Jarritos Mexican Cola

The Feisty Foodie and Jarritos have a little bit of history. Jarritos, as you might know from Yvo’s post late last year, produces a rainbow of flavors — my favorite is the Lime (Limón), followed by Tamarindo, since, well, who does those? — and recently they were kind enough to send along a few bottles of the new Mexican Cola flavor.

With this new addition, there are now 11 varieties in the Jarritos lineup, of all colors and flavors. Jarritos, based in Mexico, has been making sodas for over sixty years, and, well, the marketing arm is strong. If you don’t regularly drink them, it’s almost a given you’ve seen the brightly-colored sodas in Mexican restaurants — especially informal and takeout places — bodegas, taco trucks and carts… basically every Mexican place selling food of any type sells Jarritos, at least here in New York.

The main selling point of the Mexican Cola flavor, like all Jarritos sodas, is that it relies solely on “natural sugar”, and I’m sure you’ve heard people talk about that new trend in sodas: dump the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in favor of sugar. It’s not really clear sugar is better than HFCS health-wise, but there’s some oft-disputed science to back up the health claims.

There’s also the little matter of taste when it comes to sugar. Mexican Coca-Cola, for example, has reached near-mythological status in states where it isn’t readily available, and yes, it does taste different than standard HFCS Coke. (If your store carries Kosher for Passover Coke near that holiday — the yellow cap Coke, in case you haven’t seen it — you can do a taste test yourself.)

Nutritionally, the Mexican Cola flavor is roughly where other colas stack up. The 12.5-ounce bottle helpfully has a label that details what 8 ounces contains, with the charming “about 2” servings next to the 8-ounce serving size. Thank you, FDA. Anyhow, 112 calories per eight ounces comes to 175 calories per bottle, so it won’t kill the diet. Obviously, as it’s soda, it’s void of any other nutritional content.

Jarritos bottles are pry-off, so you’re going to be relegated to using a door lock or the edge of a table (or a lighter, if you’re talented) to pop the cap if you don’t have an opener handy. The clear glass bottle neatly shows the color of the cola, a deep, clear garnet-brown. It pours with a minimum of fizz and head, settling into my wine glass.

Hey, it was that or a pint glass for clear glass containers at the Beer Boor residence, and I don’t like to muck up the beer glassware.

It certainly smells like cola, not like a “major American brand”, but that cola aroma we all know and love. I don’t generally drink sugared/HFCSed soda, so the sugar is quite pronounced in the nose to me.

At any rate, the Jarritos Mexican Cola tastes… actually, a lot different than I expected. It’s fruity and sweet, even tart, like a… Halloween sugar candy. And not one of the obvious flavors, like the lime ones. This was that waffly tropical-punch-type flavor. It’s not just a regular old cola taste, it’s combined with this vaguely fruity, sharp, sugary flavor and creates a sort of hybrid cola.

While in the picture it certainly looks flat, I assure you it’s quite effervescent, and stayed that way as I drank it over the course of 20 minutes or so. It doesn’t get nasty and metallic or cloyingly sweet as it warms up, a plus, instead remaining just sweet enough to please.

I recommend at least trying the bottles you come across at the Mexican joints in the area. They’re mostly light and refreshing, though perhaps some flavors take some getting used to. As for the Jarritos Mexican Cola flavor, it’s very interesting and even entertaining. I do like it, and I can understand from my description why a person would never drink this. Jarritos tend to be rather less expensive than single bottles of hipster artisanal soda factories, certainly no more than $2 at the most, and far less in neighborhoods rich with Jarritos drinkers. And, come on: sugared soda!

Please note that these products were courtesy of Jarritos. I received no monetary compensation for this review, nor was I obliged in any way to post about this experience, positively or otherwise. This is my own opinion of Jarritos and I feel it was unbiased; you are free to take from this what you will.