Pepsi Throwback Review
As I sit down with my second can of ice cold Pepsi Throwback a few things come to mind. First I am a self professed Coca-Cola fan if we are just talking straight cola flavored drinks. On the other hand, when we talk about Pepsi I think any Pepsi cola type product with a splash of something fruity usually is a big hit in my book. Some of my favorite Pepsi drinks include the ill fated Pepsi Blue and Pepsi Summer Mix. Pepsi had released a few limited edition sodas as part of the “Refresh Everything” campaign.
As part of the company’s “Refresh Everything” campaign, Pepsi is reinvigorating its beverage lineup with the introduction of three new products. Pepsi Natural, Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback, all sweetened with natural sugar, will be hitting the beverage aisle this March and April.
First off where the heck is my Pepsi Natural? I did not see that in the store I would not mind tasting some of that as well, but this review is about Pepsi Throwback so I do not want to get sidetracked too much. So the big deal of Pepsi Throwback is that it is NOT sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), but rather “natural sugar”. What is natural sugar you ask? From Pepsi it is a blend of cane sugar and beet sugar.
The selling point of Pepsi Throwback is that key phrase, “natural sugar.” Just what is that? When Pepsi was asked about this, they noted that the Throwbacks are “sweetened with natural sugar, a blend of cane sugar and beet sugar.” Something about beet sugar just rubs me the wrong way, it makes my face cringe up, and it seems that the experts all agree that cane sugar is superior for baking, but I do not know if that translates into soda as well.
So anyway how did this stuff taste. I felt that Pepsi Throwback has a bit more cola taste to it than regular Pepsi. It actually felt less syrupy (which it should I guess) and had a more refreshing aftertaste in my mouth. After drinking a can, I did not have the soda taste in my mouth which normally accompanies cola drinks. I will say this though, the first can was not as good as the cans after it, I want to say it took me a minute to get used to the difference of the taste rather than there being anything wrong with can number uno. I think I was expecting the same taste as Pepsi regular version, which it is definitely not. It also seems less harsh and I want to say less acidic as well. I might be psychosomatically caught up in the hype machine, but I do not think so, this Pepsi Throwback is superior to regular Pepsi. I think the problem of why this is not the regular formula is that it is also probably more costly to produce and they realize that they can not really charge more for it. I think I was hearing 8 weeks or something along those lines as the limited time of the drink. For all the people complaining about the Throwback logo and design, I actually like it. It conveys a new take on the Pepsi retro styling.
Hopefully SocialFocused can get some gold in the coffers so that I can be your soda tasting expert. We can only hope. As it stands though Pepsi Throwback is a step above regular Pepsi. I am a soda connoisseur and I approve this message
