Gettin’ dirty is all the rage. While the United States continues to consume a bit less alcohol each year, the amount of cream-infused craft soda seems consistently on the rise.

What originated as a fancy and fun alternative to a cocktail or even a caffed-up coffee in states like Utah has become a full-on trend. And like most things that get popular, the big brands are here to capitalize.

Yet nothing feels like a more natural fit for this craze than some extra creaminess infused into a spicy, crisp root beer, which has often been turned into an ice cream-laden float throughout my life. PepsiCo’s Mug Root Beer, which was just given a Zero Sugar version in 2024, gets its first new limited edition flavor: Mug Floats Vanilla Howler.

The additional flavoring in this limited edition root beer solves one of the issues I have always had with Mug – it always tasted a little flat in terms of its flavor profile. The added creamy depth of the Vanilla Howling really helps bring more dynamics to the flavor. It still has a sharp and spicy bite on the front end but evolves to a pleasant and authentic, very well-rounded ice cream-adjacent flavor on the finish.

Vanilla-flavored sodas are hit-or-miss for me. Sometimes the flavoring used in Coca-Cola Vanilla or especially in last year’s Wild Cherry & Cream Pepsi comes across way too artificial, in a way that clashes with the pleasant spiciness of the cola profile. That’s not the case here, not at all. The robust vanilla flavoring added to Mug strikes the perfect root beer float balance and truly transforms an okay-tasting soda into a pretty great one. It’s a simple fix, but it’s tremendously effective.

Purchased Price: $8.97
Size: 12-pack/12 oz cans
Purchased at: Amazon
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can, 12 ounces) 0 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 45 milligrams of sodium, 0 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 0 grams of total sugars, and 0 grams of protein.