The heat is already getting hot and for those who do not consume alcohol, it can sometimes be difficult to find alternative drinks to traditional soft drinks. Kombucha is an increasingly widespread option – and as is often the case, you have to know how to distinguish it from imitations; Making homemade lemonade or cold tea is always a good option; But increasingly the offer of non-alcoholic drinks is expanding, with options appearing with different flavors, careful compositions that also follow the maxim of making an attractive product with the least amount of sugar possible.
Compared to the carbonated soft drinks already known to everyone, there are, for example, the so-called craft sodas. This is the name given to artisanal sodas or effervescent drinks made from natural ingredients and in which cane sugar is generally used as a sweetener. A new product on the market and still quite residual is water kefir, a variant of dairy kefir that, as in this case, is obtained from a culture of bacteria. These are some of the alternative options, some innovative, others award-winning… but all different.
1.
The fantastic soda
Gonzalo Abia, creator of La Fantástica, was led to create the product by the conviction that “there are many people willing to try new things” and the impression, thanks to his trips abroad, that there is room for alternative products to the mainstream, produced by multinationals. He himself confirmed living in Germany and Italy that there are other consolidated brands there that are different from those that dominate in Spain and that is why in 2020 he set out to make a soft drink that would break out “of the corset to which we are so accustomed.” La Fantástica was born with the goal of being “as natural as possible without sugar and always with a slightly fun flavor twist.” All drinks contain the smallest possible amount of this sweetener and are made without preservatives, without coloring and with 100% natural extracts and 12% concentrated fruit juice.
As an example of that twist that Abia talks about, the available flavors play with ginger, the hibiscus flower. In total they have six products: two cola drinks with lime – with and without sugar; two orange and lemon juice soft drinks; and two tonic waters, a citrus one with orange blossom and a botanical one with hops.
The fantastic Soda. Available in specialized stores, specialty cafes and gourmet stores and through online commerce. You can contact them through email [email protected].
2.
Why Not
The origin of the craft sodas Why Not is to be found in the Portuguese surf town of Ericeira, north of Lisbon. There, Germans Steffi and Nils Schwentkowski created “high-quality” non-alcoholic drinks in 2018 in the absence of these. “More and more people consume less alcohol and new generations are concerned about what they drink,” says the couple, who also highlights that, in addition, these new audiences “are looking for an interesting flavor experience.” They offer five different flavors such as raspberry and thyme, peach and ginger or pomegranate and cucumber. The development of each Why Not product takes place over months to achieve the balance between “pleasure and awareness”. To make the sodas, the ingredients are “carefully” chosen and organic juices, natural extracts and aromas derived directly from “real” fruits and herbs are used. All creations are certified as “organic, vegan and gluten-free” and except for cola, the sugar level remains below 5 grams per 100 milliliters. Last March, Why Not received the jury award at the Barcelona Alimentaria fair for the organic product with the greatest potential to be successful in the Spanish market.
Why Not. Available for shipping to Spain in your online store. Price for 12 units, 22.68 euros, separate shipping.
3.
Moon Water
Nacho Alonso explains that creating Moon Drinks soft drinks was a personal necessity in his fruitless search for the healthiest soft drinks possible. “We had to make them ourselves,” he says, and that’s how they did it, resulting in two types of drinks: Moon water and Moon mate. The first of them is a tonic water flavored with natural juices, without added sugar, and there are four flavors (mango and tangerine, lime and ginger, blackberry and blueberry and orange and pomegranate). The second of them, Moon mate, represents its motto: “the drink that activates you, but does not alter you.” It is made with Yerba Mate infusion and green coffee extract, and “unlike traditional energy drinks, it does not have taurine, contains very little sugar (which comes from agave syrup) and has just the right amount of caffeine (40 milligrams, for 250 milliliters. The most common energy drinks are around 80) so that it activates you, but does not produce highs or lows,” Alonso details.
Moon Drinks drinks are manufactured in Asturias with “natural and ecological ingredients” and are packaged in BPA-free aluminum jars “due to their very high recycling rate and because they weigh little, which allows us to minimize the carbon footprint,” says Alonso. .
moon drinks. Available in the online store and in supermarkets such as Carrefour, Hipercor and Alcampo. Price on the website for 12 units of Moon Water, 15.95 euros; Moon Mate, 19.95 euros.
4.
Linda Soft Drinks
The juices and ice tea from Linda Drinks boast of being made with “100% Spanish fruits with a spicy touch.” Its fun flavors—pear and Sichuan pepper; tomato and wasabi; tangerine and rosemary, among others—have been visible for some years now in restaurant establishments, specialized stores and gourmet stores such as El Corte Inglés. Its two creators, Ernesto Miralta and Eduardo Andrés, – a former financial director at a Spanish multinational and a scientific researcher – launched themselves into the project after a trip to India, where some nuns shared their recipe for lemonade with ginger that they decided update.
Linda offers six flavors of juices—sweetened, where required, with agave syrup and stevia—and three ices. teas—green tea, white tea and black tea— without added sugar and with spring water. In addition, these are gluten-free, vegan, organic drinks, without dyes and without additives.
Linda Drinks. They have store on-line and its drinks can also be found in the El Corte Inglés gourmet club, the horeca channel and specialized stores. The price of juices is 23 euros (12 units) and cold teas are 24 euros.
5.
Ke Water
Carla Bernabeu studied Human Nutrition and Dietetics and for years, due to her father’s health problem, she lived at home with kefir, both dairy and water, but it was thanks to a start-up marathon where the idea of Ké water began to take shape. In the midst of the rise of kombucha as an alternative drink, Bernabeu launched the project in Altea, its hometown, at the end of 2022 and beyond doing so to offer a different option, its objective was mainly to contribute to health and good nutrition. “Water kefir is a fermented drink where a series of bacteria and yeasts that live in symbiosis are needed and for which a solution of water and sugar is needed for that culture to feed itself. It has a very short fermentation, 24 to 48 hours, and thanks to it probiotic bacteria are generated and it becomes an alternative to a traditional soft drink thanks to the flavoring with a second fermentation with natural and organic fruits and spices,” details the creator. .
All Ké water water kefir is manufactured in a factory next to the old town of Altea (Alicante) and we try to ensure that the ingredients are all local, except for the unrefined cane sugar that comes from Paraguay and is fair trade. Due to its characteristics and properties, Bernabeu advises drinking it before meals to help digestion, although he emphasizes that it can be “at any time of the day.” There are three flavors: original, lemon and hibiscus and strawberry and lime.
Ke water. They have Online store and points of sale throughout Spain, but mainly in the Valencian Community. Price starts at 16.60 euros for six bottles.
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