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21 Discontinued Soda Flavors You Won’t Find Anywhere

Did you ever find a new favorite soda flavor when you were grocery shopping? It’s an instant and unforgettable love at first taste. Then you go to pick it up from the store one day and find that it’s no longer there only to find that the company discontinued the product. 

pepsi crystal discontinued soda bottle

Let’s face it. Not every product succeeds in a competitive market, including your favorite soda flavors.

These 21 discontinued soda flavors you won’t find anywhere faced removal from the market due to low sales or consumers disliking them for other reasons.

Some discontinued sodas have eventually come back with revamped versions like it many years later.  

Feel that wave of nostalgia as you learn more about these discontinued sodas. In my list, I mention when they originated and became discontinued. I also discuss their taste profiles, so you feel like you were there tasting them for yourself. 

Coca-Cola Blak

Coca-Cola Blak was the Coke company’s first attempt at combining java with Coke, but it wasn’t as popular as other Coke flavors.

First released in 2006 and then discontinued a short two years later in 2008, it first originated in France before coming to the United States.

Coke brought back something like it by introducing Coca-Cola With Coffee in 2021. 

New Coke

New Coke was the name of Coke’s reformulated recipe that was released back in 1985.

It got a name change to Coke II in 1990 before being discontinued 12 years later.

While I was not around in 1985, those who tasted New Coke stated that it had a chocolate cinnamon taste with a balanced flavor. 

Pepsi Blue

Pepsi Blue was the neon blue, berry-flavored soda that delighted consumers from its launch in 2002 until its discontinuation in 2004.

Almost two decades later, Pepsi Blue was re-released in the summer of 2021 for a limited time to celebrate Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

The packaging was updated with red and white stripes to match these holidays. 

Sprite Remix

Sprite by itself is a burst of lemony and lime goodness, but Sprite Remix amped it up with a tropical peach flavoring.

Released in America and Canada in 2002, it was soon discontinued three years later because it did not hit projected sales margins. Sprite Tropical Mix took its place in 2015.  

7-Up Gold

7-Up Gold is another discontinued soda of the 1980s prominent between 1987 to 1989.

It combined flavors of apple cinnamon with ginger ale with a unique caffeinated punch.

Because 7-Up was usually a clear, non-caffeinated soda, consumers did not like this new caramel-colored, caffeinated version.  

Coca-Cola Lime

Coca-Cola Lime was introduced as fast as it was discontinued, lasting only from 2005 to 2006.

It was the original Coke flavor spritzed with a zesty lime flavor.

Eventually, it was released as a flavor on Coca-Cola freestyle machines in 2009 along with its lesser sugar variant, Diet Coke with Lime. 

Crystal Pepsi

Crystal Pepsi got the hype between 1992 to 1994 in Canada, the United Kingdom, America, and Australia.

It was a clear, non-caffeinated version of the iconic caramel-colored, caffeinated original Pepsi.

Crystal Pepsi briefly came back to the market in 2017 during a Crystal Pepsi Throwback Tour to celebrate the product’s 30th anniversary. 

OK Soda

OK Soda originated in 1993 and took a unique approach to product design and marketing.

Using chain lettering to spell “Ok” and appealing to the Generation X market, it tastes a bit like Coke Fresca except with a fruit punch taste.

Consumers were not thrilled about the taste, which led to its discontinuation in 1995. 

Orbitz

Orbitz originated in Canada in 1997. It did not have carbonation, but it contained a delightfully fruity taste and edible beads made of gellan gum that floated inside the beverage.

Consumers described the drink as looking like a lava lamp with its bottle shape and the floating edible beads before its discontinuation in 1998. 

Pepsi Twist

Pepsi Twist lasted longer than some discontinued sodas on this list.

It was introduced to the market in 2000 and discontinued in 2006.

It was another citrus-based soda kind of like Coca-Cola Lime, except Pepsi Twist contained a lemon flavoring.

