Limited Edition Fanta Tutti Frutti (Asda) By @Cinabar

We've had a few warm days recently, so finding a new drink for summer seemed like a great idea. Enter the Limited Edition Fanta Tutti Frutti. It comes in one of those slightly smaller cans and I spotted it near the tills in Asda. The can itself is gorgeous, bright and splashed with every colour going.

First things first, for those who care: this is a zero-sugar drink made with sweeteners. I’m oddly fine with sweeteners in drinks but picky about them in sweets, which makes no sense, but there it is.

I popped the can open and took a sip. It’s super fizzy with loads of bubbles, then the flavour hit. Wow – it really packs a punch. It’s sweet and ridiculously fruity, which is exactly what it promises, but it goes even further. There’s the familiar tropical taste of pineapple, but what really surprised me was a smooth banana note running through it. That twist makes it stand out from the usual tropical offerings.

It’s an ideal drink for a hot day, bursting with flavour and fun. I absolutely loved it and I’ll definitely be picking up more.

Mentos Fanta (Asda) By @Cinabar

I haven’t bought Mentos for quite some time. This would confuse my work colleagues from my previous job, who knew me as the person with Mentos on the desk. I changed jobs, COVID happened, and working from home more meant I now rarely have sweets on the desk (as I don’t have a fixed desk anymore).

While shopping, I did spot a new flavour from Mentos and couldn’t resist revisiting my old favourite sweets. These ones are an orange edition and are Mentos Fanta. I know it has been a while since I last had these sweets, but I swear they made the pack more difficult to open. They used to be loose paper, but now they seem to be sealed on the ends. Probably more hygienic, to be fair.

The Mentos Fanta sweets are orange in colour and start with quite a sharp orange tang that mellows to a sweet orange. I guess they are a bit like Fanta in the softer flavour, but I’m not sure I’d have been able to pick them out from a generic orange. Still, they were nice, hard, chewy sweets with a good rush of citrus flavour. I shall enjoy the rest of the pack and try to remember to treat myself to Mentos more often.

Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit - What happened to Lilt (Iceland) By @Cinabar

I am old enough to remember the adverts for Lilt with the slogan "a totally tropical taste" which were on when I was a kid. In these advertisements, there was a man on the beach delivering Lilt bottles, much like there were milkmen at the time delivering milk. I loved those ads at the time, and I think I thought that this service existed in hotter countries. I can’t really remember a lot of other ads from the time, so it really stuck with me.

Over the years, we have drank lots of Lilt and quite often picked up cans, especially on hot days. In very sad news, the makers of Lilt have dropped the branding, which does feel like the end of an era for me. Thankfully, though, the drink does still exist just under the Fanta umbrella. Here we have Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit, which has less ring to it and far too many syllables. Thankfully, the drink tastes the same as Lilt and even has the old Lilt logo tucked away on the back of the bottle. I don’t know why they have done this. I hope this isn’t a step towards its discontinuation. "When you are out, could you please pick me up a can of Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit", That doesn’t roll off the tongue. It certainly has lost a part of its identity, even if it does have the same totally tropical taste.

What The Fanta PURPLE Mystery Flavour 2023 #WhatTheFanta (Ocado) By @Cinabar

For the last few years, Fanta has released a mystery-flavour drink, usually in a bright colour without much of a clue as to what the taste may be. It plays on the fact that what you taste is influenced by what things look like, so if a drink is orange in colour, you sort of expect it to be citrus. However, having tried these drinks for a while, the moment I discovered the Fanta Mystery Flavour for 2023, I immediately ruled out blueberry and blackcurrant, the purple fruits. I know better.

I opened up the bottle, and the scent of the drink immediately jumped out at me, no questions, no hesitations this drink smells like strawberries and cream. There is a sweet, fruity strawberry aroma as well as a softer, more gentle, creamy vanilla aroma. I was pretty sure I’d nailed this.

I gave the Purple Fanta Mystery Flavour Drink a sip, and as much as the scent is strawberries and cream, the flavour is a little sharper, with strawberries, lemon, and sour cherries mixed in. That was much more the vibe of the flavour. The taste has less soft vanilla than the aroma, but it is still present. My final guess is still strawberries and cream, as I can’t quite put anything else together. Have you tried it? I would love to know your thoughts.

