ISO: Soda-flavored drink mixes

[Jeff7]

This sort of product might not exist, but I'm wondering if there are any powdered mixes out there that taste like various soda varieties. I'm specifically looking for something that tastes like orange soda.
Sure I know there's Tang, but that stuff has citric acid added to it, which is sour as hell, and makes my mouth feel a bit weird because of the acidity.
Why not just drink orange soda? I don't like the carbonation either. It makes my stomach feel like it's about to explode. I'm impatient, too - entirely removing the carbonation from soda takes awhile to do right, without making a mess.

I'd prefer something without artificial sweetners, especially not aspartame. That stuff gives me hours-long migraines.
"Light" drinks are the last thing I need - I already wind up getting too few calories as-is. Give me my sugar, dammit!!!


The other aspect is simple efficiency - soda is mostly water, so you wind up paying to have all that water trucked to you. Why not buy just the mix, and use the water that's already being piped to your home?



An update, for the many, many people who care deeply about this burning issue:

I did not find an orange soda substitute yet, but I may be nearly there. There was no Hawaiian Punch mix at the local store I tried. But there was Kool-Aid.
I noticed "citric acid" in the ingredients list on their orange mix, and figured it might be too acidic. So I tried the grape-flavored mix.
I can't believe I never tried this stuff before. It's perfect. It's so sweet I can almost feel my teeth melting away.

I will try the orange flavored stuff next time. I stupidly thought just now, "Hey, why not see if citric acid is on the orange soda's ingredient list?" Well hey, there it is, and that stuff's not at all sour. So maybe the Kool Aid orange-flavored mix is what I'm after.

Yes, this is the first time I've ever had Kool-Aid.

I guess it's marginally better than soda healthwise - 10% Vitamin C as opposed to nothing. Not health food, but then, if I'd be drinking soda anyway, I wasn't much concerned with that in the first place.

Time for more of this artificial grape goodness. Why it's called grape, I don't know, as it resembles no grape I've ever tasted. Whatever it is though, it's good. Grape Kool-Aid + sharp cheddar cheese = tasty snack with no aftertaste.

 

[destrekor]

WTH is soda?
i drink pop where we're from

try the Orange flavor of the Crystal Light to-go packets... I had it and it tasted decent.
and get used to citric acid... anything orange or lemon is going to have it. never heard of anything not having it. it kind of comes from the flavor process, I doubt they go "lets add citric acid, cuz that sounds like a good thing"... probably comes from the orange flavor extraction and stays in the process when making the powder.
sry, the very first ingredient in the Crystal Light On The Go packet, Lemon flavor, is citric acid. but it contains lemon juice solids, so thats likely why. but it say it contains less than 2% juice solids, so I am not sure about my earlier claim of not adding it. not really sure.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: destrekor
WTH is soda?
i drink pop where we're from

try the Orange flavor of the Crystal Light to-go packets...

Crystal light uses aspartame, doesn't it? I'll specify that in the original post.

No artificial sweetners, preferably. Especially not aspartame - that stuff gives me hours-long migraines.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: destrekor
WTH is soda?
i drink pop where we're from

try the Orange flavor of the Crystal Light to-go packets...

Crystal light uses aspartame, doesn't it? I'll specify that in the original post.

No artificial sweetners, preferably. Especially not aspartame - that stuff gives me hours-long migraines.

aspartame gives you migraines? im sorry
yea thats the only thing i like that has an artificial sweetner in it, mainly because the taste is masked.
im out of ideas. maybe try Orange gatorade powder mix?

 

[mobobuff]

So you're looking for drink mixes that taste like various pops (sodas) but aren't carbonated? Ever drink flat pop (soda)? Doesn't taste very good.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: mobobuff
So you're looking for drink mixes that taste like various pops (sodas) but aren't carbonated? Ever drink flat pop (soda)? Doesn't taste very good.

Yes. I prefer it flat. The lack of carbonation makes it a bit sweeter, and it also means that I don't feel like throwing up to alleviate the pressure in my stomach.
That's why I said in the original post, "I don't like the carbonation either."

 

[CrackRabbit]

There is an Orange Hawaiian Punch flavor...
Or maybe something like Orange Hi-C?

 

[pontifex]

If you can make soda flavored water, without all the other extra crap that goes along with water, you'd be rich.

imagine the taste of soda with the nutritional benefits of water (well, stuff like no sugars, syrups, etc)

 

[Mrvile]

A Dr. Pepper flavored drink mix would be awesome

I prefer my soda flatter, too. Not all the way flat, but flatter. I guess I've gotten used to it since I use so much ice when I drink soda (ice makes it fizz up a lot which gets rid of most of the carbonation).

 

[mobobuff]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: mobobuff
So you're looking for drink mixes that taste like various pops (sodas) but aren't carbonated? Ever drink flat pop (soda)? Doesn't taste very good.

Yes. I prefer it flat. The lack of carbonation makes it a bit sweeter, and it also means that I don't feel like throwing up to alleviate the pressure in my stomach.
That's why I said in the original post, "I don't like the carbonation either."

