Beverages having nitrogen in them isn’t a new concept. Its origins go as far back as the 1950s with Guinness beer. In the 2010s, the first wave of nitro cold brew coffee hit the scene. It was only a matter of time before we got the first nitro soda from a big brand.
Nitro Pepsi comes in two flavors, Draft Cola and Vanilla Draft Cola, and is described as a “smooth, creamy, delicious taste experience” that “will redefine cola for years to come.”
To properly enjoy it, it’s recommended to use the right glass (pint glass), make sure the soda is cold, and follow the instructions to “pour hard.” It’s also suggested to refrain from using ice or straws with it. When popping the can open, an almost eerie noise accompanies the usual sounds. This, I found out in my research, was the “widget” at the bottom of the can that aids the nitro process.
It feels so weird to just dump the entire can upside down (hard pour) as I’ve spent my 30+ years perfecting the cautious soda pour, but I trust the process. I started with the Draft Cola flavor to get a baseline of what to expect. While taking my first sip, the most delightful layer of cola-flavored foam greeted me. It had a rich, creaminess to it that reminded me of something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
The drink itself was confusing at first. The sweet, familiar Pepsi flavor is there, but the texture sent my brain into a quick momentary confusion loop. It tasted like Pepsi, but it didn’t drink like Pepsi. The crispness you expect from the soda isn’t there. With the first sip, it’s easy to feel the drink might be flat. However, to describe the beverage that way is an unfair assessment. The more I sipped, the more the drink’s complexity showed. The nitro process creates incredibly tiny bubbles that give the beverage a richness you don’t get with flat soda.
The Vanilla Draft Cola offered the same experience but with sweet vanilla flavor, and it translated slightly better into the nitro process than the regular cola. It threw my brain less for a loop, but that could also be due to knowing what to expect. Its flavor tasted exactly like the last one-third of an ice cream float where the soda is less carbonated and mixed with the melted ice cream.
Nitro Pepsi is a unique item that I thoroughly enjoyed, but I feel like it will be a polarizing product. If you try it without expecting it to drink like a regular Pepsi, I think you’ll have a more enjoyable experience.
Purchased Price: $1.88
Size: 13.65 oz
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Cola), 9 out of 10 (Vanilla Cola)
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 230 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 63 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 63 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.
Thanks for the informative review! Although the frugal guy in the room, I’d pop for a can or two to try it out, especially the vanilla–could be delicious for a break.
Don’t bother. You will get the very same experience from open a can of regular Pepsi letting it go flat then drinking it. Don’t bother with this one.
So sad that that’s the result. 🙁
It has the Guiness experience opening it and pouring. After the very first sip, its just flat pepsi. Buy a 2L, open it, leave it in the fridge for 3 days, and you have 98% the same of nitro pepsi. The 2% missing is the very first sip of Nitro pepsi.
This is 100% false. Obvious they never tried it. The mouthfeel is full and creamy like a nitro ale or guinness draft not can. In fact, I believe the nitro cola does it better than the stout. The taste will be more like cola slurpee but pepsi doesnt have the same bite as coke so its not a huge difference. But the poster saying its like flat pepsi is not true. The novelty of nitro is the body the gas adds to the drink. Go with the vanilla as well.
My wife and I saw this tonight and wanted to try one and now I find myself here because we both thought it was basically just flat Pepsi and so I went looking to see if others had said the same thing. It *did* remind me of Guinness, in the way that Guinness has always tasted to me much flatter than other beers. I don’t entirely disagree that the mouthfeel is initially a bit more creamy than a flat Pepsi, but this is absolutely not something I want from a cola or a soda in general and so it was a detriment rather than a plus. That said, I don’t think it was *that* notable a difference that describing the soda simply as flat Pepsi is inaccurate.
I agree with you. I love the taste and will never have a regular Pepsi again.
I will second that statement. Decent flavor, but definitely only for fans of flat soda.
