18 Snack Foods from the Past That Had the Weirdest Flavors
A wild ride through snack history, where bold (and sometimes baffling) flavors like Pepsi Cheetos and Turkey & Gravy Soda dared to challenge our taste buds!
- Alyana Aguja
- 6 min read
From turkey-flavored cola to soda-flavored chips, the snack world has never been afraid to experiment with flavors. A few of these strange products, such as Wasabi Ginger Lay’s and Mountain Dew Pitch Black, gained dedicated followers, but others, such as Swedish Fish Oreos and Pepsi Ice Cucumber, confused and appalled taste buds. Whether they were short-lived fads or cult favorites, these bizarre snacks show that when it comes to food innovation, anything goes—even if it likely shouldn’t!
1. Pepsi Ice Cucumber (2007)
Image from Reddit
Japan has always been a leader when it comes to weird flavors, and Pepsi Ice Cucumber was no exception. This one-time-only soda sported a pale green color and a sharply artificial cucumber flavor that confused consumers. While weird, it was a hit among those who loved its cool yet eerie taste.
2. Lay’s Cappuccino Chips (2014)
Image from Grub Street
As part of Lay’s “Do Us a Flavor” promotion, cappuccino potato chips appeared on store shelves—and perplexed taste buds. The chips smelled powerfully of coffee and tasted with a hint of sweetness and a cinnamon-like flavor, competing with the standard savory taste of a potato chip. Not surprisingly, they weren’t around for long.
3. Crystal Pepsi (1992)
Image from Wikipedia
Crystal Pepsi was promoted as a “pure” cola without artificial coloring, but the transparent soda tasted just as sweet as regular Pepsi. People anticipated something else from its look and were left uncomfortable by the dissonance in their minds. It failed, but nostalgia-based comebacks have been seen since then.
4. Doritos X-13D (2007)
Image from Cavalier Industries
This Doritos’ enigmatic flavor arrived in a black package, challenging consumers to try and determine what they were consuming. The taste proved to be “All-American Cheeseburger,” with a hint of mustard, ketchup, and beef char. Most thought it was too weird, but it’s a cult favorite among risk-taking snackers.
5. Orbitz (1997)
Image from Reddit
A fruit drink that wasn’t carbonated, with gelatinous, floating balls, Orbitz resembled a lava lamp in a bottle. The tastes were unusual pairings such as Vanilla-Orange and Raspberry-Citrus, which, with the bizarre texture, repelled most consumers. It was an instant commercial failure but is still a nostalgic artifact of the ’90s.
6. Pringles Pumpkin Pie Spice (2012)
Image from Hot 104.7
Pringles tested seasonal flavors, and Pumpkin Pie Spice was among the most dubious. The combination of salty potato chips with nutmeg, cinnamon, and fake pumpkin flavoring was uncomfortably sweet. It was part of a holiday set that also featured White Chocolate Peppermint and Cinnamon Sugar.
7. Pepsi Blue (2002)
Image from Reddit
Pepsi Blue was an electric blue soft drink with a strong berry-cotton candy taste. It was released to the early-2000s generation but didn’t catch on because of its overpowering artificial taste. Although out of production, it was briefly revived in 2021 because of demand for nostalgia.
8. Lay’s Wasabi Ginger (2014)
Image from Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery
This was another “Do Us a Flavor” runner-up that did become popular. It mixed the spicy burn of wasabi with a hint of ginger sweetness to create a flavor that tasted like sushi without the fish. The combination of heat and saltiness made it a surprising hit in Lay’s test lineup.
9. Cheetos Pepsi (2013, Japan)
Image from Fox News
Japan took the best and worst of both worlds and matched Cheetos with Pepsi. The crispy snack had a cola-sweetened taste along with the traditional cheesy feel of Cheetos, producing an outright baffling experience in their mouths. Describing it was much like biting into soda-tasting air.
10. Mountain Dew Pitch Black (2004, 2011, 2016)
Image from Mountain Dew Wiki - Fandom
This Mountain Dew grape-flavored drink had a dark purple hue and a sour-tangy twist. Although it had a cult following, mixing Mountain Dew’s citrus foundation with artificial grape flavor made it slightly medicinal-tasting. It reappeared several times because of fans’ demands but never as a regular flavor.
11. Lay’s Garlic Soft-Shell Crab (China, 2000s)
Image from 3 Aunties Thai Market
Lay’s China has made a name for experimenting with creative potato chip flavor limits, and Garlic Soft-Shell Crab was one of them. The chips contained a full garlicky seafood flavor reminiscent of actually devouring the shellfish. Chinese audiences loved it, but in the West, it was overwhelming in its fishy flavor.
12. Hershey’s Air Delight (2010-2012)
Image from Chocolate University Online
This was Hershey’s shot at an aerated chocolate bar, replicating European brands such as Aero. The chocolate tasted lighter with a bubbly texture but didn’t provide much variation in taste. It was considered bland by consumers, and it had a short life.
13. Jones Soda Turkey & Gravy (2003-2011)
Image from GlobeNewswire
Jones Soda is renowned for its weird limited-time flavors, and Turkey & Gravy was probably the most notorious. It smelled like stuffing and tasted salty and meaty, which was totally out of place in soda form. Even though it was unpopular, it became a yearly Thanksgiving novelty.
14. Doritos Late Night Tacos at Midnight (2009)
Image from Everyview - WordPress.com
This taste was designed to capture the essence of that late-night fast-food taco run. It tasted like beef, cheese, lettuce, and even a touch of a crunchy taco shell and was, therefore, uncannily close to being real. Though interesting, it never caught on as a regular flavor.
15. Mountain Dew Game Fuel (2007, 2012, 2017)
Image from Reddit
Created specifically for gamers, this version of Mountain Dew was available in over-the-top flavors such as Citrus Cherry and Arctic Burst. It had additional caffeine and a syrupy sweetness that nearly had a medicinal taste. Although it found a small group of fans, it was too artificial and excessive for the majority.
16. Skittles Fizzl’d Fruits (2010)
Image from Food Junk - WordPress.com
These Skittles had a crackling, bubbly shell coating that provided a Pop Rocks-like sensation. However, the experience was only a light sizzle instead of a big pop, which was a letdown for those looking for a more dramatic effect. The fad faded rapidly, so it was discontinued.
17. Lay’s Blueberry (China, 2013)
Image from Lay’s Around the World
A sweet potato chip would sound intriguing, but Lay’s Blueberry was plain weird. A blueberry-flavored artificial coating surrounded the chips, producing a rather unpleasant mixture of sweet and salt. To many, they tasted like bad cereal.
18. Oreo Swedish Fish (2016)
Image from Ubuy Philippines
Oreo has tried endless variations, but Swedish Fish was among the weirdest. The cream filling bore the bright red color and synthetic cherry taste of the gummy candy, not an ideal combination with the chocolate cookie. Few disagreed that it was a misstep in Oreo’s experiments.