Pepsi RAW - Revolting And Watery? (Pepsi Raw)

Member Name: Darkstar101

Product:	Pepsi Raw
Date:	24/06/09 (126 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The aluminium can is recyclable

Disadvantages: Too expensive, not fizzy enough, tastes awful, too many calories, not at all like cola.

As a once not-so-proud owner of a 1980s Soda Stream, I thought I had tasted some pretty abysmal carbonated concoctions. That is until I bought a can of Pepsi Raw.

Released to combat the growing trend amongst Britons to reject artificially flavoured products, Pepsi Raw is being marketed as a "healthy" cola which is said to be made from natural ingredients and contains no artificial preservatives, colours, flavourings or sweeteners.

Traditional Pepsi contains fructose corn syrup, sugar, artificial colourings, phosphoric acid, caffeine, citric acid and natural flavours - In comparison, Pepsi Raw has only natural ingredients including apple extract, plain caramel colouring, coffee leaf, tantaric acid from grapes, gum arabic from acacia trees, cane sugar and sparkling water.

By replacing corn syrup with cane sugar, Pepsi claims it has managed to reduce the calorie content of a 300ml bottle, from around 126 calories per serving to around 117 calories. Although any calorie reduction in fizzy drinks is of benefit to the figure conscious consumer, 9 calories difference is hardly anything to boast about. If you're that bothered, drink Diet Pepsi - it tastes much better anyway.

Pepsi Raw comes stylishly presented in a bronze coloured slimline can with silver lettering, similar to the brand styling of many other "stimulation" and "energy boosting" concoctions now filling the eye-level shelves in the drinks aisles of supermarkets.

Upon opening the can, I found Pepsi Raw to have a light cola smell and when poured into a glass it is noticably paler in colour than the other cola brands. I also noticed that it was much less fizzy, giving the drink a pallid, flat, and watery appearance.

The taste is awful, there is simply no other way to describe it, and it is probably one of the worst colas I have ever had the misfortune to taste. The flavour can only be compared to cheap watered down own-brand supermarket value cola, which has been left to go flat, finishing with a revolting apple aftertaste. The drink is not as refreshing as the other Pepsi products and I found when I had finished drinking the concoction, that it left an almost solid, sticky coating on my teeth.

How Pepsi can market this as a cola I don't know. It doesn't look like cola, it doesn't smell like cola and it certainly doesn't taste like cola. It doesn't even come in the same price bracket as cola; ridiculously priced at 90p for a 250ml can. I feel that Pepsi have simply jumped on the healthy beverage bandwagon in an attempt to cash in on a niche in the market, but the product simply isn't good enough.

It may well fall into the category of, say, Marmite, with the consumer either hating it or somehow loving it, but if that is the case then I am definitely in the "hate it" category!

I will certainly not be buying Pepsi Raw again even if the price was significantly reduced and I would happily choose any other cola ahead of Pepsi Raw, and yes, that does include Panda Pops!

Summary: A waste of 90p and not worth the calorie consumption.