Fanta Strawberry

An Indonesian can of Fanta Strawberry, apparently one of Fanta’s ‘Big Four’ flavours in America, the other three being Orange (pretty much all you can get in Australia outside of specialty stores and limited promotions, a staple in post-mix fountains and vending machines all over the country), Grape and Pineapple. Considering this is produced in Indonesia, I wonder how similar it is to the Fanta Strawberry that’s available in the US? The same perhaps, or completely different? The flavour is listed as “Rasa Stroberi”, which Google translate leads me to believe means “Shaven Strawberry,” somehow I doubt it but who knows.

The can is pretty terrible (not quite fruit-punch terrible), bright red and featuring some strange-looking humanoids messing around with bottles of Fanta. Can designers of the world take note: cluttered, gaudy cans are doing you no favours, keep it simple, less is more. While I’m on the subject, Fanta’s 600mL bottles are a disgrace, and the same logic applies as above.

Although I was initially turned-off by the can design, the soda itself- a rich, deep red in colour, with above-average fizz- restored my hopes for a satisfying drinking experience. The flavour is pretty great, sitting somewhere between artificial raspberry and artificial strawberry (feels kind of cheap using this sort of comparison, but anyone who’s ever eaten candy should be familiar with these flavours, and trying to describe ‘generic artificial raspberry flavour’ is like trying to describe the colour blue or something. All I can really say is that neither of them taste like their real-world counterparts), although it tastes nothing like the only other strawberry soda I’ve had (Welch’s). In a blind test I probably would’ve said that this was more raspberry than strawberry, but Fanta feels otherwise and who am I to argue. Either way, this is a pretty delicious soda, and I’d safely say that it’s my favourite of all the Fanta flavours I’ve tried so far, Orange included.

The aftertaste is good, light and sweet and lasts the normal/pleasant amount of time. The only gripe I have with this soda is that it is a little bit thicker-feeling than I’d like, although this isn’t really that pronounced (it’s not like drinking syrup or something), and it doesn’t leave a gross snail-like coating on the tongue like some sodas do.

Not much else I can say, a pretty solid offering (especially coming from Fanta) and kind of a curveball as far as strawberry-flavoured sodas go, not that I think I’ll find something better but this has made me pretty darn eager to try the rest of Fanta’s non-Orange flavours, horrendous can-art or no.

72/100

-LC

Available at Central Grocery .

Hansen's Kiwi Strawberry

After the Mandarin Lime I drank previously I was really looking another soda by Hansen’s Natural. This one smells a lot like strawberry candy, it seems to be a common factor among nearly all sodas that they smell like the candy version of their flavour rather than the actual fruit/vegetable/spice/whatever but I don’t mind that.

I would describe the flavour as a lighter version of the Welch’s Strawberry soda with a tiny bit of Kiwi flavour at the end of the taste. It would be great if someone could really nail a strong, sour kiwi soda but I haven't found one just yet. It has a great mouth taste but then it fades away and the flavour disappears, with no real aftertaste at all. I have mentioned this light (almost lack of) flavour in my other Hansen’s review and this time I think they might have gone a little too far with not enough flavour. Despite this, the lightness makes for a delicious summery soda that doesn’t need to be ice cold to be refreshing.

I don’t feel sticky or gross after this soda which is partly due to it not having an aftertaste and mainly due to the no artificial products approach Hansen’s take towards their sodas. The light, refreshing, real sugar, natural method should be a model for other soda companies.

76/100

-DM

Available at Munchies & More Coburg.

Welch's Strawberry

This can does look appealing, it does look like candy and it does look like the drink tastes but man is it pink. It’s not just a little bit pink, its “verging on being too embarrassing for a man to be seen drinking so I almost just bought grape flavour instead” pink.

The smell is really sweet but appealing. The taste is pretty much the same, a very sweet strawberry flavour that is really tangy and biting. The bubbles are small and very fizzy which I prefer. It tastes like the goo inside of a strawberry freddo frog in soda form. I would definitely call it a dessert soda, I wouldn’t recommend it for a summers day, unless you like your summer full of inflamed stomachs and sugar headaches.

Like a lot of overly sweet sodas, having it ice cold saves it from becoming a thick sugary syrup but the aftertaste gets kind of goopy after a little while regardless. It is perfect as a sweet dessert soda but hard to get through a whole can, I would suggest sharing it.

78/100

-DM

Available at Wellbeing Korean Grocery.