I lived for pop long before I was able to gorge myself on beer. I was an aficionado of sorts, and attempted to try all the soda I could as often as I could. Many of my favorite pops as a kid and a young adult have since gone the way of the Dodo; disappearing into oblivion. Sometimes a few make it back for another life, but, like the ten here on this list, many have faded away only to survive on Ebay and web sites. Enjoy them here, while they last.
10. Coke II
So, back when Coca Cola started to slump a little in sales to its fiercest competitor, Pepsi Cola, someone made the executive decision to dink around with Coke’s secret formula thereby making it taste more like, well, PEPSI. It wasn’t bad, per se , but it sure as hell wasn’t Coke. I remember consuming mass quantities of this stuff by can and, the newest form of container: 2 liters. This was an early eighties disaster and it always managed to make an appearance at our sleep-overs and it did a fine job of keeping us wired for hours. I think it had more sugar as well. I really do miss this stuff, but sadly, when Coke went back to its ‘Classic’ formula permanently, Coke II disappeared into soda oblivion.
9. Hubba Bubba
The strongest memory I have of Hubba Bubba Soda is from high school. We, in the ass-backward, dirt-water, shit-hole that is Paw Paw Michigan, used to hold school-wide contests involving all manner of self-deprecation. One of the ‘games’ was the infamous ‘Pop Chug’. The teaching staff that came up with this gem were sick and evil sadists of the highest degree. Everyone would stand over a beach towel with a ‘spotter’ on one side and commence to gulping as much warm Hubba Bubba Soda as humanly possible. Loads of fun. I was never a big fan of this gum-flavored pop, but it does hold certain high esteem in my clogged memory bank.
8. Pepsi’s Wild Bunch
Just in case the images aren’t clear, we’ve got: Raging Razzberry, Tropical Chill, and Strawberry Burst. I love how Raspberry is cleverly misspelled into ‘cool’ territory with the two ‘Z’s. Very nice. Anyway, The deepest remembrances I have of this particular trio was the chilling innards of my grandparent’s ancient refrigerator in their garage. It was one of those ‘chill chest’ types with the giant metal walk-in-restaurant-freezer style of handle and enough wattage to cause neighborhood brown outs. Yeah, that thing was always chock full of every conceivable beverage from beer to Bosco . Every time we’d visit we’d try to find the most odd drink we could dig out of there and I quite fondly remember tossing back a few of these guys. Dead and gone now. No, not my Grandparents, but the fridge and the soda, for sure.
7. Surge
Though not out of circulation as long as some of these, Surge has still become a classic to many a pining American. Coca Cola distributed this green soda for quite some time. I can remember it coming in to its own right around 1995 or so, and really building up steam for a few years before succumbing to the popularity of other, weaker, beverages. It had a citrus-like flavor to it but there was something almost lime-Jell-O-ish in the back ground that would always leave a little tang phlegm at the back of my throat. But it was pretty tasty and I could knock back a 2 liter in a sitting no problem. Almost, but not quite, melted candy.
6. Leed
Leed was a carbonated lemonade drink sold in some parts of the world during the middle to late 20th century. It was produced and distributed by Coca-Cola Amatil only in New Zealand and Australia. Leed was one of the staple drinks among New Zealand retailers during the 1980s and was probably the most common lemonade drink distributed by Coca-Cola Amatil during its life. In 1984, Leed was discontinued and replaced by the more widely known Sprite brand. Accompanying this change was also a new recipe.
5. Josta
This was a pretty recent extinction as well. I remember drinking a few of these back when Guarana was the new kid on the beverage block being marketed by Coke as the energy source of choice. Josta was so chock-full of the stuff you could, in fact, taste it. It was a tad medicine-y, but that flavor was nicely buried beneath the strong fruit and spice overtones that assaulted your taste buds moments before. This pop was far different taste wise than just about anything else out there, and it was pretty decent while it lasted.
4. Orbitz
Oh yeah, soda with little chewy chunks in it. Outstanding. Somehow, the creators of this beverage managed to thwart the normalcies of science by allowing starch nuggets to suspend themselves ever so beautifully in a super-sweet solution. It was really good, too. I remember Target selling the hell out of this stuff for quite a while. I enjoyed the drinking part, but somehow, coming to the little lumps floating there in was a lot like drinking a glass of gravy… except a lot sweeter. I do miss it.
