Lemon Coca-Cola Zero (WH Smiths) – By @Cinabar

I think I’ve had Lemon Coca-Cola before. This feels familiar, so I suspect it’s a re-launch of an older product. I’ve always believed citrus flavours and cola are a perfect match, so I was feeling positive about this drink even before I opened it.

This is the Zero Sugar edition. I’m fairly sure I saw a full-sugar version in the shop too, but I opted for the lower-calorie option made with sweeteners. I don’t mind that in drinks, even though I know many people prefer the original recipe.

I opened the bottle and took a sip, and I really liked what I was tasting. The cola flavour was strong and familiar, and the lemon added a refreshing twist. It wasn’t overpowering, but it was definitely noticeable. The balance was spot on, making it taste like a chilled cola served with slices of fresh lemon and plenty of ice, ideal for a hot summer day.

This one gets a definite thumbs up from me. It deserves a place in Coca-Cola’s regular flavour line-up, right alongside cherry. It was that good.

On a side note, the Coca-Cola bottles with names on them are back, so keep an eye out for yours. As always, I curse the weird spelling of my name.

Pepsi Cream Soda (Ocado) By @Cinabar

This is one of the new summer flavours from Pepsi, and as we're (hopefully) about to get a bit of a mini heatwave, I thought I’d treat myself to a eight-pack and see if it brings on the summer vibe. I chilled it in the fridge for full refreshment. I also wanted to wait for the weather to warm up, it’s been pleasant, though not exactly hot yet. I gave in and cracked open a can anyway.

I gave the drink a sip and really liked the taste. The Pepsi cola is all there, but the creamy vanilla flavour smooths it out and makes it taste sweeter and creamier. Generally, I think cola and citrus are the best combo, but this worked better for me than I was expecting it to. It’s a really smooth, creamy drink, the vanilla and cola pair well.

I have to say, I’m really pleased I bought a multipack of these Pepsi Cream Soda cans. With its vanilla tone, I think this drink is going to be perfect for a coke float. I haven’t had one of those in years, but I’m now picturing a tall glass with this poured over a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream. Roll on summer.

Pepsi Strawberry and Cream (Tesco) By @Cinabar

We have a small Tesco Express near us, which is perfect for picking up essentials, but it is not always the first to get new products. While popping in for the inevitable bread and eggs, something caught my eye near the till. Neatly stacked multipacks of Pepsi Strawberry and Cream in their pink packaging. It sounded like an adventurous new Pepsi flavour, so I made an impulsive buy.

Once home, I chilled a can in the fridge, ready to enjoy with our pizza night dinner. As I poured it into a glass, the sweet strawberry aroma was immediately noticeable. Taking a sip, I was impressed by the bold strawberry flavour, which reminded me of strawberry sweets. This was followed by a creamy finish before the familiar cola taste took centre stage.

The flavours are intense, seriously sweet and fruity. They might be a bit much for some, and I generally think acidic flavours like lemon or lime pair better with cola. However, this was a fun and different take that worked for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would buy it again.

Limited Edition Oreo Coca-Cola (Ocado) By @Cinabar

There have been quite a few different flavours of Cola over the years; many of them are fruity. I think lemon or lime with cola works like a dream, and I always favour those varieties, as the zesty tastes really work. This new Oreo Coca-Cola is quite a leap away from that; I’m genuinely not sure that I would have paired chocolate biscuits and cola, but I'm always happy to find out how it works.

I poured the can into a glass, and there was a lot of fizz. It is one of those smaller cans; it filled a smaller glass and was still an okay portion. The aroma was sweet like cola, but there was also a vanilla tone. I forgot about vanilla cola; that is a combination that works, so there is hope for this new one. I gave it a sip and have to say it works. The main taste is mostly sweet cola; there is the vanilla tone, and then rich chocolate comes through, which shouldn’t work, but it does. It actually made me smile. I didn’t think cocoa and cola went, but I was wrong. I’d happily pick up another can while this limited edition Oreo Coca-Cola is still around. 

