Coca-Cola Spiced
The Coca-Cola Company (2024)
It's been all over the news for the past couple of weeks that Coca-Cola was about to introduce a new permanent product to their lineup.
The new flavor is called Coca-Cola Spiced. It's available in stores today in both a Regular and Zero Sugar version. When I heard the name, I was hoping that this would taste something like Pepsi Holiday Spice, which was really quite good, but the company website threw cold water on those hopes pretty quicky. Their description of this new product is:
The new flavor is called Coca-Cola Spiced. It's available in stores today in both a Regular and Zero Sugar version. When I heard the name, I was hoping that this would taste something like Pepsi Holiday Spice, which was really quite good, but the company website threw cold water on those hopes pretty quicky. Their description of this new product is:
"It’s Coca‑Cola, only spiced. Coca‑Cola Spiced transforms the familiar into the extraordinary. Blending the iconic taste of Coca‑Cola with a burst of refreshing notes from raspberry and spiced flavors, Coca‑Cola Spiced offers an uplifting taste experience."
So, what did this taste like to me?
The closest food or drink comparison that I can come up with is C Howard's Violet Mints. Consider yourself lucky if you haven't heard of this candy before now because they're terrible. Think of the most disappointing candy that you've ever gotten while trick-or-treating when you were a kid. Whatever came to your mind, I can almost guarantee you that after trying a Violet Mint, you'd sooner eat a whole plastic pumpkin filled with your most despised Halloween candy before you'd agree to finish the other 14 mints in a pack of these.
The closest food or drink comparison that I can come up with is C Howard's Violet Mints. Consider yourself lucky if you haven't heard of this candy before now because they're terrible. Think of the most disappointing candy that you've ever gotten while trick-or-treating when you were a kid. Whatever came to your mind, I can almost guarantee you that after trying a Violet Mint, you'd sooner eat a whole plastic pumpkin filled with your most despised Halloween candy before you'd agree to finish the other 14 mints in a pack of these.
To be fair, Coca-Cola Spiced is not as bad as C Howard's Violet Mints. Nothing on the face of the earth is that bad. However, it reminds me of the candy because it has a similar flavor profile. Eating the candy, and drinking the soda, feels as if you are consuming old lady perfume. The full sugar version isn't quite as bad as the Zero Sugar variety, but in either case, I don't think they taste a thing like raspberry or spice. They tastes like stale flowery-sweet perfume.
Coca-Cola have come up with a few outstanding limited edition flavors in recent years like Starlight and Move. Not sure why they couldn't have added one of those to their permanent flavor lineup instead, but I can tell you that I wouldn't buy Coca-Cola Spiced again if it was literally the only beverage available at the grocery store.
UPDATE (2/26/2024): Not long after I posted this review, I received a voice mail from my dad concerning my thoughts on C Howard's Violet Mints. He's a big fan of the product and has a pack in the candy dish on his kitchen table at this table at this very moment. I talked with him earlier today and he suggested that I share his counterpoint on the blog, and I could think of no better way to do this than to let you hear it straight from the man himself.
Well... at least I have some gift ideas for Father's Day.
