July 22, 2020
SoCo Ginger Beer Peach | A Review
Named for the South Congress district—a cultural hub of Austin, Texas—SoCo Ginger Beer offers a ton of options, some available year round with others released seasonally. Their peach-flavored variety hits farmer’s markets, supermarkets and smaller shops during the bustling summer season, when the beloved fruits reach their peak tastiness. The Texas Hill Country grows tons of peaches so the perfectly ripe fruit can be trucked into Austin in an hour, making the city and its surrounding area an ideal place for peach-flavored foods and drinks.
SoCo Extra Ginger appeared before and won praise for both its packaging and its flavor. The bottle here hasn’t changed much. Its unusual shape gives an impression of freshness while the logo offers a bit of style. Here the seal is a fun pink and unique to the Peach. The only issue rises with the color of the printing on the label. The yellow type and line drawing disappear into the color of the beverage, a far cry from the well-chosen pink ink found on the Extra Ginger.
Inside the 16-ounce clear glass bottle, no preservatives can be found. This is a drink that needs to stay constantly refrigerated. Sparkling water, lemon, peach, organic cane juice, ginger and lime comprise every ingredient in this ginger beer. While even the hard-to-pronounce ingredients found in other competitors are perfectly safe, it can be nice to not feel like a Google search is required to enjoy a drink. The list instills confidence and puts the mind at ease.
Two 8-ounce servings occupy the container at 80 calories apiece. 12 ounces, for comparison’s sake, come to 120.
The gently rotated liquid is permeated with sediment and pouring generates a fair amount of fizz. The opaque color hints at the peach within, with its orange-yellow tint. Ginger and lemon float on the nose with perhaps just a touch of peach.
It’s moderately sweet at first then the flavors step in, tart lemon out front with the ginger and the peach just behind. Just after that bright punch of lemon at the climax, peach steps forward. Ginger mixes well the whole time but never in a primary role. Peach dominates the finish but lemon nevertheless persists. The barest hint of prickle pitter-pats upon the lips but otherwise heat remains gentle.
There’s five members to this merry band: heat, sweet, ginger, peach, lemon and each plays a slightly more significant part than the last. Lemon and peach are the stars of this show, the ginger tying them together. They do tussle a bit, elbowing to stay in the spotlight but this isn’t a bad thing. It makes for an evolving progression, a scenic trip through the varied components of this unique ginger beer. And hey, it’s summer. There’s no better time to take a trip.
Final Decision: Second Tier – Alluring
Purchased at Texan Market in Austin, Texas | Check the SoCo website for other locations around the Austin, Denton and Dallas/Ft. Worth areas.
Back to: All Reviews
Recent Comments