Pepsi Electric Blue (Tesco) By @Cinabar

Everything in my instinct tells me not to drink blue things. I know there are plenty of safe food colourings in the industry, but it is one of those things that always gives me a little uncomfortable feeling. I love new stuff, though, and I love anything a bit different, so I picked up a bottle of this Pepsi Electric Blue drink.

Once I got home, I opened up the bottle and poured it into a glass, and I realised just how blue the drink is; even the foam from the fizz was blue. Oh my. 

I gave it a tentative sip. The drink tasted good; it was Pepsi with a super nice fruity twist. If I had to guess the flavour, I would say blueberry and lemon were involved. I think there was a nice, sharp citrus taste, but also something fruity and a bit more mellow. I might be influenced by the colour here with the blueberry element, but that is how it tasted. 

The drink is a fun colour; blue might not be my thing, but flavour-wise, this Pepsi Electric Blue worked. Have the drink chilled with a slice of lemon, and you have a perfect new summer flavour. It is one I’d buy again; just because the fruity citrus taste is just so nice. 

Coca-Cola Lemon Zero Sugar (Ocado) By @Cinabar

My mind is playing tricks on me. I'm sure this isn’t the first time I’ve had lemon cola. The thing is, this little blog on new products has been going on for more than ten years, and I searched my previous posts and couldn’t find any. There were a few citrus flavours, even a clementine, but no actual lemon. These tastes feel like they should go together well. 

Another important note is that this new flavour is one made with sweeteners, which I know will immediately put many people off. I don’t mind full-sugar or sugar-free drinks; I’m not too fussy. 

The launch drink, Coca-Cola Lemon Zero Sugar, is a lovely bright can, and I decided to have one with my dinner this evening. The drink is the usual colour and has the usual strong fizz. The taste is good; there is some zingy lemon, but the taste softens to a sweeter version, and then the cola taste washes over, leaving a citrus tingle. This does work; it is refreshing, like a strong cola with a lemon slice. I really liked it. I don’t know why they haven’t done it before, but I’m rather pleased they did, and I hope they keep it on the shelves. 

Gusto Organic Cola - Real Cola (Gloucester Services) [@NLi10]

 On the way back from exciting places we stopped off in the Tebay services in Gloucester and picked up a few bits.  One we saved for later was this lovely cola.

I think I’ve had this Gusto cola before but it’s nice enough that we can have more,

This is what’s in it - fairly low in ingredients but high in taste. Mostly spring water, but nice and refreshing.

Good strong old-style cola flavours and not too sweet, overall a good cola.

HIP POP - groovy small batch UK soft drinks @drinkhippop [@NLi10]

I get a lot of targeted Facebook adverts for food & drink - and I buy a lot of them!

Here I got advertised a cool, UK based brewed soft/ social drinks company HIP POP and I figured I'd bump into them in stores.  I failed to do so - and so I got in touch with them and ordered a mixed case.

This is the Buddhist approach to sampling a companies wares (one with everything) as I basically couldn't decide which I'd like most.

It comes in a pretty sturdy box

That I've now flipped on it's side and am using like a wine-rack for cans, and as the first pic shows they look fantastic (to the extent that I've already lost two cans to on-lookers).

First up - the baseline - Lemonade.  It's got fibre in it apparently which is confusing but not noticeable.  The flavour is well rounded, the sweetness is spot on (no sweeteners too so my mom can have these!) and it's a great pub lemonade.

The Kombuchas are a little different to the normal pops, again - no sweeteners but lots of culture.

These are very kombucha - of you don't like the 'vinegar' side of this drink then this is not for you - but fortunately I'm into this.  The flavours are quite slight, but that's just the nature of the thing.  Lovely stuff.

Cola - closer to the Fentiman's traditional cola taste than the modern corporate one - and a lovely smooth sweetness too.  As a lot of the bigger brands recalculate their formulas to avoid the sugar tax, smaller brands like this are going to thrive. 

Not a fan of grapefruit, but a big fan of blood orange - and this mix works well.  Again - the kombucha flavour is much stronger than the extra flavours.  The CBD here is unobtrusive and took a little while to have any noticeable effect but it did take the micro-pains from my arthritis off eventually which is a nice bonus.

