Tartness is the bright, mouthwatering edge that fruit acids give a drink. Sourness is the same sensation pushed past pleasant. In soda, tartness comes from acids like citric, malic, and tartaric — and from how much sugar is (or isn’t) there to soften them.
Tart and sour aren’t the same thing
Your tongue doesn’t have a "tart" receptor. It has sour receptors that detect acid, and everything else is context: aroma, sugar, bubbles, temperature. When acidity shows up balanced — with enough sweetness and fruit around it — we call the result tart. When acidity runs the whole show, we call it sour.
Put simply: sour is a warning. Tart is an invitation.
The acids that do the work
Fruits carry different acids, and each lands differently on the palate. This is why a lemon soda and a cherry soda can sit at the same pH and still feel nothing alike.
| Acid | Found in | How it reads |
|---|---|---|
| Citric | Lemons, limes, berries | Sharp and fast — hits early, fades quickly |
| Malic | Apples, cherries, apricots | A longer arc — builds mid-sip and lingers, like biting a green apple |
| Tartaric | Grapes | Dry, firm, a little austere |
| Lactic | Fermented foods | Soft and rounded, almost creamy |
Reckon goes the lactic route — the last row on that table — which is why its tartness stretches across the whole sip instead of spiking and vanishing. (Curious how tart cherry differs from the candy-red stuff? We compared tart cherry, black cherry, and cherry cola.)
Why sugar changes how tart tastes
Sugar doesn’t remove acid. It just talks over it.
A typical cola carries about 39 grams of sugar per 12oz can — enough to bury nearly any acidity. Reckon Cherry has 15 grams and Apricot has 12 — less than half the sugar of a typical cola — so the fruit’s natural acids get to speak at normal volume. We didn’t add extra pucker. We turned down the noise.
The sweetener itself matters too. Reckon is sweetened with invert sugar, which reads rounder and cleaner than heavy syrups, so the tartness stays bright without turning harsh.
Where Reckon sits on the tart scale
Reckon is a tart craft soda brewed from an old-world recipe and brightened with tart cherry and apricot flavor. Cherry (90 calories) is the deep end — dark fruit with a firm tart spine. Apricot (80 calories) is sun-ripe and gentler, tart at the edges. Both are caffeine-free, colored by plants, and finished dry. If you want the full category tour, start with what tart craft soda is.
Not too sweet. On purpose.
Frequently asked questions
Is tart the same as sour?
No. Both come from acidity, but tart means the acid is balanced by sweetness and fruit flavor; sour means the acid dominates. A tart soda is bright and refreshing. A sour one makes you wince.
What makes Reckon taste tart?
Food acids — lactic and ascorbic, both named on the can — plus restraint: 15g of invert sugar in Cherry and 12g in Apricot per 12oz can, less than half the sugar of a typical cola. Less sugar in the way means the tartness comes through.