Coca-Cola Oreo Zero Sugar Limited Edition Soda Review

An Oreo and Coca-Cola crossover was not on my bingo card for 2024, but then again, has anything this year been? I appreciate the black and white design here, though considering the gimmicky origins of this amalgamation, why did I have to buy a box of this stuff? A single can would have been just enough, but alas, several bucks left my wallet for what is ultimately a commercial experiment in consumer tolerance.

But the design is quite sharp, if not busy, but that is obviously due to the very small real estate the seven and a half ounce packaging provides. Or at least, that is what my eyes first tell me: the more I let them wander, the less I enjoy it. The Oreo logo looks out-of-place with its usual blue and white coloring, and is far too small compared to Coke's. And then there is the perspective of the cookies themselves, which appear from the bottom, where as everything else is straight-on. Does that make any sense? Maybe not, sigh, I am not sure it matters.

The petite can cracks open like any other, but pours out slightly darker, with a bit of cacao in the air as you breath through your nose. Lifting up the tiny metal and taking that critical first sip, the brown concoction struggles to let the Coca-Cola shine through. This obnoxious overture instead goes all-in with dessert impulse, losing any sense of spice or citrus in favor of contrivances. My palate could not detect the presence of actual Oreo, but instead a most generic chocolate, complete with an aftertaste that continues to stain your palate of its sham cocoa persona far longer than it ever should. Ace-k, aspartame and sucralose are the trilogy of synthetic sugars on patrol today, but they clearly are not real carbohydrates, your tongue is smarter than that, and they simply cannot impersonate that unhealthy gratification one gets from traditional pop. Or an actual fondant-filled cookie. Completing the unpleasant performance is a slight creaminess, achieved obviously without dairy (this is sugar free, you know), but this milkiness lacks the honesty of actual moo juice, so mouthfuls die an early death, leaving behind a chemical stigma that no amount of subsequent sips could wash away.

But before we close, we first should take a small detour to the cookie themselves; yes, they also made a Coca-Cola based Oreo, complete with popping candies. The little pucks resemble the classic sandwich favorite, but sport a red half and an interior filling speckled with little crimson dots. The scent is unlike the caramel colored cocktail inspiration, sniffing indistinctly fruit, with notes of cherry, lime and pineapple. The calorie-ridden cookie crunches like you would expect, heavier on that famous cocoa of its biscuit origin than the the soda this whole crossover bothers with, though as you chew through the crumbly confection, lemon patiently creeps through to your tongue. A hit of cinnamon seals the deal as the two-layered wafer dissolves on your palate, but I ate what must have been half of my daily recommended intake of sugar and nary did any vanilla come out to play. I was initially disappointed until I ceased my chompers, when the fizzy sweetmeats added just enough lingering complexity that it satisfyingly spoofs actual effervescence. All the elements work overall but not individually, which is fine, I guess, since this is a limited time product.

Anyway, back to the potation, I mean, this ain't "The Kookie King." Neither the soda nor cookie are healthy, but hey, at least one of them is diet! (Try telling your doctor that.) We have twenty one grams of caffeine in the thin aluminum transport too, so good luck trying to replace your morning cup of coffee. Unless you drink like a half-dozen of these, and have dead taste buds.

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Pepsi IHOP Maple Syrup Cola Review

What is the point here? Maple syrup flavored Pepsi? Who is the target audience, IHOP devotes and employees? In any event, the shrink-wrapped can feels cheap on the palm but at least exploits nature's sweetener well; I especially appreciate the sap dripping onto the brand's logo.

The smell of excessive sweetness billows out from the little opening atop the metal transport, but the first sip is awful. There is far too little carbonation, a glaring mistake that allows the gelatinous flavor of the pancake favorite to crash onto the palate and seize all control. There is absolutely no cola here, no vanilla, citrus or spice, just dumb sugariness to the point of numbing exhaustion. As a fan of grade-A dark amber maple syrup, you know, the real stuff, but this has less to do with nature then any soft drink ever has. I could go on, but I do not get paid by the word, and at this point, I have given this disaster more of my time than it deserves.

With 150 calories and forty one grams of sugar, this is not the product to make the argument that soda in any respect "good for you." Of course nobody says that, but whatever. On the whole, Pepsi IHOP Maple Syrup Cola is a novelty in the worst sense.

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Pepsi Zero Sugar "New and Improved Taste" Soft Drink Review

Pepsi has nicked and tucked their "Max" cola more times than I can count without using my fingers and toes, and yet here we are again. The can claims we have a "new and improved taste," but says who? Visually, it is the same old black background with starkly contrasting text, but done is that aforesaid "Max" branding. That is not all that is gone, but wow I am getting ahead of myself.

The flavor is classic cola taste, heavy on the vanilla and spice, with a gentler citrus exposition. They make for a familiar if derivative time on the tongue, not terribly "good" but not an issue if you are hoping to polish off that twelve pack you bought. Aspartame and ace-k sweeten the pot, so to say, doing a decent job at tasting like sugar without really fooling you into believing we have actual carbohydrates involved. As I did not have a can of their previous version for comparison, nothing here disrupted my memory of what this is supposed to taste like, except for one area: carbonation. It is far less harsh than I can recall, my mouth still flooded with tiny little bubbles but instead punching your palate, they gingerly tap it. A fine but unnecessary remake.

