Red Bull Variant

WAY back in 2018, I posted about Red Bull Summer Editions and the newest can I had, Coconut Berry.

Last week I went golfing.  I noticed around hole 3 what my cart buddy was drinking... a Red Bull Coconut Berry.  This is my new can from that golf outing. 

When you have thousands of cans at home, it's hard to remember what you've already collected.  But this can looked awesome with its white and "chrome" look.  And the flavor sounded pretty funky.  So I took the can when he was done with it.

It was later I checked my blog and realized I already had this flavor... from years ago.  But upon closer examination, I noticed the sizes (both mL and OZ) were printed in reversed order.  This is the can from seven years ago.

It's fun collecting different brands and different flavors, but at my level of collecting I'm also looking for variants.  And this can, even with just the different order in which they listed the can size, is considered a different can.

So if you're a deep collector, always look carefully at the can.  At first glance it may look like a can you already have, but even the smallest change can make it a "new can" for your collection.

Alani New 3

Someone at work really likes Alani Nu energy drinks.

I recently saved these from a terrible recycling fate.  I really wonder what these taste like because the names of the flavors are pretty cool.  Here we have Dream Float, Strawberry Sunrise, and Witch's Brew.  

Of the three I'm most interested in the Witch's Brew.  I wonder what magical powers you get from drinking it.

Vikings

And this week brought a cool surprise.

This cool Monster Juice can with a Viking theme.

The flavor is Viking Berry but I didn't think to ask what it tasted like.  The can has a nifty story which ends "Grab your drinking horn and take a swig, skoll".

What's a skoll?  In Norse mythology, Skoll is a wolf, alongside his brother Kati, who are fated to chase and devour the sun and moon respectively, ultimately leading to the end of the world during Ragnarok.

So this week you've seen a cool can and possibly learned something.

Olipops

As an alternative to the prebiotic soda brand Poppi, I've collected a few Olipop cans.

On the can, these read "Prebiotics - Botanicals - Plant Fiber".  They also have a stamp "Plant Powered - Microbiome Approved".  To be honest, none of that sounds like it should be a drink, haha.

The flavors here are Cream Soda, Crisp Apple, and Strawberry Vanilla.  And I was told they are really good.  Maybe one day I'll try one for myself.

I like the simple, yet effective, artwork on each can.  You can tell what flavor they are even if you can't read.

And of course they support digestive health, as do I.

Herbal Tonic

This is an interesting one.  It's been a while since I've featured and AriZona can, but here's a recent one.

This is from the AriZona Rx Energy line.  It's called Herbal Tonic and is self-described as this:

    "An invigorating blend of green tea, tropical & citrus fruits, panax ginseng, eleuthero root, guarana, schisandra, and vitamins A, C, and E."

Wow, a lot of new words in that.

And I love the old-timey-looking art on the can.  They could have just called it Snake Oil.

Orange Creams

It's great being a collector and knowing people who only drink "diet" versions of sodas, or "zero sugar" versions, or regular versions, etc.

Because when a new design comes out, chances are I'll be getting a couple different variations of the same design.  That's what happened when Coca-Cola released its orange cream flavor.  My parents prefer Zero Sugar, so they had to try this flavor in that variation.  Another family I know buys regular sodas, so I got the regular variation of this can from them.

As in the business world, its best to network and make connections among your collecting circles.  One man's trash...

Tropical Days

Summer is coming!  And I got this can from a guy at work last week.

Such a great design!!!  So different for 7 UP.  This is the zero sugar version of their newest flavor, Tropical.  It's hard to tell from the list of chemical ingredients, but I would guess there's a splash of mango or orange flavor to this.

A couple days after I received this can someone else texted me a pic of the regular version, so I'll be featuring that can in the upcoming weeks.

Bring on the tropical...

College Poppi

I visited my daughter at college yesterday and had a nice surprise.

Seven new cans she's saved for me.  I'll be featuring them in the coming weeks, but this week I chose to show the new Poppi cans.

It's surprising I didn't have the orange can yet.  And I received my first little Poppi, a 7.5oz can of Doc Pop, their version of Dr Pepper.

Overall it was a great trip... as is her journey to try all the Poppi flavors.

Two Peppers

It's been a while since I've mentioned Dr Pepper here, but last week I was given two new cans.

