Ginger ale is a beverage unto itself. It’s both warming, yet served cold, spicy, yet mellow, and carbonated, yet not in a way that you’d confuse it with any other sodas or seltzers. Plus, it has a variety of specific and unusual uses. You might drink it on an airplane, sip it to settle your stomach, or mix it with vodka and lime in a vibrant Moscow mule. While you might be familiar with one or two well-known brands of ginger ale, there are actually a variety of options that range fairly dramatically across taste, carbonation, and listed ingredients. Even those that are widely available in grocery stores nationally might contain real ginger, natural flavoring, or artificial flavoring.
To come to grips with these nuanced differences and to determine which ginger ale ultimately tastes the best, Chowhound assembled a comprehensive ranking of 11 different ginger ale brands, including the usual suspects as well as specialty varieties found in many organic and natural stores. The conclusive winner? Boylan Ginger Ale, thanks to its vibrant flavor, lemony top notes, and light carbonation. The biggest loser? Zevia Ginger Ale, due to its strong diet soda taste and off-putting aftertaste.
What is Zevia ginger ale (and why does it taste weird)?
If you’re unfamiliar, Zevia is a soda, tea, and energy drink company that admirably focuses on zero sugar, zero calories, and zero plastic bottles. Their drinks, including their ginger ale, are sweetened with stevia leaf extract rather than cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. The problem is, when you sip Zevia ginger ale on its own, the taste of stevia is pretty overpowering, to the detriment of any hoped-for spicy ginger flavor. In fact, that not-quite-right sweetener taste is what lingers on the palette long after you’re done drinking. Unlike other beloved low-calorie or low-sugar sodas like Diet Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper, Zevia ginger ale isn’t a beverage you would ever crave on its own.
Still, if you’re watching your calories or sugar in take, Zevia ginger ale is better than other diet ginger ales thanks to its light and refreshing notes from natural ginger extract. Plus, when combined with other, more powerful ingredients, the stevia taste takes a backseat. For a low-sugar cocktail alternative, try stirring together Zevia ginger ale with vodka or mezcal and lime juice for a Moscow or mezcal mule. Or make a lightened up Dark and Stormy cocktail with Zevia ginger ale and dark rum. A minty garnish will also help balance out that noticeable stevia taste.
