The Best Brands of Natural Sustainable Sodas
Fed up of the conventional soda brands? Try something new, from artisan brands handmade in England. They are made with natural ingredients and sweetened naturally with real sugar (the upcoming sugar tax means nearly all big brands have added artificial sweeteners, to make more profit).
Fentimans has been making soft drinks in Northumberland for over a century, and its unique botanical recipes set it apart. Known for its bold flavours, elegant bottles and natural ingredients,
Before recycling, pop ring-pulls back over can holes (to stop wildlife getting trapped).
Check medication before consuming grapefruit or rhubarb sodas (avoid hibiscus lemonade for pregnancy). Also avoid caffeine (cola) or follow NHS guidelines of no more than one a day.
This drinks brand has an interesting history. Thomas was approached for a loan back in the day, and the ‘security’ was the recipe for botanically brewed ginger beer. The loan was never repaid, so that’s how Thomas became the founder of Fentimans!
This company has been around 100 years. If you look closely on the top label of each bottle, you’ll see an illustration of Fearless, the family dog who still guards each bottle, a century later!
Most sodas are made in minutes, but Fentimans uses botanical brewing, a process that takes seven days. They infuse, ferment, and blend real plants, roots, and herbs. This method creates deeper flavours and a natural fizz that stands out from mass-produced drinks.
Fentimans offers a wide range of flavours. Popular picks include their classic Victorian Lemonade, fiery Ginger Beer, and Rose Lemonade. More adventurous choices like Cherry Cola or Dandelion & Burdock draw on British flavours and botanical blends. Each one is bold, refreshing, and unique.
- Elderflower Rose Tonic
- Sparkling Elderflower
- Victorian & Raspberry Lemonade
- Ginger Beer & Pink Ginger
- Curiosity Cola (also in cherry)
- Dandelion & Burdock
- Lemon Shandy
Fentimans Botanical Boost drinks include extra ingredients, for good digestion and metabolism. Choose from:
- Apple & Elderflower
- Cherry & Blood Orange
- Lemon & Pink Ginger
A Range of Artisan Tonic Waters
Fentimans also makes nice tonic waters, to go with your gin or vodka. Avoid tonic waters for pregnancy/nursing due to quinine (and affected medical conditions).
As well as Indian and light tonic water, choose from various flavours including:
- Elderflower Rose
- Ginger
- Pink Grapefruit
- Rhubarb
Steep Soda Co (handmade in Manchester)
Steep Soda Co stands out for putting a fresh spin on classic soda flavours. This brand based in Manchester takes familiar tastes you love, then packages natural sodas in stylish modern cans.
Lime and Cucumber offers a refreshing blend of flavours, for a hot day.
The lemonade is refreshing and tart, with real lemon juice, for a natural zest that is not too sour. Ideal for a warm day, or to use as a mixer.
And if you like a little spice, the Ginger Beer offers a fiery kick from real ginger root. Again, it’s good alone or as a mixer. Finished with a hint of citrus.
Their Cola is a blend of sweet and spicy notes, with a gentle fizz and smooth flavour from pure cane sugar. It’s also available in a ‘light version’, sweetened with stevia.
Karma Drinks: Organic Fair Trade Cola
Karma Drinks was first created to offer an organic Fair Trade cola (including a low-calorie one sweetened with natural stevia) to help farmers in Sierra Leone, who don’t get much money from the big brands.
Karma Drinks stays true to its promise of only using certified organic ingredients. That means no artificial flavours, no synthetic sweeteners, and definitely no chemicals that you can’t pronounce.
Every fizzy sip is made with real cane sugar and a blend of natural botanicals, giving you pure cola flavour with nothing extra.
Buying Karma Drinks cola helps pay for community projects in Sierra Leone, where much of the company’s sugar comes from. Karma Drinks invests in schools, infrastructure, and economic projects.
