Exploring the mysteries of Mexican sodas
March 1, 2017 9:59 AM   Subscribe

"Sodas south of the border have their own unique quirks and singular traits, drawing tropical inspiration from traditional drinks served in Mexico for millennia."
posted by MrJM (37 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
By Mefi's own!
posted by Aizkolari at 10:11 AM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]


One of my favorite memories is the first time I had a drink of a cold Jarritos Limón on a passenger train down to Querétaro when I was a kid. Don't think that train runs anymore. I was too young to try our relative's pulque. You can find Jarritos at the Smart & Final up north in Central Coast California at least.
posted by Mister Cheese at 10:32 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Oh hey, I wrote this! Thanks MrJM!
posted by Juliet Banana at 10:37 AM on March 1, 2017 [21 favorites]


Ah, awesome! I read it, I enjoyed it, but I missed that it was by mefi's own Juliet Banana!
posted by Secretariat at 11:17 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


By Mefi's own!

recently VERIFIED ON TWITTER MOTHERFUCKER
posted by beerperson at 11:23 AM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]


ATTN Massholes: You can can get the 12 oz bottles of Jarritos at most local supermarkets and Target, but only the big Market Baskets carry the 2L bottles.
posted by maryr at 11:44 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


PS: At least the Burlington Market Basket also carries some of the other sodas mentioned in this article PLUS my all time favorite Reed's Spiced Apple Brew.
posted by maryr at 11:45 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Give me all the Topo Chico and no one gets hurt!

/all the bubbles, do you hear? ALL THE BUBBLES
posted by Celsius1414 at 11:47 AM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


Mexican Coke and Bermuda Black Rum -- it's the real thing
posted by TwoToneRow at 12:22 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


/all the bubbles, do you hear? ALL THE BUBBLES

my bubbles🐠
posted by zamboni at 12:52 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


my bubbles🐠

BRB LOOKING FOR FISHTANK

Seriously, that fish is me.

/starts doing dance routine to Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" substituting the word "Carbonation"
posted by Celsius1414 at 1:02 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Does anyone know if Diet Manzanita Sol is a thing? I'm surprised and maybe inconvenienced by the fact that apple soda hasn't taken off here yet.
posted by Selena777 at 1:30 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Tequila, lime juice and Jatrritos pineapple. The best damn pineapple margarita you can make. Also the grapefruit one is good for palomas.
posted by nestor_makhno at 1:45 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


I'm not sure if it's the price point of fruit soda (especially compared to imported products) or the particular taste for grapefruit soda, but one of the local Mexican groceries had an abundance of Squirt for a while. To the point where a snack aisle was 90% Squirt and Flamin' Hot Cheetos. The greatest aisle.
posted by mikeh at 1:52 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]


I've never seen diet Manzanita Sol but I've occasionally found Diet Jupiña.
posted by jeweled accumulation at 3:29 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Around 2003 or 2004 there was a Mexican soda called Beat, which caused some excitement among die-hard Surge fans. It seemed like it might be a suitably extreme replacement for Surge, which at that point was basically impossible to find. My optimism was based on a commercial that I can no longer find.

The commercial featured a group of Mexican teenagers driving along in an SUV. Suddenly, across a cornfield, they see a tornado! The teens follow standard soda-consumption best practices and make a beeline for the tornado. One of the teens gets on the roof of the vehicle, and jumps into the tornado. Flying around inside it, he retrieves a lemon-lime soda so extreme that its high-fructose corn syrup can apparently only be processed in mid-air by the 200 mph winds of an extreme weather event. He returns to his friends in the SUV with a soda that, in a better world (el mundo de justicia, I choose to call it), would have dethroned Mountain Dew and achieved global beverage market dominance.

Immediately upon seeing this commercial, I emailed a Mexican soda bottler to inquire about the purchasing location nearest the US-Mexico border. I received no reply.

All references to this soda seem to have been removed from the internet, but I swear to you, it was real.

God, I feel like some modern-day version of a Cormac MacCarthy character in The Crossing when I tell that story. ("The man told the huerfano that although he was alone in the world, he must drink the extreme tornado soda, though he could no longer find evidence of the soda ever having existed, but he swore to him that it was true, as true as the fact that men seek their own graves, for every man chooses every next footstep, and together these footsteps invariably lead him to his end, and that perhaps the Mexican tornado soda was merely a dream of some footsteps along a journey to a deathless place that does not exist.")
posted by compartment at 3:55 PM on March 1, 2017 [12 favorites]


Every Mexican restaurant in Chicago has Jarritos--usually multiple flavors. Heck--the Walgreens across the street carries a variety of Jarritos. I love the lime and the mandarin orange ones the best.