But if there was one area where the brand fails me, it is with the ingredients. The original version(s) had an almost energy drink level of caffeine, with sixty nine milligrams per twelve ounces. Now? We have a pathetic thirty eight, which only dilutes the purpose of this product vs regular Diet Pepsi. What is the point here? A potent potable masquerading as a soda was niche yeah, or at least I assume so, but what reason does this have existing? Overall, Pepsi Zero Sugar "New and Improved Taste" is nothing new and arguably unimproved.

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Pepsi x Peeps Review

What on earth are Peeps doing inside Pepsi? An Easter limited edition collaboration of course! These seven plus ounce cans promise "artificial marshmallow" flavor, but were only available to those lucky enough to win a social media contest. It is an awesome soft drink collectables, even if the label is shrink-wrapped on and only those with deep pockets or Instagram luck can encounter.

Well this is certainly Pepsi, that all-too familiar blend of spicy vanilla with just a touch of vague citrus. But then something happens, your tastebuds tricked into cozy memories of the cola classic only for the brown elixir to do a complete 180. No doubt the alleged marshmallow, the moment it crashes into the scene, things change. This is not your parents Vanilla Pepsi, oh no, and not for the better. Things are not quite right; a harsh alcoholic bite interrupts drinkability, fortunately foiled by the twenty six grams of added sugar. All from high fructose corn syrup, every imbibe is sugary beyond relief, as it commandeers your tongue and wrings out the possibility of nuance. This leaves each sip finishing with only carbohydrates to taste. That is not inherently an issue, but by the time you deplete the petite container, your palate is bewildered; where did the purported "Peeps" flavor go? This unsatisfying climax is a shame, but hey, who cares? It is not like most of the public is ever going to experience this.

This little thing has 100 calories and all the aforementioned ingredients, along with water, flavor, color, acids, and twenty four milligrams of caffeine. In the end, Pepsi x Peeps is a funky little experiment gone awry, but think of the stories I will be able to tell the grandchildren.

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Crystal Pepsi Review

There are too many "throwbacks" this year, whether movies, video games, or food and beverage. Pepsi, no stranger of the "bizarre beverage" market, just dug its arm in its long list of past drinks and resurrected its ill-fated Crystal Pepsi. What is Crystal Pepsi? Well, it is clear cola. Remember TaB by Coke? They combated this competition extension and then the market went the way of the dodo bird. And for good reason.

Thousands of tiny bubbles illuminate your tongue, warming the crowd of taste buds for this familiar flavor. Its vanilla is muted in favor of citrus, a muddled cocktail of acidity with a heavy dosing of cinnamon and licorice- and that is about it. You know Pepsi? You remember the taste? Well, things are not much different here, despite its unique appearance. Sweetness is key here, not nearly as syrupy as sixty nine grams of high fructose corn syrup would have you believe. Things are brisk and unanticipatedly refreshing, revivifying on this hot and humid summer.

Each bottle contains cola ingredients, minus any coloring. 250 calories are here, along with sixty three milligrams of caffeine, which puts it right up on par with its competitors. However, the words "partially produced with genetic engineering" blaze the back of the label in small print but in all caps. With the criticism soda gets, I am sure it will not be long before we see a "Surgeon General's Warning" here. In the end, Crystal Pepsi is inexplicably hyped and disappointing if you jumped on that wagon.

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Pepsi 1893 Citrus Cola Review

Extensions to Pespi's 1893 line include this "Citrus Cola" variety, who's dull orange can stripes the design from some of its sleekness. But it is an impressively clean can, regardless of all the text, who's most striking aspect is its regal text, escalating its look to a level the distracting color does not deserve.

The fragrant ebony elixir is fantastic to the nose, perking your interest and augmenting the excitement the novel notion of a "citrus" cola. The taste is full-blown cola, rich with vanilla and a myriad of spices, but the citrus is present, a beautiful bouquet of grapefruit and lime that highlights the breathtakingly satisfying experience. There is a roasted nutty nuances here, lurking deep in the obsidian broth. Sweetness is achieved via sugar, its grainy texture giving the raven solution a fascinating mouthfeel. It has real weight, an honest heft that perhaps is what differentiates this from the more commercial colas on the shelf.

Each can contains: water, sugar, color, flavor, preservatives, kola nut extract, not in that order. There is also 150 calories, but the flavor here is worth those, and more.

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Pepsi 1893 Original Cola Review

The can of 1893, a sort of nostalgic launch from Pepsi based on the company's initial release. Its black can is svelte, a basic but sleek can with simply but striking text. But the design never explains enough to justify its rather pricey near two buck price tag, or at least to your average consumer.

Imbibes are heavy, coated in a thick but curt sweetness that has none of the syrupy attributes of most commercial colas. There is the flavor cinnamon and nutmeg, with a slight nuance of anise and licorice, a lovely blend of spicy nuttiness and familiar cola tastes. There is a slight bitterness to things, cut by the thirty nine grams of sugar, but giving each sip an earthy edge that balances out the saccharinity. The effervescence is coarse, with the can claiming it is "sparkling," and each sip confirms that claim. It is a fun experience, and quite a flavorful one, one that would certainly win if they company ever brought back the Pepsi Challenge.

Each can contains: water, sugar, coloring, acid, sodium citrate, flavor, preservative, caffeine, gum arabic, and kola nut extract, with 150 calories. Overall, Pepsi's 1893 Original Cola is a successful one, but never escapes being a niche beverage.

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