Atlanta trip

[Cheer-wined]

Being a diehard southerner, I periodically make pilgrimages to Atlanta ... here’s some sodas I hauled back from a week ago.

New Fanta logos. The Fanta shokata (made in Macedonia) came from the Gwinnett International Farmer's Market. The market has a bit of everything but especially sodas from Jamaica, India, Mexico and Central America. Great place for browsing.
http://home.triad.rr.com/coolmoon/Fanta_shokata.jpg

More stuff from the IFM…
http://home.triad.rr.com/coolmoon/Atlanta_bottles.jpg
D&G from Jamaica. Not really a rare brand, seems to be at a lot of ethnic markets. The IFM had ginger beer, grape, orange, champagne kola, cream and pineapple.

Crush lemon and Canada Dry Tiky pineapple from Guatemala. Funky bottle.
Fanta Orange from Macedonia.
Topo Chico from Mexico. Very nice bottles and a bunch of flavors.
Solo sorrel, a hibiscus drink from Trinidad. Bottled by Pepsi-College Point NY.

Most of these came from the same farmer’s market…
http://home.triad.rr.com/coolmoon/Atlanta_cans.jpg

Materva, Jupiña, Champ’s, Quinabeer and the watermelon soda are all Cawy brands. Cawy’s big in So. Florida but Atlanta is about as far north as I’ve seen their products. Inca Kola seems to be widely available (we even have it in NC). Barritt’s and Coco Rico both canned by SEABEV. Havana Cola “the original key lime cola” looks interesting.

Other odds & ends…

Red Rock ginger ale in deli bottles, produced by Coke Union City TN. Cherokee Closeouts in Duluth sells 'em by the case, 6-packs, or singles. Some Wayfield’s also carry it.

Pepsi & Wayfield’s were running a promo on Sunkist 12pks - grape, pineapple, strawberry, fruit punch, peach, orange and diet orange @ 3/$8 or 2L’s for $0.99.

Saw Pepsi Jazz but didn't try it; tried the citrus Trop Twisters in SC, but wish I hadn't.

Pibb zero 12pks were very sparse and dated Oct-06 … may be on it’s last run. Fanta zero is still around. Coke zero also in limited quantities and fighting for shelf space against the 30 or so other varieties of diet Coke.

SEABEV is the 3rd tier bottler for Atlanta, their product gets trucked in from Jacksonville FL. They have an quirky brand portfolio for a 3rd tier in the south - their core brands are Canada Dry & 7up, but they also put a lot of focus on non-carb drinks like Sunny D, Hawaiian Punch (6 flavors in 20oz at c-stores), Country Time and Tahitian Treat. The flip side is that they have no Sundrop, Nehi or Cheerwine. They still bottle a couple of odd brands, Crush peach and Big Pineapple in 20oz. and 2L’s only. The Crush is pretty good but all the Big Pineapple that I've tried has been flat tasting. Sunkist makes a better pineapple soda IMO.
http://home.triad.rr.com/coolmoon/Big_Pineapple_Crush.jpg
Last but not least, no trip south would be complete without a frosted orange at the Varsity and lunch at the Beacon in Spartanburg.

[Rob The SURGE Drinker]

is it just me, or do the fanta strawberry and peach look the same from a glance? oh well, nice haul!

[Ram0n C0keah0lic]

Awesome pics! Thanx Cheerwined!

Have you tried that Fanta Shokata, how does it taste?

You're right, that Topo Chico is made in Mexico, but flavored Topo Chico sodas are only available in U.S., here in Mex. there's only Topo Chico Mineral Water, and exclusively in Monterrey, Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo there's Topo Chico Sangria and Grapefruit(Diet)

[ 08-09-2006, 10:20 PM: Message edited by: Ramón Cokeaholic ]

[Ram0n C0keah0lic]

Originally posted by Rob The SURGE Drinker:
is it just me, or do the fanta strawberry and peach look the same from a glance? oh well, nice haul! Rob... I have the same problem as you... LOL!

Once I saw an empty Fanta Strawberry bottle in the street exposed a long long time to the sun... and I thought it was a Fanta Peach bottle...LOL

[dahojo]

They don't seem to try much with RC & Diet Rite.

They droped Nehi Peach for Big Peach and now they have Crush Peach.

[Dr. Galaga]

I like the bottles, especially the Fanta Shokata and Tiky. Is the farmers market one store or a number of them close by?

[jmyjunk]

What does the Fanta Peach taste like, is at as good as Fanta Apple?

Also, does anyone have a break down of the regions that Fanta has their flavors other than Orange, Grape,Strawberry and Pineapple? (like peach, or lemon etc)

[BottleBoss]

That Sorrell soda should be interesting. Sorrell is a fruit they grow in Jamaica. I lived there for a few years and had it at christmas time. It is a christmas drink for Jamaicans. Usually it has a lot of ginger in it but it can be made without. It tastes good. The growing season is too long for it in the U.S. Takes a year to ripen.

[fusion]

Originally posted by Dr. Galaga:
I like the bottles, especially the Fanta Shokata and Tiky. Is the farmers market one store or a number of them close by? Tiky Pina is really good Pineapple soda. I found it once at a Hispanic grocery store in Maryland.

http://www.gwinnettdailyonline.com/GDP/article06BB7CD0DEE9409D85A3174CA578CEBE.asp

That's a good article about the Farmers Market. It's a little dated, but still good reading.

[Ram0n C0keah0lic]

Originally posted by jmyjunk:
What does the Fanta Peach taste like, is at as good as Fanta Apple?Here in Ags. we used to had Fanta Peach... and yes, it was really good, although a little too sweet, but Fanta Peach is still on sale in cities like Leon, Michoacan, Puebla and Veracruz in 500 ml bottles... (although I don't know if the american Fanta Peach has the same tasta as here in Mexico)

[ 08-11-2006, 04:26 PM: Message edited by: Ramón Cokeaholic ]

[Cheer-wined]

I haven't tried the shokata yet but it's next on my list. We have Topo Chico mineral water in most grocery stores here, but this is the first soda I'd bought from them. The IFM is one big market, stuff all over the place. The shokota was on a pallet of stuff from Macedonia, there was another flavor in the same size, I think "exotic". I am looking forward to the Solo too, I have tried hibiscus-based drinks like bissap in the past and liked them.