Tamarind can go fuck itself, though.
posted by tzikeh at 4:10 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Tamarind can go fuck itself, though.

This can be said for anything involving tamarind, not just Jarritos.
posted by elsietheeel at 6:48 PM on March 1, 2017


Whoa, whoa, whoa. You want a world without Pad Thai? Because when tamarind fucks itself you get a world without Pad Thai.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:02 PM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]


Glad it mentioned malta. Am I the only one who occasional experiences with malta invariably go like this.

(1) Buy a bottle of malta.
(2) Open and sip. Ugh! I mean, it really is basically beer wort. Why did I want that?
(3) Wait a minute
(4) Sip again... huh, that's not so bad
(5) Wait
(6) Have a proper no-shit glug. This stuff is okay!
(7) Finish
(8) Why did I only get one bottle? This shit is tits!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:40 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]



Tamarind can go fuck itself, though.

Never fear! I will (selflessly!) drink all the tamarind Jarritos for you.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 8:10 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


I love Mexican sodas and refrescos.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 8:11 PM on March 1, 2017


My area's stores and small markets carry a good assortment of Mexican soft drinks. A lot of people with roots in Mexico call my area home. Also I make Jamaica to keep on hand. Even we'll sugared, it's a good alternative to soda.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 8:15 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


ALL THE TAMARIND JARRITOS!

Yeah, I know it's not a taste for everyone, but give me a pambazo and a tamarind Jarritos, and I'm one happy camper.
posted by petrilli at 9:25 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


I was pretty sure Manzanita Sol was a US product. Regardless, I've never seen diet version, though.

But it pales compared to Sidral Mundet. Especially the green apple flavor. If that came in diet, I'd stop taking my hydration any other way.
posted by 2N2222 at 9:25 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


Compartment, I think this is what you are looking for.
posted by tavella at 9:37 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


TAMARINDO
posted by Standard Orange at 12:08 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


LIME!
posted by artdrectr at 1:26 AM on March 2, 2017


I can't believe I had to read with my own eyes this anti-tamarind slander. God bless Tamarind Jarritos. I only got introduced to them two years ago - finally a local Mexican restaurant started serving them (Jarritos in general I mean).
posted by cendawanita at 1:31 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


If you can get jamaica flowers to make the drink at home (not the powder mix! The actual flowers!) you can steep them and use the liquid in place of water to make a syrup for canned fruit. It gives a lovely hot pink color and an interesting flavor to jams, fruits, etc.
posted by blnkfrnk at 8:01 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Limon and Tamarindo, mfers. Mine.
posted by desuetude at 8:13 AM on March 2, 2017


blnkfrnk, I tried to dye my white dog pink using that jamaica liquid once. It didn't work, unfortunately - his hair is too wiry!
posted by Juliet Banana at 11:57 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I've run into a number of people who swear by Mexican coke as their migraine cure.
posted by SyraCarol at 1:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Juliet Banana! Try beet juice! It'll get all over both of you but it's more likely to dye the dog (and still be nontoxic!)
posted by blnkfrnk at 1:05 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I've run into a number of people who swear by Mexican coke as their migraine cure.
posted by SyraCarol at 4:02 PM on March 2 [1 favorite +] [!]


Oh yes. Something about the combination of caffeine and real sugar; the carbonation also soothes the nausea that often accompanies a migraine. I generally do not drink pop (what we call soda hereabouts) but I keep a few bottles of Mexican coke in various locations in case of emergency. Some migraine meds include caffeine so I'm supported by science.
posted by Preserver at 6:37 PM on March 2, 2017


Whoa, whoa, whoa. You want a world without Pad Thai? Because when tamarind fucks itself you get a world without Pad Thai.

Well that explains why I enjoy other Thai noodle dishes, but not Pad Thai!

DEATH TO TAMARIND! LIME JARRITOS FOREVER
posted by tzikeh at 7:08 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


FUCKIN' A JULIET BANANA
posted by cortex at 12:08 PM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


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