What a find! I bought this along with a pile of other glass bottle sodas on a great sale at Albertson’s grocery store. Coming in at 80 cents for the bottle I didn’t have high expectations, but I liked this one so much I’m giving it it’s own review instead of lumping with in the Bargain Bottle Brawl I had anticipated.

Americana is what I would call the flagship brand produced by the Orca Beverage company in Mukilteo, Washington. I love having such an interesting bottler in my backyard. What’s doubly cool is that they chose to produce a flavor that’s very representative of the Northwest. Huckleberries are so much a part of the Northwest that they’re the state fruit of Idaho. I remember seeing huckleberry ice cream, huckleberry wine, and huckleberry soap the last time I visited Idaho…it’s everywhere.

imgp3694Huckleberries are tart, and somewhat similar to blueberries. To me, they don’t carry that antioxidant bitterness of a blueberry, so the taste finishes clean and sweet with some lingering tartness. I’ve never tried anything huckleberry “flavored”, just foods with huckleberries in them, so I assumed this would come across as a bit cloying and generically berry flavored. I was very very wrong.

While it’s not a dry soda, it’s also not ridiculously sweet. There’s enough cane sugar to balance the tartness of the huckleberries. Yeah, it actually tastes like huckleberries! It’s a bright summery flavor with plenty of carbonation, a classy label, and a reasonable price. I also loved the dark lavender color. I will definitely buy and drink this soda again and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for a good berry soda.

This is a soda for Orca Beverage to hang their hat on and be proud. They nailed the flavor and may have created a new beverage ambassador for the Northwest. I give it a solid 8 out of 10.

Catalog:
Sampled on 10/23/2016, purchased at Albertson’s grocery store for 80 cents.