Perfy Tropical Citrus

Here's a drink I've not heard of before. Per usual, I often hunt for new drinks when on the road. Perfy has only existed for a short while and was born after the founder, Vasa Martinez's, health spiraled during a period of stress and tragedy. Her goal was to create a soft drink more friendly to those concerned with blood sugar issues. It contains no added sugar and no caffeine. This particular can is listed at 20 calories and just 4 grams of sugar for its 12 oz serving. Additionally, it contains Stevia, Tumeric, and L-Theanine. Tumeric is considered a natural inflammatory, commonly used in Indian foods, and may be used to give yellow coloring to some foods. L-Theanine is an amino acid found in tea, which is supposedly used to help treat stress and anxiety. While this flavor does not, some of their other flavors also include ashwagandha, a member of the nightshade family. This is often used as a dietary supplement for treating stress, though the scientific community finds little evidence to support this. 

My first whiff of this soda reminds me of pineapple. It's very fruity with an overall pineapple forward taste. The carbonation is weak and I think the addition of the dietary supplements mentioned earlier have a distinct effect on the flavor. While it doesn't taste like fruity tea, there's a leafy, tea-like quality lingering in the finish and I wonder if that is caused by the L-Theanine or just my imagination. Certainly, the tumeric is in play but it isn't overshadowing. While there are certainly better tasting "traditional" fruit blend sodas, the health trade offs of imbibing a drink like this with lower sugar, sodium, and overall calories would seem to offset that. And it's much better tasting than any of the pre- or pro-biotic sodas I've had to date. It should probably come in 12 packs at a more competitive price point though if they plan to challenge traditional sodas. Definitely worth a try if you find it in stock near you.