Popping up out of Nowhere

    I'm back to my regular schedule, and it is time for a favorite of mine. Today I'll talk about the newest sodas out in the market. Each one of them is different for me, but in totally different ways.

    First is Cherry Sprite. No, not Cherry Limeade Sprite Chill, which is a different product available in many places. This is just Cherry Sprite which is an exclusive limited edition flavor found only at Food City brand stores. Normally, I don't drink Sprite, or any Coca Cola product. However, I felt that I needed to try this as I never knew a smaller regional market like Food City would get a major exclusive. At first, I thought that this would be like Cherry 7-Up, a cherry-flavored drink from a company mostly known for lemon-lime.  I was wrong, as this is just regular Sprite with cherry added. While some people like the flavor combination, I didn't. The mix of the two flavors didn't work well together, as the lemon-lime overpowered the cherry, whose notes barely registered. After the original bottle, I didn't try it again.

    Next comes something even more out of left field for me, Dirty Mountain Dew. I rarely ever have Mountain Dew. Usually, it is just a quick blast from a fountain added to my usual Dr Pepper/Pepsi mix, and very rarely at that since the flavors rarely work right. However, I have a slight partiality to cream soda/vanilla flavors, so I decided to try it. Mountain Dew has had multiple flavors for twenty-five years now. (See Code Red/cherry, Live Wire/orange, and Voltage/raspberry.) I have never tried one before, just because of the flavor. Not even the watermelon-flavored Major Melon that just got discontinued for Dirty Dew. Personally, I don't see why vanilla is getting added to everything, but why argue. The color is a pale greenish-yellow, which is somewhat off-putting. I opened the bottle and got a strong whiff of vanilla. I wasn't expecting that. The cream soda flavor was pronounced, but not overwhelming. The regular lemon-lime of the Mountain Dew blended seamlessly with that of the cream soda. It reminded me or lime sherbet, even though I rarely have had it, and I didn't really like it the few times I've had it. The flavor was just different enough from anything else I tasted that made me want it more. (Maybe it was the extra caffeine.) Anyway, I have wound up getting some more bottles for extra testing and tasting. I even got the zero-sugar one by accident to try later on today. I mean, my mind is blown that I like this so much. Not enough maybe to buy a carton or six-pact at once, but possibly a few more times.

    Finally, Dr Pepper has brought back the Coconut Cream flavor for the summer. Keep it away from me. I just hate coconut that much.

    I am looking forward to the battle of the root beer floats as Mug and A & W both bring out their root beer/cream soda combos soon. Which I find odd, as root beer already has some vanilla notes naturally. Oh well.