03 What about Kool-Aid flavors?
Description
This article is from the Kool-Aid FAQ, by Paul and Bess Dawson-Schmidt dawsons@visi.com with numerous contributions by others.
03 What about Kool-Aid flavors?
Here is what The Kraft Homepage has to say about flavors:
The seven original KOOL-AID flavors were: Cherry, Lemon-Lime, Grape,
Orange, Root Beer, Strawberry, and Raspberry.
Not all current flavors are available in all areas. Pina-Pineapple, for
example, seemed to have limited availability in the US and was not found
in Canada at all. Flavors marked US are only available in the United
States. There are also flavors marked "Mexico" and "Canada" Flavors
that are unmarked indicate that the flavor is available in all three
countries.
Special thanks to Ron Gregory, Lynn Wiegard and Dr. Christopher
Hollinshed, for providing the discontinued flavors, as well as Kevin
Whalen, Gary Boltralik and Christine Jean Lee for their invaluable
contributions. Lynn Wiegard is also responsible for the seasonal flavor
list. Thanks to Donovan for the new flavors as well as the flavors
coming in different forms.
Current Flavors:
Black Cherry (US)
Blastin' Berry Cherry (US)
Blue Raspberry (US - Kool-Aid Splash)
Cherry (US, Canada, Russia, Philippines, Venezuela)
Cola (Mexico)
Frutas {Punch} (Mexico)
Grape (US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Philippines, Venezuela)
Grape Berry Splash (US, Canada)
Grape Berry Punch (US - Kool-Aid Splash)
Guarana (Brazil)
Ice Blue Island Twist (US)
Kiwi Strawberry (US - Kool-Aid Splash)
Kolita (Venezuela)
Lemonade (US, Canada, Russia)
Lemonade Sparkle (Philippines)
Lemonade Tea (US)
Lemon-Lime (US, Canada)
Mandarina Tangerine (US)
Man-O-Mangoberry (US, Canada)
Oh-Yeah Orange-Pineapple (US, Canada)
Orange (US, Canada, Russia, Brazil, Columbia, Philippines)
Orange Enerjooz (Philippines)
Pina-Pineapple (Mexico?)
Pineapple (Philippines)
Pink Lemonade (US)
Pink Swimmingo (Canada, Philippines) (AKA Watermelon-Cherry in the US)
Purplesaurus Rex (Canada)
Raspberry (RUSSIA)
Roarin' Raspberry Cranberry (US, Canada)
Rock-a-dile Red (Canada)
Slammin' Strawberry-Kiwi (US, Canada)
Soarin' Strawberry-Lemonade (US)
Strawberry (all known places)
Strawberry Tea (US)
Tropical Punch (all known places)
Watermelon (US - Kool-Aid Splash)
Watermelon-Cherry (US) (AKA Pink Swimmingo in Canada)
Wildberry Tea (US)
NOTE: "Frutas" is Spanish for "Fruit". This could also mean "Punch".
Also, Pina-Pineapple is available in Mexico under the name "Pina" which
translated into English is "Pineapple". Lastly, "Guarana" is the name of
a plant found in Brazil. Presumably, that flavor tastes like that plant.
Other current edible forms of Kool-Aid: Donovan (donovan@misslink.net)
---------------------------------------
"Bursts" are small plastic bottles that can only be opened by twisting
the tops off and cannot be recapped. These are usually sold in shrink
wrapped 6-packs. The bottles actually have written on them, "not for
individual sale." The bottles are also 6.75 FL OZ or 200 ml. They
presently come in the US as Blastin' Berry Cherry, Cherry, Grape,
Great Bluedini, Kickin' Kiwi-Lime, Slammin' Strawberry-Kiwi, and
Tropical Punch.
"Slushies" (US) or "Barbotines" (Canada) are a sealed foiled pouch that
has to be mixed and made in the freezer and is not ready to drink.
When prepared, they are just like the slush drinks. The pouches are
NET WT 5 oz or 141 g and supposedly are 4 servings. "Yeah Right!" They
presently come in the US as Cherry Freeze, Grape Frost, and Lemonade
Ice. They presently come in Canada as Arctic Orange (Orange Arctique),
Frosted Grape (Raisin Givre'), and Polar Punch (Punch Polaire).
"Spashes" are plastic bottles that have a sports bottle top that can be
drank through and recapped or you can pop off the entire top. The
bottles are also 16 FL OZ or 473 ml. They presently come in the US as
Blue Raspberry, Cherry, Grape Berry Punch, Kiwi Strawberry, Tropical
Punch, and Watermelon. *The only form available in the Blue Raspberry,
Kiwi Strawberry, and Watermelon flavors at this time in the US*
"Kool-Pops" are frozen flavored ice in long thin plastic bars(strips).
They come in variety packs of 24 bars per box. Just put the bars in
the freezer and after some impatient waiting you'll have instant
Kool-Aid popsicles. The present US flavors in each box are Blastin'
Berry Cherry, Blue Tropical Punch, Grape, and Orange. They originally
were released in 1989 and have changed flavors and box art.
Discontinued Flavors:
The flavors below are, sadly, no longer being produced.
