These fruit-flavoured bundles of sunshine came to my door last week, so I thought I’d treat y’all to a Chillio Soda review.
“Chilli-what-now?” I hear you cry.
Well yeah, they’re not one of the usual suspects you see when browsing the soft drinks in your corner shop. These are actually decent!
Before you start side-eyeing me, this isn’t an ad. I bought these with my own hard-earned cash after spotting a Facebook advert in my newsfeed. As a celebrated spice fiend, I’ve been crying out for a chilli-based drink for years, so thought these might be of interest to others too.
Chillio Soda Review
What is Chillio Soda?
Well to be fair, I’m not sure that they quite know themselves. There’s a bit of an identity crisis in terms of branding that seems like they don’t know whether to position themselves as a premium soft drink, or as a non-alcoholic drink.
To be fair though, they could easily be either. I’ve long thought that chilli can act as a great alternative to the ‘bite’ of alcohol in non-alcoholic drinks, but the subtle fruit flavours mean they could easily straddle the premium soft drink world too.
There’s three different flavours with each one “inspired by Cuba”, and landing in a slightly different area on the chilli heat spectrum.
Guava and Pasilla
I thought I was a bit of a chilli enthusiast until the name ‘pasilla’ was thrown at me. I’d never heard of it before, but as you might expect from the name, it’s a favourite in South America.
This drink features apple and lime amongst the two headline flavours. The mildest of the trio, its bite was soft and no sharper than a ginger beer really. Although pleasant enough, this was my least favourite of the three owing to its sweetness. We’re not talking an over-the-top sweetness, but given how fruity it is, that fructose hit can’t be avoided.
It’s still a nice enough drink; it’s just that the other two are better by a country mile. Of course, if you prefer a sweeter sip, then this whole review might be backwards for you.
Pineapple and Habanero
This one is my favourite; I love habanero! Curiously, despite the habanero’s legendary sting, this isn’t the hottest of the three drinks. The heat level here is actually just about perfect for most folk, I’d say. My wife, who normally orders a pasanda from the curry house, loved this just as much as I did.
Going back to the point I made about Chillio soda being in a position between premium soft drink and non-alcoholic drink, this flavour feels more suited to the latter.
While I can imagine drinking the guava flavour at the beach with the kids, I reckon I could easily spend a poker night supping the pineapple instead of a beer, and still be fine to drive home.
Watermelon and Jalapeno
Another cracker. This one’s also got some cantaloupe and lime thrown in for good measure. Chillio Soda claim that this is the hottest of their drinks despite it only featuring the humble jalapeno. In tasting, I struggled to notice much difference in heat between this and the pineapple flavour. That’s no real issue though, as like the pineapple, it hits a really nice balance with its other ingredients.
This had me scrambling for the ingredients though, as it smelt really fragranced, and I mean REALLY fragranced. In a good way.
Seriously, I wasn’t sure whether to drink this stuff or bathe in it instead. It smells great! As with the rest of the flavours though, the ingredients list is refreshingly short and free of any dodgy-looking chemical numbers, boasting all natural ingredients to boot.
Chillio Soda review: So what’s the deal?
£7.99 gets you six 300ml cans of either the same flavour, or a mixed case with two of each. £1.33 per can isn’t too bad for a premium product, especially when a nasty can of cola can often set you back a quid.
I’d recommend doing as I did and plumping for the mixed case first to determine which is your favourite. I reckon I might grab myself a pineapple and habanero case for next time. Mmm!
The only drawback of fizzy chilli-based drinks? Watch out for those spicy bubbles hitting your eyes! Let it settle!
Still not convinced of the virtues of alcohol-free drinks? Check out my reviews on both Beer52 and Flavourly’s craft beer offerings.