. This name wasn’t as inspiring as he might have hoped, so in 1898 he renamed it Pepsi-Cola. Mr. Bradham sold the drink in his pharmacy as a treatment for dyspepsia or indigestion. However, he was also trying to create a drink that tasted good that would appeal to people, so he included sugar and vanilla in the original recipe. Like many other companies, Pepsi-Cola hit hard times during the economic upheaval of the Great Depression. Competitors tried to buy The Coca-Cola Company on more than one occasion but the company turned the offers down all three times. However, a man named Mr. Megargel bought the Pepsi trademark, and Pepsi-Cola was able to survive the tough economic times it was facing. Eventually, Pepsi-Cola stabilized under the new ownership and flourished into the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s, Pepsi-Cola shortened its name to simply “Pepsi.” Like other soft drink companies, Pepsi has expanded its products with a diet version and flavors like Cherry Pepsi and Vanilla Pepsi. The soft drink company also introduced a low-calorie variation called Pepsi Zero Sugar. Pepsi has long been in competition with Coca-Cola, which has benefited both companies – keeping both on their toes.

3. Sprite

Everyone who drinks soda knows that Sprite is similar to its competition, which of course is the other lemon and lime soda, 7 Up. What became known as Sprite started in West Germany in 1959 as a Fanta flavor called Klare Zitrone and was introduced as Sprite to the United States in 1961. Sprite is a caffeine-free alternative to the common cola even though it is owned by the Coca-Cola Company. It is available in several varieties including cranberry, vanilla, and a sugar-free version called Sprite Zero. There are even some online recipes to make your own Sprite at home. These recipes vary but usually include core ingredients like sugar, mineral water, and lemon. As part of its marketing efforts for Sprite, the Coca-Cola Company combined the words lemon and lime to get the word lymon. Lymon is a clever way to draw attention to the lemon-lime taste that the soft drink is known for. The term also led to the popular advertising slogan that proclaims Sprite has a “Great Lymon Taste.” A number of popular celebrities have appeared in Sprite commercials over the years, including Lebron James, LL Cool J, and Missy Elliot. These extensive marketing efforts helped to make Sprite one of the top 10 best soft drinks of 2021.

2. Dr. Pepper

Are you a Pepper? If you love the unique taste of Dr. Pepper, then you just might be a Pepper. The popular soft drink known as Dr. Pepper was created by a pharmacist named Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas. He started offering his new drink to his customers in 1885 but it wasn’t marketed around the country until 1904. Now it’s sold all around the world from South America to Asia. Like just about every other soda, Dr. Pepper offers a diet version that contains artificial sweeteners. The soft drink also comes in several flavors, including Cherry Vanilla, Cherry Chocolate, and Cream Soda. Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper have a long and complicated legal history. The issues of one of these cases led to Dr. Pepper being declared a “non-cola” soft drink. Dr. Pepper sued Coca-Cola when the beverage giant introduced a soft drink that was similar to Dr. Pepper called Peppo. Dr. Pepper won the case, so Coca-Cola was forced to change the name to Mr. Pibb. Coca-Cola clearly sees Dr. Pepper as a threat if the company went through the trouble of coming up with a rival product with a questionable name. The Roanoke Valley area of Virginia has been declared the Dr. Pepper capital of the world and buys more of the soft drink than any metropolitan area east of the Mississippi River. They even declared a Dr. Pepper Day, so mark your calendars!

1. Coca-Cola

The Coca-Cola Company’s soft drink, sometimes referred to as Coke, has become almost synonymous with cola, and it is one of the most recognized brands in the world. John Pemberton created Coca-Cola in the 19th century as an alternative to alcoholic drinks and for medicinal purposes. Eventually, it was accepted and enjoyed simply as a refreshing soft drink with a crisp flavor and caffeine kick. The name comes from the fact that two of the original ingredients were Kola nuts and coca leaves. The Coca leaves were dropped a long time ago, but the exact recipe for Coca-Cola remains a tightly guarded secret. The soft drink company has introduced a number of variations. Some of the most popular variations include Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Vanilla, Diet Coke, and Coca-Cola with Lime. The Coca-Cola Company has successfully marketed its products for many years. In 1971, one of the company’s commercials featured a song produced by Billy Davis called “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.” The song became a genuine hit and helped to lift Coca-Cola’s profile even more. This soft drink company known all around the world has been locked in eternal competition with Pepsi, but it’s clear that both companies have been able to expand and make a lot of money. Coca-Cola’s dominant position in the soft drink business makes it one of the best soft drinks of the year.

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