Pepsi Throwback

Everyone's heard "Spoonful of Sugar" from "Mary Poppins." If you haven't I suggest confronting your parents and demanding to know what they did with your childhood. Then go to Netflix and order the DVD so you'll have some semblance of common experience to share with the world.

Fortunately you don't need to do those things to understand Pepsi throwback. Having seen Mary Poppins will likely aid your comprehension of the drink, but it isn't a prerequisite.

The reason "Spoonful of Sugar" is so important to Pepsi Throwback is it likely encouraged you to ask your mother for a spoonful of sugar at some point. You were probably sick and had to take some nasty cough syrup or evil pink liquid penicillin and asked for a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. Your mother, exasperated at your incessant whining and out of ways to coerce you to take the medicine, likely complied and handed you a spoon heaped with white granulated sugar.

Remember what it tasted like? Cross that with a Pepsi and you have Pepsi Throwback.

That should come as no surprise. After all, Pepsi replaced the high-fructose corn syrup it typically uses to sweeten the drink with natural sugar.

It's still definitely Pepsi. It's just Pepsi with an aftertaste similar to the one you got after swallowing your spoonful of sugar. Which is to say it's Pepsi with an aftertaste that's much better than a diet aftertaste. (Only without the lower calorie count.)

I even think it adds an interesting depth to Pepsi's sweetness. By the end of a 20 oz. bottle it's a little too rich, but I would prefer a glass of Pepsi Throwback to a glass of regular Pepsi.

Not everyone shares that view -- I've heard quite a bit of grumbling about the altered taste. Still, I think it's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and am giving it four sporks out of five.

Check back soon for a review of Mountain Dew Throwback. The Dew's clearer flavor might be altered to a greater extent by the natural sugar. We'll see.