Apple
Berry Blue (Ice Blue Island Twist is apparently the same thing)
Bunch Berry
Cherry Cracker
Golden Nectar (late 1957)
Great Bluedini (US, Philippines)
Incrediberry (US, Canada)
Kickin' Kiwi-Lime (mid 1998)
Mountainberry Punch (Sweetened only packet in Canada, regular in US)
Pina-Pineapple (mid 98)
Pink Lemonade (Canada only)
Rainbow Punch
Red Fruit
Rootbeer (1955-57)
Sharkleberry Fin
Strawberry Falls Punch
Strawberry Split (sweetened packet only, Canada)
Sunshine Punch
Surfin' Berry Punch
Tangerine (circa 1971)
Seasonal Flavors:
HALLOWEEN FALVOURS: The packets say "Ghoul-Aid", instead of "Kool-Aid" in
the US, and "Hallowe'en Kool" instead of "Kool-Aid" in Canada.
Eerie Orange (CAN)
Scary Black Cherry (CAN)
Scary Blackberry (US)
Kraft has finally confirmed that Hallowe'en Kools are now a *permanent*
item, and they should be available from now on, each year, from Oct 1 -
Nov 5. There are no plans to expand the Hallowe'en Kool flavor lineup.
Mexican Flavor Information: Gary Boltralik (Boltralg@AEPCO.com)
All the KA sold in Mexico (per the person who bought it for me) comes
in boxes of 5 packs. This includes the Cola flavor. I have a Cola
box containing only the Cola flavor. If Cola was sold as a
promotional flavor at one point, it would appear to be a current
flavor now.
Reason's for Discontinuation of Flavors: Lynn M Wiegard (prex@golden.net)
According to K/GF, a lot of flavors are discontinued because they are too
similar to existing flavors. After all, every flavor available in a
grocery store takes up about 1-1/2 feet of shelf space. Grocery chains
may not be into devoting more space to something like SFP when they
already carry Strawberry. Thus, even before the flavor hits the shelves
(i.e. before any consumer input), a decision about the success of the
flavor has already been made :-(
I think that may be the case with a lot of the berry KA's that have been
discontinued over time.
Sometimes, too, it's not even the grocer's decision, but that of the
wholesaler who sells to the grocer. And K/GF has no control over all
these decisions.
If there is a flavor that you *know* is still produced, but missing from
the shelves of your grocery, rattle the chains at the buying office for
your store. Sadly, this may get you Lime or Strawberry, hard to find in
parts--but will not bring back SFP, Bluedini, P. Rex, or anything else
that has been *discontinued*.
K/GF will probably not resurrect any flavor deemed "too similar", simply
because of the concerns related to getting it on the shelf. The blue
stuff--well, that's a different story [note the post re: safety
concerns].
I personally think a lot of the discontinued flavors fell victim in the
war for shelf space, without fault to the consumer or K/GF.
Resurrecting Flavors: Jaye (jaelithe@earthlink.net)
The young woman I spoke to told me that if they get enough complaints
about a flavor being killed off, they will resurrect it. So tell
everyone who loves raspberry (or any other discontinued flavor)
Kool-Aid to call 1-800-367-9225 (in the USA) or 1-800-268-7808
(In Canada) between 9am-4pm EST and complain politely.
***Notes on the discontinuation of Berry Blue and Great Bluedini: Several
sources have indicated that Berry Blue was discontinued because of
parental concerns that those flavors looked too much like toxic
substances, and could encourage kids to poison themselves. Berry Blue
was discontinued because it allegedly looked too much like windshield
washer fluid. Great Bluedini was similarly discontinued because it
looked too much like anti-freeze.
Berry Blue is back with a new name:
Just wanted to point out: Berry Blue is "back" as a US Island Twist
flavor, a blue raspberry lemonade called Ice Blue Island Twist!
I asked Kraft up here if there were any plans to bring the flavor to
Canada, and they said they want to wait and see how it does.
-George Eggleston (jester@txdirect.net) & Lynn Weigard (prex@golden.net)
Specialty Package Info:
4 point Nickelodeon Kool-Aid was Manufactured in 1986, featuring a header
that says "Join the Biscuits 'N Gravy Birthday Bunch", and the cartoon
Character "Stick Stickly on the front.
-Jane Sitton-Logan (hammer@mail.startext.net)
Bugs Bunny was featured on Cyclamate Sweetened Kool-Aid in the early
1970's.
Subway (the sub sandwich chain) came out with the regular Cherry Flavor
with The Flintstones art on the package in December 1, 1998 though
January 4, 1999. -Donovan (donovan@misslink.net)
The sweetened box--sort of like Tang's format:
Size: 5-1/2" x 7-1/2" x 1-1/2"
Contents: 2 x 1.5L pre-sweetened pouches
Description: Box is full color with puzzles on rear. Pouches are
one-color on white, and show the "Smiling Pitcher"
Date: 1991
Other Discontinued Kool-Aid Products:
In the last years of the Perkins era of KA (40's-50's) the following
items were on the market:
Kool-Aid Soda [bottled]
Kool-Aid Bubble Gum
Kool-Aid Ice Cream Mix
Kool-Aid Shake Mix
-Lynn Wiegard (prex@golden.net)
"Koolers" and "Sport Koolers" were juice boxes in 3-packs. The
Koolers came in 6-packs also. Sport Koolers were taller and thinner
than the regular Koolers. They originally were released in 1989.
You could only get them with points in the beginning. 3-packs were
5 points and the 6-packs were 10 points. They came in Cherry, Grape,
Lemonade, Mountain Berry Punch, Orange, Purplesaurus Rex, Rainbow
Punch, Strawberry, and Tropical Punch.
-Donovan (donovan@misslink.net)
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