Fanta’s 2023 version of its What the Fanta Mystery Flavor has two mysteries attached to it. Of course, the first one is its flavor. And the second one is: Why don’t the cans glow in the dark?
The light green colored graphics over a black background make me think they’re glow-in-the-dark, but they’re not, despite my attempts to charge the possible glowy parts by putting a can next to a window for a time much longer than it would take for me to just Google the answer. While the cans don’t glow, the soda makes your tongue turn black or dark purple, especially in a dark room.
It smells orangey or citrusy, but it’s dark purple in color. With the first few sips, my guesses switched between grape and orange. But I think its color confused my head because there’s no way this is grape-flavored, right? There’s no mystery there. That would be like Sherlock Holmes in a mystery called “The Case of the Murderer Who Instantly Admitted It and There Are Dozens of Witnesses, Plus There’s Video Evidence From Every Angle Taken By Those Dozens of Witnesses.” It’s not that simple, right?
So my guess is orange, which sounds so basic that it’s got to be some kind of unique orange or orange-flavored product. The artificial sweetener aftertaste kind of hits me the same way as fruity, chalky candy does. So maybe it’s orange Smarties or Sweetarts? Or perhaps it’s Orange Fanta with a lot of Red 40 and Blue 1 food coloring. If that’s the case, WTF, Fanta?
A QR code on the side of the can leads to a website, but I didn’t visit it because I didn’t want to take the chance that it would give away the answer. I’ll just wait until it’s officially announced.
But is this orange candy-flavored soda good? It’s okay. Usually, I don’t mind zero sugar sodas, but there’s something about this one that makes it less appealing. It could be the artificial sweetener aftertaste I mentioned earlier that leads to a chalky candy-like sensation. Or maybe I taste the disappointment of the cans not glowing in the dark.
Purchased Price: More than one should pay on eBay
Size: 7.5 oz cans (also available in 20 oz bottles)
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 0 calories, 0 grams of fat, 40 milligrams of sodium, 0 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.
Dear Fanta. PLEASE stop making your mystery flavour with zero sugar and DISGUSTING artificial sweetener. I tried the purple one. after one sip i poured it down the drain. was just gross.
Dear Fanta, As a diabetic, please don’t listen to the above complaint. I have to miss out on a lot of things like this, so a fun zero sugar product is appreciated.
Dear Fanta, you’re a Coke product, money shouldn’t be an issue. Do as Mountain Dew Voo-Dew has done for a couple years now and produce BOTH a regular and a zero sugar. I only drink Zeros, so I’ll still try this once.
I don’t understand why they can’t put it out in both versions, so those of us who refuse to put artificial sweeteners in our bodies can try it.
You can get it at Freestyle machines with real sugar and artificial sweetener since the carbonated water, syrup and sweetener are mixed separately. You can also see the flavors added in an alternating pattern… and it was purple + green. I definitely taste of hint of grape / cough medicine, but I’m not sure I taste lime/citrus.
Hi Fanta, I agree with “Beyond Yourself”, It’s really nice to have a mystery flavor directed at those of us who are Diabetic. We are limited to very few new or special flavors. And I’m really enjoying this one, although I can’t figure it out. And I have one issue with this flavor– It’s VERY hard to find in stores!! If you are gonna spend the money to make a product, get the stores to carry it !!!! Of the special flavors any manuf has made this year, I’ve only been able to find maybe 3 of them. One more thing, if you market this mystery flavor full-time, I’ll buy it! Thanks!
im not diabetic but i agree; they sound like babies. also it’s better for your teeth.
Is this only in Canada?
I’m going to say the flavor is blackberry. It’s a little more berry-ish than grape, and I don’t really taste much orange. So given that (a.) it’s black, (b.) it’s not going to be an existing flavor, and (c.) it has a bit of tartness, blackberry makes sense.
