13 Discontinued Sodas We Do Not Miss

Nostalgia is a funny thing. It can color our memories of childhood and make us remember a lot of events –– or products –– as better than they were. If you were a kid in the '80s and '90s, you probably have fond memories of sipping on a sweating can of Dr Pepper Berries & Cream on a hot summer day, or maybe slurping up a can of Surge during a sleepover. Sugary? Certainly. Delicious? Definitely.

Sometimes, however, the sweet, sweet taste of nostalgia can give us rose-colored glasses when it comes to memories that were, well, not as appealing. Sometimes, reminiscing about the past can make us forget that certain experiences — or in this case flavors — were not that great. (Looking at you, Pepsi Blue.) Consider this list your wake-up call for discontinued sodas that we're glad have disappeared from store shelves, no matter how much our memory tries to convince us they were once any good.

Want some caffeine to go with your caffeine? For drinkers who felt they needed even more of a jolt from a sugary soda, there was Coca-Cola Blak. The coffee-flavored soft drink was originally released in 2006 in a sleek bottle with stylized writing. Upping your caffeine intake with a sweet soda was nothing new to the market, but for some reason, Coca-Cola Blak simply didn't resonate with customers –– by 2008, the drink was pulled from store shelves.

However, it may have been a case of a company being ahead of its time. In 2017, Coca-Cola with Coffee was released in Japan, and did well enough that it made its way across the ocean to the United States in 2021. The new version –– which comes in flavors Caramel, Dark Roast, and Vanilla –– actually contains more coffee than its predecessor. In a culture that loves its cold brew, perhaps this new and improved version of Coca-Cola Blak will succeed.

You know the saying about never messing with a good thing, or if it's not broken, don't fix it? Well, Coca-Cola decided that it wanted to fix what wasn't broken anyway, when it released New Coke in 1985. It was the height of the cola wars between Coke and Pepsi, and the former brand decided it needed to revitalize and rejuvenate its image in the youth-centered 1980s. New Coke was sweeter than the original, and even tested well at first. The thing is, Coca-Cola decided to put all its weight behind New Coke, pulling the OG from shelves –– and that's where it made its mistake.

Numerous calls were made to the brand from irate customers who demanded the return of their beloved soda. It only took two months for Coca-Cola to bring back the original recipe to stores. The two sodas managed to coexist side by side for a time, with New Coke later renamed Coke II in 1990. It managed to last until 2002, when it was finally discontinued. Its infamous reputation lives on, however, as one of the worst blunders in soda history.

Don't let anyone with the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia tell you that Pepsi Blue was a good drink. It was not. While the berry-flavored soda might have appealed to kids who enjoyed the artificial coloring that dyed their tongues blue, the flavor wasn't good. It was another attempt to do battle with longtime nemesis Coca-Cola, which had recently seen success with the release of Vanilla Coke. Pepsi, rather than play copycat, decided that a soda the color of glass cleaner was a good bet.

The soda did well its first year, selling 17 million cases. However, the novelty soon wore off, and sales began to slump by 2003. Perhaps it was that notorious blue color –– made with Blue No.1 or "Brilliant Blue," a controversial food dye –– or that the flavor wasn't nearly as good as the marketing would've had you believe. (It was featured aggressively in movies like "The Italian Job" and commercials starring Pepsi cover girl Britney Spears.) By 2004, the soda was discontinued.

In the '90s, a lot of brands were all about marketing themselves as clean, clear, and pure. That included soda giants like Pepsi, which decided the classic brown cola needed a transparent makeover. Introducing: Crystal Pepsi, which was released in 1992. The caffeine-free soda was said to taste similar to real Pepsi, with a touch of citrus, and managed to achieve its clear look by eschewing the added caramel color in favor of modified food starch. The transparent soda had a little less carbonation, as well.

