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Drink of the Week: Fancy Soda

I’ve had an obsession with unique sodas, as the usual sugary colas and lemon-lime sort don’t do it for me. There are some that are great for times when you don’t want to booze it up, or you have designated drivers around. One of my favorites is Vignette Wine Country Soda, which comes in three flavors: chardonnay, pinot noir, and rosé. Unlike the scary grape Crush sodas that taste like Dimetapp, these are lighter sodas with juices from the eponymous grape variety. They don’t contain any added sweeteners, making for a nice treat. It’s mostly distributed in California, but is slowly finding its way East. I managed to find four-packs at the Home Goods in Rockville, but you can also find it at Petite Gourmet, Au Domaine, and the Curious Grape, or sample it at Eventide.

If you want something with a more fermented flavor, you can try Fentiman’s sodas, which come from across the pond. The sodas are naturally fermented, but contain less than .05 percent of alcohol or less, still giving that reminder of beer, but a more flavorful option than Coors Cutter or O’Doul’s. There are some unique flavors, such as dandelion & burdock, mandarin and seville orange jigger, and shandy (a mix of hoppy/malty beer with lemonade). For those seeking more conventional flavors, they create cola, ginger beer, and lemonade with non-typical extracts. You can find some of the flavors at Rodman’s and Ace Beverage.