Similar to the above - the cherry sweetness is nice and the kombucha CBD mix is still good.

This one I probably couldn't have guessed the flavour of, but it was just a nice tropical kombucha.

So - six cans in - what's the verdict?

The Kombuchas all taste very similar, I'm not sure that I have a favourite, but I bet if I tried them side by side then I'd know which was which. The CBD is a nice bonus, but I don't feel it really adds much to drinks.

The regular pops (lemonade & cola) are the stars - these are really grown-up versions of their respective drinks.  I hope that pubs can get a few of these in for the summer.

As something to offer guests though these are absolutely perfect. Little self-contained tins of awesomeness.  In fact I think I'll test the Orange one now...

You can message them on the website to create your own box, but the Buddha Box I had is linked here.  It's not an affiliate link or anything, it's just good enough to share!

Movement Limited Edition Coca-Cola by Rosalia - Our Guesses!! (Tesco) by @cinabar

I have found another limited edition Coca-Cola, this one is called Movement and it is by Rosalia. The can is very funky and very pink, but I know better than to think the colour will influence the flavour. I poured the cola out into a glass, it was the usual colour, so no clues there. The aroma was very similar to that of Vanilla Coke. This might be easier than I thought.

I took a sip of the drink, and while it didn't taste exactly like Vanilla Coke, it was close. There was a background taste of something else too, something similar and annoyingly familiar that I couldn't quite pin down. I think there might have been coconut mixed in there, it is creamy and sweet and works nicely with the cola, but it wasn’t quite tropical.

If I had to pick a flavour for this Movement Limited Edition Coca Cola by Rosalia drink, I think I would settle on coconut macaroons as my guess. That would explain the creamy vanilla coconut flavour without being too heavy on the coconut milk side of things. Other guesses at Foodstuff Finds included cheesecake and the idea that there was something like berry or floral mixed in, so we weren’t sure ourselves on it. Have you tried it? What are your guesses? 

Dreamworld Limited Edition Coca Cola (WH Smith) By @Cinabar

I actually feel confident about this one. We have been trying quite a few items recently with mystery flavours and I find it really hard to guess them. Sure I can categorise them into fruity etc, but actually narrowing down the taste to a precise flavour is so difficult. The guess from the Cadbury Dairy Milk bars says it all really, not many repeated ideas in the comments at all.

Anyway this particular drink didn’t offer clues from the name, Dreamworld Limited Edition Coca Cola but the minute I poured it out I could already pick up a fruity finish from the aroma. When I gave it a sip my brain narrowed this down to tropical fruit, and further still I ended up with smooth sweet mango. I think there may have been a hint of papaya too, but the mango I am sure about. I love mango, I know the flavour well so I’m happy with this. It also worked surprisingly well with cola, but the fruit flavours often do. It had such a nice tropical edge I was savouring the rest of the can. It was a delight to drink and if they made them in multipack cans I’d be buying them up.

Tayto Fizzy Cola Crisps (A Taste of the States) By @Cinabar

What kind of crazy is this? Cola flavoured crisps, yes that is potato and cola, I don’t even know what to think. On one hand I am crazy about new flavours, but on the other, this one felt a bit bizarre. The bags of crisps are big too, almost sharing size, but I guess it is supposed to be one large portion for one.

I opened up the pack of Tayto Fizzy Cola Crisps and the aroma was very much cola, they were sweet scented. I gave one a try and the taste is just like the fizzy cola bottle sweets you get in the pick n mix. They are very sweet, and very much cola and they have that element of sour sweets too. What I didn’t expect was that the crisps would actually be fizzy. They fizzed not like popping candy, but they were super tingly. This made me smile, which is a good thing.

I couldn’t decide if I liked them or not, but I finished the bag, which I think means they weren’t bad. I don’t think you could make a crisp with the intention of flavouring it with fizzy cola bottle sweets any better than this offering from Tayto, so on that they succeeded. Would you fancy giving these Tayto Fizzy Cola Crisps a try?

