Thirsty Thursday :: Cricket Cola

While on vacation in the upper northwest, we discovered Cricket Cola while visiting a local joint in Vancouver, Washington called Pop Culture. My wife was the first to notice the attractively bottled soda from the many others housed in the cold case. In her profession as a marketing exec, packaging is almost as important as the product itself, and this one certainly caught her eye with its colorful label and the two large asterisks bookending the shaded words "serve COLA chilly."

Digging a little deeper, i.e. reading the label, my wife was pleasantly surprised to note that Cricket Cola is in fact a healthy one. The creators have left out phosphoric acid, high-fructose corn syrup, and many other not-so-good-for-you ingredients that the larger companies use in their cola recipes. Rather, they have chosen to use real cane sugar, real kola nut, and instead of using chemical-form caffeine, they stir in a blend of freshly brewed green tea. A great tasting, healthy alternative to regular cola was born.

And cola aficionados are singing its praises. The Washington Post proclaims Cricket Soda as the next "below-the radar drink for hipsters." BevNet.com, a beverage industry review site, singles out Cricket Cola as one of the cleanest colas ever tasted by their experts, who categorize green tea colas as "the most unique innovation in carbonated soft drinks to hit the market in the past decade."

Yet, the question is, did my wife like it? Not only does she like it, but the kids took to it as well!

Cricket Cola is produced in San Francisco and is distributed to all major markets across the states. Pick up a bottle and tell us what you think.