A new Pepsi flavor has just hit the Hudson Valley, but is it worth the hype?

Pepsi hasn't released a new permanent flavor to their soda lineup in five years, but that all changed this week when Pepsi Mango arrived in the Hudson Valley. Originally released as a limited-edition flavor in select markets, Pepsi Mango was tested in 2019 alongside Pepsi Lime and Pepsi Berry. While those flavors eventually found a permanent home in Canada, they disappeared from stores in the USA.

On Monday, Pepsi Mango officially returned. But this time it's here to stay. The flavor has been simultaneously released in both regular and zero-sugar versions and shipped to stores from coast to coast. While the soda wasn't supposed to be available until Monday, some stores in the Hudson Valley actually got them earlier than expected, giving local soda lovers a chance to try it out first.

On Friday I was shopping for groceries and bumped into a Pepsi deliveryman. After asking about the new flavor, he informed me that it was just placed on shelves at the Poughkeepsie ShopRite. So, this weekend I decided to pick up a case and see what all of the excitement was about. I gave a sample to my ten-year-old son, who enjoys the taste of a regular Pepsi. Upon taking a sip, his eyes widened and eyebrows raised to let me know that this was certainly something he'd be interested in having more of.

To see if Pepsi Mango would appeal to a more adult crowd, we decided to do an official taste test on The Boris & Robyn Show. This week we all sampled the new soda live on the air and gave our honest opinions. For one of the first times in history, we all agreed during the taste test that the drink was a home run. The whole team loved the tropical flavor combination of cola and mango. Before even drinking it, a pleasant mango aroma hit the nose. Once we took a sip, the flavor held up, with just enough mango to balance out the cola. While sometimes these fruity colas can be a bit too sugary, this one wasn't overly sweet, but still had an authentic mango taste.

The only thing that could improve Mango Pepsi would be a bottle of rum. We all agreed that this drink was the perfect mixer for a tropical cocktail. It looks like I may have finally found a use for that bottle of Malibu that's been sitting in the liquor cabinet since 1995.

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