Product Placement: "The Grove" from Hansen's Soda

A little while ago, the Hansen Beverage Company sent me a test pack of their new natural soda, The Grove, which unites the taste of berry and citrus and cane sugar (no high fructose corn syrup for you). I don't actually drink soda, unless it is united with the taste of booze, but I know that lots of people do, so fine. I took a sample on a boat race to see how it performs.

This is likely the only review of The Grove you'll find that details its drinkability both leeward and windward.

The Grove is new--it may not be in stores yet, I don't see it on the Hansen's product page--but like the rest of Hansen's natural offerings, it contains no caffeine, no preservatives, and no artificial flavors or colors. If you follow the science and policy of taste creation, you will already know that any natural flavor can be wholly produced in a lab and still marketed as "natural"--Hansen's goes the extra provenance mile and assures you of extracts from California and/or Florida limes and lemons, U.S. strawberries and yumberries.

If Princeton researchers can be believed, the best part about Hansen's is the cane sugar sweetener, rather than high fructose corn syrup. That way--and I think the data is conclusive--if you happen to feed Hansen's to your pet rat, he or she will substantially less weight gain than a rat chugging HFCS.

Good news, indeed. BevNet pronounces the result a "classic lemon-lime soda," but I have to say I was pleased with the taste process. It begins with a crisp sweetness and crescendos into a lemon-lime prom night in your mouth. I do not know what role yumberries play in all this, other than to make generations of fruitgrowers envious for not renaming their products more catchily. In my mind, a superior citrus soda has been born. Don't drink too much of it, it'll still rot your teeth.

I can't say, sadly, say I was as impressed by the Creamy Root Beer Hansen's also sent, flavored by a Tahitian vanilla extract. The disappointment lies is the "creamy" appellation, as it really isn't.

It's a little astringent, with a "bite" the cane sugar doesn't quite subdue. If you like that kind of thing--I don't judge--this may be for you. Again, leave the "creamy" off the label, and I might have been more taken with the craft-root beer taste.

I'm alerted by the Hansen's Twitter feed, by the way, that if you see a bright yellow VW Thing tooling around Seattle, it may be full of Hansen's. Take advantage during the hot weather!