It continues the recent trend towards Zero Sugar and its color black motif.

This is a new version of Cherry.  It's now in line with the current Blackberry design, which to be honest, I didn't even know Dr Pepper had a blackberry flavor.

I think it'd be neat to line up all the Dr Pepper cans I've collected in recent years to show the variations of the can designs and different flavors they've released, but ain't nobody got time for that.

Flavored Pepsi 2

Just two weeks ago I gushed about a new Pepsi can in my collection.  This week I'll continue the gushing.

The same person who gave me the first wild cherry & cream can also gave me this one, the zero sugar version.  As the color black has come to be associated with Zero Sugar, the difference in the cans is in the starburst stripes behind the Pepsi logo.  In the regular version some of the stripes are white.  In this version, those same stripes are black.  Subliminal?  Could be.

The funny thing is they meant to buy more of the regular version but accidentally bought the zero sugar version instead.  As the old saying goes, "One man's mistake is another man's can collection gain."

Watermelon Bull

We went on a college tour last weekend for my son and all I got was this new can.

It's been a while since I've featured a Red Bull can.  I used to try to collect all the editions and flavors as they came out, but I fell behind.

This one is Red Edition watermelon flavored.  It sounds delicious.  My main problem is reading the green print on the red background.  It's a bit of a contrast.  Looks like a Christmas Edition.

Btw, I needed no energy drink boost to make it through the 2-hour campus walking tour.  And my smart watch was glad I got my high score for number of steps in a day!  That's the important stuff.

Flavored Pepsi

I was given a new can this week and it sure looks cool!

The design of this car instantly caught my eye!  And the flavor is interesting also, Wild Cherry & Cream.  The person who gave this to me said it tasted pretty good, they were a fan.

As far as the look of the can, I'm a fan.  It may be a bit busy, but it sure is a neat look for Pepsi.

Orange Week

I was given two cans this week.  I immediately noticed a couple themes.

Here we have an orange Fanta Zero Sugar.  I like the simple yet bold font.  And we have an orange Sunkist, also Zero Sugar.

An orange, zero sugar week.  Who could ask for more?

It Finally Happened to Me

When I seriously started collecting cans in 2011, I read advice from other can collectors and one of the most often stated pearls of wisdom was to drain every can.  I read many stories of cans exploding or leaking, causing damage to other cans or shelves in others' collections.  So I've followed that advice.  For the most part.

I came home from work one day this week and found this in my fridge:

Did some ice melt?  Was the water line to the fridge leaking?  Did someone break into my house and spill water in my fridge?  Those didn't make sense.  It had to be from something on that shelf.

After carefully examining each of the four suspect cans I found the culprit:

It was the can in the back trying to hide behind the others.  When I picked it up it felt only half full.

So it finally happened to me.  I had a can leak.  But how did it leak?  I still can't find the hole, it must be the smallest hole imaginable.  I left it in the sink for a week to slowly drain most of what's left inside, but there's still a little left in the bottom that I can't figure out how to get it.  I've decided to let it slowly evaporate thru the hole I can't find.

I mean, I made a post about it when I got this can.  I put it in the fridge so I could drink it at some point.  It hasn't been THAT long has it?  Oops.  August 20, 2023.  

Ok, so it's been a while.  

4 More Poppi

My daughter is on a Poppi kick.  In fact, it's her goal to try as many different flavors as she can.  Which bodes well for me because she saves the cans for my collection.

The newest batch is Classic Cola, Cherry Cola, Root Beer, and their holiday flavor Cranberry Fizz.

She's enjoying the brand so much that she's tracking her review of each flavor so she knows which ones to buy again and which ones to stay away from.

I'm also enjoying her enjoyment because it means my collection will keep growing...

Another Trash Can Save

What better way to start the new year than a trash can save?  I found this at work and saved it from the Evil Recycler.

It certainly wasn't the prettiest thing I'd seen in a while.  Someone had squeezed the sides when they were done.  And the tab had been ripped off the top.  And it was surrounded by real trash.

I carefully pulled it out of the trash can and gave it a good antibacterial cleaning.  When we got home I was able to get the dents out.  But there's nothing I can do for its missing tab.  

This watermelon lemonade Sparkling Ice is a welcome addition to my collection, warts and all.  Did I mention it also had warts?  It didn't really but it could have.