3. Kick
Kick was a lot like the bastard step-son of Mountain Dew and Mello Yellow. It tasted really similar to both, but almost leaning a bit toward Mello Yellow with its citrus overtones. I actually preferred it over either and would go through a case of this stuff during my late night Dungeons and Dragons marathons. I think it may have made a bit of a come back lately, but not around here. Too bad.
2. Slice
Slice was the precursor to Sierra Mist by the Pepsi corporation and for my buck, it tasted a whole lot better. My grandmother, in her massive fridge of holding, used to keep a constant supply of the Mandarin Orange flavor of this stuff. I hate mandarin oranges in any form, so I stuck to the lemon-lime standard and all was good with the world. There was something less overpowering about Slice as compared to 7-UP; not quite as crisp, not quite as effervescent, but certainly just as tasty.
1. Crystal Pepsi
I was in college in 1993 and this soda was a huge hit up at Northern Michigan U. in Marquette, Michigan. My room mate and I loved the stuff. We could get it at the local Circle K for like $2 an eight-pack of 20-ouncers. I honestly loved this stuff, I would drink the HELL out of a few packs per week. I remember one time I tried to be cool by slashing open the plastic yolk that securely held together the octuplets with my X-Acto knife. Bad idea. I ended up cutting two of the bottles and sprayed soda all over our dorm room. Not especially funny. Anyway, there was just something about the non-caramel colored Pepsi that really appealed to me. I miss this the most of all.
Contributor: StewWriter
It's called pop, not soda, it has too many syllables
That depends on what part of the country you live in. It’s either soda, pop, or even soda pop.
In the deep south, EVERYTHING is a Coke. Its a generic term here. In Mid Ga.
If you want Dr. Pepper at a restaurant, I guarantee that asking for Coke is not going to work. lol.
In the UK everything is called lemonade!
no it isn’t you dumb ass
you are forgetting the mother of all wonderful soda pops that have gone the way of the dinosaur. I am speaking of DR. Slice. BEST POP EVARRRRRRRRRR!!! i will pay good money for bottles of this pop if anyone knows if it still exists
I SOOOO miss Dr. Slice =(
I found this thread because I was looking for it online. I posted a comment yearning for it even before I saw yours.
I used to get Dr. Slice Phoenix when I came to visit in the summer time; we didn’t have it in Seattle.
I really wish they’d bring it back. It was SO good!!! A red Dr. Pepper, but not the Cherry Dr. Pepper crap, 10X more delicious. ahhhh….will I ever find my long lost pop love?
They didn’t sell some Slice products where 7Up was sold. Pepsi didn’t want to cannibalize their 7Up markets. We never had Dr. Slice where I lived.
i remember having coke II in my high school cafeteria about 1995 or 96. and surge is still around, coke calls it vault now. same formula but with those 'energy' thingys. the best pop i have EVER had is called manzana lift. it is an apple flavored (or flavoured for our uk friends) soda. i had it in mexico and would kill for some more. i have heard a theory that all the pop tasted better there, because they use cane sugar, not high fructose corn syrup.
does anyone remember chocolate faygo? that stuff was nasty! and when i was in college at Ohio University, we had a regional pop called ski. bright yellow, not even yellow green like mt. dew . weird taste too.
Not Totally True Ever Tasted The Coke From Mexico? It Has a Flat Taste To It
No. You are wrong. Coca cola from Mexico IS the TRUE remaining vistage of Coca Cola classic. You werent born in the 70s or before, obviously. Sugar beats corn everytime.everytime.everytime.everytime.EVERYTIME….!!!
I miss the Sprite Tropical Remix, I had my last one in Vegas 2004 and I’m glad they didn’t phase out Code Red.
TaB is still in production. I’m drinking one now actually.
I remember when that Orbitz crap came out it just looked too gross and I never did try it.
I too like Code red mountain dew………I have been doing the dew most of my life that is my favorite pop……and the thing that i like most about the code red is that it is a cherry pop with caffeine in it….LOL…..I can’t stand coffee so i have to get it somehow.
It was actually quite delicious. I thought about it the other day, actually, and wondered if it still existed in the world. The chunks were weird, but something about them made the drink appealing. Weird.
code red is still available right? please say yes!!!!!
Tab is still on the market, typically the same stores that carry Jolt will have Tab.
Who thA HELL carries jolt? Ive been looking for it 10/15 years now..
