Just over a year ago I was wandering around a Mexican grocery store in Los Angeles when I found a glass bottle soda that caught my eye. It was the Besitos Mango con Chile, and at the time it was almost exclusively available at the Vallarta chain of grocery stores. As you can tell from my review, I loved it, and I kept in contact with the owner of Besitos and tried to find ways to get access to the soda here in the Seattle area.

The waiting game is over, and as of March 2024 the Besitos line of sodas (they have more flavors now) are available at Cost Plus World Market! I found them on an end cap by the other sodas, and they were $2.49 per bottle. World Market’s website indicated that they were out of stock, but this wasn’t accurate. The rack was totally full.

Review

A key characteristic of the Besitos sodas is the “con chile” flavor. You’ll notice cayenne on the ingredients label, and you’ll notice it on your tongue as well. I’d describe the heat level as similar to a spicy ginger beer, but the heat comes from the chiles instead of ginger. This is true for all three sodas. I felt the heat a bit more when I drank the soda while eating spicy Mexican food, so it can contribute to a compounding heat level, but I didn’t think it was overwhelming. Just interesting. Something else that’s common among all three beverages is a conservative amount of sugar. It’s about 19 grams of sugar per 12 ounce bottle, which is less than half of what you’ll find in a traditional can of Coca-Cola. They also contain caffeine (I don’t know how much).

Mango con Chile

This one is my favorite. It’s the first one that I tried, and it’s the first one that I’ll go back for. There are a couple of surprising things to this soda beyond the chile that I want to call out. First, the mango flavor is so vibrant. They use mango puree, and it tastes similar to mango nectar that you’ll find from some other juice companies. Second, it’s impressively carbonated for how much fruit solids are floating around. That’s something I look for in a drink, and Besitos gets it right. The last time I tried this soda it had stevia in it, which I didn’t notice. This time, there’s no stevia whatsoever. Just cane sugar. Mango con Chile is a 10/10 for me.

Lime con Chile

If Mango con Chile is a 10/10, then Lime con Chile is a 9.5/10 for me. I don’t have any complaints, I just see myself as gravitating towards a mango flavor over a lime flavor most of the time. That being said, this lime soda rocks. Same heat level that you’ll find in the mango soda, but the tartness of the lime puree in this soda compliments that chile in a different way. It feels like a lemonade on your tongue at first, but the carbonation, chile, and citric acid give it bite. What really surprised me is that they included yuzu juice in addition to the lime puree…I believe that this provides some natural sweetness and complexity that you wouldn’t find with straight lime juice.

Guava con Chile

I don’t eat a lot of guava, but I’m not opposed to it. This guava soda actually reminded me a bit of grapefruit because it’s a bit dry or pithy. It’s pleasantly tart, and the cayenne accent is great. Overall it’s a bit more subtle than the other two sodas. While it’s good, it’s the one that I would come back to the least. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s someone else’s favorite, though. Give it a try and see for yourself.

Conclusion

These sodas are awesome, and I think that you should try them. Spicy soda can be a thing, and it might just be your thing.