Coke Spiced Review: A Lack Of Spice Dooms This New Soda
You put the spice in the Coke, you nut, and drink 'em both together ... sorry: wrong new Coca-Cola flavor jingle. Not that we should forget the many discontinued Coke drinks (like Coke Lime and Vanilla Coke) that blazed a trail in the past. In fact, without the soda conglomerate's prior successes and failures, it's tough to imagine the new Coke Spiced product ever seeing the light of day.
Now, if the name Coke Spiced turns you off, fear not. After all, Coke's new spiced flavor isn't actually spicy. Yet several questions remain unanswered when it comes to the newest addition to the Coke canon. Namely, is Coke Spiced any good — and should you make a point of purchasing a can or bottle on your next trip to the store?
With Coke Spiced set to debut in stores across the U.S. on February 19, 2024, there's a good chance you're eager to learn more about this brand-new variety of brown-colored, carbonated sugar water. Having received a sample of both regular Coke Spiced and Coke Spiced Zero Sugar courtesy of Coca-Cola, I took the plunge to provide the inside scoop for intrigued soda fans. After taste-testing the newest Coca-Cola offerings, here's our review of Coke Spiced.
What's in Coke Spiced?
Given its name, you might presume Coke Spiced is made with a variety of unique spices (along with some sort of raspberry flavoring). However, the new beverage's ingredient list reveals a slightly different story. More than that, since Coke Spiced is available both with and without sugar, the two varieties differ slightly in regards to the precise ingredients in the can.
There are several similar ingredients found in every can of Coke Spiced, of course, whether it's regular or zero sugar. These include carbonated water, caramel color, phosphoric acid, and caffeine. Additionally, the always kind of disconcerting (and never illuminating) "natural flavors" are in both regular and zero sugar varieties. This is where I guess the new Coke's supposed spices and raspberry flavoring are incorporated, as the ingredients list doesn't do much else to clear things up.
Interestingly enough, Coke Spiced doesn't list any actual sugar among its ingredients, as the regular variety only features high fructose corn syrup as its sweetener. Meanwhile, in Coke Spiced Zero Sugar, a bevy of artificial sweeteners appears to be necessary to make up for the lack of sugar or corn syrup. These include aspartame, sucralose, sodium benzoate, sodium citrate, and acesulfame potassium, which may or may not be a turnoff to health-conscious consumers.
How long is Coke Spiced available and where?
If you're unsure where to find the new Coke Spiced soda — be it the regular or zero sugar varieties — simply go where classic Coke products are sold. After all, the soda giant's newest flavor wasn't created as some flash-in-the-pan offering with a built-in discontinuation date. Rather, Coke Spiced is set to be a permanent addition to the soda giant's flavor lineup and will be sold throughout the U.S. (and Canada) beginning February 19, 2024.
Beyond the lack of a short-term sales window, there doesn't appear to be any sort of exclusive sales agreement between Coke and a particular retailer, either. This means that you will likely find Coke Spiced at a wide variety of grocery and convenience store chains.
Additionally, Coca-Cola has several different packaging options available for customers interested in buying Coke Spiced. The regular version will be sold as 7.5-ounce mini cans in packs of 10, 12-ounce cans as a 12-pack, 16.9-ounce bottles, 20-ounce bottles, and 2-liter bottles. For anyone interested in Coke Spiced Zero Sugar, the (not) diet version is available in 12-ounce cans — as a 12-pack, or as a tall, slim, individually-sold can (the regular Coke Spiced will be sold in this format, as well) — and 20-ounce bottles.
How much does Coke Spiced cost?
Several factors worked against me when I tried to determine how much Coke Spiced costs. First off, the newest Coke flavor only hit store shelves on February 19, so there's little widespread information regarding Coke Spiced's cost at the time of this writing. Furthermore, the lack of consistent pricing for, well, anything across the U.S. means that I was only able to provide reasonable estimates instead of set-in-stone prices.
