Afri Cola Zero

When someone first mentioned Afri Cola to me, I had the assumption that it was from Africa like some others I'd heard of. The beginning 'Afri' certainly lends itself to that idea. I ended up coming across some and grabbed a bottle. I wondered if this naming had more to do with the era it was created in and trying to appeal to Europeans of the 1930's who were wild about the sub-continent at the time. This naming gave it an exotic allure. Then I dug into the brand to learn more about it. It's actually a German-made soda nearly 100 years old. It originates in 1931, created by F. Blumhoffer Nachfolger GmbH, an even older company based in Cologne. The goal was to create a German parallel to Coca-Cola. While it was very popular, it began losing market share to American colas after the 1960's and was sold to Mineralbrunnen Überkingen-Teinach AG in the late 1990's. Talking to Berlin locals, it apparently is known for its caffeine content, not unlike Jolt in the U.S. The caffeine content was quite high in the early days, then was toyed with until consumer backlash brought the caffeine back to its original level of 250 mg/L. As a comparison, Coca-Cola Classic has about 145 mg/L and Jolt around 200 mg/L.

Now, as it turns out, I have accidentally grabbed the "zero" version... which isn't ideal for a first taste since zero-calorie versions usually taste differently. I'm also not sure what to say about the interesting shape of the bottle, other than, it's unusual but hefty and solid. As cola flavors go, it's not great. I'm going to chalk that up more to being the zero-calorie version than anything else. The kola nut flavor is a bit sharp and is fleeting as well. Not a lot more to say about it. I'm going to try to hunt down the original flavor to compare but this "zero" variety is not very attractive to me. 

Fanta Shokata

This one was a little bit of a mystery at first. I bought this bottle in Germany, but it has Cyrillic markings on the bottle with a sticker over the back that obviously indicates it was imported. Shokata means nothing to me and the graphic shows a lemon. After close inspection I picked out the word 'Holunderblüten', which is German for elderflower and this jives with what I previously thought was a splash or something in the graphic but beside the lemon is a flower. So, my initial suspicion that this might be some sort of 'blue berry' flavor of some type is more likely just a blue plastic bottle with a white soda inside. Although purchased in Germany, I suspect this is an Eastern European marketed flavor from Fanta. 

Cracking open the bottle I got a sense like that of being in a flower market. Getting a good whiff or two, sometimes I smell lemonade but at other times its flowery and perfumelike. The flavor is intensely floral at first. It takes 30 seconds or so after a taste before a lemon flavor rises in the mouth. I feel like this should have a common ancestor with the Austrian Almdudler due to their similar floral notes. There's a flash that brings me to thinking of lemon Pledge furniture polish, but it disappears as quickly as it pops up. It's a very unique flavor to me and surely one of the more interesting global options of Fanta. I'm not sure what I would even suggest pairing this with other than maybe some toast. If you get the chance, it's certainly worth a taste.

Fanta Exotic

Among the sodas I picked up on this trip is a can of Fanta Exotic. I actually mentioned this back in my post in 2019 when I found it on tap in the tasting room at the World of Coca-Cola. No mention of what "exotic" means and fair warning as I cannot read the ingredients on the can's label either. The soda itself gives off a strong passionfruit and pomegranate scent. The carbonation is as expected from any flavor of Fanta but I sometimes feel like the cans don't have the same level of carbonation as the bottles. Aside from the passionfruit there's a blend of tropical flavors and I can also pick out some apricot in the mix. This would make an excellent soda to pair with a breakfast bar, bagel, or sausage and egg sandwich to take on the run. 

Fritz-limo Apple Cherry Elderberry

Another taste from Fritz-kola. Their fruity soda flavors are named Fritz-limo rather than Fritz-kola, but come in melon, orangeade, lemonade, and this apple-cherry-elderberry (apfel-kirsch-holunder) flavor. The aroma is very cherry forward but also gives a bit of a cranberry scent. The carbonation level is a nice level, with gentle effervescence. It has a tart cherry taste on the front end, followed by a more apple cider finish. The elderberry addition feels too light to notice. The tartness of the flavor keeps my mouth watering after each swig. If you like more of a sour/tart flavor this is a good choice. 

Fritz-kola

From all accounts Fritz-kola began as a concept in 2002 in Hamburg, Germany when Lorenz Hampl and Mirco Wiegert founded the company. Though it sounds like it wasn't sold until 2003. They started with development of a cola but have released several other flavors since their launch. While based in Germany, Fritz-kola can be found in several European countries. 

The bottles feel thicker than typical single-use bottles in the U.S. but not exactly as thick and heavy as the returnable, reusable bottles. This cola has a pretty good level of carbonation. I think it has a more natural kola nut flavor and tastes a lot like more the "natural" cola sodas found in health food markets. While a little pricier than the big names, it tastes good and buying it helps drive a more regional smaller brand.

