Last month, I reviewed the viral CRAN X DRAGON FRUIT juice from Ocean Spray that keeps flying off the shelves. That was, inherently, a logical product: dragon fruit juice mixed with cranberry juice is a recipe I can follow in my brain. This month, I’ve got something much sillier: Ocean Spray’s first ever dessert juice. I didn’t invent that term either; that is pulled straight from the official press release. Did they juice a dessert? Have we truly crossed the event horizon of “anything can be juiced?”
What is a “dessert juice”?
Per Ocean Spray, this is their first juice made to taste like a dessert. The fact that they’ve created a category for it makes me think it won’t be the last dessert juice either. (Let me know what fruity dessert should debut as a juice next in the poll at the bottom of this page.) If you’re concerned that actual strawberry shortcakes have too much going on for a juice to replicate, don’t worry; per the brand, this juice is simply “inspired by the flavors of ripe strawberries and luscious whipped cream.” Strawberry Whipped Cream Juice doesn’t roll off the tongue as well, I guess.
Ocean Spray Strawberry Shortcake Juice is available exclusively at Walmart; I had to look at a few different stores to get my hands on a bottle. Much like CRAN X DRAGON FRUIT, this juice is a hot commodity. Let’s find out whether all that hype is warranted.
Pros: They weren’t lying, y’all. Strawberry and whipped cream are absolutely the top leading notes in this juice. I’ll be honest, I’m not used to “whipped cream” as a flavor outside of vodka, but this new juice gets the point across. (The brand states this is a great mixer for mocktails or cocktails, so maybe that’s an intentional choice.) The last Ocean Spray drink I reviewed was dry and tart, and this is on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. This is a light, sweet juice with very little working against it—there’s really only one issue.
Cons: This is still cranberry juice! Ocean Spray does not know how to leave cranberry juice off the recipe, y’all. Underneath that expected strawberry sweetness, you get a hint of that cranberry dryness that feels very out of place. It’s not disqualifying by any means, but it’s worth pointing out as the only weird part of a very convincing whole.
Griffin Parker is a writer, award-winning charity auctioneer, and "influencer in the beverage space" according to a few PR agencies. Please do not ask him about the cotton candy business he started right out of high school. When he's not contributing to Sporked or running the @SodaSeekers news pages, you can find Griffin espousing the virtues of Dayton-style pizza, Cincinnati-style chili, and Dolly Parton's Fabulously Fudgy Brownie Mix.
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