Up until today, I hadn't had a sip of Sprite in years. Even though the lemon-lime soda hadn't touched my lips in a while, I fondly associate it with childhood. It was always the beverage I was allowed to order as a treat when out at a restaurant or a reward given during long Saturday afternoons accompanying my dad to his office. But, at some point, for some reason, I graduated to only drinking sodas that had caffeine in them and kind of forgot about Sprite as an option. Recently, though, the Coca-Cola Company released a brand new Sprite flavor that rekindled my penchant for beverage.
Sprite Cherry and Sprite Cherry Zero were created specifically because that's what the people wanted. The decision to start selling bottles of this flavor were based directly on data collected by Coca-Cola Freestyle machines across the country. According to Bobby Oliver, director of Sprite & Citrus Brands for Coca-Cola North America, the data taken from these machines proved that people really love Sprite with added cherry flavor, and I can certainly see why.
This week, I was lucky enough to try the first new Sprite flavor to be released in over a decade, and my taste buds and I agree that it's quite a treat. Sprite Cherry has notes of the classic lemon and lime combo I loved as a kid, but the cherry flavor adds A LOT of sweetness. As one of my coworkers pointed out, it truly does taste like a piece of cherry hard candy was melted into a glass of Sprite, and I'm not mad about it. Since cherry is my go-to flavor for almost everything — snow cones, Jolly Ranchers, even cough syrup — I happily downed glasses of both the regular Sprite Cherry and the very slightly less sweet Sprite Cherry Zero.
I will say that, for me, this drink couldn't be a regular occurrence. Because it's so sweet, it will probably only be occasionally purchased as a personal reward or pick-me-up, just like when I was a kid. Isn't it funny how even your food and drink habits come full circle?
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