I’m starting to dream about it, guys. When I close my eyes, all I can see is chocolate, pistachio cream, and kataifi. All I can hear is the sound of TikTokers taking big bites out of various combinations of these ingredients and declaring them the best yet. All I can think about is the food trend that’s been haunting my every waking moment for around 18 months.
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And now…it’s in your drinks, too. And that’s all thanks to Pepsi.
The Beverage We Never Knew We Needed
In case it isn’t abundantly clear by now, I’m talking about Dubai chocolate: The trend that shows no signs of slowing down. Following hot on the heels of Ghirardelli’s new Dubai chocolate sundae, we have another new Dubai-style food product, courtesy of Pepsi, which is making a comeback with the youngsters, and which has released a Dubai Chocolate flavor over in Thailand.
News of this new flavor came courtesy of Reddit, with a user posting a picture of them holding a can of Dubai Chocolate Pepsi, which they apparently found in a 7-Eleven. The flavor (which is zero sugar) appeared suddenly, and without any prior warning. Then, yesterday, another Redditor in a different thread provided an image of the same flavor in a bottle, confirming that there is at least significant enough production going into this thing for it to be available in two different forms. Will these food companies never cease?
The People Are…Tired
The responses to the initial Reddit thread confirming Dubai Chocolate Pepsi’s existence have indicated that maybe, juuuust maybe, people are ready for this trend to fade away. “This is getting out of hand with the Dubai chocolate,” said one of the top-rated comments, with another saying, “considering the trend died 3 weeks after it blew up, yeah, all these companies are late.”
As for how it tastes…well, it doesn’t seem that Pepsi has entirely nailed this one. “Too sweet and tastes like mud,” said one person, with a second saying, simply, “gross.” Another commenter pointed out something that I’ve long held to be true, which is that chocolate flavors in carbonated beverages never really work: They always taste too flat, too artificial, nothing like actual chocolate, and weirdly sickly.
It should be said that not everyone dislikes this new flavor, and some people have come out to bat for it in the comment section — but it’s not a resounding success from Pepsi here, it seems. Pepsi’s no stranger to releasing international flavors that don’t land in the US (well, not until a little later, anyway), and this could be another case of that. Judging by these reviews, you’re not missing out.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!