Sprite Cranberry is a flavor of Sprite that is released annually every year for a limited time in the United States. It is available during the Christmas holiday season. The drink was released in 2017, along with an animated advertisement that aired on November 16th. The commercial, titled ‘The Thirstiest Time of the Year,’ sees professional basketball player Lebron James using Sprite Cranberry to help cool down a family suffering from the blistering heat inside their home. In the background, a remix parody version of the song ‘The Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ is playing. However, the lyrics have been changed to talk about Sprite Cranberry. The commercial was an immediate hit, which caused it to become a meme online. This meme is what most people remember about the drink today.

The drink continued to be released annually until 2019, where it was rebranded as Sprite Winter Spiced Cranberry. The new version was reformulated to include the spices cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and cloves to go along with the cranberry flavor. This version of Sprite Cranberry is what is available to this day. Despite the drink’s overwhelming popularity, most people haven’t tasted Sprite Cranberry for themselves. Perhaps seeing the advertisement and its memes helped quench people’s curiosity about the soda.

However, I have decided to taste the drink for myself and see if it is any good. My verdict is that I enjoy Sprite Cranberry quite a lot. The cranberry taste isn’t bitter but provides a crisper and sweeter flavor to the citrus flavor of Sprite. The refreshing taste leaves you wanting more. However, what really ties the drink together is the spices. They are not overwhelming to the senses but provide more of a flavorful spice-filled after taste that complements the cranberry flavor nicely. The spices also give the soda a more complex flavor profile compared to if the flavor was only cranberry flavored.

If you are ever feeling thirsty this holiday season, then I highly recommend that you get yourself a nice, cold glass of Sprite Cranberry this holiday season. Truly, it is a drink that stands on its own quite well and lives up to the culture surrounding it.