June 13, 2007
Pepsi Ice Cucumber

icecucumber.jpgThis is Pepsi’s limited edition summer drink for Japan - Pepsi Ice Cucumber. It went on sale yesterday and seemed so strange that I had to buy a bottle. Tod saw it near his office and bought one, too!

We tasted tested it last night, splitting most of one 500 ml bottle among three glasses with a lot of ice. None of us finished our glasses but I think that was the shock of the sugar more than the drink itself.

Ingredients: liquid grape sugar, flavorings, acidifier, preservative (benzoic acid), caffeine, coloring (blue 1, yellow 4). Neither water nor carbonation makes the list, but Japanese labeling laws are a little different than the US ones; the product type is “carbonated beverage” and that covers the carbonated water bits.

Ice Cucmber very sweet, but probably not any sweeter than other fizzy drinks. Its color is pale mouthwash, as you can see for yourself through the clear bottle in the photo. That color sets the tone for the taste. Its flavor is a combination of light ginger ale and diluted Scope with a slightly fresh aftertaste that is reminiscent of cucumbers the same way cherry flavor reminds you of the real thing if you squint your brow and think really hard.

Pepsi Ice Cucumber is not unpleasant and it’s definitely different to other fizzy drinks. I’d say that I might even buy it again, but we still have the second bottle.

Posted by kuri at June 13, 2007 09:30 AM

Comments

The thing that really get’s me about this drink, and that nobody seems to mention in the reviews is it’s disturbing aroma. Yes, this is Ice Cucumber soda, but did they really have to give it the subtle smell of dill pickles? Or maybe it’s just my cognative dissonance kicking in…

Posted by: iHorner on June 13, 2007 10:15 AM

I didn’t notice a dill scent when I was drinking it over ice, but having just retrieved the nearly empty bottle…sure enough. It’s vaguely dill + pepper + ginger.

Odd. Probably would go great with a ham sandwich and potato chips.

Thanks for pointing that out, Ian.

Posted by: Kristen on June 13, 2007 10:32 AM

This has kind of freaked me out and led me to stay away from a lot of carbonated drinks including this one (not that I drank that much anyway)

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-6-4/56102.html

Posted by: UltraBob on June 13, 2007 02:15 PM

Or more directly, this one: http://www.inchem.org/documents/cicads/cicads/cicad26.htm#SubSectionNumber:11.1.1

Posted by: UltraBob on June 13, 2007 02:16 PM

I’m not much of a soda drinker, but I love a novelty. I don’t think the benzoic acid in the 150 ml of drink I had will kill me but that report sure wants me to stay away from it even more than I already do.

Manufactured foods are evil.

Posted by: Kristen on June 13, 2007 03:21 PM

Are you all in Japan? I sort of stumbled across this page while trying to find if I can buy this prod. somehow…

Posted by: Sarah on June 14, 2007 01:35 PM

O, sorry…:)

Posted by: Sarah on June 14, 2007 01:36 PM

So I wonder what marketing type or engineer thought, after his morning gargle - Mmmmmm… diluted Scope… I wish we had a drink with this taste… ;)

Posted by: Seth on June 14, 2007 11:14 PM
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