As good as the intentions are, there are many times when house brand or alternative brand sodas don’t quite measure up to iconic name brands. While these brands may be marketed as tasting just as good (or better) as name-brand drinks, they can often be too sweet, too syrupy, or too flat. Since the drink brand launched in 2018, Olipop has marketed itself as a healthier, digestion-friendly soda – and there’s one flavor it gets just right.
Olipop offers more than a dozen varieties, including Vintage Cola, Crisp Apple, and Classic Root Beer. But when we tried and ranked 17 different Olipop flavors, Tropical Punch was our favorite. With a pleasing mild fizziness, Olipop’s take on tropical punch had the familiar flavors of Shasta Tiki Punch and Hawaiian Punch without a cavity-inducing mouthful of sugar.
Bottom line: This is a drink we could enjoy again and again. It tastes great, has a rich body, and delivers all of the fantastic fruit flavors one might expect from a fruit punch drink. For those looking for a healthier tropical punch option, this is one we can’t recommend enough — and at just 35 calories a can, multiple cans can quench your thirst while you ingest much less sugar.
Olipop’s Tropical Punch is an overwhelming success
There are plenty of tropical drinks worth trying, but Olipop has made a name for itself after less than 10 years on the market. For even the skeptical soda drinkers who grew up with sugary fruit punch, Olipop Tropical Punch contains many of the same fruit ingredients as Hawaiian Punch, including pineapple juice, apple juice concentrate, and passion fruit concentrate. The biggest differences between the two are the presence of high-fructose corn syrup and artificial dyes in Hawaiian Punch, which aren’t present in Olipop.
Overwhelmingly, nearly 300 reviews of Olipop’s fruity offering have been positive as drinkers have described it as the perfect remedy for their sweet tooth, good for kids, refreshing, and a tasty, healthier alternative to other, sugary versions of fruit punch. It’s a drink that hits all the right notes for a float down a lazy river or a backyard barbeque with none of the sugar or cloyingly sweet aftertaste.
While the flavor of Olipop’s Watermelon Lime ranks last on our list for falling short of its summertime name and flavor combination, Tropical Punch delivers on both its warm-weather name and feel-good flavor. For those looking for a healthier but still delicious option at the grocery store, this is one we would put in our cart every time.
