I tried the prebiotic soda collaboration between Kraft Dinner (Canada’s version of Kraft Mac and Cheese) and Solly’s, a craft soda maker, Solly’s. I’m gonna be honest, I have feelings. Did I think that this was going to be delicious? It was a long shot. Did I think that it would taste like blue box mac and cheese? Yes! And that’s where things went wrong.
It doesn’t taste enough like mac and cheese! Not even close. If you swish it around in your mouth for a while you might pick up on some phantom flavors, but it mostly tastes like a standard prebiotic soda with a splash of vanilla. The color is correct, and the can/box branding is totally on point. That’s the most positive thing I can say about this product. More than anything, it reminded me of carbonated starchy pasta water…and that gave me an idea.
Could I make a better mac and cheese soda? I’d have to start with mac and cheese. I didn’t have access to the Canadian version of the product, so I used the American Deluxe Kraft Mac and Cheese and assumed it would be superior. I chilled the leftover pasta water and made a spherical ice cube with that and some macaroni. That way I could keep the beverage cold without diluting the flavor. After that it was pretty simple. I blended up a literal handful of the cooked and sauced macaroni into the chilled pasta water, carbonated it in my DrinkMate system, poured it over the macaroni ice cube, and enjoyed.
Did I say enjoy? I meant “experienced”, because this was quite a journey. The pasta water had turned incredibly starchy and was thick like porridge. It seized up even more after blending with the macaroni, but somehow the DrinkMate added enough carbonation to lighten it up. It frothed and foamed a bit like a mango lassi, but the flavor was very clearly mac and cheese. It didn’t go down easy, but I drank a whole glass.
I know that I’m not impartial, but I believe that my version was much more successful than the KD x Solly’s collaboration. It all depends on your definition of success. I actually think that this soda was worse than the pepperoni pizza soda I had a while ago, although my recreation was much less elaborate. If you want to try this yourself, I think it’s mostly available at Walmart in Canada. Good luck.