What The Fanta 3 Mystery Flavour 2022 (Ocado) By @Cinabar

We have been getting an almost annual What The Fanta Mystery Flavour, and it always causes mild panic in me. This is because I feel like I should be better at guessing flavours than I am. I taste test so many foods and drinks, and curious combinations that I should be able to do this, but inevitably I struggle. I know I’m over thinking this, I’ll just open the bottle.

Firstly, this drink is bright pink, it has an epic colour, but I’m also aware this bottle of What The Fanta 3 Mystery Flavour may in no way be related to the pink colour. Fanta are probably messing with us. Next thing to note is this drink is made with artificial sweeteners, worth noting as I know it puts some people off.

I took a sip and let the flavour wash over me in the hope that inspiration would kick in. I think there are two tones in the drink. There is a mellow tone which reminds me of peach or melon and a sharper berry tone, possibly blueberry. The drink is also sweet, very sweet through and through. I liked it, but then I have a very sweet tooth. I thought it was a fruity, refreshing drink for summer. I would still welcome anyone else's guesses. I fear I may be nowhere near the mark!

Looking for the 2023 updat e- click here: What The Fanta PURPLE Mystery Flavour 2023

Fanta Strawberry & Kiwi Sugar Free Edition (Tesco) By @Cinabar

Is that some sunshine creeping into the garden? Could it be Spring on the way? It may well be time to think about the bright and fresh flavours of Spring heading into the shops. This means new products and here we have Fanta Strawberry & Kiwi Sugar Free Edition I picked up in our local Tesco Express.

I poured it out into glasses and the drink is very pink and smelled very sweet. I gave it a sip and I know that it is super sweet and those people that hate sugar-free editions won’t like it. The artificial sweeteners add a sharpness and extreme sweetness that many people dislike but I am okay with. I have a sweet tooth. I thought the hit of strawberry and kiwi was a brilliant refreshing drink. The fruit flavours are full of the promise of sunshine and warm weather, one to have in the back garden soaking up the sun. I’ll be buying more of these Fanta Strawberry & Kiwi Sugar Free Edition bottles. I like the new variety. The strawberry is such a nice taste and the kiwi brings balance. I am ready for Spring, bring it on.

Oh, I just checked the weather forecast, apparently there is a frost due tonight.

What The Fanta - Blue (Asda) #WhatTheFanta By @Cinabar

Last year we had a What The Fanta Green edition where we had to try and guess the flavour of the drink. The most common thoughts on that flavour were apple, pear or melon. Somehow it has been a year since that blog post and we have another new flavour to try, What The Fanta Blue edition. Firstly how can it have been a year, time seems to make little sense at the minute, secondly why do they keep choosing such bright colours for their drinks? The shade of colour on this drink doesn’t make me want to drink it, it looks like mouthwash with bubbles.

I braved it and poured myself a glass, it is very blue. I gave it a sip and it is hard not to be influenced by the colour. My thoughts on the flavour were that it was both fruity and sweet and sour, so like sherbet. I think the fruit flavour was berry like, something sharp rather than sweet so I was thinking blueberry or raspberry but I’m not sure if the colour was drawing me in. Anyway my best guess is blueberry sherbet or blueberry and lemon if we are going to stick with the fruit theme. Have you tried it, what do you think?

What The Fanta? (Asda) By @Cinabar

I had my last online order from Asda and discovered via an advert on their page that they have an exclusive drink from Fanta, called What The Fanta, so I ordered a couple of bottles. This is a mystery drink and there isn’t an explanation as to what the flavour is on the label. Apparently there is more than one mystery flavour too so I can only comment on this bottle. If my other bottle is different I’ll write a blog on that too.
The What The Fanta drink is bright green and it is also sugar free, so I poured it into a glass to have a taste test. This drink is definitely apple and something, the ‘and something’ part is very hard to nail down. I went from being sure it was apple and pear to now being sure it is apple and melon. The secondary flavour is juicy, sweet and refreshing and it certainly works. Ok, if I had to choose I would say apple, melon and pear! I think it is more likely to be one or the other but I seriously can’t decide.
This is a nice drink though, sweet and refreshing in the sunshine. The colour is a little bright for me, but taste wise I would love the big reveal and to know the flavour was staying. Can’t wait to find out what is in the other bottle!

