Can we all agree that “strawberry kiwi” has its own distinct flavor? I know that sounds a little weird, like, “Yeah, duh, dude.” But hear me out: some fruits go together, and when you eat a thing containing the pieces, you notice each. When you eat a lemon-blueberry loaf, you go, “Oh, that’s a blueberry,” and then, “Yep, there’s lemon.” Ditto cranberry-orange and, to a lesser extent, strawberry-watermelon. I feel like strawberry kiwi, however— heretofore known as strawi—is most recognizable as a singular entity and less a sum of its individual components.

Or maybe I’m just on one because I’m really digging this new Walmart-exclusive Sprite Chill Strawberry Kiwi.

I’m not an overly regular Sprite consumer. One of the reasons I drink soda is as a caffeine delivery mechanism, and so it has an inherent strike against it. But every once in a while, I’ll see Sprite and think, hey, that looks refreshing. But this new offering moves beyond “refreshing” and goes straight to, “This is the sort of soda that I should totally be drinking poolside on an 85-degree summer day.” (Okay, and I’ll also admit that this is, perhaps, influenced by the fact that it is almost 80-degrees here in the midwest at the end of March— what I believe we call 2nd Fool’s Spring. We’ll have snow once more before Spring is actually official, mark my word.)

Anyway, the strawi is strong here, sweet and crisp at the beginning of the sip, in the middle, and all the way through. It’s a perfect strawi, too, a bit tart, a lot sweet, with that balanced melon-like smoothness emblematic of kiwi. You couldn’t ask for a better representation of the popular multiple-seeded fruit combination. It complements the Sprite perfectly— you never lose sight of the fact that you’re enjoying the lemon-lime soda you know and love. It’s just enhanced. And although this is one of Sprite’s “Chill” varieties, I wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t plastered on the can. There was no mentholated “chilling” effect to the soda, which I wasn’t exactly sad about. That whole random “cooling” gimmick that started up within the past year or so does nothing for me; at its best, it’s unnoticeable, and when it is present, it’s just bad.

My only beef with this product is that there doesn’t appear to be a zero sugar version, and by virtue of that alone, I’d be unlikely to repurchase. Unless, you know, it’s 85 degrees. And I’m at a pool.

Purchased Price: $6.86
Size: 12-pack
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (12 fl oz.) 140 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 38 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 38 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.