Healthy-ish sodas have been having quite a moment lately, and now the fizzy canned bevs are getting the celebrity treatment. Last month, seemingly out of nowhere, Ben Stiller launched his own line of low-sugar, 30-calorie sodas, dubbed — what else? — Stiller’s Soda. The collection comes in three classic flavors, Root Beer, Lemon Lime, and Shirley Temple, and are now available in stores and online.
As noted taste testers of all the biggest celebrity food brands, we at The Cut took it upon ourselves to crack open a cold one and see how Stiller’s Sodas measure up. Here’s what we thought.
Root Beer
Tastes like cream soda with vitamins in it. I liked it and then got a headache, which may just be from reading political headlines while tripling down on my daily recommended allowance of sugar. Whateva! It’s a lifestyle. —Amy Rose Spiegel, features editor
I like the packaging — very Jewish deli–core. Unforch, this is no Dr. Brown’s. It weirdly kind of tastes like an actually good root beer mixed with seltzer? Two things I love but not together! —Julia Reinstein, morning blogger
Like the LaCroix of root beers. Needs more flavor! —Jordan Larson, features editor
It tastes like a “healthy” root beer, which I suppose is exactly what it is. —Jen Ortiz, deputy editor
Shirley Temple
I’m a little embarrassed to admit I may be the perfect customer for this. I’m trying to drink less this fall, and it was good enough to look forward to cracking open at 5 p.m. I might order some? —Erica Schwiegershausen, senior editor
I love her. Not too sweet or syrupy like your usual Shirley, which is nice. Not sure why it’s also tart, but sure, why not? BYO maraschino cherry. —J.O.
I’ve been dying to try a canned Shirley Temple since 7UP launched its set last year but haven’t gotten my hands on one until now. With nothing to compare this to, I love it. It’s a little watered down but strong enough for me to know exactly what I’m drinking. This is the right thing to put in a can with nostalgic packaging. The heathen in me wants to mix it with vodka. —Danielle Cohen, senior news editor
I do think this Shirley Temple can be saved if I can add vodka to it. It needs more Shirley. Shirley = vodka. —Allison P. Davis, features writer, New York Magazine
I like it. I want to cut it with some sparkling water to make it a little less concentrated, but why don’t more companies prefab Shirley Temple? Ben Stiller, thank you for having good ideas in the form of both sodas and Severance. —A.R.S.
You really taste the stevia here, which sadly is a bit of a deal-breaker for me! —J.R.
This is probably as close to a classic Shirley Temple as one can get with a “healthy soda,” but if I’m throwing back a Shirley, I want it to be bright red and sugar-rush-level sweet and garnished with a maraschino cherry. —Lucia Tonelli, head of social
Lemon Lime
I famously don’t like soda, so take my review with a healthy grain of salt: I’m into this! One of my issues with soda generally is the carbonation — I don’t love too much fizz — and Stiller’s is flat enough for me to enjoy. —Catherine Thompson, features editor
I’m a longtime listener of the Ringer’s Food News podcast, hosted by Juliet Litman and David Jacoby (formerly the hosts of Grantland’s The Right Reasons, the best reality-TV podcast ever, RIP). One of their mantras is that 30 calories — as opposed to zero — is the perfect amount for a fun beverage: flavorful, probably not so much aspartame, maybe contains real fruit juice. So of course I admired this soda for being 30 calories per can. Downside? I found the Lemon Lime a bit too metallic for my taste. —Marisa Carroll, executive editor
If a soda has no bubbles, is it a soda? No! The flavor was also too subtle. Not offensive but not much of anything at all. —Jen Ortiz, deputy editor
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