Overpaying for luxury or unusual snacks (@NLi10)

There are lots of funny little sweet shops around the UK that want to charge you double for imported food. They seem to prey on tourists and families looking for unusual gifts. If you hunt around in the corner shops and Poundland’s though you can usually find similar for less.

Here we see a prime example of exotic Fanta - we paid £1.20 which is a lot for a can of pop on the street, but not if you are in a bar or restaurant. We also picked up more Blue by Pepsi.

This tasted of fizzy strawberries and wasn’t really worth the money. We had however seen identical cans for £2 in the sweet shops!

The supermarkets take a different angle, here we see Tesco selling you a few biscuits and some dip for £2 and five pence. While the price amuses me (and other Von Trier fans) even I turned down this review. It’s tempting until you think how many Jaffa cakes or regular biscuits you could buy for £1 and how much peanut butter you could get for the other £1. The 5p can even get you a bag to take it home in. Maybe I’ll see these on special.

My crazy lizard brain doesn't have an issue with paying £4 for this. It’s a creme brûlée flavoured BoBo tea, which is basically what bubble tea is called in the Birmingham institution that is Mr Egg. It’s basically a pot of coffee, cream and little tapioca balls, but I just couldn’t resist. The flavours and sweetness were amazing and I’m going to recommend it to my crazy colleague that loves hot chocolates which are entirely cream.

So I guess over paying for luxury items is fine if they are made in front of you and viewed as a treat, but not if they are just hyper convenience foods and unexceptional imports? Or maybe we’ve just become desensitised to overpaying for coffees. I’d be interested to know what you’ve overpaid for snackwise recently!

New Fanta Grape Zero (Asda) By @Cinabar

Here we have one of those things where my culture has affected my tastebuds. My British background tells me what grapes taste like, and from that I assume that is what all grapes taste like. I can buy essentially red or green grapes in my local shops, and both are light, sweet but delicate in flavour. Every American grape flavour product I’ve had has confused me, I do not recognise the taste at all. I have been informed that in the States there are Concord grapes which are purple and taste exactly like the flavour of this drink. My interpretation of this drink is grape flavoured with a hint of something chemical, antiseptic and even with an edge of root beer to it. My taste buds tell me it isn’t great, and they tell me not to like it. They think it is wrong because they don’t recognise it as “normal” grape. I suspect those who have grown up with this as the usual flavour for their grape products will be lapping it up. They may question our native blackcurrant as an odd flavour for purple drinks and sweets, but thanks to my upbringing that is what I’m conditioned to expect purple drinks and sweets to taste like.
So I don’t like the drink, but I know it tastes like what it is supposed to. I’m intrigued to find out what other people think?

Fanta Beach [New] Strawberry & Kiwi (Tesco) [By @Cinabar]

I think we have established that the market forces feel that strawberry is an appropriately seasonal flavour. Fanta have cottoned on to this and brought a strawberry soft drink with a twist of kiwifruit, for a tropical edge. They have named it Fanta Beach just to make sure if it isn’t sunny outside, we still have that seasonal feeling.
I poured a glass of Beach out for myself, and saw that it was a pleasant strawberry red in colour. I gave it a sip, and the first thing I noted was that it was very sweet. Now I have a sweet tooth and it usually is quite open to all such flavours, but this was bordering on being a little bit syrupy for me.
I liked the flavour concept though, the strawberry was very fruity and had a good berry taste. The strawberry was more natural in taste than I expected, but it was still rather strong. The kiwifruit came as a more subtle aftertaste, adding a sort of watery edge to the final flavour. There was definitely another fruit present, but if someone had told me it was watermelon, I’d have believed it. Either way it did give the drink a decent finish.
On a hot Summer’s day, a glass of this while sitting in the sunshine sounds remarkably pleasant, but make sure you have your sweet tooth turned on.

By Cinabar