Based on the cost of various Coke Spiced products available at Target locations in the Eastern Massachusetts area — and assuming the cost for both regular and no-sugar varieties are identical — a 12-pack of 12-ounce cans will be priced around $7.49. A single 12-ounce can will run you about $2.19 each, while a 10-pack of 7.5-ounce mini cans should cost around $6.29 each.
Meanwhile, a 2-liter bottle of Coke Spiced is listed at $2.79 at Target. The 2-liter may offer the most bang for your buck and is a genuine bargain compared to $2.29 for a 20-ounce Coke Spiced bottle. Then again, I've always thought plastic-bottled Coke tastes significantly worse than other varieties, so I can't say for certain whether the discounted price is worth it.
What is the nutrition information for Coke Spiced?
As you may have guessed, there are two distinct drinks when it comes to the nutrition information for Coke Spiced: regular and zero sugar. Since the nutritional info differs drastically between the two varieties, I'll address each one individually.
Let's start with the much simpler no-sugar version. Unsurprisingly, Coke Spiced Zero Sugar contains 0 grams of sugar per 12-ounce serving along with 0 calories. Beyond a fairly paltry 95 milligrams of sodium found in each serving, though, there's literally no other nutritional information to report. There are no calories, no fat, no protein, no sugar, and no carbohydrates in Coke Spiced Zero Sugar.
The regular Coke Spiced, however, contains a somewhat staggering 250 calories in every 12-ounce serving and an eye-popping 67 grams of sugar. There may not be anything else of note in regular Coke Spiced (nutritionally speaking, that is), but seeing how each 12-ounce serving comes with more than 16 teaspoons of added sugar, you may not want to swap out water for Coke Spiced in your daily diet.
How does it compare to other Coke products?
Before I address the actual taste of Coke Spiced compared to classic Coke products, it's worth noting the newest flavor's label was designed to stand out from other Coca-Cola products, with a segment of pink waves that sets Coke Spiced aesthetically apart from Coke's other beverages.
When it comes to the precise difference in flavor, it's not entirely clear what distinguishes the new drink from prior ones. After all, Coke isn't known to share the proprietary secrets of its beloved line of sodas with the world.
Still, the mention of raspberry in Coke Spiced indicates a change from other Coke-branded items — as does the intense hit of raspberry flavor in every sip. Yet it's nigh impossible to detect any other spices in Coke Spiced. At least with the raspberry, there appears to be some connection between Coke Spiced and Cherry Coke, though I can't imagine anyone mistaking Coke Spiced for a similar Coke-branded soda.
Coke Spiced verdict: I might have enjoyed Raspberry Coke, but not this
It's no secret that Coke Spiced is not a terribly spicy soda ... but maybe it should have been. After all, the complete and utter lack of authentic spice found in Coke Spiced is an immense letdown. Given the absence of any distinguishing spice whatsoever, the drink's artificial raspberry flavor is thrust to the fore — leading to a baffling and decidedly unpleasant cola.
Perhaps our frustration with Coke Spiced would have been ameliorated if it was simply called Raspberry Coke. Yet the decision to bury the flavor lede left us cold. Simply put, the company's choice to highlight spice left us wondering whether it hopes to trick consumers into purchasing its newest product.
To be fair, Coke doesn't entirely hide this soda's raspberry taste. But the complete dearth of any recognizable spice or flavor beyond raspberry leads to a cloying sweetness in both the regular and zero sugar varieties — one that lingers for minutes after you've finished a sip. I won't stop drinking Coke products in the future, but will do my best to avoid Coke Spiced. I suggest you do the same, too.
Methodology
I received a sample of both regular Coke Spiced and Coke Spiced Zero Sugar courtesy of Coca-Cola for this review. I was sent samples of each new soda variety with the understanding that my review would be an honest assessment of the sodas.
My review and recommendations are based on the flavor of each soda (regular and diet) upon sipping, how the taste compared to classic Coke (and Diet Coke), and whether the spiced flavor delivered on its promise. The recommendations in this review are solely my own and based exclusively on my own first-hand experience drinking Coke Spiced.