Global Cola: 10 Pepsi-Cola Flavors You Can’t Get Here

Pepsi Retro – Mexico

(images via: Bohoslavsky, Bevreview and Paxton Holley)

Pepsi Retro was released into the Mexican market with great fanfare in early 2008. The introductory campaign was rife with retro Pepsi imagery, aged parchment paper tinted posters and multimedia presentations involving old-fashioned cars, trucks & airplanes. Pepsi Retro was offered in cans, non-returnable glass bottles and two sizes of PET plastic bottles – and ONLY in Mexico. Considering the cult following garnered by Mexican Coca-Cola, one wonders if Pepsi Retro was also surreptitiously imported into the United States.

(image via: Bevreview)

Those who were able to taste-test Pepsi Retro compared it with a similarly formulated product, Pepsi Raw – introduced previously in Great Britain. Both colas were made with cane sugar instead of HFCS corn syrup, used natural kola nut extract for flavoring, had stronger carbonation, appeared to be lighter in color, and tasted “raisin-like”.

Pepsi Ice Cucumber – Japan

(images via: Yadoya Guesthouse and 3yen)

This limited edition pale green tinted, cucumber-flavored Pepsi was sold in Japan in the summer of 2007 though the sheer oddness of the concept garnered it (and Pepsi) much attention in other parts of the world where it was never sold.

(image via: JILC)

Although new actual cucumbers were harmed, er, used in the making of Pepsi Iced Cucumber, execs at Pepsi Japan considered that omission to be besides the point. “We wanted a flavor that makes people think of keeping cool in the summer heat. We thought the cucumber was just perfect”, said one Pepsi Japan spokesman.

Pepsi Azuki – Japan

(images via: Nihonshock and Eddie Wong)

What’s an azuki, and why would anyone want to use it to flavor Pepsi? To answer the first part of the question, azuki is a small maroon bean used to add a sweetish taste to traditional Japanese snacks and desserts. As for the second part… lord only knows! Those who were fortunate (or unfortunate, as the case may be) to try Pepsi Azuki reported that it tasted neither like Pepsi nor azuki… maybe because “azuki” was conspicuously missing from the listed ingredients. And maybe it’s just as well.

(image via: Tokyo Five)

Pepsi Azuki was introduced to the Japanese market in late October of 2009, and as it was always intended to be a limited release, it’s difficult to judge whether it was a success or a failure. Pepsi Azuki has not been re-released, so perhaps we can assume the latter.

Pepsi Ice Cream – Russia

(image via: Travel Webshots)

Not much is known about Pepsi Ice Cream, other than it’s sold only in Russia and tastes sort of like cream soda. Pepsi has a long history in Russia, in fact it has the distinction of being the first foreign product officially sanctioned for sale in the Soviet Union. With the fall of communist hegemony in 1991, however, Pepsi became associated with the old regime and the new guy, Coca-Cola, rapidly gained market share. Doh!!

(images via: Esthr and Fiveprime)

The ad above, photographed on Moscow’s Tverskaya Street, promotes Pepsi Ice Cream with a curious Cold War angle: a secret agent broke down and spilled his secrets in exchange for Pepsi Ice Cream. The spy is quoted as saying “And I’d do it again… the taste was worth it!” Putin and Pepsi – is there anything they can’t do?

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