Millions of dollars were spent promoting Crystal Pepsi, including TV ads and a spot during the Super Bowl. However, Coca-Cola decided to destroy Crystal Pepsi before it even had a chance to shine. The company released Tab Clear at the same time, a hugely unpopular soda, in an effort to quell any interest in Crystal Pepsi. Since it was the Tab name –– and not Coca-Cola –– that was attached to the dismally performing soda, the company was, well, in the clear. Pepsi did not fare as well, and Crystal Pepsi was discontinued by 1994.

It's nothing new for celebrities to slap their faces on products, and even in the beverage industry, plenty of A-listers are more than happy to sell their image to a product. In 2013, NBA great Shaquille O'Neal joined the ranks of celebrity beverage spokespeople when he lent his face to the supersized cans of Shaq Soda.

The sodas were developed by Arizona Iced Tea, the makers of the gargantuan tins of lemonade, tea, and the like for a cool 99 cents. Shaq Soda came in four sweet flavors: Strawberry Cream, Orange Cream, Vanilla Cream, and, oddly, Blueberry Cream. The beverages were touted as being all natural, in that they were sweetened with both honey and sugar –– and boy, were they sweet. Despite a Change.org petition existing that asks for these sodas to be reintroduced after they were discontinued in 2016, we're okay with leaving them off store shelves to save on our dentist bills.

And now for a drink that might be lacking in sugar, but is way too full of conflicting, confusing flavor. Dr Pepper as a soda is famous for having a unique blend of 23 flavors, but apparently that wasn't enough for the creative minds behind Diet Dr Pepper Cherry Chocolate.

Introduced as part of a limited time run in 2007, the saccharine flavor was a bit of a mind-blower, since the beverage contained no sugar. Don't expect an actual cherry flavor, though. Instead, this one tasted more like too-sweet maraschino cherries, or cough syrup. One review thought this drink was too sweet and syrupy, while another said it reminded them of a cherry Tootsie Pop.

Fruit and chocolate — especially Chocolate-Covered Strawberries — can be a delicious combo when done right, but adding those flavors to a can of Dr Pepper and making them taste aggressively artificial is not the way to go. Fortunately, the limited run of this soda flavor meant that it had disappeared from store shelves by 2008.

Don't you wanna, wanna Fanta? Not if it's the lemon flavor. In a soda landscape that's bursting at the seams with lemon-lime effervescence, Lemon Fanta threw its hat in the ring in 2005, competing with the big dogs like Sprite and 7Up.

The soda did quite well in Europe, and alarm bells were raised when there were whispers that it might be discontinued across the pond. However, it was actually only in the United States that Fanta Lemon got the axe, being officially discontinued in 2018 due to low sales. Unlike the popular Orange flavor, Fanta Lemon simply didn't have the same star power. Perhaps the tart taste –– without being somewhat neutralized by juicy lime –– didn't resonate with American taste buds. Fanta fans can still score some other delicious flavors from the beverage company, however: Berry, Grape, Orange, Peach, Pina Colada, Pineapple, and Strawberry are all still available.

If you thought regular soda was sweet, how about taking a sip of one flavored to taste like bubblegum? Released in 1988, the pink-colored cans were a hit with consumers who wanted to chew their gum and drink it, too. The novelty beverage was created outside of the Wrigley Company that sold Hubba Bubba gum by a man named Steve Roeder, who had the idea of combining bubblegum flavored sno-cone syrup with club soda.

However, it was never meant to be a long term soda. The fizzy drink –– which was incredibly sweet, using a sugary treat as the inspiration for a sugary soda –– was discontinued sometime in the 1990s. While it may have been a little kid's idea of a delicious beverage at the time, there's no way we'd enjoy that much saccharinity today. We think this soda is better left where it belongs: in the last century.

Another entrant on this list that took inspiration from the candy aisle was the line of Jolly Ranchers sodas. Available in 13 flavors from Cinnamon Cherry Fire to classic Watermelon, the brightly-hued bottles released in 2005 were no doubt appealing to kids. The idea of a candy becoming a soda was different –– revolutionary, even. It sparked intrigue and interest and propelled Jolly Rancher sodas to success –– for a time.

