Soft Drinks for the Rest of Us

If sugary sodas are designed to appeal to kids, what are adults supposed to drink? If Steve Hersch has his way, they'll reach for a more mature kind of soda like his. Hersch, 37, is the founder of GuS (Grown up Soda), a new line of less-sweet but intensely flavored sodas such as Dry Valencia Orange, Dry Meyer Lemon and Extra Dry Ginger Ale. "When you grow up, your tastes change," he says. "You want drinks that are less sweet and more flavorful." And he's not the only soft-drink entrepreneur chasing this market. Tommy's Naked Sodas are all-natural beverages made with cane sugar (as opposed to the corn syrup that has sweetened sodas since the late 1970s). Tommy's orange actually tastes like an orange, and his lemon-lime is crisp and tart, not sugary. Fizzy Lizzy is a line of natural beverages made using only fruit juices and seltzer. Steap Green Tea Sodas is the first brand to be certified organic. Steap's microbrewed drinks come in such traditional flavors as cola, root beer, orange and lemon dew, but contain no additives or refined sugars.