Josta and Crystal Pepsi

Circa 1994-1995, my buddies Steve and Michael and I went on a trip over to The Mad Platter record shop in Riverside, CA.  Next door to the Mad Platter was The Electric Chair alt. clothing/novelty type shop.  Right out in front of The Electric Chair was a little pickup truck with a couple guys sitting in the back.  They asked us if we like soda and wanted to know if we wanted a free six pack of a new drink called JOSTA.  We all said no but they said come on try one for free.  DAMN that drink was good.  I was so happy they gave me a free six pack.  I got some Josta's a few times after that because they really were good.  The drink was around for about 4 years but sadly I did not do much to support it and it eventually disappeared off the shelves because Pepsi stopped selling it.  And now I wish it were back.

This was not the first time Pepsi has taken away a product that I really enjoyed a lot.  Around 1992-1993, my first experience with Cryal Pepsi was the vending machines at my high school.  I saw one of my friends drinking from this Pepsi can with a design that I had never seen before.  Upon closer inspection I noticed that it said Crystal Pepsi, Clear Cola.  WTF.

The idea of it seemed so weird but my friend told me it tasted just like regular Pepsi.  Well now I had to try it to verify this.  And what do you know, it did taste like regular pepsi, but it was just slightly different, just slightly different enough that I liked it even more.  I got used to drinking it.  I would buy 12 packs of it, but it in 2 liter bottles etc and my favorite thing to do was drink it in a large plastic cup from Del Taco (yes we reused them) in a cup filled with ice.  Oh my summers were just wonderful back in '92 and '93.  I would make my specialty, burritos with chicken taquitos and guacamole and spanish rice and I would wash it all down with a Crystal Pepsi.  I absolutely remember those days still every single time I made burritos and still long for Crystal Pepsi.

Unfortunately, Pepsi also decided to take this product off the market although they supposedly brought it back or something similar called Pepsi Clear was introduced in Mexico in 2005 for a limited time.  It was noticed that PepsiCo filed for a patent for the name PepsiClear in 2008 but now three years later, still no Pepsi Clear here in the US.  Will Pepsi ever bring this back?  I remember so many people who absolutely loved this drink.  Can't they just bring it back for a limited time again so we can enjoy it again before we all forget it forever.  I have almost been tempted to buy some of the bottles people are selling on ebay but who really wants to drink a 20 year old soda?  This isnt wine after all, age doesn't make it better.  Please save me from doing something stupid like this Pepsi.  PLEASE bring back Crystal Pepsi, oh and please don't shit it up with Citrus flavor.  That's what made the product a complete failure.  It was actually really good until they did that.