One generation’s scotch and soda is another’s vodka Red Bull.
Energy drink giant Red Bull has launched a new line of sodas, Organics by Red Bull, and the only places to get your hands on them is North Carolina, San Diego and Amazon.
There are four sodas altogether — Red Bull’s take on a cola, a ginger ale, a bitter lemon and a tonic water, suggesting the company is embracing its frequent role as a cocktail mixer.
In contrast to the buzzy energy boost on which Red Bull built its brand, only the cola has caffeine, 32 mg, the same amount as a Coke and about a quarter of what’s in the company’s eponymous energy drink.
The new sodas, made from ingredients from natural sources, come in the same slim Red Bull 8.4-ounce cans, but sport a vintage design.
The company said North Carolina’s food scene and taste for craft products made it stand out as an early test market.
“Red Bull saw the opportunity and need for premium, organic refreshment beverages that would offer consumers a complementary product with the same quality ingredients and taste that the brand is known for,” the Austrian company said in a release. “North Carolina, with its bustling food scene and appreciation for craft beverages, proved to be an ideal launch market for Red Bull’s new product category.”
The cola is reminiscent of other dark sodas, but has a taste of cinnamon and is made with sugar, not corn syrup.
The ginger ale aims to split the difference between ginger ale and ginger beer, with more ginger flavor than most ginger ales, but lacking the spicy bite of ginger beers.
The bitter lemon is tart and fairly refreshing with 13 percent lemon juice, but with some sweetness, making it more Sprite than lemon Perrier.
Red Bull’s tonic water is traditional, bitter with quinine and calling out for gin.
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