Earlier this week, Sku of Sku's Recent Eats accounced that after 10 years of blogging, he was calling it quits.
Done.
Finished.
Finito.
Unfortunately, Sku is NOT the Dread Pirate Roberts, and there is no farmboy named Westley waiting in the wings to take over his blog...
Unlike Sku's Recent Eats, "It's just the booze dancing..." is a going concern that has been developing its succession plan over many years by occasionally involving Our Urchins and Our Benevolents in "The Business". Sadly, since most of what we write about is for the 21+ crowd, we've never been able to REALLY put Our Urchins to work. Until now...
What you see in the above photo are the latest and greatest cola creations in Pepsi-Cola's 1893 product line. We reviewed Pepsi's 1893 Ginger Cola last year and even made a Cuba Libre with it. Since we really enjoyed that soda and how it behaved in a cocktail, when we were approached by Pepsi-Cola's PR firm to see if we wanted to give it a go, we of course said yes.
Before we get to our review, let me begin by introducing our tasting panel...
On the left is CharChar Binks, and on the right is Coco Lopez. In order to give you, our loyal readers, a better feel for our tasting panel, CharChar and Coco were kind enough to answer a few questions about all of the things that they enjoy. Here's what they had to say...
#1 - Favorite Food and Favorite Drink
- CharChar Binks: Cheeseburgers and Cream Soda.
- Coco Lopez: Sushi and Snapple Peach Iced Tea
#2 - Favorite Movie (For Now)
- CharChar: Despicable Me 2
- Coco: The Martian
#3 - Favorite Vacation Destination
- CharChar: Busch Gardens Williamsburg
- Coco: The Great State of Maine
#4 - Favorite TV Show
- CharChar: Teen Titans Go
- Coco: Futurama
#5 - Favorite Leisure Activities
- CharChar: Eating and Reading. Not necessarily in that order.
- Coco: Bicycling and Playing Video Games
Now that you know a little bit about My Urchins, let's get on with the tasting...
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G-LO: Good evening, Gentlemen!
Coco: Good evening, Papa G-LO.
CharChar: Hi Papa!
G-LO: Welcome to the tasting lab, Boys! Tonight we're going to try the latest products from Pepsi-Cola, the 1893 Citrus Cola and the 1893 Black Currant Cola. Are you up for the Pepsi 1893 Challenge?
Coco: I am up for the challenge!
CharChar: Sure.
G-LO: Sure? Is that all you got?
CharChar: Yep.
G-LO: Alright, Gentlemen, I'm gonna ask you a bunch of questions and you're gonna answer them. Let's start with the 1893 Citrus Cola. What do we think of the color, i.e. what does it look like?
CharChar: It kind of looks like a root beer or a Coke.
Coco: It looks like just a plain Pepsi.
G-LO: That makes perfect sense to me and it's pretty much what I was expecting it to look like too. Let's do a little nosing.
Coco: It smells like orange.
CharChar: Yeah. It smells like a little bit like Orange Fanta, but not EXACTLY like it.
G-LO: Would you say it's sweet, or perhaps a little bitter, or maybe tart?
CharChar: I'd say it's a little bit sweet and a little bit tart.
G-LO: Kind of like when you peel an orange and you get that zesty smell?
Coco and CharChar in Unison: Yeah!
G-LO: I would definitely agree. There's a lot of citrus. There's a lot of citrus. Shall we go in for a taste, Gentlemen?
CharChar: Sure.
G-LO: Sure?
Coco: Yes.
G-LO: Yes?
CharChar: Yep.
G-LO: Affirmative?
Coco: AFFIRMATIVE!
CharChar: Affirmative. Whatever that means.
G-LO: Ok!
Sipping and lip smacking sounds ensue as the 1893 Citrus Cola is being evaluated...G-LO: So what do we think? Is it very fizzy?
CharChar: It's pretty fizzy.
Coco: Yeah. It's fizzy, but not too fizzy.
CharChar: To me, it kind of tastes like fizzy water or something.
G-LO: Fizzy water or something??? Interesting. What do you think of the actual flavors?
Coco: I can taste some Orange Fanta and some Pepsi Cola which is as expected since it's basically a Pepsi product with a citrus kind of flavor to it.
G-LO: Ok. So how about on the sweetness side? Is it sweet? Is it a little tangy? What are your thoughts?
Coco: I'd say it's sweet and tangy.
CharChar: Yeah. I agree. Sweet and tangy.
G-LO: How about the sugar? What does it taste like to you?
More lip smacking sounds as our panel goes in for another taste...Coco: I can definitely taste pure sugar.
G-LO: Pure cane sugar, as opposed to corn syrup?
Coco: Yeah...
G-LO: I would have to agree with you, Boys. I'm getting a little bit of orange, followed by a regular old Pepsi, but more like a Mexican Pepsi as opposed to an American Pepsi thanks to the cane sugar sweetness which is almost like the powdered sugar on a donut in the aftertaste.
