On Monday, May 16, at 9:47 a.m., Pepsi announced the arrival of something big that would be coming on Friday. Would it be a new drink flavor? A food? Both?? They didn’t say.
They did, however, leave an elaborate trail of clues to help us figure it out, by which I mean this Tweet:
And also this very strange Instagram post:
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!?!? I asked. I found myself questioning everything.
I became Jessica D. Block, Junior Detective (the D stands for Danger…also fooD writer) and compiled a list of guesses as to what this new thing could be based on the clues we’d been given. And then Pepsi went ahead and revealed their surprise early (thanks a lot, Pepsi!). But before I share their big reveal, I’m going to tell you my top two guesses, because I’m pretty proud of my investigative work: Pizza-flavored Pepsi or Pepsi-flavored pizza. I guessed the latter because of the mention of pizza in the tweet, the mention of a collaboration with the CIA (the Culinary Institute of America, not the other one), and what seems to be a pixelated pizza slice in the Instagram post.
And with that, the suspense is over. They’ve made a “Pepsi-infused Pepperoni” and put it on a Pepsi-Roni Pizza. How very Mythical Kitchen of them. Apparently, Pepsi worked with the CIA to develop a recipe that, according to a press release, “includes a Pepsi Zero Sugar reduction instead of the water typically used in pepperoni preparation and layers the sweet and citrus zests Pepsi is known for with the standard spice blends found in pepperoni.” I’m nothing if not intrigued!
If you want to try this pizza and you’re in or close to NYC, you can go to Made in New York Pizza between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. this Friday (5/20) and pick up a slice! The event info is here. They even chose this specific pizza shop because it’s located in Lower Manhattan, which is apparently the birthplace of pepperoni. Wow, I actually learned something new today. Dang it Pepsi, I can’t stay mad at you!
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!