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Pop Culture: Wal-Mart's Grapefruit Soda

Normally the tasting team and I go in to these pop culture reviews on essentially equal footing, none of us terribly familiar with the product at hand. This time I threw the tasters -- Jonathan, Jasmine, Peter and Jay -- a bit of a curve ball, serving up one of my all-time favorite sodas, Wal-mart's...
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Normally the tasting team and I go in to these pop culture reviews on essentially equal footing, none of us terribly familiar with the product at hand. This time I threw the tasters -- Jonathan, Jasmine, Peter and Jay -- a bit of a curve ball, serving up one of my all-time favorite sodas, Wal-mart's unbranded "Grapefruit," without telling them what it was.

Yes, Wal-mart. This stuff costs 67 cents a 2-liter (Faygo costs more than that) and comes in an ugly bottle, but it's as tasty a pop as is available at the low-end supermarkets and, yes, they sell Jones. I've long loved it, on ice or as a mixer, and I was curious what the crew would think, both before and after they knew it's true identity.


Verdict: An all-time favorite of mine Wal-mart's Great Value Grapefruit soda is sweet with an edge of acidic bitterness. It's somewhat similar to Coca Cola's Fresca, though it's got HFCs and, thus, calories. It has a lot more depth than Squirt, which I only enjoy in it's Ruby Red incarnation. Also, I assure you, I'm not the only one who's in to this stuff. --Martin Cizmar

Before knowing:

"Holy shit, that's awesome," says Jonathan.

"I think it's good, but Squirt's better," says Jay.

After knowing:

"I'm impressed Wal-mart did something right," says Peter.

"Now that you told me it's from Wal-mart I like it less," says Jasmine.

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