Pepsi Christmas Cola

Ingredients

Pepsi hasn't changed much over the century since its existence in America. Its logo -- a swirling red, white and blue design -- still harkens back to the cola company's "twice as much for a nickel" era, when the nickel drink was worth a dime and when it wasn't weird for marketers to use the words "stimulates" and "satisfies" to describe Pepsi. Those days are over, but still, America's Pepsi has remained in large part exactly the same.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Pepsi has taken on several identities in the form of bizarre flavorings, spokespeople and advertising. The history of Japanese food products tells us that "it" could always get weirder. And by "it," we are referring to food (and all marketing developments associated).

While in America, we've missed Japan's White Cola, Pink Cola, Ice Cucumber Cola, Red-Bean Flavored Cola, Salty Watermelon Cola, Pepsi Baobab (a yellow-tinted, herbaceous-flavored pop), Blue Hawaii Cola and Espresso-Grade Pepsi Cola. We've also missed the accompanied commercial ads that, true to Japanese outlandish advertising and eccentric culture, remind us once again, it can always get weirder.

And in the spirit of oddities and Christmas, Pepsi is adding an exclusive cola flavor to Japan's arsenal of weirdness: "Christmas Cola," a dessert-flavored pop inspired by strawberry shortcake.

Strawberry shortcake served with whipped cream and perfectly shaped strawberries is a Christmas tradition for the Japanese. The new cola flavor is set to launch in Japanese grocery stores on Nov. 21, arriving just in time to anticipate the upcoming holidays. And because Japan does not celebrate Thanksgiving (obviously), the country's pre-Christmas specialties are in order and will likely be in full-swing by month's end. 

In keeping with the Christmas theme, the cola bottle is decorated with shiny gold bows, red Santa hats and stockings, blue wreaths and a translucent, milky-white liquid.

According to Food and Wine, the cake-inspired flavor evokes a "sweet and tart strawberry aroma," a taste that must come close to strawberry cream soda. Want to know if the soda is a faithful re-creation of Japan's traditional Christmas strawberry shortcake? Let wanderlust and bizarre cola whisk you to Japan to find out.

Instructions

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Pepsi hasn't changed much over the century since its existence in America. Its logo -- a swirling red, white and blue design -- still harkens back to the cola company's "twice as much for a nickel" era, when the nickel drink was worth a dime and when it wasn't weird for marketers to use the words "stimulates" and "satisfies" to describe Pepsi. Those days are over, but still, America's Pepsi has remained in large part exactly the same.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Pepsi has taken on several identities in the form of bizarre flavorings, spokespeople and advertising. The history of Japanese food products tells us that "it" could always get weirder. And by "it," we are referring to food (and all marketing developments associated).

While in America, we've missed Japan's White Cola, Pink Cola, Ice Cucumber Cola, Red-Bean Flavored Cola, Salty Watermelon Cola, Pepsi Baobab (a yellow-tinted, herbaceous-flavored pop), Blue Hawaii Cola and Espresso-Grade Pepsi Cola. We've also missed the accompanied commercial ads that, true to Japanese outlandish advertising and eccentric culture, remind us once again, it can always get weirder.

And in the spirit of oddities and Christmas, Pepsi is adding an exclusive cola flavor to Japan's arsenal of weirdness: "Christmas Cola," a dessert-flavored pop inspired by strawberry shortcake.

Strawberry shortcake served with whipped cream and perfectly shaped strawberries is a Christmas tradition for the Japanese. The new cola flavor is set to launch in Japanese grocery stores on Nov. 21, arriving just in time to anticipate the upcoming holidays. And because Japan does not celebrate Thanksgiving (obviously), the country's pre-Christmas specialties are in order and will likely be in full-swing by month's end. 

In keeping with the Christmas theme, the cola bottle is decorated with shiny gold bows, red Santa hats and stockings, blue wreaths and a translucent, milky-white liquid.

According to Food and Wine, the cake-inspired flavor evokes a "sweet and tart strawberry aroma," a taste that must come close to strawberry cream soda. Want to know if the soda is a faithful re-creation of Japan's traditional Christmas strawberry shortcake? Let wanderlust and bizarre cola whisk you to Japan to find out.

Pepsi Launches Cake-Flavored Cola In Japan (Photo)

Pepsi hasn't changed much over the century since its existence in America. Its logo -- a swirling red, white and blue design -- still harkens back to the cola company's "twice as much for a nickel" era, when the nickel drink was worth a dime and when it wasn't weird for marketers to use the words "stimulates" and "satisfies" to describe Pepsi. Those days are over, but still, America's Pepsi has remained in large part exactly the same.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Pepsi has taken on several identities in the form of bizarre flavorings, spokespeople and advertising. The history of Japanese food products tells us that "it" could always get weirder. And by "it," we are referring to food (and all marketing developments associated).

While in America, we've missed Japan's White Cola, Pink Cola, Ice Cucumber Cola, Red-Bean Flavored Cola, Salty Watermelon Cola, Pepsi Baobab (a yellow-tinted, herbaceous-flavored pop), Blue Hawaii Cola and Espresso-Grade Pepsi Cola. We've also missed the accompanied commercial ads that, true to Japanese outlandish advertising and eccentric culture, remind us once again, it can always get weirder.

And in the spirit of oddities and Christmas, Pepsi is adding an exclusive cola flavor to Japan's arsenal of weirdness: "Christmas Cola," a dessert-flavored pop inspired by strawberry shortcake.

Strawberry shortcake served with whipped cream and perfectly shaped strawberries is a Christmas tradition for the Japanese. The new cola flavor is set to launch in Japanese grocery stores on Nov. 21, arriving just in time to anticipate the upcoming holidays. And because Japan does not celebrate Thanksgiving (obviously), the country's pre-Christmas specialties are in order and will likely be in full-swing by month's end. 

In keeping with the Christmas theme, the cola bottle is decorated with shiny gold bows, red Santa hats and stockings, blue wreaths and a translucent, milky-white liquid.

According to Food and Wine, the cake-inspired flavor evokes a "sweet and tart strawberry aroma," a taste that must come close to strawberry cream soda. Want to know if the soda is a faithful re-creation of Japan's traditional Christmas strawberry shortcake? Let wanderlust and bizarre cola whisk you to Japan to find out.