Naturale90 Gourmet Fruit Sodas

Product Type:Carbonated Soft Drink: Diet; Container: 16.9 oz PET
BevNET Review: Naturale 90’s Diet Black Cherry Soda is an aspartame-sweetened soda that comes packaged in a 16.9 oz. plastic bottle. From our point of view, sweetening with straight aspartame just doesn’t cut it anymore, especially with the plethora of other sweeteners out there. In this case, the product falls flat, with a moderate level of sweetness giving way to a somewhat flat tasting black cherry flavor. There’s a big note of sweetener flavor on the way out, which is less than ideal, especially since it lingers around for a while. Packaging looks okay, although the bottle feels like something that’s going to the value crowd rather than those who care about it being “Gourmet.” That’s especially true with the prime placement of the NutraSweet logo, something that has essentially gone out of style in the past decade. Overall, this product needs a lot of work.Reviewed on: 9/18/2009

Product Type:Carbonated Soft Drink: Regular; Container: 16.9 oz PET
BevNET Review: Calling this a “Gourmet” grapefruit and lemonade soda is a bit of a stretch; it has a very sweet and sugary taste that washes away almost all of the fruit flavor. So, rather than having a true grapefruit and lemonade flavor, the product has a citrus flavor that’s just too strong to be enjoyable. Really, this product is an unfortunate example of how using “cane sugar” doesn’t always make your product better. In this case, sticking with fructose 90 or even going to high fructose corn syrup would probably have made minimal difference to how enjoyable this product is. Dialing down the level of sweetness, regardless of the type of sweetener used, would be the logical next step. If they do that, this could be a decent product – at least if it’s priced for the value oriented consumer.Reviewed on: 9/18/2009

Product Type:Carbonated Soft Drink: Regular; Container: 16.9 oz PET
BevNET Review: Naturale 90’s Root Beer has some decent licorice flavor, and unlike some of their other flavors, it doesn’t taste as sweet. What’s interesting about that is that this variety has the same level amount of sugar (28g per serving) as the other sugar sweetened flavors. Either way, this formulation works better, delivering something that could certainly qualify as “gourmet” (although probably on the lower end). There’s lots of carbonation to the mix, making for a product that feels creamy in the mouth but crisp to the finish. Packaging isn’t bad, with a nicely designed label that has been stuck on a somewhat plain looking 16.9 oz. bottle. That’s going to make for some stiff competition, especially when competing premium root beer brands are often in glass bottles. However, if they’re trying to take a “gourmet” product to the masses, this bottle should get the job done. Overall, good taste and packaging, but definitely not the best root beer we’ve ever had. But priced right, this product could probably do okay for itself.Reviewed on: 9/18/2009

Product Type:Carbonated Soft Drink: Regular; Container: 16.9 oz PET
BevNET Review: Naturale 90 was named for originally having used Fructose 90 as its sweetener. Nowadays, the brand uses cane sugar, so, while the name really has no meaning anymore, the product has evolved forward. In this case, you’ve got a product that’s a pretty good effort at making vanilla cream soda, with a pronounced vanilla extract flavor and a slightly creamy body. However, this product is going to be competing with products in fancier bottles. In its current form (a plastic 16.9 oz. bottle), we think it’s going to be a struggle to achieve credibility as a gourmet product. That’s a shame, especially since the design of the brand has a nice vibe to it. But reality is reality and it simply takes a lot to make it these days in the CSD category. Overall, Naturale 90’s Gourmet Vanilla Soda has enjoyable flavor, but it needs something more if it’s going to be a real player in the gourmet CSD segment. Reviewed on: 9/18/2009