Karma’s cola uses a secret blend of real spices and citrus oils. You get a bold, rich cola taste that’s hard to beat—no bitter aftertaste, just a balanced hit of sweetness and spice. It’s a real treat whether poured over ice or straight from the fridge.
Many leading soft drinks are loaded with preservatives and artificial sweeteners that leave a strange aftertaste. Karma Drinks keeps it simple. The sweetness comes from organic cane sugar (or stevia), and there’s nothing extra hiding in the bottle. For anyone who wants a more honest drink, this makes a real difference.
Every drink helps fund real improvements for real people.
Other Drinks with good Karma!
It now also offers other drinks like lemonade, raspberry lemonade, orangeade and gingerella.
Widely sold, they are also sold widely at vegan fast food outlets, as the fizzy drink choice.
Dalston’s Sodas (sparkling drinks with bold flavours)
Dalston’s Soda Co has become a real favourite for anyone who enjoys proper soft drinks. Unlike most big brands, Dalston’s promises real ingredients, bold flavours, and a strong focus on being good to the planet.
Dalston’s Sodas stand out because they use real fruit juice in every can. You can taste the difference right away. They skip the usual artificial flavourings and stick with pressed juices, which gives their sodas a fresher, truer taste.
Flavours include:
- Cherry
- Elderflower
- Rhubarb (check medication)
- Lemon
- Peach
- Ginger Beer
Quenched: Thirst-Quenching Soda Drinks
Quenched brings a simple refreshing take to busy days, and special occasions. These fizzy fruit-flavoured drinks are ideal for warm days, or when you wish to skip the booze.
Sold in three flavours, each can contains just sparkling water, real fruit and a little thirst-quenching bicarbonate of soda. For a light, flavourful refreshment to enjoy any time.
- Lime and soda is not too heavy or sweet, ideal with a touch of Rocks organic cordial.
- Blackcurrant and soda is a classic childhood treat, with a sweet-tart balance to appeal to all ages.
- Orange and soda blends juicy, sun-ripened oranges with the lively fizz of soda water. Summer in a glass!
Nuisance Botanical Sodas (from The Cotswolds)
If you love unique drinks with a botanical twist, Nuisance Drinks (also sold at Farm Fetch) delivers a sparkling taste of the Cotswolds. These non-alcoholic drinks bring together wild and foraged ingredients to create a refreshing alternative to sugary sodas.
The unique flavours are inspired by the founder and his mum, who spent summer foraging to make homemade cordial. 1% of sales from this brand go to rewilding projects, which help to foster natural homes for native species like beavers. The range includes:
- Nettle & Elderflower blends wild nettles with fragrant elderflower, delivering a light, grassy fizz and floral notes. Perfect for a summer picnic or as a mixer.
- Rhubarb & Ginger suits autumn evenings or a lively lunch with friends. The ginger isn’t overpowering, giving just enough warmth without stealing the show.
- Wild Bramble & Rosemary is a nice non-alcoholic spritz, as an alternative to tonic or lemonade.
- Damson & Rosehip has a subtle floral tang. Not too sweet.
- Cucumber & Mint offers a fresh, crisp profile that’s perfect on a hot day. A great base for mocktails or simply with crushed ice.
Idyll Sustainable Sodas (with foraged ingredients)
For those who love a cool sparkling drink on a warm day, Idyll Drinks bring something special to the table. These drinks focus on flavour, natural ingredients, and a fresh style that makes them stand out. 5p from each can is also donated to a rewilding charity.
Idyll Drinks are not afraid to mix things up. They combine fruits, botanicals, and herbs to create one-of-a-kind flavours that are carefully balanced. These aren’t your everyday sodas—they offer something new with every sip.
The range includes:
- Wild Gooseberry (berries from a regenerative Essex farm with South African wild rooibos)
- Wild Apple (with Herefordshire cider vinegar, sweet woodruff and hogweed seeds). Tastes like ‘apple infused with warming spices, orange zest and a hint of hay!)
