While they’re not exactly craft sodas, I was excited to try Big Red and Big Blue due to their cultish regional fan base. The sodas hail from Texas with a long history of popularity. I remember seeing Big Red when I was younger, probably even drank it. A Sodafry reader insisted that I give it another shot and combined the challenge with the “blue” variation of the drink.
I found Big Red hard to describe. It’s sweet. Ridiculously sweet. It hits your palate like a handful of bubble gum flavored cotton candy…but prickly?? There’s an edge to the sweetness. I imagine that the slight bite to the soda comes from the caffeine added to the drink. Although I didn’t care for it I can understand why others would. Texas is full of bold flavors (Tex-Mex, BBQ, JJ Watt), and this super saturated soda doesn’t seem entirely out of place in that context. This puts it at a 5 on my rating scale.
Big Blue is a whole other story. I thought that Big Red was too sweet, Big Blue might be a weaponized version of soda. For real, I thought that four of my teeth rotted at first contact. The only discernible flavor I could pick out was corn syrup. This made it a bit smoother than Big Red, but that wasn’t an advantage in my book. To make sure I wasn’t fabricating this reaction out of some subconscious color bias I closed my eyes and mixed up the glasses and sampled them again. I could immediately identify Big Red from Big Blue, and Big Red was the obvious favorite. That puts Big Blue at a 4.
It’s hard to tell what the intended flavors of these sodas are, but looking at the ingredient labels does provide some interesting information. For one, it helps quantify the amount of sugar contained in both drinks. Big Blue is staggering. Big Red has a big more sugar per ounce than Coke, but Big Blue has about a third more than Big Red. Wow.
Big Red says that it has natural and artificial flavor. Big Blue only claims artificial flavor. I’m guessing that flavor is Blue 1. I don’t want to keep you from drinking the stuff, and I don’t want to alienate my readers, but I give both of these a hard pass. There are plenty of other options out there that offer more flavor, less sugar, and less…Blue 1.
Catalog:
Sampled on 9/21/2016. I believe they were purchased at a gas station somewhere.
The Sodafry 
To each their own. Big Blue is the top tier
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Big Blue takes the Cake hands down, and it has the flavor that can’t be described, as in you can mix anything with it and it still remains impeccable
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Agree, Big Blue is disgusting. 😝
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Maybe it is a Texas thing. I grew up on both and I have a sweet tooth and big blue has always been my favorite and go to soda.
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Well like they say to each there own why people have to bad mouth something if they dont like it you can comment what you do or dont like but dont be so sarcastic when telling there opinions everybody ain’t the same that’s what makes the world go around well I’m going to speak what I think about these 2 I was a big red head for years I always have them in fridge but I but me a couple big blues everyday cause I love it I hope they never stop selling it I pick it over NY big red everyday and the flavor of big blue was a mystery like the white air head candy but u eat or drink something everyday u figure out the flavor but people that think coke or Pepsi is the greatest or mountain dew the worse one besides spite terrible well they all no good to me I can say what I dont like about each one I drink tea if I couldnt have a red or a blue and I’m not a tea drinker so I rest my case
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Me: *drinking big blue while reading this article* “….and has about a 1/3 more the sugars as big red”
WAIT WHAT
Thankfully, as of this 2-liter big blue 5/28/21, the total sugars is 48grams, calories per serving size is 180, and the ingredients now lists “natural and artificial flavors” so I can let myself feel a little better about how quickly I chug this stuff down haha!
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I know I’m a bit late to the comments but I live in Tennessee and one of our Circle K stores just started carrying Big Blue. I have drank Big Red on and off all my life. As far back as I can remember anyway. But I never had a Big Blue until a couple weeks ago. Having had ulcer disease and reflux for the last 30 years, I have had to change what I drink several times. Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sundrop, Big Red, etc. Due to the severity of my acid reflux issues I have had to stick with cream soda, for the most part, for the last 5 years. There is very little available to people with stomach disorders when it comes to soda. Big Blue gives me an alternate drink now, where is Big Red tends to give me a few issues. To me, Big Blue is similar to cream soda but with more of a cotton candy taste. It rivals Coke, (my go to when I’m feeling risky,) and other sodas in the sugar department which at this time I am not concerned about. For me, Big Blue gives me an alternate drink choice when I get to the Big City, seeing that it Little Cities and home towns don’t carry it, yet.
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Good grief-the flavor is Creme Soda-
And yes-the Blue is without the bite.
It’s not rocket science!
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I’ve tried Big Red and Blue. No discernable difference to me.
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