What does Dreamworld taste like?
Coca-Cola has released some interesting, albeit abstract, flavors recently. I tried their Starlight flavor a while back and neglected to write a review, but I thought that it might have had some flavoring from Szechuan peppercorn. Probably not, though. The description of that edition was:
Introducing Coca-Cola Starlight, the first limited edition sparkling beverage from Coca-Cola Creations. Experience a subtle cooling sensation as you enjoy the reddish Starlight beverage with a new, but familiar great Coca-Cola taste. Discover infinite possibilities from a new world with Coca-Cola Starlight before it’s gone.
The note about a “subtle cooling sensation” is what made me think of Szechuan peppercorn, but when I tried it I couldn’t pick up on anything specific. It tasted…odd…but still like a cola. If you’re forcing me to guess, then I’m going to stick with peppercorn, but I heard others say that it was some sort of chemically engineered raspberry because that’s close to a molecular compound that was discovered in space. Either way, I don’t think that peppercorn has anything to do with Starlight, and I didn’t think it tasted like raspberries. It wasn’t good.
Dreamworld
Most recently Coca-Cola released a flavor called “Dreamworld”. This one was advertised as:
Coca-Cola Dreamworld makes the most fascinating parts of our imagination real. This limited edition sparkling beverage from Coca-Cola Creations explores the realms of the surreal, the imaginary, and the otherworldly. Experience the familiar Coca-Cola taste now with a surprising and unexpected flavor from a dream world.
Again, the description is very abstract, but I feel like I got close to a reasonable guess. The color placed this obviously in the cola family, but there was nuance to the flavor that reminded me a bit of Dr. Pepper. More specifically, there was a very fruity smell and flavor note to it that layered on the cola base. I heard others describe this as a pineapple flavor, or some other sort of citrus. I could understand where they were coming from, but to me it tasted like something a bit more exotic. Cacao fruit. I’ve had a cacao fruit smoothie in the past and to me it was a bit of a cross between a citrus fruit, a pineapple, an apple, and maybe lychee. While I did still taste cola in the Dreamworld, I think I picked up on that same sort of blended flavor profile that I experienced with the cacao fruit smoothie. What would cacao fruit have to do with Dreamworld? No clue. Overall, I enjoyed the flavor.
If you’re wondering why you’ve never had cacao fruit before, I’ll explain. Cacao beans are what is used to make chocolate. The cacao beans are surrounded with a soft fruit, which is also surrounded by a fibrous hull/pod. The beans mature by letting the fruit ferment around them. There’s a high demand for cacao beans (for chocolate) and little demand for cacao fruit, so you can understand why this difficult to harvest fruit is scarce. Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco is the only place that I’ve ever seen offer something with cacao fruit, so if you want to try it then I’d recommend checking with them to see if they still offer something.
The Sodafry 