Ten of us in the workplace soda tasting crew participated in the Tropical Fruit Punch Soda Taste Olympics on Friday, trying 9 different sodas. When the ballots were counted, the medals were awarded as follows:

Gold: Tahitian Treat
Silver: Jarritos
Bronze: Goya

BRAND TOP 3 NO. 1 POINTS

TAHITIAN TREAT 9 4 13
JARRITOS 6 3 9
GOYA 4 1 5
BARRILITOS 2 1 3
CRUSH 3 0 3
SUBURBAN 2 1 3
SUNKIST 2 0 2
ROCK CREEK 2 0 2
IBERIA 0 0 0

TT had the right mix of flavors for our crew - not too sweet, not too carbonated, all around good soda.

No doubt as to the loser in this one. The medalists:

Fool’s Gold: Iberia
Tinfoil: Rock Creek
Lead: Goya & Suburban

BRAND BOTTOM 3 NO. 9 POINTS

IBERIA 10 6 16
ROCK CREEK 5 1 6
GOYA 4 1 5
SUBURBAN 4 1 5
JARRITOS 2 1 3
SUNKIST 2 0 2
CRUSH 2 0 2
BARRILITOS 1 0 1
TAHITIAN TREAT 0 0 0


Hard to argue with the results on this one, particularly on Iberia – one of the worst sodas I’ve ever tried. I was a little surprised to see Goya a double-medal winner – just goes to show you we don’t all like the same taste when it comes to sodas.

I have not had fruit punch soda pop in a long time.
I do remeber that when I was a kid Tahitian Treat
was very robust and flavorful. I used to drink it
mostly during dog days of summer.

Tahitian Treat is awesome. Unfortunately it's very hard to get here in Houston. I found it in 2 liter bottles for a brief spell but it's gone now. It used to be pretty easy to find when i was a kid.

Glad to hear that it came out on top in your Olympics.

What, no Shasta Tiki Punch? Speaking of Tahitian Treat, does anybody remember another Canada Dry flavor, Wild Cherry? Best cherry soda ever, IMHO.

The only bottle of Shasta Tiki Punch I could find was a dusty 3L at Mars Supermarket that I've seen sitting on the shelf for a looooong time. Couldn't bring myself to buy it.

Canada Dry wild cherry can still be found in the Mid-Atlantic.