Taco Bell recently introduced six new selections to their soda fountain machines: Manzanita Sol, Diet Mountain Dew Baja Blast, Mountain Dew Sangrita Blast, Brisk Mango Fiesta, Brisk Iced Tea & Lemon, and zero-calorie SoBe Lifewater Yumberry Pomegranate.
I decided to try them all...
First up was
Mountain Dew Sangrita Blast, a Taco Bell exclusive flavor. It's fairly tart, fruity soda with a definite grape undertone. I think it's supposed to taste like
sangria and not
sangrita but I could be wrong. If it's not, it still tastes sangria-ish to me.
Manzanita Sol is an apple juice-flavored soda. It's like fizzy apple juice but not as tart as real apple juice.
Next, I tried
Brisk Mango Fiesta. Not sure what the fiesta is, but it tastes like peach iced tea tinged with mango.
Brisk Iced Tea & Lemonade Half & Half tastes pretty much like Brisk Lemon Iced Tea with an extra sour punch. I'm not sure why they didn't just have Brisk Lemon Iced Tea and Brisk Lemonade separately so you could just mix your own "half & half" to taste.
SoBe Lifewater Yumberry Pomegranate is basically lightly and generically berry-flavored water with a definite artificial sweetener aftertaste.
Last, I tried
Diet Mountain Dew Baja Blast, the diet version of the Taco Bell-exclusive flavor of Mountain Dew. It doesn't quite hit the same tropical lime flavor, but it's close. Like SoBe Yumberry Pomegranate, it also leaves that artificial sweetener aftertaste.
Of the six drinks, I preferred Sangrita Blast and Brisk Iced Tea & Lemonade Half & Half; mostly, because I prefer strong, tangy drinks. The new drinks cut a pretty wide swath of varied flavors, and if you're dining in, are definitely worth a try just to see what you like.