It made a limited-time comeback with a new name, Pepsi NFL Kickoff in 2008. 

Tab

Tab is one of the longest-running discontinued sodas on this list.

It hit store shelves in 1963 in an iconic pink can, which began the popularity of diet carbonated drinks as Coca-Cola’s first diet soda variant.

Eventually, the soda name was discontinued in 2020, and die-hard fans organized the SaveTabSoda Committee to bring it back on the market. 

Vault

Coca-Cola released Vault in 2005 with a delightful citrus flavor that tastes almost like their Surge beverage, which was discontinued a short two years before Vault’s origination.

Coke advertised Vault until they pulled them off shelves in 2011.

Consumer petitions have surfaced throughout the internet asking Coca-Cola to bring Vault back on grocery and convenience store shelves. 

Aspen Soda

Pepsi released Aspen Soda in 1978 before discontinuing the flavor in 1982.

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While I was not around in 1982, people who enjoyed the beverage back then said it tasted like 7-Up with an apple aftertaste.

Two years later, apple soda made a comeback with Pepsi’s new product line, Slice. 

dnL

dnL is one of the discontinued sodas with a unique name.

It was a rendition of a 7-Up drink originating in 2002.

The product was not marketed thoroughly enough for consumers to want to try it.

Hence, dnL was discontinued in 2005 for the company to enhance its 7-Up Plus product line. 

Hubba Bubba Soda

If you loved chewing Wrigley Hubba Bubba gum in the 80s, then you might have tried Hubba Bubba soda when it was released in 1988.

It was a carbonated beverage with Hubba Bubba’s iconic original bubblegum flavoring.

It did not last a full five years on store shelves before being pulled from production. 

Jolt Cola

Did you know that Jolt Cola was the first energy drink with carbonated goodness that hit America’s store shelves in 1985.

From college students to busy executives and devoted late-night hobbyists loved sipping on this more bitter version of their favorite Coke beverage.

It was only more bitter because of its caffeinated properties. 

Josta

Pepsi’s Josta energy drink was the first non-carbonated energy beverage released in the United States in 1995.

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Ingredients included coffee as well as guarana for that extra energy kick consumers loved.

It was later discontinued in 1999 because its ingredients were too highly stimulating.

Plus, Pepsi wanted to focus on enhancing its new Slice product line. 

Lifesavers Soda

Lifesavers are a delicious round hard candy that originated more than 100 years ago.

In the 80s, it was one of the discontinued sodas that did well during the taste-testing stages.

But then, it did not fare well when it hit store shelves because consumers felt it was too sweet.  

Mountain Dew Pitch Black

Mountain Dew is usually a light green, but Mountain Dew Pitch Black turned the drink to the dark side during its release for Halloween 2004.

It was a dark purple carbonated beverage with black grape citrus flavor notes.

It was re-released in 2023 for a short time along with the Zero Sugar version. 

Pepsi Holiday Spice

Pepsi Holiday Spice released a carbonated beverage with notes of cinnamon and ginger back during the 2004 holiday season.

It was available until the end of that year’s holidays until it made a comeback during the 2006 holiday season.

Someone in 2014 attempted to petition Pepsi to bring back the iconic flavor, but they only collected 285 signatures. 

Surge

Surge soda lasts on the American market from 1997 to 2003.

It had several revivals including one on Amazon in 2014, another at select stores in the Eastern United States, and another one in 2018 at the Coca-Cola freestyle machines in McDonald’s and Burger King chains.

Surge soda is making another comeback in 2023. 

Brian Nagele

Brian attended West Virginia University, then started his career in the IT industry before following his passion for marketing and hospitality. He has over 20 years experience in the restaurant and bar industry.

As a former restaurant owner, he knows about running a food business and loves to eat and enjoy cocktails on a regular basis. He constantly travels to new cities tasting and reviewing the most popular spots.

Follow him on LinkedIn, Instagram, Quora, Google Guide and Facebook.

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