Fanta Raspberry Zero

Another ride with Fanta. Sometimes I think Fanta and Mountain Dew are in a race to release the largest number of flavors. This particular one has the aroma of candy, a very sugary raspberry candy. The taste is overly sweet. It's very sugary tasting despite being a zero-sugar drink. I had higher hopes for this when I grabbed it, but it's not really my cup of tea. I think if you like gummy bears or worms you'll like it. 

Fanta Forest Berries Zero

Another pickup on my recent travels in Sweden, this flavor is a seasonal release. As you probably know Fanta has more flavors than Crayola has crayons. This bottle has a rich blueberry and cherry smell but a dark grape juice color. I taste primarily raspberry but with a light blend of blueberry. Cherry flavoring doesn't really seem to come through in my opinion. It has a sort of unpleasant chemical aftertaste. That could be due to the zero-calorie sweetener, of which I'm not a fan of since it seems to affect the taste of many of the soft drinks its used in. I think it could be better if served ice cold, but ironically, it seems to be difficult to find soft drinks that cold here. This bottle made me curious why I've never seen a Fanta Lingon since there are other lingonberry sodas in Sweden. 

7 Up Pink Lemonade Zero

This flavor variety from 7 Up has the healthy carbonation level you'd expect from 7 Up. As flavors go it stays pretty true to a standard pink lemonade, but with carbonation. If it wanted to taste more accurate to a homemade pink lemonade they could give it a tarter finish. 

Zingo Zero Apelsin

On my recent trip to Sweden I found this can of Zingo at one of the train station cafes. Zingo has been made in Sweden since the 1950's. It would seem every source online discussing Zingo mentions that it was originally called Ingo Soda, named after Swedish boxer Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson. Other sources say this is untrue citing the trademark of the name prior to that. But there is no mention as to whether the name Zingo applied to some other product. There also appears to be an unrelated Zingo soda in India. Apelsin is Swedish for orange and can be found in other European countries spelled as 'appelsin'. Today it is produced in Falkenberg by Carlsberg.

I didn't find this soda to be carbonated enough. Like most orange sodas in throughout Europe this is markedly more like orange juice than American orange sodas. In fact, it tastes remarkably like orange juice and makes for an excellent breakfast soda. Unfortunately, I could not find the non-zero Original.

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.