Boylan's Orange Soda

In general, I am not a huge fan of orange sodas. I usually find that they are too sweet for me, and very rarely taste much like actual oranges. That being said, this is easily the best orange soda that I have had in my entire life.

I've always really liked Boylan's Birch Beer, but I haven't had much opportunity to try Boylan's other flavors. Upon trying the orange soda, however, I've decided to make it a point to do so. Boylan's orange is very, very good. As advertised on the front of the bottle, Boylan's sodas are sweetened with all natural cane sugar. The sweetness of the orange soda is just right, and is sweet without detracting from the taste of the orange flavoring. I've never really understood why so many orange soda makers add heaps and heaps of sugar to their beverages. Although Boylan's Orange is still a fairly sweet beverage (it is a soda, after all), it tastes as though Boylan's recognizes that oranges are already very sweet in and of themselves, and has taken this inherent sweetness into account when proportioning the ingredients.

In addition to the well-balanced sugar levels, the taste of the orange is very natural. Aside from some of the organic beverages that I've had, this is probably the "closest-to-natural" orange taste that I've had in a soda. The taste is laden with overtones of sweet citrus, and it is actually hard to determine exactly what kind of oranges are used in the flavoring. The overall taste comes closest to smaller species like mandarin oranges or tangerines, but resultant flavor tastes like a medley of different orange varieties. The flavor resonates on the olfactory, particularly in the immediate aftertaste, and the beverage tastes very crisp and clean in the long run, as the flavor does not linger for very long at all.

Boylan's Orange is an excellent beverage. My only complaint was that the carbonation levels were a bit under what I typically prefer, but that's a difficult complain to maintain when everything else about the soda is so enjoyable. This is definitely one to check out.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

Purchased: Big Lots [Columbia, SC]

Size: 16 fl. oz. [473 mL]

Price: $0.75 [Discounted]