Coca-Cola Ultimate +XP

This bottle is a limited edition from Coca-Cola that brings to mind the difficulty in sometimes knowing what to call some of these drinks. I find that sometimes marketers will reuse labeling with special release flavors or create packaging design that makes it difficult to discern if you're looking at a limited edition label, flavor, or that has confusing naming. 

Take this bottle as an example. When I came across it in the store I wasn't sure what to make of it right away. The coloring reminded me of the Coca-Cola coffee flavor that I'm not even sure exists anymore. While I saw the label read "Ultimate Limited Edition" in white above the Coca-Cola name what did this mean? There have been some limited edition packaging and bottles from some brands in the past, was that what this was and the drink was just regular Coca-Cola? I had to look closely to find, in tiny gold lettering on a black background, "+XP Flavored."

Now obviously from the packaging this was a limited edition release of some sort in a promotion in which they've paired with League of Legends from Riot Games. League of Legends is something I know almost nothing about since I'm not a gamer. But I know it's an online multiplayer battle style game. And I know that cosplayers love to dress up as one of the leading characters, named Jinx. I have no idea what the game and Coca-Cola have to do with each other besides this bottle. Or what flavor +XP is supposed to be. For the uninitiated "XP" means experience points and the "+" means it adds to your game character's experience which usually helps you level up. So overall I'd say the marketing department kind of blew it on this one because the whole thing is quite confusing. Though, I have to say at least Coca-Cola is being consistent with their series of abstractly named limited release flavors, like "Space" and "Move." 🙄

When I open the bottle and take a big whiff it smells like something flowery, almost like lavender and cedar? I'm having trouble placing it. Think of potpourri that used to be inside an old antique wood cabinet but was taken out a long time ago and the wood absorbed some of the scent and is still holding onto it. 

While the scent is slight, the taste is much stronger. Again, it's quite flowery in nature but also seems a lot like cucumber water mixed with cola. Yes, I think that's the best way I can describe the taste. It's not bad. It's definitely more befitting a summer drinks so I'm glad this wasn't another soda that tastes better on a hot day but is released in the autumn. The strange thing to me is how light and flowery the taste is for a beverage meant to be marketed to battle competing online gamers. It's not a daily drinker by the very fact that its a limited edition but it's just strange enough that even if it weren't I doubt many would just sit around drinking it with lunch. Nevertheless, it's an interesting combination of flavors worth a try if you can find it before its gone.