Ask Lemmy

Huge soda fan so picking just one is super hard but I'd say:

Oronamin C or Sweet Blossom's Rose soda

Oronamin C is a Japanese soft drink with a taste that is often described as "drinking (American) Smarties". It's incredibly refreshing and delicious. Sweet Blossom is I think an eastern European beverage company and they make a rose flavored soda that is to die for. It has far and away my favorite quality of carbonation (very fine, soft bubbles).

Other honorable mentions include Ocean Bomb: Sailor Mercury (i.e. pear flavor), and as a big fan of cherry colas, Bawls Guarana Cherry Cola and Fentiman's Cherry Tree Cola.

Sugar-free Canada Dry Ginger Ale.

Vernors

A rarity, but Maine Root has(had?) a drink called "Pink Drink", a carbonated Prickly Pear Lemonade. I had it at the Austin City Limits festival. It was, without a doubt the most refreshing drink I've ever consumed. I usually drink mostly water (free) at the festival, but that year we spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $60-80 just on cups of Pink Drink because we couldn't get enough of it.

I really, really, REALLY wish they sold bottles of it, but as far as I can tell, it's only occasionally available and only as a fountain drink.

Moxie

Irn Bru or dandelion & burdock.

Ale-8 for flavored sweet drink, sparkling mineral water for unsweetened.

Barq's root beer. It's a pretty rare find in my area. But it's a special treat when I find it.

Vanilla Coke is a close 2nd place.

Dr. Pepper unless energy drinks count, then NOS.

Bitter Lemon

regularly drunk: go-to is rimarily Coke Zero because it's the easiest to find here and no empty calories.

special occasion: probably some variety of birch beer with ginger-ale being a close follow-up. On rare occasions, a very cold regular coke on a hot summer day (though not the US ones; last time I went back, both regular and diet had this really weird taste I don't remember being there before).

Manhattan Special Espresso soda.

Made in Brooklyn. Two shots of espresso in carbonated form.

Before COVID, Coca-Cola all the way. Not too sweet, and was often more consistent in cans and bottles.

Something happened after COVID, and it no longer tastes the same. I don't know if this was the effects of the illness, or a change in manufacturing.

... Right now, it's Dr. Pepper (or Cheerwine, if I can find it). Sharp bite, good flavor, doesn't really have an analog with other drinks. However, I can buy one bottle and it be perfect, and buy another bottle the next day and it be less carbonated than it needs to be, or too sweet and syrupy... And I can't ever tell why.

Bawls, which is sadly getting harder and harder to find. And IBC Black Cherry

I used to love both Vanilla and Cherry Coke, but I can't stand cola flavors (any brand) ever since I got covid last year. So it's been mostly the cream soda flavor Dr. Pepper if I drink soda at home.

Fanta, regular Fanta.

Calpis Soda

The discontinued Hansen's Soda Lemon Mint Green Tea soda. I near bought the whole pallet when it showed up at an outlet grocery store over the course of a summer after college.

Fuck I sound old.

Green River... unless it's the Sprecher Red Apple but that's seasonal which makes me angry lol

Colombiana or Ambassador!

It's so good you can mix it with beer (we call it Refajo)!

Perrier carbonated water

It's subtly bubble and has a very mild flavor

Topo chico for lyfe

Georgia makes the best soft drinks in the world in my opinion. My personal favourite is pear flavoured Natakhtari: https://natakhtari.com/lemonade

Also fun fact: Lemonade means soft drink in a lot of places in the world, I hear that's lemon flavoured water in the US.

Barq's Red Creme soda