Coco: Yeah.
G-LO: So do we like this?
CharChar: Yeah. Let's move on to the other one.
G-LO: Ok, but first, answer this question: Would you buy this again?
CharChar: Yes. Definitely.
Coco: Yes.
G-LO: Great. I would too. Let's take a short break and then move on to the Pepsi 1893 Black Current Cola.
After a very brief intermission, the Boys came back for more...
G-LO: Welcome back, Gentlemen. We are ready for Round Two. This is the 1893 Black Currant Cola from the Pepsi-Cola Corporation. This one is a "premium cola infused with a bold berry finish". So what do we think? What does it look like?
CharChar: This one looks blackish brown with a little bit of light orange. Like almost tan.
G-LO: What about you, Coco Lopez?
Coco: I would like to think that it looks like the other cola, i.e. a regular cola type product.
G-LO: Ok, let's go in for the smell, Boys.
Lots of sniffing and hmms...CharChar: It kind of tastes...
G-LO: Hold on there, CharChar! You're jumping ahead. It kind of smells like...
CharChar: It kind of smells a little bit grapefruity...
G-LO: Grapefruity??? Ya think?
CharChar: Uhhhh. I don't know what grapefruit smells like.
G-LO: It's ok! It's whatever you think. What do you think, Coco?
Sniffing sounds followed by some giggling from Coco Lopez...G-LO: Hang on. Did you get it up your nose? Oh dear lord! I thought you were a professional! I THOUGHT you were a professional! You silly Boy!
CharChar: Could you really smell it, Coco?
G-LO: Are you ok? Are you back?
CharChar: It kind of tastes a little...
G-LO: Hang on, CharChar! Let Coco Lopez chime in. What do you think of the smell, Coco?
Coco: I'd say it's not as berryesque-like as they say it is. It just smells like a traditional Pepsi Cola.
G-LO takes a sniff...G-LO: I don't get much either. I get sugar, I get a cola, and mayyyyybe a little bit of berry. Maybe like a raspberry or a blackberry. Ok. Let's go in for a taste, Boys. Since the youngest goes first, what say you, CharChar?
Sipping, lipsmacking, tasting, and some hmmmms...CharChar: Hmmmm. It's not that fizzy.
G-LO: And how about the actual taste?
CharChar: As far as the actual taste, it's pretty berry...
G-LO: Berry? Like what?
CharChar: I don't know exactly. Maybe a hint of blackberry and blueberry.
G-LO: Hmm. Maybe. It's possible. How about a grape? Like a grape jelly?
CharChar: Ohhh! Maybe a little bit of grape jelly.
G-LO: Do you think I was leading you a bit? What do you think, Mr. Lopez?
Coco: I'm going to have to disagree with CharChar Binks...
G-LO: RESPECTFULLY disagree!
Coco: Respectfully disagree. Sorry. I think it takes like a traditional Pepsi Cola product except that it has a little bit of a mild berry taste at the end.
G-LO goes in for a taste...G-LO: I think I preferred the 1893 Citrus Cola because it had a little bit more of a different taste. This one tasted more like a traditional Pepsi but not quite as sweet, although you still get that sugary sweetness, and maybe there's a bit of berry at the end. I don't know what a black current tastes like, so maybe it's more of a grape jelly flavor at the very end. It was ok. If you had to pick a winner, would you go with the orange canned Citrus Cola, or the purple canned Black Currant Cola?
Coco: Citrus Cola.
CharChar: Citrus Cola. What about you?
G-LO: I agree. I'm going with the Citrus. I think it was pretty good and a nice change of pace.
CharChar: I judged them by the color of the cans and I thought the blackish-blueish can would be better, but it turns out that the orange one was better.
G-LO: AHA! So you were taken in by the pretty shiny packaging. BUT! In reality. The less desirable orange can housed the better soda!
CharChar whispers: I hate orange...
G-LO: You hate orange?
CharChar: Yep! It's my least favorite color.
G-LO: You know, your soccer team's color is orange. So would we buy this again?
Coco: I would maybe buy the Black Currant Cola, but would definitely buy the Citrus Cola.
CharChar: I don't think I'm going to finish my glass. And yes, I would definitely buy the Citrus again.
G-LO: Thank you, Gentlemen! It was a pleasure. As always!
Coco: Pleasure to see you too.
G-LO: Pleasure to see you too??? WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN!
The Boys snicker as they leave the room...__________________________________________________
Many thanks to Josh Dickinson of PMK BNC for sending us these very generous samples!
Categories: Booze Review, Pepsi 1893
Tagged as: Children, Drinkwire, Kids, Pepsi 1893 Black Currant Cola, Pepsi 1893 Citrus Cola, Review, Reviews, Soda, Soft Drinks, Succession Planning, The Malt Imposter