People love to solve a mystery. It’s why true crime podcasts are so popular. It’s why Murder She Wrote is a perennial favorite (at least in my household). And it’s why every fall, soda brands release difficult-to-pinpoint “mystery” flavors and tacitly encourage people to argue on Reddit and Instagram about what they are. This year, Fanta got in on that action with What the Fanta?, a black, mystery flavored soda that’s currently on shelves for spooky season. Fanta still hasn’t revealed what the flavor is (the internet obviously has a lot of thoughts), but let’s tackle a more important question: Does What the Fanta? taste good? We picked up a 20 ounce bottle at the grocery store to find out.
If you like Fanta, you probably like fruit-flavored sodas. And if you like fruit-flavored sodas, you’ll probably like this. I took a sip and thought it tasted citrusy. My colleague Jordan Myrick took a sip and thought it tasted grapey. Most people seem to agree it’s blood orange flavor, although others seem convinced it’s a berry of some sort. One commenter said that their boyfriend works at a movie theater and the Coke Freestyle machine makes this by simply mixing grape and orange syrups. Tricky!
Pros: It’s soda! What the Fanta? is tangy and carbonated and refreshing, and it’s also zero sugar but doesn’t taste too much like artificial sweeteners. I honestly think that knowing what flavor it was would help me enjoy it more, but that probably says more about me than it says about What the Fanta?
Cons: It turns your tongue black when you drink it! I don’t love walking around looking like a chow chow.
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
Naajia Shukri
Jordan Myrick
