Nitro Pepsi: A Clever Idea Lacking In Execution

Posted on 10th Apr, 2022 in Snacks

Every so often, something novel enough comes along that I feel compelled to try it out. Today I bring you my first soda review in ages, Nitro Pepsi.

Despite the name, Nitro Pepsi isn't a new illegal performance mod for your car. It's the latest product offering from Big Soda player, PepsiCo. It comes in 2 flavors, Regular and Vanilla. So what's the big deal? We've all had a Pepsi before. These soft drinks aren't carbonated in the traditional sense. Instead, they borrow technology developed by the beer bottling world and offer a canned draft experience utilizing a nitrogen widget built in to the can. Nitrogen creates smaller bubbles in the drink and is fairly inert so it doesn't add any acidity like carbonation does. What this essentially means is that the nitrogen's purpose is to modify the texture of the drink and nothing more. Fans of Guinness stouts will be very familiar with this concept.

You're probably thinking "Who cares how it works, what does it drink like?" Well that's a trickier subject. The nitrogen infusion, creates a very smooth and creamy head on the top of your drink (also like a Guinness) so in that regards it's a success. It's honestly a pretty novel experience for a soda. However, as far as tastes go, the nitrogen does nothing here. That's not necessarily an issue… but the problem is in the soda itself. It doesn't appear to actually be carbonated when put in to the can. To put it simply, it's flat. Once you get past the head of the drink you inevitably come to this realization. That's a big negative for me and made for a less than enjoyable drinking experience.

So in conclusion, Nitro Pepsi is quite clever but not something I would want to try again. Outside of the surprisingly creamy head, the drink itself is just flat soda which results in a very disappointing experience.