Oli-Flop: A new soda OLIPOP is not worth the hype it has received and doesn’t replicate the taste of traditional soda

Through its presence on TikTok and Instagram along with its appealing packaging seen in grocery stores, I familiarized myself with the brand OLIPOP — a healthier alternative to a normal, sugary soda. This soda cuts the calories of normal soda in half and supposedly strengthens gut health with added probiotics according to the OLIPOP website. 

I avoided trying OLIPOPS for a while — I didn’t want them to ruin the iconic tastes of my favorite sodas like Coke and Sprite. However, after hearing dozens of reviews claiming that the healthy drink tasted exactly like the traditional sodas, I became motivated to give them a try and possibly take my soda obsession to a healthier level. 

The line of OLIPOP has 16 flavors with each one imitating a normal soda flavor. I decided to taste test three different flavors — Vintage Cola, Lemon Lime and Doctor Goodwin — assuming they would mimic the popular sodas, Coca-Cola, Sprite and Dr. Pepper. 

Coca-Cola has been my go-to soda at any restaurant, movie or afternoon refresh and I was eager to see OLIPOP’s take on this iconic drink. For this flavor in particular, I had only heard good things about how it tasted exactly like Diet Coke. Sadly my hopes plummeted after just the first sip.

Upon cracking open the soda tab and taking the first sip, I wasn’t only unsatisfied, but confused. The overall flavor of the drink was incredibly fruity and seemed to fit in the realm of a cherry soda — not anywhere close to the traditional Cola taste. 

The fizziness I was looking for in a can of Coke was nonexistent in the OLIPOP. Without the normal level of carbonation, the soda tasted extremely flat whereas a regular can of Coke’s carbonation almost burns the back of your throat — in a good way. 

Maybe my expectations were too high in thinking I could replace my favorite soda with a healthy rebrand, but the OLIPOP Vintage Cola was nowhere close to what I expected. 

After trying the Vintage Cola OLIPOP I was expecting the Doctor Goodwin flavor to taste similar, as a traditional Coke and Dr. Pepper often have a similar flavor. 

The fruity flavor seen in the Vintage Cola came through in this soda as well — except the fruit flavor is more distinguishable as grape soda. The grape flavor was intense, which makes me question how this soda was recognized as Dr. Pepper-like.

Of the three sodas I tried, this one was my personal favorite — not because it is similar to the original soda, but because it tasted the most like a regular soda. I can enjoy a grape soda, but not when I’m expecting a Dr. Pepper replica. 

I was skeptical about trying a lemon-lime soda with the amount of sugar cut in half and added prebiotics. The taste of a classic Sprite is undoubtedly a very sweet and flavorful soda and I was wondering how OLIPOP could replicate it with the healthy supplements it includes. 

From the first sip, I was overcome by the taste of sour lemon. It wasn’t an unpleasant taste, but unexpected. While this drink is labeled lemon-lime, I was expecting a sweet lemon flavor like a Sprite — not the overly tangy taste that I got.

In this soda, I could also taste the prebiotics. It resembled the unpleasant medicine-y taste of a vitamin and left a sticky residue in my mouth, making me want to rush to the bathroom and use some mouthwash. 

Like the Vintage Cola soda, this soda also seemed to have none of the classic fizz making it extremely underwhelming. 

A soda with added health supplements should try to at least mask the unpleasant taste of them — and not make consumers think they are voluntarily drinking cough syrup.  

OLIPOP’s intention of creating a healthy version of soda is something the company still needs to perfect. None of the sodas blew me away and as a consumer, I’m not one to enjoy prebiotics masked with a little bit of carbonation and sugar. I don’t think OLIPOP can be replaced as my regular soda but can be considered a healthier option for people looking for a fizzy prebiotic drink.