Monday, July 2, 2012

Vintage: Sprite Aruba Jam Remix


I know what you're thinking, and the answer is "Yes! Occasionally I'll get my hands on Ephemeral Noms from the past!"  Such noms shall be marked as "vintage" whenever they appear on this site.

This is one of my favorite Ephemeral Noms of all time.  In the early 2000s Coca-Cola began releasing a new line of Sprite-related drinks called Sprite Remix.  Each flavor was released individually and stayed in production for about 6 months before the next one.  Wikipedia tells me that Sprite Remixes are still available in Canada, Barbados, and Turks & Caicos... is this true?? Anyway, aware of its ephemeralness, I nabbed a few 12-packs of Sprite Aruba Jam Remix before its production stopped.  I've kept them for 6+ years, and as I drink my last few cans for this review, they're almost as good as the day I bought them.

Similar in flavor to the first Sprite Remix iteration, Aruba Jam was the third, and my favorite of the three.  The nose of the stuff is similar to normal Sprite but has a hint of pineapple.  The taste initially seems simple, and it takes a lot of effort to pick out its components.  One of the most prominent flavors is the aforementioned pineapple, which really gives it that overall "tropical" feel.  I can also swear that I'm getting a bit of coconut here.  A strained attempt picks out some orange as well.  My favorite part of this stuff is the aftertaste, which is of strawberry, but it combines with the Sprite's lemon-lime flavor to somehow make it taste like real strawberry, and not the fake strawberry that you'll find it most soda or candy.  This stuff is overall sweeter than original Sprite.

Sprite Aruba Jam Remix is one of the most complex and tasty sodas that I've ever seen sold.  It's a damn shame that Coca-Cola feels that it, much less the whole Sprite Remix line, is not worth having as a permanent product.  As these last cans of mine dwindle, I can only try to savor these last sips as best I can.

Rest In Peace.

Sprite Aruba Jam Remix: - (Outstanding)
Original Sprite(for comparison): - (Good)

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