Every Aldi Summit Soda, Ranked - Tasting Table

Soda purchases often reflect strong brand loyalties, with many shoppers sticking to familiar favorites. Store-brand soft drinks offer a budget alternative, but they can be a gamble because lookalike products may not satisfy. Lower prices usually attract shoppers, and some store brands can taste like the real thing or even better. Aldi sells soft drinks under the Summit brand with straightforward naming rather than creative labels. The lineup includes regular cola, diet and sugar-free cola, a citrus option, ginger ale, and root beer. Seven classic options are tested to compare their flavor against top brands and assess whether the bargain price matches the taste.

"In a market as polarizing as this, store brand soft drinks play an interesting role. They're admittedly somewhat of a gamble. It's hard to draw people away from their longtime favorites with sneaky lookalikes such as Mountain Lightning or Dr Thunder - both Walmart Great Value creations. However, it's usually the budget price tag that catches a shopper's eye, and sometimes you'll find a bubbly gem that tastes just like the real thing, or in some cases, even better."

"It's not surprising that Aldi also produces its own string of sodas under its Summit brand. The drinks don't have funny or clever names like some others. It actually seems like someone was in a rush or simply not in the mood for creativity when naming them, since they rely on such straightforward cola naming conventions. But the discount store covers all your standard bases with regular cola options, diet and sugar-free cans, a citrus pick, ginger ale, and even bottles of root beer."

"Today, we're trying all seven classic options to see whether any rival top brands or if they have a bargain taste to match their bargain price tag. Here's how they landed, from my least to my most favorite. 7. Summit Ginger Ale Aldi says this Summit choice is a "crisp" and "bubbly" naturally flavored. The imagery of bubbles on the can certainly matches that description, but the taste, unfortunately, does not."

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