The Artist Marshmello’s Limited Edition Coca Cola (Tesco) By @Cinabar

We have a new summer edition Coca Cola out in the UK. This one is a flavour created by The Artist Marshmello. As the whole artificial sweeteners thing is a very Marmite concept, I will just make it clear the can I bought is a no-sugar drink. I don’t mind the extra sweetness that brings, but I know it will put a lot of people off completely.

Anyway, I poured out the drink and the colour was not unusual at all; standard Coca Cola brown. The aroma was cola with strawberry laces, it was very sweet and fruity and like sweets. When I tried a sip the fruit taste was a bit softer, for me it made me think of peach. If this had been a flavour to guess, I would have gone Peach Melba. The explanation of the flavour is on the can, it is strawberry watermelon. As I said, the strawberry is very present, and the sweet fruity mellow taste but I couldn’t pick out watermelon.

The Artist Marshmello’s Limited Edition Coca Cola drink was fine, it was sweet even for me but fun for the summer. I still rate the Coke with Lime over this, that is a proper refreshing flavoured cola for a hot day.

Coca-Cola tic tacs - Limited Edition nightmare tablets (@NLi10)

 Some things aren’t meant to exist, but the cash-waiting potential for cross-over products is so tempting that we get things like this. Coca-Cola is one of the most popular drinks on the planet (even if it tastes different depending on where you are like all soft drinks). Tic tacs are an inexplicably popular over-priced mint style sweet (although it was the orange and lime ones I was addicted to as a child).

If they bred them in captivity it would produce this

Made with CocaCola seems a strange claim - more correctly it should say the syrup that it mentions in the ingredients. It does explain the brand styling though - these are tictacs with the coke syrup as the flavour.

4 of the first three ingredients are sugar, which is kind of funny - these are sugar pils flavoured with Coke - literal placebos that convince you you’ve had some official coke.

And the aesthetics are flawless.

My heart line says that I prefer Pepsi. Well - Fentiman’s really but that’s more of a treat. 

Coke is an orange based cola flavour and that’s what you get here - a hit of sweetness (like Coke pre the sugar tax) and the Coke flavour, then a little acid burn from the orange. That final burn and the shape are the only tictac contributions. The aftertaste from tictac isn’t there which is odd - because I missed it.

If you want lasting cola flavour then cola bottles (the sweet or the drink) are better - and more refreshing. A single tic of these wasn’t that impressive, but three is about the right power and does leave you with an aftertaste - even if it’s the orange oil one. And to be honest I’d rather have normal minty tictacs.

That said - if your plan is to pick these up on sale (like I did) and then pop them on your desk at work as an object of interest then they do that job admirably. And once in a while I might eat one and then wish I had any glass of any cola to take the taste away.

One for collectors only.

Coca Cola Signature Mixture 2 - Spicy - with Southern Comfort (By @NLi10)

I've had this little bottle of spicy Coke for ages - but not really a reason to crack it open.

 

My friend finished building the Lego Titanic on stream (28 hour build!) and we joked that we should drink Jack with one very large ice-cube to celebrate.  I didn't really  have that though, but figured this was the closest option.

See the finished titanic either on the video link above or on the pics here

It has lots of fire in it, but also lots of botanicals - could it be that Coke fears Fentimans?

Otherwise it sounds a lot like a Cola.

And I paired it with this - Southern Comfort & Lime from a previous review

Spirits don't go off do they?!

Using the traditional alcohol review glass

It fizzed up nicely and had a good smell

And it tasted great - basically like a Fentiman's cola cocktail with a kick of ginger - and then the fruity undertones of the Southern Comfort.

I'll have to either pick up more when Waitrose has them in at Christmas - or make my own by adding a dash of ginger beer to the cola like we did as kids!

Jammie Dodgers - Cola Bottle (B&M) By @Cinabar

Jammie Dodgers are a classic British biscuit, they are a legendary product over here. They have a cult following too, especially after Dr Who convinced the Daleks that a Jammie Dodger was actually a self-destructive biscuit. Now there is a plan that shouldn’t have worked. Jammie Dodgers are a shortcake biscuit filled with a fruit jam, with a heart shape on the top. This edition is quite a change from that and the filling is a cola bottle flavoured jam instead, like the sweets.

