Whoof. I got very little sleep last night. So, while I’m trying to cut down on soda (yes, even with all these soda reviews I’m doing, I’m trying to cut down. You’re literally seeing documentation of every soda I’ve been drinking for the past several months), as soon as I rolled out this morning, I was like, “I’m gonna need a pick-me-up.” And seeing as there’s still about a million flavors of Dew to review, I grabbed a can and got going.
This one is Raspberry Citrus. Overall, I like the flavor of Raspberry (usually just relegated to “blue” in many brand lines). Sweet, tart, all nicely mixed together. Add some citrus for a bit of extra sour, and you’re good to go. I make an amazing Raspberry Lime Sauce that I put on my cheesecakes (mental note, make and document the next time I make cheesecake for the blog), so I was looking forward to this one. On to the pour!
First thing you’ll notice: it’s not blue. It’s a light purple in color, and rather pale. I know the side of the can labels Kickstart drinks as “Flavored Sparkling Juice Beverage Blend” (not actually soda) and this is the one that I really feel “looks the part.” Maybe not the “Juice” bit, but the “Flavored Sparking Beverage” bit. I was also surprised that the raspberry smell I get off of the drink wasn’t more powerful. We’ll see why in the next sentence.
So, raspberry is generally a pretty powerful flavor. Citrus is also generally a pretty powerful flavor. Put them together and I was expecting a lot out of this one. Now, none of the Kickstart drinks have been all that strong flavor-wise. Some more than others (and I recently seem to be going through a group that are less-powerful still), and this definitely fits in with them. I was expecting a punch. I got a gentle pat. Actually, it’s rather refreshing, given my not-all-that-awake state. I can say that I’ve been drinking this one a little faster than the others. Some cans I’ve not actually finished off because my ice melts and it gets watery and that’s just eugh. But this one, I’m almost done with it and I’m just working on this post.
I get the raspberry very lightly. I can’t really say I get all that much of the citrus. It might be just that the flavor’s so generally mild that I’m missing it in there. I also don’t get the “roundness” like I did from the first couple Kickstart drinks. It tastes rather soda-like, but just a milder soda. Not “watery” by any meals, but just milder. This is kind of a sleeper-hit for me. Though I might’ve enjoyed a bit more of a punch, I am overall happy with this variety.
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