Spindrift Soda Update

Box of Sprindrift Soda

After my first post on Spindrift, I wrote owner Bill Creelman to inform him of my blog and wish him the best in his soda business.

Because Spindrift isn't available in West Michigan, I wasn't able to comment directly on the taste -- only the concept, values and mission of the company.

All six colorful Spindrift flavors

To my pleasant surprise, Bill wrote back, said he liked the blog and offered to send me some samples.  I was delighted a week later to receive my package of bottles.  In exchange for the favor, I hosted a tasting party with friends and family to get their opinions and brought samples to a local restaurant, Marie Catrib's, and a local health food grocery store chain, Harvest Health Foods, to get their feedback.

In a nutshell, all of the tasters were completely delighted with the taste and appreciated the values of the company.  More on this in a moment.

Pulp in Spindrift Soda

The sodas arrived in a carefully packaged box from Famous Foods.  I pulled each bottle out and first noticed the bright colors and pulp in each bottle.  It is the pulp that carried a lot of visual appeal to those looking for natural unadulterated foods.

The sodas have about 70 calories -- much less than a regular soda.The bottle label indicates the amount of real fruit is in each bottle such as "made with 16 raspberries, 9 cranberries and fresh squeezed lemon juice" or "made with 1/4 of a fresh squeezed grapefruit and fresh squeezed lemon juice".

The soda introduces itself with a playful sentence on the side of the label that says, "Sodas.  A Reintroduction. -- I'm sorry -- we've gotten off track.  Let's start again.  I'm a soda.  I'm made of sparkling water and crushed fruit.  Simple, light, refreshing.  Give me a second chance...please?"

The cap on each bottle is designed to showcase a non-profit Spindrift supports through donating at least 1% of its sales (not profit).  The organizations are all water preservation or water access related.

The cap reads, "Flip the cap to find a non-profit working to preserve water resources.  Once the bottle is opened, a web site is revealed with an organization they support.  Noticeable absent on the bottles was the 1% for the planet logo, the organization that certifies the donations, though it does appear on the web page.

Spindrift nutrition label

The flavors are:

1. Sparkling Grapefruit
2. Sparkling Blackberry
3. Sparkling Mango Orange
4. Sparkling Lemonade
5. Sparkling Half and Half (tea and lemonade)
6. Sparkling Cranberry Raspberry

Spindrift Soda Label

Amongst family and friends, the flavors most liked by the adults were grapefruit and half and half.  Everyone said the lemonade would be great on a hot day.  But all of the flavors were enjoyed and everyone said they would purchase this product if it were available.  The kids most liked mango orange and surprisingly the half and half.

I took the remaining samples to a local restaurant and health foods store to get their reactions. 

The owner at Marie Catrib's restaurant said he and his staff loved the product, that it was "flavorful" and that "it is exactly what they would want in a soda".  He made contact with Bill immediately and has been working on finding a distributor.

Spindrift bottle cap

The buyer at Harvest Health said she drank all three samples I gave her in one day and wants to buy it for their store.  Again, distribution is the only hang-up at this point.

Spindrift is a soda that is natural, refreshing, environmentally responsible, and great tasting.  With a solid network of distributors, it shouldn't be long before people will be buying it in droves.

Buy it online or in a local store or restaurant and enjoy!