[REVIEW] AriZona Cherry Lime Rickey

Ghetto-licious

Lost in the ghetto.

That's how I stumbled upon this entry. I was in the DC area with my son's cub scout pack, so we could look at the stars through a telescope. We had left and I was driving in the ghetto looking for a gas station. Instead, I found 7-11. I entered through the doors and was sure that I was going to be robbed.


Anyway, I had heard about this drink recently and being a sucker for all things cherry/lime I was looking forward to getting it....but they didn't have any in the cooler. So I grabbed an iced tea and started towards the register, when there it was, a full display of AriZona Cherry Lime Rickey just waiting to be bought.

I bought one, but it was not cold. I would have to take it home.

At the checkout the guy behind me dropped the F bomb, and then immediately apologized to me "Sorry man, I didn't see yo little man wit you"...."No problem"

I paid and got outta dodge fast.

The curiously white top.

Finally collapsing in my bed, I made a mental note to put the drink in the fridge at work the next day to enjoy.

Upon opening my cold new drink, I was greeted by the aroma of....nothing. I could smell no discernible cherry or lime flavor. Nor could I smell rickey (What does rickey smell like anyway?) Maybe it was just that I've been ill and stuffed up a little bit.

I took a sip - EEWWWWWW nasty lime flavor washed over me - not the good sweet lime like I was expecting, it definitely tasted like real lime. That's not a bad thing, just not what I was expecting. The other dominant taste was....Pear?

I looked at the ingredients list and pear juice is quite prominent, along with mango puree, before we even get to the cherry part of this drink. I'm not sure how they mix these juices up and come up with completely different flavors, but I've seen it done better with other products. I could barely taste cherry and even then, it tasted almost like a light cough-syrup style cherry rather than fresh, like the lime taste.

Also checking the ingredients, I see that there is also the presence of Ace-K and Sucralose. Both of these are my mortal enemies in the sweetener world and I would rather go without ANY sweetener than have to taste these, but amazingly, I did not get the normal aftertaste that you get from these sweeteners.

If I had to describe the overall taste though, it would be LIME. From beginning to end, that's what you get from this drink. The aftertaste is even kind of bitter like a fresh lime would be. A little extra sugar would not be a bad thing in this case.

At 99 cents, I find it hard to pass up most of the AriZona products, you get good value for the money, although the health benefits of a large can of sugar water could be debated.

This drink can only be found at 7-11, and I'm presuming it's for a limited time.

Nutritional facts, for those of you who worry about that stuff.

Rough life in the ghetto.

Would Chuck eat it again? YES