Pleeeze, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD ALMIGHTY, tell me where heaven can be found
Thanks for the heads up on Tab – I have replaced it with Leed (at number 6).
oh – and I hated orbitz – it was too sweet and those globules were a terrible idea!
also I miss Faygo pop, gone, gone, gone
and Fanta white (actually clear) cream soda
Faygo lives on in the deep south, I’m in Mississippi and it is available here.
Faygo is still made, sold and available everywhere here in Detroit… Come get some!
what did the clear pepsi taste like???
Crystal Pepsi was awesome. It had a light, refreshing taste, kinda like soda, but with a clean almost berry-ish aftertaste. I loved it, well at least until they changed it. I remember it coming out before the summer of 92. I drank it constantly. Then, on day I went to get a 2-liter and it looks different and tastes different. The taste was similar, but not the beautiful clean freshness that I was used to. I was absolutely devastated.
Berry-ish taste? I used to get the six pack cans of crystal pepsi, tasted just like pepsi.
Man I LOVED Surge. It was like liquid cocaine, kept me wired throughout all of middle school.
Wasn’t the original Tab a type of diet coke (released the same time as Fresca – also a diet soda)….whereas the new one is a sugar free energy drink.
NoName: I am pretty sure that is what the old one was like.
I haven’t tasted most of the drinks on this list.
I dont think i have heard of any of these I am probably not old enough for leed but i have never seen any of these is australia
Oh man… Surge. I wish you hadn’t reminded me of how awesome that stuff was. It tasted good, and kept you wired for hours. I never really drank soda, but Surge was irresistible. Loved it. Now I am all depressed because I miss it. It is probably good that it is not on the market anymore, it is more healthy that I don’t drink soda anymore.
They still sell faygo here in VA at a few places.
For me its all bout Big red soda. the best soda in the world. too bad they dont sell it here…
They sell Big Red here in northern Ohio! Call a Drug Mart and have them ship it to ya
I didn’t realize slice wasn’t still in production. I was one of the ones who hated coke II, we called it “new coke”. So many people hated it that they changed it back after a short time, that is why the coca cola products now say “classic”.
Oh, and my roommate always talks about something called Five Alive? I've never heard of it…and whatever happened to just plain 'ole Mr. Pibb? I used to love that stuff and I don't care what anyone says – Pibb Xtra just isn't the same!
Five alive still sold. It’s a concentrate juice blend by minute maid
Was it Surge that led to all the Red Bull Style drinks we have today? If so, thank you Surge for giving me Red Bull in my Coors Light.
I trust you all when you say drinking Orbitz was good but there is something wrong with drinking chunky soda!
Do they still make Moxie that stuff was nasty. It was the only cola my grandmother ever had in her fridge.
Moxie is deelish and is still in production. I know that here in PA we can get it at beer distributors, grocery stores don’t carry it, but in New England they have Moxiefest yearly.
They still sell regular TaB as well, they do make an energy drink, but that is seperate from the original.
If you want that wired effect try “”Jolt” if it is still available, is is about six times as strong as “Red Bull”
Where is it available? I found this holy grail of energy some years ago (at big lots) and long for, yearn for, have a burn for this most wonderful drink..
Thanks for replacing Tab, Jamie… when I sent the list over I had forgotten that Tab is still around, just not around me. Anyway, I’d be happy to tell you what Crystal Pepsi tasted like: Heaven. Seriously, It was still similar to Pepsi in most respects, but since it didn’t have the caramel coloring or flavor in it, it lacked that almost burnt sugar undertones of regular pop, or, as Opus from Bloom County once put it: Malted Battery Acid. Anyway, it was kind of crisp like a 7-Up, but still Pepsi sweet. I lived for it!
ah pop my favorite food group!
some more: pepsi light (had lemony flavor), and sunkist natural (better sprite remix), apple and cherry cola slice, and strawberry nehi
what a unhealthy, vapid walk down memory lane! so, how’s your DIABETIES?
That’s Diabetes, by the way, and you use the word “an” when the next word begins with a vowel.
