"This Is Going To Make Me Sh—": My 16-Year-Old Son And I Did A Complete Ranking Of "Gut Healthy" Sodas After Talking To Two Experts Amidst This Never-Ending Poppi Controversy

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16-02-2025

I would be lying if I didn't say I've become intrigued by pre- and probiotic sodas after the Poppi vending machine controversy started blowing up my whole TikTok feed. So, as someone who is constantly trying to kick their soda habit, I recently spoke to a couple of dietitians to see just how good they were for you. Turns out, they are a great alternative with a fraction of the sugar! That being said, the jury is still out on which one of these sodas actually tastes the best...
So, my 16-year-old son Evan and I decided to do a taste test of the two popular prebiotic sodas Poppi and Olipop, along with probiotic soda Culture Pop for good measure. I have no vested interest in any of these brands, and Evan has never tried any of these drinks. I tried one several years ago, but I don't remember what brand it was or what it tasted like.
Krista Torres
Noting that there are other pre- and probiotic sodas on the market — like the recently launched SunSip — but many are not widely available in grocery stores as of now.
We went to Whole Foods and chose flavors that my coworkers and people on TikTok recommended*. The Classic Grape Olipop was one that people raved about over and over and over again. However, they didn't have the Grape Poppi to compare it to. Still, we made the executive decision to get it as a "tester" (we needed to know if these would upset our stomachs before we dove into an entire taste test).
Because we are insufferably impatient, we busted it open in the car. Before I could even explain to Evan that we have to take small sips because Olipop has 9 grams of fiber per can, he took a big swig and said, "I feel like this is going to make me shit; there's something about it. But, it is a solid 9 out of 10. YUM."
Krista Torres
And I was also truly blown away. 10/10. This was a huge surprise because I was going in with low expectations, thinking it would taste like medicine, but it tasted super refreshing, like a sparkling Welch's grape juice. It didn't taste fake or like it was artificial. So, before we even started, the bar was super HIGH.
While we let our stomachs digest the goodness of the grape-flavored Olipop, we decided to let our drinks get really cold in the freezer. Here are the flavors we decided to try:
Krista Torres
Poppi: Watermelon, Orange, Cherry Limeade, Doc Pop
Culture Pop: Watermelon & Lime, Orange/Mango & Lime, Wild Berries & Lime, Ginger Lemon & Turmeric
Olipop: Watermelon Lime, Orange Squeeze, Tropical Punch, Cherry Cola
Here are the main ingredients in each one's orange flavor and their price before tax in LA:
Poppi (PREbiotic soda):
$2.49
*4 g of sugar (3 added sugars) *2 grams of fiber *25 calories *0 mg of sodium *6 grams of carbs
*Sparkling water*Organic cane sugar*Natural flavor*Organic apple cider vinegar*Apple juice concentrate*Organic agave inulin*Citric acid*Orange juice concentrate*Stevia*Beta carotene for flavor
Olipop (PREbiotic soda):
$2.49
*5 grams of sugar (5 added sugars) *9 grams of fiber *45 calories *35 mg sodium *16 grams of carbs
*Carbonated Water*Kassava root fiber*Chicory root inulin*Jerusalem artichoke inulin*Napal cactus extract*Marshmallow root extract*Calendula flower extract*Kudzu root extract*Lemon juice*Apple juice concentrate*Mandarin juice concentrate*Cassava root syrup*Clementine juice concentrate*Rose hip extract*Acerola cherry extract*Stevia leaf extract*Himalayan pink salt*Orange extract
CulturePop (PRObiotic soda):
$1.99
*8 grams of sugar (0 added sugars) *0 grams of fiber *45 calories *45 mg sodium *10 grams of carbs
*Carbonated filtered water*Organic juice blend from concentrate (white grape, orange, lime, mango)*Natural flavor*Citric acid*Organic chili powder*Sea salt*Beta carotene*Live probiotic (bacillus subtilis)
After an hour, our tummies were thankfully feeling just fine so we began. We started with the Poppi Doc Pop, Olipop Cherry Cola, and Culture Pop Wild Berries & Lime since they didn't have a "soda" flavor.
Krista Torres
Poppi Doc Pop — 30 calories, 3 grams of fiber, 5 grams sugar (3 added)
Evan: It tastes like Diet Coke to me. It's carbonated like soda, but I probably wouldn't drink it again. 5/10
Krista: Prebiotic "soda" flavor sounds gross, but it was actually not bad. The flavor is good; I would say it tastes most like Diet Pepsi. That being said, it's not super fizzy so it's like drinking a diet soda you got from the fountain that's been sitting for, like, five hours. 6/10
Olipop Cherry Cola — 50 calories, 9 grams of fiber, 5 grams of sugar (5 added)
Evan: This tastes exactly like Buzz Cola from the Simpsons World at Universal Studios! Buzz Cola is just okay, though, so 6/10.
Krista: I really like this at first, but then there is kind of a weird aftertaste; I can't put my finger on it. I like the cherry cola flavor, though, that is definitely there, and it tastes less flat than the Poppi one, so it gets 0.1 more points than Poppi. 6.1/10 though.
Culture Pop Wild Berries & Lime — 45 calories, 0 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar (0 added)
Evan: It tastes like sparkling flavored water...what's that brand, Spindrift? I think that's it. 6/10
Krista: I think it tastes like a Truly hard seltzer, and I am so sick of hard seltzer, so I am not a big fan. Obviously, this is hard to compare to a cola flavor, but even as a berry flavor, I don't like it. 4/10
Overall winner: Olipop wins if we are going specifically on taste. That being said, if you want half the calories and a bit less added sugar, I would reach for Poppi.
