I tried every flavor of Big Marble sodas and was super impressed with the interesting flavors and freshness. Big Marble is based out of Arizona, and founded by Dwayne Allen (a long time food and beverage entrepreneur). Dwayne reached out and asked if he could send me some samples, no strings attached, but this review is as fair and unbiased as I’m capable of providing.

There were four flavors available for me to try. Proper Lemon, Proper Hibiscus, Ginger Beer, and Tonic Water. Collectively, these were extremely high quality, refreshing, and vibrant. They use organic cane sugar, fair trade ingredients, and have some dietary fiber as well. I reviewed the sodas live as I sampled them in the video below, but keep reading for my written reviews (listed in order of preference).

Proper Hibiscus

This is my favorite. I love hibiscus drinks, but it’s not a very common soda flavor. I used to live in Central America and had a lot of fresh hibiscus drinks, so it’s a bit nostalgic for me as well. Big Marble did a terrific job of maintaining the floral subtleties of the hibiscus in this soda. It’s enhanced with fresh ginger and Jamaican spices that both provide some heat and roundness to the sweetness of the cane sugar. The soda doesn’t taste dry, but it tastes light, and it’s only 89 calories. Proper hibiscus is special.

Ginger Beer

I’ve had a lot of ginger beer from a lot of different brands, but this one impressed me. There’s more sugar in this flavor than in the other ones, but I’m guessing that’s required to balance out the spiciness of the ginger extract. There’s still a bit of heat, but it finishes smooth and floral with some brightness from the citric acid. It’s 160 calories, mostly from the sugar, but it doesn’t taste heavy or syrupy. I’m a little surprised that this didn’t have the Jamaican spices in it as well, but there’s plenty of complexity from the ginger extract as it is.

Proper Lemon

Lemon soda is usually flavored with citric acid, or something nicer would be made with fresh lemon juice. Big Marble’s “Proper Lemon” is made with lemon fruit powder and lemon essence which produces an interesting result. You get a lot of lemon flavor, but not as much of the tartness. It tasted very zesty and fruity instead with some additional complexity from the Jamaican spices. The flavor is bright, and the cane sugar keeps it smooth, but not too sweet. It’s only 88 calories, so it’s not going to weigh you down. Depending on the day I would rank this above the Ginger Beer. I really enjoyed it.

Tonic Water

Tonic Water is traditionally a mixer, and the quinine flavor is distinct. Distinctly good? I’ll just say distinct. It’s bitter, like when you’re trying to swallow a pill but it gets stuck on your tongue too long. It’s been used historically to prevent and treat malaria, but we’ve since adopted more effective methods. People’s taste for tonic water as a mixer has continued well past its medicinal purpose, and it’s most commonly combined with gin (gin and tonic). Big Marble’s tonic water was great for what it is, but I didn’t enjoy drinking it on its own. Too bitter/acrid for me, but I can see the potential for it as a mixer. It’s only 84 calories, and is balanced well with the cane sugar and Jamaican spices, so if you like tonic water then this one is worth trying.

Summary

These sodas from Big Marble are exceptional. I loved the clean and bright flavors, the nuance of the Jamaican spices, and the careful approach to balancing the sweetness with cane sugar. Thanks to the Big Marble team for providing the samples!