Orbitz is still around by another name, Imockery did an article on it. http://www.i-mockery.com/blabber/2008/01/15/orbitz-the-lava-lamp-of-the-beverage-industry-still-exists/
Tab used to be good,,,when I was a young thing and Tab was new it tasted just like coke but not as sweet….the sugar was reduced and not replaced with that ass-tasting aspartame, xylitol or whatever vile ***** is the current sugar replacement. Same thing with Fresca,,,Fresca was the very best mix for Rye, Rum, Vodka,,,,not too sweet,,,,now it sucks,,,same curse as above…
Now I vote for Wink,,,awesome mix,,,goes with everything Or Roses Lime Cordial and gin/vodka….mmmmmm
mom, if you make it to michigan faygo is still big here
theyve got a squirt/ sprite mix called “60/40″ thats awesome
Coca Cola’s Vault energy soda tastes an awful lot like Surge, or at least I think it does.
And as soon as I saw the name of this list two kinds of pop came to mind, Surge and Crystal Pepsi. Glad to see they’re both represented! Surge was like, my favorite, I got through a summer vacation living on that and Ranch Doritos. Yum!
That stuff with the floaties looks disgusting, I wouldn’t want to drink that at all!
Faygo is still around where I live in Western NY. I can get 12 packs of cans on sale usually at my local grocery store.
That picture isn't even of Crystal Pepsi… It's a picture of "Crystal" from the makers of Pepsi: A citrus cola. Best Pepsi product ever…
Crystal Pepsi sucked as bad as regular Pepsi…
I’m confused…what was Pepsi Clear???
Pepsi Clear is what I think the author was trying to remember. It was Pepsi sans caramel color with slight tweaks to the taste. I always thought is was great till they really changed it and then it died.
In the UK none of these were ever sold
i remember the tropical sprites!!! they were so good!!! sad
Is Coke Blak still being made? Coffee flavored Coke just semed like a bad idea to me. I also recall seeing a Pepsi product not too long ago that was bright blue. I don’t know what it was, but my guess is that it won’t be around long.
You should do a list of top regional soft drinks, like Vernor’s in Michigan or the incredibaly nasty Green River in Chicago.
Mmmmmm…..invisible cola…
Petey, you are correct about the HFCS thing. Mexican versions of sodas use cane sugar. The taste is better, and the soda doesn’t have that viscous feel that American soda does. Texturally, it is more like drinking diet soda. I live in northern Colorado, and we have a big Hispanic population, so the grocery stores (even Wal-Mart) carry a disproportionally high amount of foods geared towards that demographic (which rocks, I was raised on Southwestern food, and it is the best). Anyways, we can get the sugar-sweetened Cokes, Sprites, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, and a few microbrews out here, and they are way better. They are about the only sodas I will drink these days.
Not just Mexican sodas contain real sugar, but any soda that’s not made in the USA.
Man all those drinks I used to have.
Surge: Wonderful speed. Went well when racing.
Josta: Such a weird flavor. Kept people wondering about me.
Orbitz: Almost always sold out at the store. This is liquid candy.
Kick: Great at the late night fires we had. Kept thing entertaining.
Slice: I keep forgetting this isn’t around anymore.
Crystal Pepsi: I really miss this one so much. It needs to come back out just like it used to be.
Miss Destiny: Vault is Surge reformulated and renamed. Coca Cola wanted to bring it back out because people were asking for it. But they didn’t want to admit to their wrongful discontinuation so they change the formula just enough to be different but still the same. Then they slapped another name on it to trick those who didn’t drink enough Surge to realize.
petey; no i don’t remember faygo chocolate but i do have oh so fond memories of faygo Redpop,,,a cross between Benalyn dm and cherry/fruit punch…
Coke blak is available here, sounds much worse than it tastes but I sure wouldn’t pay the premium they want for it,,,regular coke tastes better anyway
Also we have Jamaican pop here, it too tastes way good, cane sugar again I presume…
Nice to see some folks missing some of the same things that I’m missing, although I can at least still get Vernors here, far away from Michigan. For the Faygo folks, go visit http://www.detroitkidshow.com and check out a few of the classic “Remember when you were a kid?” commercials. When I visit home, I never remember to pick up any Red Pop and a bag of Better Made potato chips (for an afternoon of watching Sir Graves Ghastly). Add a bit of Towne Club pop — yeah, “pop,” not “soda”
— and we’re square.
Funny that Tab comes up, as I have a co-worker who’s half my age who was quoting “Back to the Future” last week — “Give me a Tab” — and he said he’d never had the stuff. Wasn’t hard for me to find a can for him, and while I admit it’s been well over half a lifetime since I really drank much of it, it still tasted the same to me: Not so great. Fresca’s easy to find, too, and these days, they’ve got flavoured Fresca in addition to the classic stuff.