Inside the pack, the biscuits look like regular Jammie Dodgers except the filling is a brown colour instead of the usual red heart. I gave one a try and was rather impressed by the taste. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the cola taste worked so much better than I thought it would. It was sweet, zingy and fresh and had a gentle apple in the flavour too. It sounded like a weird combination when I first saw them but, honestly, they made it work and now I can’t wait to see what other flavours they may bring out. These are so tasty I’m sure even Dr Who would approve.

Limited Edition Intergalactic Coca-Cola (Ocado) By @Cinabar

We have had some strange flavours of soft drinks over the years, and several we have had to guess. The latest limited edition from Coca-Cola is this new Intergalactic flavour. You do sort of have to guess what that means in terms of taste as it isn’t too easy to work it out from the name. I’m not sure it even inspires a vague hint of what it might taste like. So the question is what does Intergalactic mean in terms of a flavour, and I’ve got nothing.

I poured some Intergalactic Coca-Cola out into a glass and realised the drink had a fun red tinge to it. Was that a clue to the flavour? I gave it a sip and the first taste was sweet, I know cola is always sweet, but this was sweeter. Then there was a lot of creaminess, like vanilla. Finally, the flavour ends on a burnt sugar note, just like candy floss. I think the mystery flavour must be candy floss. That is my best guess. That flavour at the end of the sip is just so distinctively sweet and reminds me of the fair ground rather than space. Why is it red, why is it space themed? I don’t think I have the answer.

Have you tried it? What are your thoughts?

American Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper by @NLi10

American 'soda' is pretty unique.  The Corn Syrup lobbyists have ensured that financial forces have given them a whole raft of flavours and textures that don't quite work in the sugar part of the world.

Case in point - here we have Dr Pepper but a Cherry Vanilla version.  It's from the parcel shop on my high - street who are delighted that I want to try all of the things.

It's both natural and artificial

On 2/3rds of the sides

98% water and corn syrup - 38g of the stuff! 2% colour and flavour.

So - how does it compare to English Dr Pepper?  It has less of the distinctive 'cough medicine' taste than I expected, with the cherry being just a little sweeter and the vanilla being more of the focus.

It's nice enough - but having been used to sugar based Dr Pepper it just doesn't hit the spot.  I opened this while doing a 2 hour stream and there was 1/3 of a can left at the end (but I'd finished all my water).  I'll stick to 2 Litres of the regular stuff for the same price - but always worth branching out.

Cherry Gusto Cola & Gingerbread Cider! By @NLi10

 Happy New Year! Here are a few oddities I’ve had recently to celebrate.

Gusto organic make a load of lovely social soft drinks - I had the Real Cherry Cola with my post-Christmas Pieminister Mistlemoo

The combination was surprisingly successful with the fruitiness of the pie and the drink working together nicely.

It’s brewed like Fentimans so it’s nicely strong.

And this is also brewed - gingerbread cider!

I only had a half as it looked like Scrumpy - and I was right. It needed a little more sweetness - the gingerbread house is made of sugar too you know! Nice though - but you don’t need more than a half…

Jarritos pop/cola & Mexican food (@NLi10)

 There's a pretty new Mexican place that's opened within walking distance of my house.  Run by a Mexican family and visited by lots of people familiar with the area, it's this odd little cultural oasis in our very Asian neighbourhood.  And I love it.

They also import (or aquire from people that do) genuine Mexican snacks & drinks to go with their ingredients so I can work through the Jarritos rainbow one bottle at a time.

For starters I chose Mandarin.  This is one of those flavours that just doesn't show up in English snacks - just one kind of Orange for us.  We occasionally get Satsuma which is basically the same, but here we have the real deal.  It's sharp and exciting, and goes really well with the deep fried nachos starter.

And look at that lunch-time main.  Egg and Chorizo - I forget the real name.  So many lovely flavours with just the right amount of kick to keep you going.

Naturally I got a bottle to take home too.

Mexican cola is a delight - much closer to the Fentimans flavours than the English pop.  

Sure - it's still just water and flavourings but it's at least exotic water that's actually been to Mexico (unlike me).

Maybe I can persuade my partner that I should go fetch us a delivery for this evenings tea...