Coca-Cola is no stranger to releasing unique (and sometimes bizarre) soda flavors, from the green tea-flavored Coke that launched for a limited time in Japan in 2009 to the coffee-infused cola beverages that debuted in the United States in 2021. However, the brand’s newest upcoming flavor may be its strangest and most mysterious yet.
Coca-Cola will launch a new limited-edition flavor next week inspired by the online battle arena video game League of Legends, CNN reports. The actual flavor of the beverage, called Coca-Cola Ultimate, remains a mystery for the time being since the company is being intentionally cryptic in its descriptions of the product.
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All that Coca-Cola has revealed is that the drink is supposed to taste like “experience points,” which League of Legends players can earn when they spend time playing the game. And as an extra perk for League of Legends fans, players can earn Coca-Cola Ultimate emotes, or in-game reactions, when they achieve certain objectives while playing.
This gamer-targeted drink, created in collaboration with game developer and publisher Riot Games, will launch in stores in the United States and Canada on June 12 for a limited time. Additionally, Coca-Cola is rolling out a zero-calorie version globally this week.
Coca-Cola Ultimate will be the latest beverage in a series of limited edition mystery flavors the brand is calling Coca-Cola Creations, all of which are based on more abstract concepts than the traditional cherry and vanilla flavor extensions.
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The company kicked off the series in early 2022 with its Starlight flavor that was inspired by the “infinite possibilities of space” and provided a “cooling taste sensation.” It has also released a pixel-flavored beverage called Byte and a human imagination-inspired Dreamworld flavor, as well as partnered with musical artists Marshmello and Rosalía for other limited edition Coca-Cola Creations drinks.
All of these offbeat flavors are meant to help the company with “testing the boundaries of what consumers want to engage with and the degree with which they engage with it, all in the service of continuing to make Coke relevant for the next-generation,” said CEO James Quincey.
“They are not designed to be variants that will last forever, but they are more engaging and more interesting demonstrably than a flavor, a Coke with vanilla or something.”
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Zoe Strozewski
Zoe Strozewski is a News Writer for Eat This, Not That! A Chicago native who now lives in New Jersey, she graduated from Kean University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Read more about Zoe