Pepsi Light was another blast from the past, and I’ve been told that Diet Pepsi appears in Europe under that name. How did the old jingle go? “The time is right, for Pepsi Light, lemony Pepsi Light…”
Anybody remember Rondo, a citrus-flavoured pop, in a yellow can, from the 70s?
the best of faygo always was (and still is in michigan) rock n rye…it’s like red pop and cola mixed together.
and i second the mention of Dr. Slice…that was my favorite for quite a while.
how about pepsi free? it was worthy even of a movie mention in back to the future (along with tab).
“you want a pepsi you’re going to pay for it!!”
I don’t feel like reading all of the comments to see if someone said Pepsi Blue. That stuff was really good in my opinion…
Ah, how I miss Surge and Orbitz…I remember my sister and I always proudly displayed our empty bottles of Orbitz just because we thought they looked sweet. As for Surge – it’s probably a good thing it’s no longer, or my teeth may have rotted out of my mouth by now! Does anyone know if 7-Up Down is still being made?
surge was legit, i used to drink that all the time with suicide slushies from 7-11
Cugirl-we’ve got five alive where I live
Surge is not entirely dead. If you have ever had a Vault you might notice that it tastes exactly like Surge, pretty sure they just repackaged it.
I agree with goof_ban, Pepsi blue was delicious and a part of me died when I found out that it wasn’t being sold anymore. From Wikipedia:
“The taste of Pepsi Blue was like cotton candy with a berry aftertaste (it resembled that of blueberries or raspberries to some, though Pepsi simply described it as “berry”) and much more sugary and syrupy than regular cola;”
I can’t believe I drank most of an Orbitz – that is until my friend asked me ‘Is it like having larva in your mouth?’
That’s when I spit it out and couldn’t even attempt the rest.
I miss OK soda…that kinda ‘alternative’ soda in the mid 90s.
Also, it’s hard to find up here in Minnesota…but Big Red is one of my all time favorites.
Surge was good, and for some reason it reminds me of Slurm from the Futurama shows.
does anybody remember “tahti treat” ? do they
still make it ?
TAHITIAN TREAT, yep still all over Kansas. I want original Pibb back!
Anyone remember Diet Rite?
diet rite is still around…it is what i drink
#48, I do remember Tahiti Treat, it was pretty good (or at least 7-year-old me thought so).
You can still get Barq’s root beer and creme soda, but they used to put out orange and grape too, along with some kind of lemon-lime thing that looked exactly like anti-freeze. It was all so good.
Also: Choc-cola. Yep, chocolate flavored cola. Might have been a midwestern thing, I don’t know . . . .
New. York. Seltzer.
Was the best.
It’s (sorta) back in production, maybe temporarily, and it’s not as good as it used to be, and I can’t really find it reliably, so maybe it’s gone again already.
But it was the best.
Especially the blueberry and cream soda flavors.
I hate the new stuff and am tempted to find out who owns the license for my own nostalgic reproduction.
Slice and Surge are still available.
tim, tahiti treat is still available in florida at certain publix supermarkets. recently saw it pop up at Big Lots! as well.
I myself miss the crystal pepsi. maybe we can start a write in campaign for it?
also if you are missing many of those olde time sodas, the Real Soda company started up 5 years ago in San Jose, CA that has brought back many of those old discontinued sodas, such as bubble up and all the NEHI flavors. http://www.realsoda.com
they also cary indy soda makers as well.
If you are in an area outside of CA there is a chain of stores here that do sell and ship globally. http://www.bevmo.com
until then, happy soda chugging!!!
AHHH, how could you leave out the wonderful, fantastic, hilarious, adoring, deliciousnous that was….
OK Soda.
Jolt Cola was the first real energy drink. Came out in 1987 or so. TWICE the caffeine of ordinary cola.
I remember the whole Coke 2 fiasco vividly.
Rock N Rye defnately the best faygo.. not sure if they still make it but the Candy Apple Faygo (sounds disgusting) but was AMAZING11 but then again that was in my herbally enhanced days.
Robert – damn right. OK Soda ruled, all others drooled.
i wanna try hubba bubba soda!!
Orbitz still exists although under a different name.
http://www.i-mockery.com/blabber/2008/01/15/orbitz-the-lava-lamp-of-the-beverage-industry-still-exists/