I’m assuming that anyone who does purchase this expects it to drink like a nitro and has an understanding of the difference in carbonation.
I haven’t found any yet but I’m looking forward to trying both. Enjoyed the video and the review, Nice pictures also. Thank You.
soda fountains will be back instyle
Long overdue. I still have yet to experience it. Being that they stopped in the 70’s, and I was born after that. Would be nice to see it return.
There are actually many around! They regained popularity quite a few years ago. Not as widespread or common as they once were, and they did see a resurgence.
I can not speak for anyone but it is my drink of the moment it a treat. It like an ice cream float to me without ice cream
. Wish it was real sugar. I pay double to price.
Just tried one…where do I get rid of the remaining 3 cans?
I have the same question. I expect they’ll just go down the drain. 🙁
Bit of a recommendation, don’t pour it ‘hard’ like it says on the can. Pour it like you would a can of Guinness (with your glass tilted and VERY slowly). You’ll get a much more rounded experience. Pouring it ‘hard’ removes too much of the carbonation.
I have a 12-pack on order from Amazon. (6 Cola/6 Vanilla) I collect and must taste rare & limited edition beverages, and will go to the ends of the Earth to find them.
Last night, I decided to check for retailers if it was available anywhere near me, and Instacart came up (which I had used before). Not thinking it would even be found, it claimed to be in stock at a Stop & Shop near me. I decided to order 4 4-packs at 4 am last night to be delivered this morning between 8 and 10 am EST, and I figured I would just get it refunded on my EBT card (I purchase groceries online due to circumstances), and went to sleep.
Not only did the shopper find it, but he accepted it immediately at the start of time window (8 am), checked out, and delivered it within a half hour.
Now I’m waiting on it to chill, and chilling my glasses as well. Haven’t tasted it yet.
Had high hopes for this, especially since I’ve had the concept done right before. Monster Energy has a nitrous-oxide-infused line and it’s smooth as silk, playing like a soft foam in your mouth.
Nitro Pepsi just feels FLAT, whether poured or straight from the can. I hope they fix it, otherwise this is a bust.
I so agree with you! It just feels and tastes like flat Pepsi.
Finally got my hands on it. This one sadly is closer to a bust. I’d probably rate it 6.5 out of 10 (the regular one). What’s disappointing to me the most is initially, it’s actually pretty good. When you first pop the can and pour (I did mine more like a beer than a “hard” pour), you get a nice richness from the foam. The drink has an extra sweetness that sorta taste like Pepsi but a bit more complex. However, the bubbles from the nitrogen QUICKLY dissipate. Once that happens, the drink becomes incredibly flat and disappointing. It tastes like a Pepsi you left out on the counter all afternoon. All the complex notes disappear. If there was a way to keep the tiny bubbles longer, this would be more successful but that might not be do-able given the constraints of using nitrogen
Thanks for the on-hands review–I guess I shouldn’t be disappointed that I haven’t been able to find it in my area yet. 🙁
I have to agree with the majority of the reviews. I’m a hardcore Pepsi fan and I was really looking forward to trying this. I did a “hard” pour, and while the foam was interesting at first, it quickly devolved into what just tasted like a flat Pepsi. Very disappointing. Would not buy again.
Don’t do a ‘hard’ pour. Pour it like you would a Guinness. You’ll have more carbonation on the back end then.
I tried pouring it like I would a Guinness. It was marginally better than the hard pour, but still not as good as a regular Pepsi over ice, so once I finish the other two cans I won’t be buying it again.
Credit to Pepsi for trying. But why companies then release products that obviously are fails is beyond me.
I tried one today at lunch. Much the same as most others here, it really just tasted like flat Pepsi. The worst part though is how it affected my stomach tonight. I promise that I will not be drinking the remaining 3 cans! OMG!
I happen to love Pepsi in any condition. Better than Coke on a great day. I guess I’ll just wait till I find it. What about from the can? What’s the score on that.
