Can a soda be cool? I’m asking you because I’m a 40-year-old woman and I have aged out of knowing or having to know what’s cool (this is what I tell myself, anyway). Let’s take a look back … Pepsi was cool when Britney Spears was its spokesperson, even though everyone in the world was like, girl, you don’t drink Pepsi. And Mtn Dew is sort of perpetually cool by virtue of being what kids guzzle at sleepovers to stay awake all night, at least until they can start buying drugs from a cousin or older sibling.
Okay, we all agree soda can be cool, and that’s good news for PepsiCo, because they released a new soda that’s ~ for the kids ~ called Starry. That’s right. Pepsi up and discontinued Sierra Mist—much to the chagrin of some people somewhere, I’m sure—and stocked shelves with this new lemon-lime soda, which the brand says is “built for Generation Z.” “With Starry, we were able to create a game-changing recipe with the perfect balance of lemon-lime flavor and sweetness compared to the competition,” PepsiCo R&D vice prez Danielle Barbaro told Food Business News (and, as you may have guessed, Sprite is the “competition” in question). Is it better than Sierra Mist? Is it Gen-Z-ier than Sprite? Who better than a Millennial who almost never drinks full-sugar soda to tell you?!
As a person who is old and stodgy, I gotta say, Sierra Mist was pretty old and stodgy in a way Starry definitely is not. Sierra Mist sounds like moonshine for the Donner Party. Starry sounds like something you drink before you go get your septum pierced. It’s lemony. It’s limey (although, it’s slightly more limey than lemony). It’s got big ol’ bubbles and it goes down super smooth. It’s sweet but not too sweet—all in all, there’s not a lot to not like (besides the sugar content—dear lord, to be young again and not give a shit).
I can’t say that I’ve ever had a bad lemon-lime soda. More than anything, Starry feels like an exercise in good branding, and in that respect, it’s great.
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.
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Gwynedd Stuart
Tyler Bowers
Jordan Myrick
Jessica Block