Moving on to the orange family. We have Poppi Orange, Olipop Orange Squeeze, and Culture Pop Orange, Mango & Lime.
Krista Torres
Poppi Orange — 20 calories, 2 grams of fiber, 4 grams sugar (3 added)
Evan: It is a typical orange syrup-like flavor, kind of reminds me of the orange squirt stuff you can put in drinks (like Mio) but carbonated. 6/10
Krista: Despite my stomach literally making a loud digesting rumble after this one went down, it is not bad, but it does have a slight artificial taste to it. 7/10
Olipop Orange Squeeze — 45 calories, 9 grams of fiber, 5 grams of sugar (5 added)
Evan: This tastes like an orange energy drink. Again, I don't hate it but I feel like I gotta go with 6/10 again.
Krista: This one does taste more ~natural~ but something isn't sitting quite right with me. It is hard to describe, LOL. 6/10
Culture Pop Orange, Mango & Lime — 45 calories, 0 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar (0 added)
Evan: I'm getting kombucha vibes on this one. The flavor is okay but I think I prefer it over the others. 7.2/10
Krista: I hate to say it, but this brand is not for me. I really wanted to like it, but I just don't, unfortunately. It's also slightly less carbonated than the other two and I love carbonated drinks. 3/10
Overall winner: Poppi Orange if we add up our votes but Evan thinks Culture Pop takes the cake here.
Here is when we decided to switch it up and blindfold ourselves for two reasons. First, we wanted to see if we could guess which brand was which. Second, so we didn't develop any kind of bias.
Krista Torres
Poppi Cherry Limeade — 25 calories, 2 grams of fiber, 5 grams sugar (5 added)
Evan blindfolded: This tastes like Culture Pop. *takes a few more sips* Eh, it's okay. I keep saying 6s, but it is what many of them are! 6/10
Krista blindfolded: It tastes a little bit like a Sonic cherry limeade. *also takes a few more sips* Yum, it is kind of growing on me and I think it is Poppi. 7.2/10
Olipop Tropical Punch — 35 calories, 9 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar (3 added)
Evan blindfolded: Oh my gosh this is really sweet. This has to be Olipop. I think this one tastes the best. So finally, a 7/10
Krista blindfolded: I like this one; it is kind of sweet, though, and reminds me of Hawaiian Fruit Punch. This one has to be Olipop. (Despite this one having fewer calories and less sugar than its others, I was surprised to find this one was WAY sweeter!) 7.2/10
Culture Pop Ginger, Lemon & Turmeric — 45 calories, 0 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar (0 added)
Evan blindfolded: It doesn't taste good. I can tell this is the ginger lemon one, though, and I can't remember what brand that one was. Too bitter! 4/10
Krista blindfolded: Disgusting! I already know it is Culture Pop and I feel so bad because I want to like the brand! 1.2...okay fine 2.4/10
And, our last blind taste test proves that you truly can't say you like one brand over the other because it truly just depends on the flavor you try...
Krista Torres
Krista Torres
Poppi Watermelon — 25 calories, 2 grams of fiber, 5 grams sugar (5 added)
Evan blindfolded: It has a very strong watermelon smell and taste. I feel like it is Olipop. 6/10
Krista blindfolded: It tastes like a bad watermelon sucker, but something about it is making me want to keep drinking it. It's the most fake watermelon I've ever tasted but I could probably drink the whole can for some reason. I think it is Olipop because it is really sweet. It's fake but I don't hate it. 7/10
Olipop Watermelon Lime — 40 calories, 9 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar (3 added)
Evan blindfolded: That does not taste good. That is pretty bad, I am so infatuated with how bad it tastes but now I want to keep drinking it. It reminds me of the cucumber Gatorade, bad but you want to keep drinking it. Okay, I am changing bad to "weird" as the taste. I think this is Culture Pop just because of how weird it tastes. I love to hate it. 7/10
Krista: This is the Poppi one, I think. It tastes like Watermelon Pop Rocks, it is pretty tied with the other one but for different reasons. 7/10
Culture Pop Watermelon & Lime — 45 calories, 0 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar (0 added)
Evan blindfolded: Wait, now I am confused because I think this is Culture Pop. It tastes like the Spindrift. It has a hint of watermelon but I don't really care for it. 5/10
Krista blindfolded: I could already tell when it got near my nose that it was the Culture Pop. Sorry but yuck. 2/10
Overall winner: Olipop Watermelon Lime
Finally, I have to add that last night I needed to grab something at Kroger (where I snapped the pic of all the Poppis on sale at the top of this article) and felt I had to grab the Grape Poppi to see if it could top the Classic Grape Olipop. I did drink the entire can, but sadly, we agreed it does not compare. Grape Olipop is superior, and I will forever hate that I will now be tempted to spend nearly $3 on a can every time I am at the store. 😭 🍇
The overall unbiased winner when it comes to flavor — in me and my son's opinion — is Olipop. That being said, I feel like it truly depends on the flavor you like, not the brand. I also want to mention that if you're looking to add fiber, Olipop is a for-sure win (backed by an expert!), but if you're more focused fewer calories, I would opt for Poppi. Lastly, if you need probiotics and don't want any added sugar, try Culture Pop!
Krista Torres
Since we didn't want to waste — or mess up our stomachs with too much fiber — we saved these drinks in the fridge. While I can't speak on if it's a good idea to leave these unopened in your fridge, I can tell you they are STILL carbonated after two days, so that is a plus because I know a can of soda would be completely flat after a day! Thanks for reading our review. 😊