However, I do agree that it doesn’t taste all that great. It’s got a bit of an odd, almost bitter undertaste. I don’t think it’s just because it’s a zero-calorie soda, because there are *many* of those and their flavors are perfectly fine. Still, I’m really happy it exists. I love the label design and the kid in me still loves anything that turns your mouth a weird color. Even if it isn’t the home run it should’ve been, I’ll keep buying it at least in part to encourage more zero-calorie limited-edition sodas in the future.
i think it’s blackberry too!
thats what i thought too
rofl. its not orange.
It made my poop bright green.
So that’s why when I wiped myself, I saw a green color on the wipe! Thanks for solving what I thought was a serious medical condition.
Have you never had Ocean Water from Sonic? It’s the ultimate green poop maker!
i think it is ginger ale fanta mixed with orange fanta and grape fanta
It’s definitely citrus or tropical in some way. My first guess was pineapple which also seems too basic. I’ve seen guesses for blood orange too though so you might be on to something!
It’s NOT ORANGE FLAVOR!!!!!!???????
Definitely Sweet Tarts. Not Orange, I drink diet Sunkist and Diet orange fanta all the time and it isn’t that. Sweet Tarts or powdered fruity candy was a better description.
Im sick of so many Zero Sugar drinks. We’re not all on a diet. And you can still lose weight drinking sugary drinks, just control yourself.
You obviously Suck because why would they do a normal flavor they already have … it’s Blueberry.
The new mystery flavor taste like someone mixed Mt. Dew with Monster. Very chemically nasty taste. Save your money!
Like EC said, it’s available in Freestyle machines (AMC theters and Wawa markets come to mind). Though they did miss that in the cycling of the flavors, there was a shot of orange (at least orange color). I’ll have to pay more attention the next time I get it and see what colors shoot into my cup and compare them with the Fanta offerings on the Freestyle machine.
I think it’s blood orange.
I think it tastes like “fruit punch”, but the clues on the site make me think it’s blood orange.
your tongue wont be the only thing that will change color with this one. Makes us wonder how much dye is in this thing. I for once love that they actually made a promotional product as sugar free! Imagine the amount of sugar it would have been needed to counter the amount of dye lol. Flavor wise I found it tasted like rocket candies (Smarties in the us).
There’s a different formula of mystery Fanta in the Coke Freestyle machines. I guess they can’t put in a new flavor just for one season, so it combines what is already in the machine. It tastes, and looks, exactly like Mello Yello with grape (which looks like an ugly gray color). This is a combination that they used to offer, but they removed it for some reason.
I’ve had more than a few Blood-Oranges in my time, enough to establish a taste-profile of it, if you wish. This 2023 Fanta mystery flazour most closely resembles that. I’ve also tried various blackberry flavoured drinks, as well as eaten the real fruits, and this mystery flavour doesn’t quite match. So I’m going with the Vampiric Halloween (even though it s not) Blood-Orange, for the win! ??
Try Pitch Black. It’s Coca cola’s attempt at it
It’s likely blood orange flavored! There are hints on the website, one being Italy, and the other being vampires/blood. Blood oranges thrive in Italy, and their names are plenty spooky. I guess its also sort of a nod to Fanta’s most well known flavor, orange! I haven’t gotten a chance to try it myself, but I think its pretty neat!
If this helps: The hints on Fanta’s QR code website from the can were Italy and vampire teeth with blood dripping off of them.
I got another hint: a rose
I got another hint: RUSTIC
I got another hint: A snowflake
I really liked this one! I feel like it was close to a blue raspberry blow pop in taste. My guess is blueberry lemonade.
Hard to beleive people dont get on the first sip this is ROCKETS flavor. Been eating rockets for 50 years at halloween. Its obvious.
Hard to beleive people dont dump this out after the first sip. It tastes like rotten fruit. The artificial everything has got to go. Utter garbage. I even gave it a second sip and it did not get any better. Nothing like Red 40 and Blue 1 colliding to give it a fugly color. The taste was way worse though. Down the drain it went.