My work started selling them and i was curious so i looked it up and it sounded pretty cool but when i tried it i was kind of disappointed. It’s smooth but that’s just because it feels and tastes like a flat pepsi in a can. It was genuinly hard to drink anymore of it
more flavored nirto then the orgirnal
My kids have been asking about this for the last week, so when I was able to find it, at Walmart for a much lower price than at the local Wawa where I first noticed it, I bought a few cans (a 4-pack of each of the 2 flavors, actually). We popped open a can of each last night and opinions varied between the lot of us (me, my wife, 2 sons, and my older daughter). It was ok, we all really liked the foam at the top of the hard-poured soda, but the rest of it was a bit disappointing. I enjoy the crispness and not-nearly-as-sweet-as-Coke-ness of Pepsi, but this one really did (as others have mentioned) taste like flat Pepsi. It was really sweet (125% of the RDA of sugar in one serving!), and quite unexciting. It was “soft” as the adverts state, but too much so. Now I have the remaining 3 cans of each flavor, and not sure what will happen with them….
Can I advertise your pepsi
I gave up soda about 25+ years ago. My innards thank me! Very rarely do I try soda, but this one had me super interested.
I wiaited forever for them to come to Maryland. I kept looking and nobody had them. I kept saying I’m going to drive to Delaware where Pepsi’s website showed them for sale. It’s like 30 minutes from me. I never went. Finally one day I decide to drive to a Walmart in Pennsylvania (also 30 minutes from me). I felt like driving a different direction to see what else is up there because I always go to Delaware. After leaving my driveway, I stopped at Royal Farms (convenience store) for a drink and some gas.. they had Pepsi Nitro!
$2.89 a can, but I’ve since found WaWa got them in stock and is $2.19 a can. 7-11 refuses to carry them for some reason. I go to the same 7-11 five days a week, sometimes multiple times in one day.. I keep asking the owner/manager and she never gets them. None of the 7-11’s in the area have them (I tried 4 different ones).
Anyway, the review.. at first I liked the creamy head. They do sort of taste like flat soda.. or just pure syrup. At first I didn’t think I liked them, but then I mixed them with Jack Daniels Whiskey and I loved them. In fact, I’m sort of addicted. I’m going to have to limit myself to 1 can a week only as a weekend treat or something. I like the regular Pepsi Nitro better than the vanilla, but really only with a shot of Jack Daniels in it. I also tried the Jack Daniels Honey flavor and wasn’t a big fan of it in my Pepsi. I might try the cinnamon flavor, though.
I never read the nutrition facts and saw someone here mention 125% of daily intake of sugar. I might finish the last can I have and not treat myself as mentioned above. I could do without all the sugar and calories anyway. I lost 70 lbs (I’m 207 lbs and 6 foot 2 inches tall now) and have no intention of putting it back on.
I just tried the nitro Pepsi
I like it
I think I am the only one
I have only read negative reviews
I bet everyone else still has 3 cans sitting around! We should send them to you…lol
It goes flat in ten minutes, so you have to drink it fast to enjoy the “nitro”. After that it’s just a flat Pepsi. I predict it will vanish faster than CNN+.
i feel like they should give the syrup to micro breweries so we would have that soda shop feel and dont have to deal with dissapointment if we didnt pour correctly
I tried it today, we didn’t do that hard pour thing, we didn’t pour it all, we just drank it from the can.
Holy Smokes! So good!
I immediately tasted the difference with the tiny bubbles. And the first two minutes was outstanding. But after that, the Nitro Pepsi went a little flat and it lost its beautiful effervescence and it just tasted like syrup.
The secret with this stuff is to either drink it fast, or drink the first half of the can and throw out the second half.
We did cut open the can to find the same kind of nitrogen “battery” that is in a Guinness. Interesting!
Some changes that might benefit Nitro Pepsi … less sugar, smaller can, or maybe taller and narrower can, better instructions to avoid that ridiculous “hard pour” that will force out even more of the nitroget than just gently drinking it from the can.