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Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock, chances are you’ve noticed the soda aisle expanding far beyond just Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and the traditional soft drink giants. The “better for you” soda market has exploded in the last five years, with companies touting everything from adaptogens to prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics (still not sure what those are, to be perfectly honest).
But when I pick up a drink to enjoy alongside dinner or as that 3 p.m. pick-me-up, I’m not concerned with all that—I really just care about flavor. That’s why I find myself grabbing the same can of Poppi soda time after time after time.
My Favorite Poppi Soda Flavor
Courtney Kassel/Allrecipes
Since it was announced that PepsiCo was acquiring the company for a whopping $1.6 billion, the name on everybody’s lips is Poppi. But it’s been on my brain—and in my fridge—for years.
I have tried my fair share of “healthier” sodas, and found a number of them that I really like: SunSip’s Cherry Cola and Olipop’s Lemon Ginger, to name a few. But there’s one I come back to every week, multiple times a week.
Poppi’s Doc Pop is the brand’s answer to Dr Pepper and its signature spicy 23 flavors. Let me be clear: Doc Pop is not a 1:1 Dr Pepper copycat—for one thing, it has just 5 grams of sugar in a can, compared to Dr Pepper’s 39 grams. But it captures the same essence: a cola-like spiciness with some fruity undertones and a whisper of vanilla. It achieves that flavor without traditional cane sugar or corn syrup but rather with a mix of fruit juice, apple cider vinegar, and sparkling water.
I’ve tried just about all of the Poppi flavors, and while the Cherry Cola is a close second, the Doc Pop is the one I crave daily. I even love it so much, I snuck it into the movies to enjoy alongside my popcorn. Poppi—if you’re reading this, please launch in fountain soda machines!
So if the news of Pepsi buying Poppi (or Coca-Cola launching its own better-for-you soda) has you wanting to try out these sodas for the first time, let me be the first to recommend Doc Pop. I’m sipping on one as I type this, so trust me, the hype is real.
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