Bionade Holunder Elderberry

I have never had a drink with elderberry in it before. In fact, this is the first elderberry flavored drink we have reviewed so far. I didn't know what to expect from this drink, but I had high hopes. First sip, I thought it was really gross. It tasted like dry soda, which I don't like at all. But then I decided to look into this drink, and found out that it's made by fermenting malt and water, but in a way where it's not converted to alcohol. This explains the taste. This tastes like a juice that's been sitting out a little too long and the bottle starts to bulge because it's fermenting.

Through the fermentation taste, I get hints of the fruity elderberry taste. But sadly, the fermenting taste is too prominent for me to really enjoy this. It's also more bitter than sweet. This seems like a very sophisticated soda, definitely too sophisticated for me.