Review: Cheerwine Squeeze
A couple weeks ago I was going through my Instagram feed, liking some dogs here, some tacos there, just a normal day. And because I am the type of person that follows junk food makers on social networks, I then laid my eyes on something spectacular: Cheerwine Squeeze.
A photo posted by Cheerwine (@drinkcheerwine) on Jul 3, 2015 at 7:03am PDT
Soda variants are common these days, there’s about a dozen types of Mountain Dew, a handful of Cokes, and even a Lebron James edition Sprite. But Cheerwine doesn’t engage in these thinly veiled revenue padding charades often, so it’s a special occasion when the Legend introduces a new flavor. In fact, Cheerwine Squeeze is only the 3rd ever variant -- first being the token Diet version introduced in the 60’s and the next not coming until the seasonal Cheerwine Holiday Punch (cheerwine, ginger ale, and pineapple juice) was launched in 2014.
Since spotting the announcement on Instagram, I’ve been keeping my eyes out for the drink at local convenience stores and supermarkets with little luck. Coincidently, I attended a local tech meetup, #CLTStartupSocial, which happened to be sponsored by Cheerwine. That’s where I saw the Squeeze. After befriending the attending Cheerwine rep, I was able to leave with a some bottled contraband.
Getting to the drink itself, Cheerwine Squeeze smells incredibly similar to Lemon-Cherry Sun Drop, which shouldn’t be surprising given they’re both cherry/citrus combos. The taste, however is quite different. Where LCSD is built on citrus, Squeeze is still based in it’s traditional cherry foundation. Further, the citrus overlay is less lemony-lime and more heavily orange influenced. In fact, the aftertaste presents that sort of orange bitterness you might find in juice. Also carried over from traditional Cheerwine is the relatively high carbonation compared to other sodas, something I’ve always particularly enjoyed about the drink.
While Squeeze definitely taste good, it isn’t going to challenge Cherry-Lemon Sun Drop or even Mello Yello Cherry for the cherry/citrus soda crown. Somewhere in adding the citrus you loose a little bit of what makes regular Cheerwine so special -- it’s unique dedication to a single flavor. But there is one area this variant improves upon the original, when mixing with alcohol. So far I’ve only been able to mix with vodka, but I imagine the the benefits of the citrus notes will carry over to gin and tequila as well.
Speaking of Sun Drop, I want to propose the next Cheerwine flavor to the corporate decision makers -- The Witch Doctor. This legendary drink has been around since the 1950’s in rural North Carolina and made with a magical combination of Sun Drop and Cheerwine with a dash of pickle juice. You can actually order the mocktail at one of the seven surviving What-A-Burger drive-in restaurants in the small textile towns just north of Charlotte (not that Whataburger and not even that other What-A-Burger).
Fun Fact: Cheerwine was originally developed in 1917 by a Salisbury, NC soda make who established himself first by selling a mint flavored cola. His company, Mint Cola Bottling Co., would eventually change names to Cheerwine Bottling Co. in 1924 as sales of the cherry soda overtook the cola.
Horrifically Disgusting Fact: While looking up the above fun fact, I found these abominations.
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