Another major soft drink has gone the retro/limited time syndrome.
7UP Retro joins Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback as reincarnations of the days where sugar reigned supreme in sweetening soft drinks.
There is the unfortunate tie-in with Celebrity Apprentice and never-was presidential candidate Donald Trump. Though, Trump is retro.
But 7UP has a bigger problem with its retro version than Pepsi or Mountain Dew: we aren't sure which sugar version of the soft drink we are buying.
Is 7UP Retro a sugar version of today's 7UP? The version before the changes in 2006? The version that your mother gave you when you tummy wasn't feeling well?
The modern version contains no fruit juice, a difference from the old style 7UP. For those eith corn sensitivities, 7UP Retro has citric acid, though it's not clear if that is made from corn.
I grew frustrated that my only options were 12-packs. One bottle or can would have been enough, but 12 was too many. Fortunately, a grocery store manager took pity on me and broke open a 12-pack and sold me a can for 50¢. I later found a 6-pak in bottles for $5. Yes, sugar in the U.S. is more expensive than high-fructose corn syrup, but not this expensive.
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As for the review itself, there is that childhood trigger of a clean, dare I say, uncola sensation. I'm not ready to pronounce it a reincarnation of the childhood version, but boy that was fun. Even when I drank high-fructose corn syrup versions, I was disappointed in losing the childhood 7UP.
Younger people probably can't relate, but 7UP had unofficial medicinal values growing up for upset stomachs. I can vouch that the burps from 7UP Retro were similar in cry to those of younger days, in a similar way to Mexican Coca-Cola and Kosher for Passover Coca-Cola.
The fruit juice is missing; I know I'm not in a time warp. But there was a crisp taste missing from soft drinks in that lemon-lime category, something Sprite and Sierra Mist never did have with any sort of sweetener.
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No matter what, 7UP Retro tastes better than Sierra Mist, now free of high-fructose corn syrup. But the excitement would have been higher if 7UP hadn't found it necessary to constantly change its formula. Difficult to recreate the past when you keep changing the present. If 7UP Retro becomes permanent on store shelves, there would be no reason ever to buy regular 7UP.
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