I’m not sure why I have a thing for prebiotic sodas like Olipop and Poppi. Maybe I feel guilty and would like to do something nice for my digestive system instead of letting just McDonald’s Meal Deals and Mountain Dew flow through it.

But I’m not the only one with “a thing” for the better-for-you beverages. The segment is growing fast enough that Big Soda wants to be a part of it. However, Pepsi and Coca-Cola have taken two different routes. Pepsi recently purchased Poppi, and Coca-Cola decided to develop its own prebiotic soda offering — Simply Pop.

Simply Pop differs from others by adding more fruit juice. While the bigs in the prebiotic soda game have juice levels between 4%-19%, all Simply Pop flavors go beyond that: Citrus Punch (30%), Fruit Punch (25%), Lime (28%), Pineapple Mango (26%), and Strawberry (29%).

However, despite the use of fruit juices and natural flavors, the best way I can describe them is to say they taste somewhere between the top prebiotic soda brands and flavored sparkling water, but closer to the latter. I’ve tried many Poppi and Olipop varieties, and if you enjoy the sweet fruitiness of those, the taste level of Coca-Cola’s offering will burst your carbonated bubbles. Simply put, despite what the cans say, these flavors simply don’t pop. Also, some of them aren’t very good.

Citrus Punch tastes like an underripe Cuties mandarin orange; Strawberry reminds me of biting into a soft, overripe strawberry; Fruit Punch is like drinking watered-down Kool-Aid; Pineapple Mango has a flavor like the liquid from canned diced pineapples in water; and Lime, the worst of the bunch, tastes like I’m biting into lime rinds. I didn’t enjoy any of them, and I’m unwilling to repurchase them for my tongue or gut. I’ll be sticking with Olipop and Poppi.

However, with that said, something I noticed about these is that it’s hard to tell they’re prebiotic sodas. Again, I don’t like how they taste. But with Poppi, the apple cider vinegar in them is noticeable, and with Olipop there’s something about them that makes them taste, well, healthy-ish. With Simply Pop, I don’t notice anything that could be considered healthy-ish; they just lack a strong flavor.

So what makes Simply Pop a better-for-you soda? They have no added sugars. Instead, whatever is in the juices and monk fruit extract sweetens them. However, their most significant health benefit is fiber content, which they get from soluble corn fiber. I thought the part of the vegetable that the fiber comes from was corn husks, but after going down a corn hole about rabbit fiber. I mean, a rabbit hole about corn fiber, I learned that it actually comes from the kernels. However, while every can provides an impressive 21% of your daily fiber, Olipop flavors have an even better 32%.

Overall, Simple Pop is simply not as tasty as what Olipop and Poppi offer.

Purchased Price: $2.50 each (on sale)
Size: 12-ounce cans
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) Citrus Punch 60 calories, 0 grams of fat, 25 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar (including 0 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein. Fruit Punch 50 calories, 0 grams of fat, 25 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar (including 0 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein. Lime 60 calories, 0 grams of fat, 25 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar (including 0 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein. Pineapple Mango 60 calories, 0 grams of fat, 25 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar (including 0 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein. Strawberry 60 calories, 0 grams of fat, 25 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar (including 0 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein.