With a twist.

Before I went on hiatus, I reviewed -- harshly -- two of the new Diet Coke flavors, Zesty Blood Orange and Ginger Lime. The Blood Orange was a poor combo with the Diet Coke, and the Ginger Lime seemed to have no ginger at all. 

I went on to try the Feisty Cherry, which tasted a lot like the extant Coke Zero Cherry. The only difference was a peppery quality that gave me a little burn at the end, thus the feistiness. Because when you're thirsty, you want a burned throat. Big whoop. Wouldn't bother with that again. 

Then, finally, the one I'd been avoiding:

Yeah, Twisted Mango. I was willing to buy it just to hate it. Coke describes it as

a wild child. like hair on fire, off the wall kind of wild. it puts pineapple to shame and laughs at papaya. best of all? it knows it's crazy.

Who wouldn't want to hate the product with stupid ad copy like that?

The problem is, I love it.

The first can I had was like, Bizarre, can't even, nah. Not nasty, though. Actually tastes like mango. And cola. The second can was, Mango and cola... make a nice combo. The third can was love.

I'm sorry, I wanted to make fun of it, I did. But it was tasty and refreshing. Mango and cola really do pair well, neither flavor overwhelming the other. I bought another 8-pack, and then another. Mango Cola was the surprise newcomer of 2018.

Oh, what's the use? It's no fun to review a product that doesn't suck. Come back next time and I'm sure to try something crappy. God knows there's a lot of bad ideas that make it to market somehow. Got any recommendations?