Cream of the Crop: The 10 Best Cream Soda Brands Ranked

Cream sodas

Cream soda rates right up there with root beer as among the most popular non-cola soda variations. This type of soda has an identity that’s a bit, well, fluid. It's sometimes called vanilla cream, other times just cream soda or crème soda. But whatever name you use, cream soda is smooth and fizzy and widely loved.

Each cream soda creation has its own unique flavor profile, which may or may not appeal to every soda sipper. Depending on where you are in the country (or in the world), the cream soda might be light tan, dark tan, pink, red or green. This fizzy drink has range!

For this ranking, we focused on widely available cream soda brands, which are mostly i the light tan to clear vanilla-flavored category. Below you'll find our selections for the 10 best cream sodas, counting down to our top pick. Grab a few at the store and see which one is number one on your list.

Related: 21 Root Beer Brands Ranked

10 Best Cream Sodas, Ranked

10. Shasta Creme Soda

This one earns points just for sentimental reasons alone. Shasta is a nostalgic brand that many of us recall fondly from our childhoods—and the flavor of their creme soda is still just as good as you remember, like comfort food in a can. On the downside, it has high fructose corn syrup and sucralose (an artificial sweetener), which are things not everyone wants in their beverages. Shasta creme soda can be tough to find in stores, so you might need to order it online.

9. A&W Cream Soda

The color of this A&W cream soda is similar to—but just slightly lighter than—that of the brand’s iconic root beer. And while root beer may get more of the A&W spotlight, this cream soda offers an equally appealing flavor and deserves some recognition of its own. The generous amount of foam and crisp taste makes this the perfect “frosty mug” drink. It’s also among the most inexpensive of our picks. If you're looking at nutritionals, keep in mind that this option also has high fructose corn syrup and a significant amount of added sugar.

8. Faygo Creme Soda

Here’s another one for the nostalgia buffs. Faygo has been around for more than a century, all the way back to when the brand’s soda was delivered via horse-drawn wagon. This legacy flavor has stood the test of time, and the makers obviously believe you don’t mess with a good thing. It still has the great vanilla-heavy taste, which is a definite plus in our book. The soda’s tagline is, “Looks like water, but tastes like a vanilla dream.” We totally agree.

Related: So Long, Added Sugar! Sip on These 16 Healthy Sodas and Soda Alternatives Instead

7. IBC Cream Soda

The taste of this IBC cream soda is strong and sharp, which may be a pro or con, depending on how robust and sweet you like the vanilla element in cream soda to be. It has a delicious and distinctive taste and comes in traditional glass bottles, which adds to the nostalgia. It gets its sweetness from natural cane sugar, making it a great choice for those who want to steer clear of artificial sweeteners.

6. Sprecher Cream Soda

Based in Wisconsin, Sprecher Brewing Co. was established in the mid-1980s. While it’s not among the oldest soda companies, it has still made a significant impact in the past four decades and quickly earned a place at the top of the pack. The company makes a variety of terrific beers, but is also know for its root beer and cream soda. The key ingredient in all of their drinks is a combination of fire-brewing and raw honey, which creates a unique (and irresistible) flavor you won’t find anywhere else.

Related: Smooth and Spicy, These Are the 10 Best Ginger Ale Brands, Ranked

5. Jones Soda Co. Cream Soda

Jones Soda Co. makes no secret of the source of this cream soda’s sweetness—the words “cane sugar” are right in the name, prominently displayed on the front label. Not surprisingly, it is sweet, but not to the point of being overpowering. Fans often note the taste reminds them of cotton candy, and there’s just the right amount of carbonation to keep it from being cloying. Then again, this soda is so tasty so you won’t need to worry about it sitting around long enough to go flat, as it tends to disappear very quickly.

4. Original New York Seltzer Vanilla Cream Soda

They say good things come in small packages, and that certainly seems to be true for this delightful drink. The 10-ounce glass bottles are petite compared to many competitors’ versions, but you won’t feel like you’re missing out on anything because these compact bottles are jam-packed with delicious flavor. This soda has a short ingredients list—and cane sugar is the second item on the list—and this simple soda has a terrific flavor. One distinctive characteristic is the bubbles, which give the soda a nice twist. Be warned: Open these bottles slowly because the carbonation can sometimes lead to an overflow if you shake them up or open them too fast.

3. Olipop Cream Soda

The taste of this soda is more subtle than some of the others, but the relatively subdued vanilla profile of this drink just proves that cream soda flavor doesn’t need to be super strong to be satisfying. And there’s a bonus in addition to the great flavor: like all Olipop sodas, this cream soda variety has relatively little added sugar, no artificial flavors or colors, and is packed with prebiotics and a generous amount of fiber to support digestive health.

Related: All 14 Olipop Soda Flavors, Ranked

2. Stewart’s Cream Soda

Like IBC – another brand under the same large corporate umbrella – Stewart’s sweetens their cream soda using cane sugar and packages it in comparable glass bottles. While the two brands have some obvious similarities, their cream sodas each have their own special, distinct taste. Both are delicious, but we’d give a slight edge to Stewart’s because of the smooth vanilla taste that is just subtle enough and has the perfect amount of caramel essence as a bonus.

1. Boylan Bottling Co. Crème Soda

Compared to some of the other brands on our list, Boylan may not have the same level of brand recognition. But while it may not exactly be a household name in all regions, Boylan Bottling Co. has been around for more than 130 years—and they have obviously learned a few tricks over the years. This crème soda is unlike any other we’ve tried, standing out from the crowd in a good way. The company describes its flavor as having “hints of vanilla extract, coffee and chocolate,” which is a blend we never knew we needed but now can’t imagine doing without.

Next up: The Genius Trick to Opening Soda Cans Without Breaking Your Nails