Pepsi Extra Spritzig

On my recent trip to Germany, I found a few new sodas. Among them was this variant I hadn't heard of before. "Extra Spritzig" supposedly has more carbonation that original Pepsi. The flavor is the same classic Pepsi taste, but I did not really sense a real difference in the amount of carbonation from this can versus regular Pepsi. 

Sprite + Tea

A few weeks ago on my usual trip to the grocery store I encountered a stack of 12-packs with this bizarre new flavor from Sprite. Of course I'm not fond of buying an entire 12-pack to try a new flavor I may not like, particularly at today's prices. However, I knew if I waited a bit I'd probably see it in single bottles. Sure enough, on a recent pop into a convenience store I found it. My assumption is that this may be an attempt at something akin to an Arnold Palmer, a drink which is half iced tea and half lemonade. The difference here being that this is carbonated lemon-lime soda. I haven't heard good things about this new drink but I'm going to keep an open mind going into it, especially since I enjoy an Arnold Palmer from time to time.

The ingredients still list high fructose corn syrup and less than 2% natural flavors. Nothing specific about tea in the list of ingredients on the label, but just like regular Sprite it is caffeine free. A slight carbonation release comes from uncapping it and it has a faint hint of an iced tea aroma mixed with a little lemon. The taste is quite strong. I'm not really a tea drinker to discern the subtleties of the range of tea flavors but this seems very heavy handed in a green tea sense. When holding on the front of the tongue I get little to no flavor but the intense tea flavor come on suddenly at the back of the tongue when drinking. The miniscule lemon flavor means this is more like carbonated iced tea than anything else. I'm not a fan of this, but perhaps if you're really into sweetened iced tea you could enjoy it.

Slice Grapefruit Spritz

Slice was originally launched back in 1984 by PepsiCo as a lemon-lime soda. This was meant to replace the aging Teem label discontinued the same year as well as to try to gain market share against competitor's lemon-lime offerings. In time Slice offered a range of fruit flavored sodas, including orange and strawberry. Slice had a narrow share of the soda market in the U.S. and by the 1990's the boast of containing 10% fruit juice was moot since they removed most of the fruit juice from the recipe. The brand would undergo continued evolution in package design, various flavors and even a diet version, but Pepsi would discontinue Slice in the 2000's, most likely in an effort to consolidate some of their labels since Sierra Mist, another Pepsi-owned lemon-lime soda has been released in 1999 and was widely sold by the mid-2000's. New Slice Ventures LLC apparently bought the rights to the Slice brand sometime around 2018 for a relaunch in the U.S. and Canada with fruit-juice sweetened, lower calorie versions of grapefruit, raspberry, cranberry, blackberry, mango, and pineapple. They would launch more traditional Slice flavors in 2022 in orange, cherry, and lemon-lime. Suja Life then enters the picture and buys the rights to Slice and overhauls the recipes to jump on the "gut healthy" soda trend. Unlike the other "gut healthy" sodas I've encountered, these are listed as including "pre-, pro-, and post-biotic" ingredients. 

This can has a citrusy scent, not unlike a mainstream grapefruit soda or Fresca. It also has a very light pink color. I find the flavor a bit funny. While still somewhat citrus, it also has a sort of dull staleness about it. I'm sure the stevia, salt, and fibrous bacteria play into this. Fortunately, its still far from being the worst tasting healthy soda flavors I've tried. I could finish this can but I think the flavor would make it slow going, just taking a nip every 5-10 minutes. Not exactly my kind of taste.

Canada Dry Blackberry Ginger Ale

Canada Dry is a lifelong favorite of mine. In the past several years they've joined the bandwagon of releasing various flavor varieties, both permanent and seasonal. I couldn't find this flavor in anything other than a 2 liter bottle so I grabbed this bottle while I could. Unfortunately, the picture doesn't quite do the color justice. The soda is a transparent, light lilac color which doesn't come through in this image. I think its a good flavor. You'll still get a mostly classic Canada Dry ginger ale flavor, but it comes with a tinge of berry flavor that gives it a nice highlight. The berry taste is strongest in the aftertaste that lingers in the mouth. I think they should have made this flavor more highly available in individual sizes though. 

Bawls Cherry

It's been many years since I reviewed a beverage from Bawls. About the only place I know of that regularly stocks Bawls are the Micro Center stores selling PCs and tech gear. Bawls tends to market itself towards gamers who gravitate towards highly caffeinated sodas for marathon gaming sessions. A sugary cherry smell comes off this bottle. The guarana I think affects the flavor in a negative way. Its obviously a cherry flavor but just doesn't taste all that nice to me. I'll leave this one for the gamers. Bawls has better flavors to choose from.