It's called burping, not throwing up . Unless you have some sort of disorder.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: pontifex
If you can make soda flavored water, without all the other extra crap that goes along with water, you'd be rich.

imagine the taste of soda with the nutritional benefits of water (well, stuff like no sugars, syrups, etc)

Well, the sugar is perfectly ok with me.


I'll keep an eye out for the Haiwaiian Punch brand stuff. Their website is purely Flash based, and offers little information - only nutrition information, not ingredients.

Originally posted by: mobobuff
It's called burping, not throwing up . Unless you have some sort of disorder.

That takes awhile for me though, sometimes 10-15 minutes for the gas to "process" to the point where it can become a burp. Before that time comes, about all I can do is wait for the exceedingly unpleasant feeling to stop.

 

[eakers]

mcdonalds orange drink?

 

[mobobuff]

Originally posted by: eakers
mcdonalds orange drink?

Isn't that carbonated?

I have an idea. Buy orange soda, and shake them up and open them. Repeat the process 4 or 5 times. Uncarbonated orange soda!

Edit: NVM, read the OP again.

 

[Jeff7]

I already get the frozen Welchade Cherry, which is pretty good. The store nearest me stopped carrying the Grape-flavored variety though.
It probably tasted too much like the grape-flavoring in things like Children's Tylenol, so it didn't get enough sales volume to be worth the shelf space. I loved that Tylenol stuff too; I was so disappointed when my parents switched me to the regular non-chewable things. I did at least know not to abuse the stuff.
I was careful about eating the wrong things since I was little. My mom said that I could play with coins at an age when most kids would be at risk of swallowing small items. She said my technique would be to put the thing to my mouth, and then just look at her. If it was ok to eat, she'd say so. If not, I would put it down and never ask about it again.

Originally posted by: mobobuff
I have an idea. Buy orange soda, and shake them up and open them. Repeat the process 4 or 5 times. Uncarbonated orange soda!

Edit: NVM, read the OP again.

That's what I do in the meantime.
This is something you don't want to do with birch beer or root beer (same thing). Shake that up, and the foam will last for a week. The only option then is to open it over a sink and let the foam come out. Orange soda seems to have very low surface tension, and so the fizz goes away very quickly. The best way to decarbonate a 2L bottle of orange soda is to pour out a glass of it, thus leaving more room in the bottle for the CO2, and then shake it up several times. But this takes time, and so I figure that there must be a more efficient solution out there.

 

[Jeff7]

An update, for the many, many people who care deeply about this burning issue:

I did not find an orange soda substitute yet, but I may be nearly there. There was no Hawaiian Punch mix at the local store I tried. But there was Kool-Aid.
I noticed "citric acid" in the ingredients list on their orange mix, and figured it might be too acidic. So I tried the grape-flavored mix.
I can't believe I never tried this stuff before. It's perfect. It's so sweet I can almost feel my teeth melting away.

I will try the orange flavored stuff next time. I stupidly thought just now, "Hey, why not see if citric acid is on the orange soda's ingredient list?" Well hey, there it is, and that stuff's not at all sour. So maybe the Kool Aid orange-flavored mix is what I'm after.

Yes, this is the first time I've ever had Kool-Aid.

I guess it's marginally better than soda healthwise - 10% Vitamin C as opposed to nothing. Not health food, but then, if I'd be drinking soda anyway, I wasn't much concerned with that in the first place.

Time for more of this artificial grape goodness. Why it's called grape, I don't know, as it resembles no grape I've ever tasted. Whatever it is though, it's good. Grape Kool-Aid + sharp cheddar cheese = tasty snack with no aftertaste.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
An update, for the many, many people who care deeply about this burning issue:

I did not find an orange soda substitute yet, but I may be nearly there. There was no Hawaiian Punch mix at the local store I tried. But there was Kool-Aid.
I noticed "citric acid" in the ingredients list on their orange mix, and figured it might be too acidic. So I tried the grape-flavored mix.
I can't believe I never tried this stuff before. It's perfect. It's so sweet I can almost feel my teeth melting away.

I will try the orange flavored stuff next time. I stupidly thought just now, "Hey, why not see if citric acid is on the orange soda's ingredient list?" Well hey, there it is, and that stuff's not at all sour. So maybe the Kool Aid orange-flavored mix is what I'm after.

Yes, this is the first time I've ever had Kool-Aid.

I guess it's marginally better than soda healthwise - 10% Vitamin C as opposed to nothing. Not health food, but then, if I'd be drinking soda anyway, I wasn't much concerned with that in the first place.

Time for more of this artificial grape goodness. Why it's called grape, I don't know, as it resembles no grape I've ever tasted. Whatever it is though, it's good. Grape Kool-Aid + sharp cheddar cheese = tasty snack with no aftertaste.

I'm glad you found something. I'm particularly fond of Kool-aid, it's dirt cheap and not at all fizzy. Although you can't drink the sugar-free stuff it's about the perfect flavored drink(along with Crystal Lite) since it's still flavored water without that terrible bitterness of diet soda.