Honey soda in New Zealand is a sparkling drink sweetened with honey instead of cane sugar or a diet sweetener. Some NZ brands use mānuka honey. Sidekick is different: a New Zealand honey soda, family owned and run from Wānaka, sweetened with multifloral New Zealand honey (not mānuka), real fruit, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Queenstown and Wānaka are the trip — Kiwis, Aussies, anyone who flew in. The 12-pack is for the fridge at home. No cane sugar. No stevia. No erythritol.
Dedicated compare: Multifloral honey soda vs mānuka soda in NZ.
This is the category page. The short definition sits on what a honey-sweetened soda is. The fridge comparison is honey soda vs diet soda vs kombucha.
What it tastes like
Fruit first. Honey is the sweetness — softer than cane-sugar syrup, not a diet aftertaste. A splash of ACV keeps the finish dry. It is still soda. It is not kombucha, not a wellness shot, and not “healthy Coke.”
Core four: Cherry, Mango, Pear, Strawberry. Calories: Cherry 47, Mango 46, Pear 44, Strawberry 44 per 250ml. How many calories in Sidekick. Sugar sits under 4 g per 100 ml. Check the can.
What is New Zealand, and what is not
The honey is New Zealand honey. The apple cider vinegar is from Nelson-region orchards. Sidekick is family owned and run from Wānaka by Fiona Tomlinson and Rogan Tomlinson — mother and son.
The fruit is by flavour, not a blanket “NZ fruit soda.” Mango is North Queensland. Strawberry is Waikato. Cherry and pear are the fruit in the can — read the label, not a slogan.
It is not vegan. Honey is an animal product. It is made with gluten-free ingredients.
Where to drink it
Hometown is Wānaka. Named cafés sit on Where to drink Sidekick in Wānaka. Queenstown is the next valley — Where to drink Sidekick in Queenstown, including Airspresso at the airport.
The rest of the country is Fridge Fill, or suggest a store if you want it in a café. We do not publish a public stockist map.
A 12-pack at home: shop or Fridge Fill. Cafés and grocers: wholesale, then Upstock.
If you searched “soda NZ” or “sodas” and wanted the wider fridge — cola, lemon-lime, honey-fruit cans, dirty soda — that page is soda in New Zealand now.
If you searched “NZ soda no stevia”
That is this slot. Honey and fruit still sweeten it. There is sugar in the can. If you want zero sugar, this is the wrong door. If you want a New Zealand honey soda that still tastes like fruit soda, this is the one from Wānaka.
