New Fanta Sour Cherry Is Here and I Tried It

Fanta Crimson Sour Cherry has started to arrive in stores and it’s angling to become your new favorite gamer fuel of choice. The new Fanta flavor, which is only available for a limited time, is part of a big promotion tied to the 25th anniversary of Xbox—FEEL OLD YET? A bunch of existing Fanta flavors have been repackaged in cans and bottles featuring characters from popular Xbox games, but Crimson Sour Cherry is the only new product of the bunch (and if you care, Paladin from Diablo IV is on the can).

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I am, admittedly, not an Xbox person—Nintendo till I die—but I do have thoughts about the new Xbox-related Fanta flavor.

New Product!

Fanta Crimson Sour Cherry

Target

Pros: I love that they call this “crimson” sour cherry. Not just because it sounds cool or because I’m a big prog rock fan, but because this is very specifically a red cherry flavored soda. Black cherry sodas abound, but red cherry soda is different and more special. This new Fanta tastes—and I mean this in a good way—almost exactly like Cherry Kool-Aid Jammers but carbonated. It’s bright, refreshing, a little tart, and very nostalgic. My colleague Justine Sterling described it as “‘90s cherry flavor.” I drank a whole can and I almost never drink a whole can of full-sugar soda.

Cons: If you were really hoping for a sour soda, you’ll probably be disappointed. This is tart, sure, but it’s not really sour. That’s good news in my book—drinking something sour when you’re thirsty is like shooting yourself in the dehydrated foot. I prefer “tart” to sour when it comes to bevs.

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

About the Author

Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks. Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown. What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction. Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home. Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.