Company: PepsiCo
Years: 1978-1982
Alert Reader Alert! (Wait, huh?) Loyal reader and all around standup guy, Mike Henry, recently sent me an email about a product we currently don't have in stock. That product was one that I hadn't heard of, which in a way, made me feel kind of sad. I like to think I know everything, based solely on my own observations of myself and what my mom tells me, and with two simple words, Mike brought me crashing down to earth.
Those 2 words were: Aspen Soda.
Wait, Whats this now? What in tarnation is Aspen soda? Are you making it up???
BUT I KNOW EVERYTHING!
Mild depression set in for a few days upon realization that I don't know everything. I spent an entire week on the internets, learning about all the things that I didn't know, including but not limited too: Wombats (real), trigonometry (was pretty sure the teacher was making it up as he went along), and now, Aspen Soda.
Aspen soda was an "Crisp and clear" apple flavored soda created by PepsiCo in the late 70's. It was meant to compete with all the lemon lime sodas on the market, which there were many of. For some reason, though, there wasn't an apple flavored soda, and PepsiCo stuck a bunch of money trying to fill this void.
Turns out the reason was that apple soda really wasn't that good. I mean, it wasn't BAD, or anything.....it just isn't something people really want a whole lot of. In the early 80's, Pepsi decided to rebrand this soda as Slice (another failed soda, for the same reason).
Then, Apple soda went away all together, like the wombats did.
(Correction, wombats are still around.)
Here's the Aspen commercial.
I can't believe this is a real thing. I die a little inside every time I watch this.
Have you not heard of PepsiCo's Manzanita Sol? It's in Taco Bell restaurants, is super-popular in Mexico, and can be found in most places where there's a significant Hispanic population.
ReplyDeleteI saw this soda at Fiesta grocery stores as well!
DeleteYes, but Manzanita Sol is a lot sweeter than Aspen. I remember Aspen. It was one of my favorite sodas, along with Delaware punch and Tahitian treat. Aspen... gone too soon :(
DeleteI agree!! It wasn’t that syrup sweet like the others were. It was crisp and refreshing. I didn’t care for the other apple sodas. Welch had one that was awful and this was lost in that shuffle. Too bad. I don’t want to think about how many I drank the summer it came out! lol
DeleteI remember drinking apple Slice, came in a gold can I believe?
ReplyDeleteBut I don't remember ever coming across Aspen.
I actually LOVED Aspen soda and only found your site after Googling the nets for it.
ReplyDeleteAspen was my favorite soda EVER!
DeleteIt was one of favorite sodas too. Loved it. I wish they would bring it back.
DeleteYES! Best soda ever!
DeleteAspen was an amazing mixer. Segrams and Aspen delicious. I agree gone but not forgotten
DeleteSaying "it wasn't really that good" is an opinion. I know for my younger sister and I, it was our favorite and we STILL talk about it.
DeleteI actually LOVED Aspen soda and only found your site after Googling the nets for it.
ReplyDeleteMe too. I typed what happened to it
DeleteI WANT ASPEN I LOVE IT
DeleteI remember this tasting just like carbonated apple juice...
ReplyDeleteTry Materva for an alternate. It's a Cuban soda Yerba Mate Soda. Very delicious with the apple flavor. Takes me back to being a kid drinking Aspen.
ReplyDeleteDo they have it at all stores? Or should I say what store sell that?
DeleteOh my goodness I've been talking about this soda at least once or twice a year since they stopped selling it..IT WAS DELICIOUS. My whole family loved it and everyone from all steps of life I introduced it too loved it...OH PLEASE TRY IT AGAIN......
ReplyDeleteYes please bring back Aspen.
DeletePepsiCo it will sell better now I bet.
Aspen lover refreshing delicious.
I was in 6th grade when it came out..
Wow time flys things looks so much better then.
Missing the past.🙄😥
Aspen was my favorite soda ever!
DeleteThis was my favorite soda when I was a kid I remember running to the store to buy a bottle whenever I got allowance. Never knew why I clichy find it anymore
ReplyDeleteBring it back. It was very good
DeleteWe Never drinking in the Summer in the summertime 1978 in a town called Fullerton California which is in Southern California. They just took it off the market I didn't know where it went and I love the stuff. I asked so many people if they had had it in the old days and nobody knew what it was. Bring it back Pepsi!!!
DeleteAspen was the best! Like a fresh apple with a little salt. and very caffeinated! When I saw it disappearing from grocery shelves I called Pepsi to ask about it and was told by a snappy service rep that I was the only one buying it. I knew lots of folks that loved it.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is, this delicious soda had a GREEN apple taste- slightly tart. There's a red apple on the can, and the commercial had a slice of red apple on the glass, so that's a bit weird.
ReplyDeleteThey also made (very briefly) a diet version called Aspen Light. I loved them both as a tween in the late 70s.
The only thing I've found that comes close (the Mexican apple sodas are red apple tasting) is the flavored carbonated water from Wal-Mart, with a big Green apple right on the label. Awesome!
And I think I have the only Aspen soda can left in existence.