Jolly Rancher soda was a product of the Hershey Company, the same company that makes the candies. The flavors and colors of the fizzy beverages were bright and inviting, a veritable rainbow of tooth-achingly sweet sipping. However, after the initial excitement at their release began to fade, so too did sales decline. Despite being a unique offering in the soda aisles at the outset, the novelty of the candy becoming soda began to wear off. By 2021, the sodas were discontinued.

With a tagline on the can that read, "All the sugar and twice the caffeine," it seems like Jolt Cola was any dentist or doctor's nightmare. Long before Red Bull, Monster, and the like were on the market, Jolt Cola appealed to consumers craving a kick of caffeine to get them through late nights or afternoon meetings. Debuting in 1985 (two years before the energy drink that gives you wings), Jolt Cola appealed to students who needed an extra boost during a late-night cram session. With 72 milligrams of caffeine per can, it outpaced the standard sodas that offered only somewhere between 25 and 50 milligrams.

Unfortunately, the demise of Jolt Cola was anything but sweet: The company filed for bankruptcy in 2009. There was a brief resurgence in both 2017 and 2019 at Dollar General stores, but Jolt Cola eventually fizzled out. (Or has it? Jolt Cola is said to be coming back, more caffeinated than ever, with a whopping 200 milligrams per 16-ounce can.)

Have you ever taken a swig of Pepsi and then eaten a handful of cinnamon candies right after? Or had a giant swig of Fireball whiskey and chased it with a gulp of soda? That's kind of what Pepsi Fire was like. Originally released in countries like Thailand and Singapore in 2004, it was part of a dual release with Pepsi Ice, which brought a minty twist to the classic cola. However, the cinnamon-spike cola was axed after a year.

It wasn't until 2017 that it came across the ocean to the United States, and then only as a limited release. It was available for sale in cans and bottles, as well as a Slurpee flavor at 7-11 stores. Pepsi Fire was only around for the summer, however, before it was discontinued. It seems that no one on either side of the globe was that enamored of hot cinnamon-flavored Pepsi.

Way before Dr Pepper Strawberries & Cream and the new Dr Pepper Blackberry, there was Dr Pepper Red Fusion, the first flavor variation from the brand in more than 100 years. As the name might suggest, the soda was red, and it was a blend of cherry, strawberry, and raspberry flavors. The soda was a hit at first, with stores selling out of their stock much sooner than the company had expected. Like many novelty sodas, interest was high at the beginning, but began to peter out as time went by.

Within 18 months, sales plummeted as customers reverted to the original recipe and left Dr Pepper Red Fusion on the shelf. By 2004, the soda brand discontinued Red Fusion due to low sales. The cherry-berry soda was no more, but we're kind of okay with that, since it didn't taste much like Dr Pepper.

In the years since, Dr Pepper has continued its experimentation with berry flavors, but has usually kept the original formula in the mix as the back note. Dr Pepper Cherry and Dr Pepper Cherry Vanilla are both excellent examples of the flavor done right.

What do you get when you cross a beloved snack food with a much-maligned soda brand? Flamin' Hot Mountain Dew, of course. While it didn't taste like liquefied Flamin' Hot Cheetos with a bubbly lemon-lime twist, Flamin' Hot Mountain Dew was both sweet and spicy. Originally released online in 2021, the soda sold out quickly to die-hard fans who wanted to get their hands on the odd new flavor. It then was produced for a limited release in the spring of 2022.

Not for those with a low spice tolerance — especially for those with heartburn — the fiery, bright orange soda combined spice and carbonation, which isn't exactly what you want if hoping to sip something refreshing. We're all for getting creative with new flavors and even snack mashups, but the Flamin' Hot Mountain Dew is one soda we're happy to never see on store shelves again.