You gotta give it up for Pepsi-Cola. They are distinctly the number two beverage maker behind Coca-Cola, but they aren’t afraid to shake things up to wrestle away valuable market share points.
This past spring, they tried two new salvos to whet the whistles of beverages drinkers around the country. One, was Pepsi Throwback. A limited-run drink that uses natural sugar (instead of the dastardly High Fructose Corn Syrup). I haven’t had Pepsi Throwback, but I do have to give it up to their commercial. Beautifully kitschy and retro, I think it’s great. They also tried another new product that will be around awhile. Pepsi Natural.
I am unabashedly a Coke person. Love it. And Mexican Coke has a special place in my heart. But I’m always down to try new stuff. I’m experimental like that. On a recent visit to Costco, they had a 12 pack of Pepsi Natural. Of course I’ll try it!
Pepsi Natural is different in that it uses ‘natural’ sugar, sparkling water, and kola nut extract. And it’s in a glass bottle! Fancy. Picked it up on a curious lark, but what does it taste like? Well, it’s not bad. The first thing I noticed was that it had a bit of spice, with notes of ginger and cinnamon. The sparkling water provided subdued carbonation. It took a bit of getting used to, but it was pretty good. I didn’t know what my expectations were, but I thought it was a decent product. I still like Mexican Coke more though.
One of the cool things about Pepsi Natural for Seattle-ites is that we are one of the early markets for the beverage. So we’ve got that going for us. But Pepsi Natural is pretty good; it has the hallmarks of Pepsi, softer notes, mellow sweetness, but it’s very different from their mainline product. I still love my Mexican Coke, but won’t turn a Pepsi Natural down.
going for seconds 
glad to hear you are first and foremost a coke fan! as a born and raised ATL-ien, i am by birth a die-hard coke person. but this pepsi natural sounds intriguing. wonder when it’ll make it’s way down south?
What is natural sugar? I hate to think what unnatural sugar is… 😉
Wow! I want to try this stuff! Although it kind of reminds me of that clear pepsi they had back in the day. I hope they start selling this stuff so I can give it a try. Natural sugar would be much better than high fructose corn syrup!