My uncle had a job delivering samples of Aspen door to door in the Vancouver area. He was lousy at his job so a lot of it was left at our house. I loved it. I was just a kid but I remember it clearly
ReplyDeleteAspen was my favorite soda as a kid. It tasted a lot like Jones Green Apple soda. I even remember the commercials.
ReplyDeleteAspen Apple soda had a bite to it of some sort but like a tart apple such as Pink Lady apples. I think the secret ingredient is vitamin C, like sour candy. Sidral Mundet green apple soda is available at Cardenas Markets and it's real sugar soda, no corn syrup. Yes it does taste just like carbonated apple juice. I didn't add any Vitamin C yet.
ReplyDeleteI loved Aspen Apple soda back in the 70's after football practice me and my buddies would go to the liquor store and buy one every day I wish pepsi would bring it back but now I have to have diet
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorites growing up. I remember the apple slice as well... Welches even came out with their own Apple soda as well.
ReplyDeleteI like Jones Green Apple, but it’s teally not like the old time apple sodas.
That being said...Walmart has started selling Apple Soda (under their own brand) that tastes exactly like the Apple Sodas, I remember as a kid! I am in heaven.
Yes! It's the Clear American sparkling water, Fuji Apple flavor. Fantastic, and tastes just like Aspen used to. (Well, it's sugarless, so it tastes just like Diet Aspen. And yes, such as thing did exist.) Good call, fellow Aspen lover!
DeleteI'm from Philadelphia PA. I remember this soda! As a child I would go up a half a block to the corner store and get a bottle out of the cooler. Wow! I haven't bought any type of soda since 1989, but if this came back on the market. I would buy it! I'll never forget that fresh taste.
ReplyDeleteAspen was my favorite soda. I used to drink it all of the time when I was a little, girl living in Denver.
ReplyDeleteI loved this soda. I too drankbit when I was young and lived in FT Collins
DeleteI loved it. Every morning before school I would pick up a bottle at the 7 11
ReplyDeleteThis literally was my favorite soda and I died the day they discontinued it. I used to use my newspaper route money to buy cases and cases of it. So unique and fresh.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember Aspen, but I do remember Slice. I never noticed it was gone.
ReplyDeleteAspen has been on the edge of my mind for a few decades now. I remember it well. It was my go to road trip soda as a kid. It's odd how a product can take you back to a place and time, as I recall drinking Aspen as we crested some truly beautiful mountain highways in my dad's old green truck. Funny, I didn't know Slice was gone as well!
ReplyDeleteThe man in the Aspen Soda commercial looks like Patrick Wayne; John Wayne's actor son.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think it's him too....
DeleteThis was my favorite soda drink, especially on a hot day in FT Collins,CO. Today I stumbled across a sparkling apple drink called Izze. It reminded me of Aspen
ReplyDeleteAspen was my favorite soda of all time! I wouldn't even think twice about picking another soda. I remember a commercial that showed fresh snow glimmering in the sun and Aspen tasted so fresh just like that image. I've missed it all my live like a lost love...please bring it back!!!
ReplyDeleteSaw this soda on a app got my heart a pumping please bring back my wife won't leave me alone till it comes back to the shelves of our local markets how's that baby
ReplyDeleteI loved Aspen soda!!I remember driving it when I was a kid in elementary school. It was crisp and delicious, perfect super cold on a hot summer day! Please bring it back!!!
ReplyDeleteExactly!!
DeleteTypo drinking not driving
ReplyDeleteI remember when they went door to door with the free samples. I gathered all the cans I could. LOVED that stuff!
ReplyDeleteAspen Soda was by far, the best apple soda ever made! It needs to make a come back!!
ReplyDeleteI loved aspen soda the only one that comes very close is shasta apple soda its very good!!
ReplyDeleteShould bring this back
ReplyDeleteI too reminisce about Aspen Soda at least a couple times a year.... it was by far the best soda I have ever had!! Wish they would bring it back... The fact that I can still recall the taste after 40 years really speaks volumes!!
ReplyDeleteIt would be amazing if they brought it back! Loved it when I was young, so sad when it went away! It would sell better in this day and age.
ReplyDeleteAspen soda was wonderful! Bold apple flavor,yet light and crisp. I remember the time I was moving from California to Michigan. I loved Aspen so much I didn't want to leave it behind. So, I loaded my Jeep to the top of the roof with 12 cases of Aspen! It was late summer and my Jeep did not have air conditioning. I made it as far as Nevada, when the cans started to explode from the intense heat. The interior of my Jeep was covered in hot sticky Aspen soda. It left a nice scent though.🤗
ReplyDeleteMy parents and I guzzled gallons of this stuff. It was our favorite soda...then it vanished. Sigh.
ReplyDeletePepsiCo if you can hear me please bring Aspen soda back!!!
ReplyDeleteThe author needs a psychiatrist. Aspen was the best soda of all time. Nothing since has ever compared. And Pepsi should have known better than Apple Slice. It was a mockery.
ReplyDeleteI was in 7th grade when Aspen came out. The marketing teams walked around our SoCal neighborhoods and hung a bag on each doorknob - two cans of Aspen and some coupons to buy more. I got home from school before anybody else on my cul-de-sac got home. They NEVER even heard of Aspen - I took it all!! I'm not proud of the stealing....but damn, I was refreshed!!
ReplyDelete