- Wild Rhubarb (low-calorie alternative to rhubarb crumble, which is good too!) A refreshing take on classic cream soda, with meadowsweet and vanilla.
- Pine Forest Soda (Douglas Fir and Scots Pine – who ever thought of drinking a Christmas tree, but there you go! Nice with gin or serve in a whisky highball.
Rapscallion (sustainable sodas from Scotland)
Rapscallion Soda is a unique brand of sustainable sodas, born in Glasgow. Made in small batches, they use real local and seasonal fruits, to offer very unusual flavours.
Each can uses fruits, roots, herbs or spices, or a blend of them all. The brand uses pressed fruits and botanicals (instead of shelf-stable syrups or concentrates) for a full clean flavour.
Like an organic box, this brand changes its range with the calendar. Sweetened naturally with a little cane sugar, the seasonal sodas change due to the weather – it’s Scotland!
There are two seasons in Scotland – June and winter. Billy Connelly
The range includes:
- Cranachan (raspberries and ‘cream’)
- Strawberry
- Rhubarb
- Blueberry
- Dry Lime
- Burnt Lemon
- Ginger Ninja
- Apple Pie!
Santani Sodas (refreshing drinks from the Netherlands)
Santani Organics is a brand of natural sodas, that would be nice to see on our supermarket shelves, rather than refined sugary sodas, or brands made with artificial sweeteners. This one from our Dutch friends is made with 40% real fruit, no added sugar and zero sweetener.
Choose from three flavours:
- Red Fruits (cranberry, apple, elderberry, lemon, lavender)
- Lemon (with apple and ginger)
- Orange
Why Not (organic fruit sodas from Portugal)
Why Not is a brand of organic fruit sodas from southern Europe, an ideal swap for your local newsagent, supermarket or petrol station, to sugary sodas or fizzy drinks with artificial sweeteners.
The brand was founded by a German couple, who left Berlin to embark on a new adventure in Portugal. They could not find a good no-alcohol drink to enjoy, so created their own
The range includes:
- Peach + ginger
- Raspberry + thyme
- Elderflower +yuzu
- Kola + cardamon
- Lemon + mate
- Pomegranate + cucumber
Good Sodas (refreshing organic drinks from Denmark)
Good Sodas are natural refreshing drinks from our friends in Denmark, as inspiration (and possibly stocking) in English shops, as an alternative to sugary sodas or fizzy drinks with artificial sweeteners. Made with fermented organic fruits, herbs and plants, to create refreshing beverages.
Avoid fermented drinks for pregnancy/nursing, children and weak immunity (choose pasteurised drinks instead).
Most sodas are made by mixing carbonated water with syrup, but these instead use bacteria or yeast to transform sugars using lactic acid, for a naturally fermented tangy soda that’s uniquely refreshing.
Choose from:
- Good Orange (with fermented apple juice, lemon and herbs)
- Good Lemon (with fermented grape juice, lime, herbs and grapefruit – check medication)
- Good Cola (with fermented apple juice, cinnamon, lime, anise and orange)
- Good Tonic (with fermented white grape juice, lime, lemon, mandarin and herbal extracts – no quinine).
Culture Pop Soda (gut-friendly organic sodas)
Culture Pop Soda is not sold in England, but good inspiration, to wonder why New England has organic healthy sodas on sale in most stores. But we are lumbered with diet sodas of artificial sweeteners, and sickly sodas made with refined sugar?
Unlike most natural sodas, this is not sweetened with stevia, but instead just uses organic fruit juice, alongside herbs, spices and a live probiotic to support a healthy gut. So it’s just 50 calories or so a can, and as good for your tummy as a pot of yoghurt! They are also caffeine-free.
The range includes:
- Grape
- Strawberry Rhubarb
- Black Cherry
- Wild Berries Lime
- Ginger Lemon Turmeric
- Orange Mango Lime
- Watermelon Lime
- Lemon Lime
- Pink Grapefruit Ginger (check medication)
