Zevia!

So as I was poking around at PCC the other day, I stumbled upon a new soda pop. I never buy soda pop, for many reasons. Most companies think pure cane sugar is a good sweetener in a natural soda, but it's still terrible for you. It still rots your teeth and the artificial carbonation (phosphoric acid) is horrible for your teeth, gums and digestion.

This wonderful new product I found is called Zevia and it's made by a small company here in Seattle, WA. They make three flavors and all three are absolutely fantastic. Their cola flavor tastes like REAL cola, not diet cola. The orange flavor and lemon/lime twist flavor are both caffeine-free and also just as delicious. I'm sipping the lemon/lime right now. :)

And here's why I like this product:

1. No artificial sweeteners or preservatives. They use stevia and erythritol (sugar alcohol found in fruits & veggies) to sweeten their drinks.
   
   


2. No phosphoric acid! This is what most cola companies use to give their drinks that carbonated zing, but it's horrible for your body. It softens your bones and teeth enamel as well as it neutralizes stomach acid so you don't digest the nutrients in food properly.
   
   


3. Real citric acid! According to the Zevia website, their citric acid comes from oranges, grapefruits, pineapples, lemons and limes. Most citric acid in the food industry is not extracted from citrus fruit, but fermented by mold from scrap molasses, waste starch hydrolysates and phosphoric acid. NASTY!
   
   


4. Triple filtered water! Most cola companies use regular tap water. I don't know what kind of filteration they use, but any filtration is better than none. My preference would be reverse osmosis. :)
   
   


5. Natural colors - the company worked very hard to find natural colors for their products. The orange soda is BRIGHT ORANGE, but it uses all natural annatto, from the achiote tree. Their cola flavor is colored with natural caramel color and their lemon/lime twist flavor is clear.

I just stopped by Whole Foods on my way home today and they don't carry this product. So I talked to the employee working that department and she was THRILLED. She immediately went to her computer and pulled up the Zevia website, brought up their wholesalers list and ordered the product! Yay! So if you live near a Whole Foods, stop in and request the product. Otherwise, you can find it at most PCC stores and small natural thrift stores. The Zevia website has a partial list of where it's available.