Spade is a recently launched line of premium sparkling sodas that contain zero calories and zero sugar. Sweetened with stevia, spade is also infused with electrolytes with the goal being that the drinks keep you “hydrated and refreshed.”

The product line currently features six flavors. There are two classic soda flavors, Modern Cola and Dr. Spade, and three fruit flavors, including Kiwi Strawberry, Blueberry Acai, Guava and Yuzu Lime. For this review, we sampled all of the flavors except for Guava.

Taking a look at the ingredients, Spade’s formulations are made with filtered water, natural flavors, and are sweetened with stevia as previously mentioned. Potassium phosphate and magnesium citrate have been added for electrolytes and the products have 36 mg of potassium and 42 mg of magnesium. All five products are caffeine free.

When it comes to flavor, Spade has done a really top notch job with Modern Cola and Dr. Spade. These two products do a great job of delivering a really enjoyable no-compromise flavor for two classics of the CSD category. 

For the fruit flavors, they’ve gone with more original offerings and each one pairs a more trendy fruit flavor with one that’s more mainstream. We especially liked the sharp but slightly tart flavor of Yuzu Lime.  The two berry varieties, Blueberry Acai and Kiwi Strawberry, are nice tasting, but we’d probably find the line a bit more manageable if they only had one of the two (especially at the brand’s launch).  Otherwise, they sort of feel a bit too similar.

On the outside, Spade’s packaging and brand aesthetic can be described as minimalist and clean. Aside from a spade icon near the bottom, the design is text-only and the only other thing that differentiates one flavor from another is the background color. The text uses a block font and all-capital letters which makes it pretty easy to read. 

We also appreciate the top down hierarchy for all of the important elements.  This allows you to read the items in quick succession, starting with the logo, moving on to the tag line (“premium sparkling soda”), the flavor name, and lastly “zero sugar” and “zero calories” callouts at the bottom.

While this is a great start for Spade, we do have two bits of constructive criticism for the brand.  First, we fear that the current trade dress is a bit too sterile compared to the vibrant and sometimes loud branding of the competition. Second, we feel that they should consider moving the zero sugar and zero calories callouts a bit higher and adding a front panel callout for the electrolyte content.  This would help the consumer more quickly see the full array of benefits that Spade offers.

In the end, Spade’s initial lineup shows some good promise for the brand. They’ve done a really nice job creating zero calorie, zero sugar formulations that have minimal impact from the use of stevia as the exclusive sweetener.  Further refinements to the branding and careful consideration to the SKU lineup would be nice, but we think that this brand is in a good spot at its launch.