I’ve never once had a Coca-Cola and thought, “Hm, needs more paprika.” And yet the beverage mavens decided that they needed to unleash Coca-Cola Spiced onto the world. What’s so wrong about an ice-cold glass of regular-ass Coke? I’d argue it’s one of the Perfect Beverages. We’ve been so trained to its taste over decades, made to believe that its secret recipe was its selling point, that it seems silly to mess with it. So why, Mr. Coca-Cola, why do you keep tinkering with perfection? Anyway, here’s all the info we know about Spiced Coke.
What is Spiced Coke?
Coca-Cola Spiced was released in February 2024. The marketing gurus over there claimed they developed the drink to bring in a new generation of consumers, attempting to appeal to the Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha proclivities for spicy snacks like Takis and Hot Cheetos.
I guess they weren’t concerned about my generation—Millennials—and our preference for Andy Capp’s Hot Fries (the original Takis, by the way). Or they just assumed that we were Coca-Cola loyalists and would never jump ship for some inferior cola beverage.
Regardless, they released Coca-Cola Spiced into the world with a massive ad campaign which features several hip youngins arguing over what fantastical party scenario they each think the drink tastes like. Is it wise to lean into the inscrutable flavor of your new drink? I leave that up to the advertising gods to decide.
What flavor is Spiced Coke?
With “spiced” in the title, you’d have to imagine that this soda would have some kind of kick, right? Well, it doesn’t. The primary flavoring is raspberry, which is a decidedly un-spicy fruit. And the “spices” they claim to be in there are more “warm” spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, as opposed to pepper-based hot spices.
The issue is their version of spice is barely there. It’s so raspberry forward that the spice feels like an afterthought. Why not just make cinnamon nutmeg Coca-Cola? Be brave, you cowards!
What does Spiced Coke taste like?
In her review of this new Coke flavor, Sporked’s managing editor Gwynedd Stuart dives deep into the flavor of Coca-Cola Spiced saying, “Ew, medicine.” The combination of “spice” and artificial raspberry definitely feels like some kind of throat medicine where they are trying to hide its sickly medicine flavor.
Is Spiced Coke here to stay?
There are rumblings on the soda message boards that Coca-Cola Spiced has already been discontinued and that no new batches are going to be rolling out of the bottling factory. So, here’s my pre-emptive RIP for Coca-Cola Spiced. We hardly knew thee (thank goodness).