The ‘90s were an interesting time. It was the era of Nirvana, Friends, and CDs—and also, it was a time when some very distinctive drinks stocked our shelves. If you were growing up in the ‘90s, the drinks on this list might bring back memories of sipping them in high school hallways while blasting Smells Like Teen Spirit, or hot summer days spent listening to your walkman and downing massive quantities of sugar, dye, and a long list of other ingredients with decidedly unpronounceable names. Here are seven drinks that were popular in the ‘90s that might no longer be available on shelves—but are imprinted forever in the hearts and taste buds of those who loved them.
Orbitz
These drinks stood apart from the crowd thanks to their wildly unique appearances. These non-carbonated fruit-flavored drinks contained little bits of gel floating around in them, which made them look a bit like drinkable lava lamps. Released in 1996 by the Canadian company The Clearly Canadian Beverage Corporation, they only lasted for two years on the market. Today, remaining unopened bottles of the drinks have developed a bit of a cult following, and if you’re desperate to get your hands on one, a case of twelve is on sale on eBay for $900.
Surge
Surge burst onto the scene in 1997. Aiming to be a Mountain Dew competitor, it declared itself to be a “Fully Loaded Citrus Soda with Carbos.” With their bright green-and-red logos and citrus flavor, these drinks made a bit of a splash—and developed a reputation for hyping kids up to extreme levels, which may have helped convince schools to replace them with less potent beverages not so long after they hit the shelves.
They were discontinued in 2003, but fans were not pleased, and many have rallied on social media over the years to try to bring back the drink. At one point, people even paid for a billboard near Coca-Cola’s headquarters that demanded that the company resurrect it.
In 2014, Surge-flavored slushies were released in limited quantities at some 7-11s and Burger Kings, and the sodas became available again on Amazon. Today, every once in a while it’ll be released in small batches for those who miss the taste of what one commenter described as “an absolutely disgusting soda that for some reason became the coolest possible thing to drink.”
Slice
Slice emerged in 1984 and was meant to be a competitor to 7 Up and Sprite. These drinks stood apart from the crowd because they contained 10% fruit juice—a radical idea for a soft drink at the time—and the brand was initially very successful. By 1990, though, the brand had stopped even promising to contain even 1% of fruit juice and began relying solely on artificial flavoring.
In 2000, though, the line was discontinued except for the lemon-lime-flavored version, which was revamped and sold under the name Sierra Mist. Slice drinks popped up again in different forms across the 2000s, but mostly were MIA until they reemerged in 2024 having undergone a full makeover. Today’s revamped version of the drink promises to contain pre-, pro-, and postbiotics, no high fructose corn syrup, and as always, an unspecified amount of real fruit juice.
Snapple Elements
Snapple Elements were a spinoff of Snapple’s classic formula. Released in 1999, these drinks had evocative names like Rain, Earth, Air, and Fire. They came in the classic glass Snapple bottle, which ’90s kids will remember well, and had uniquely evocative flavors—Rain contained agave cactus flavoring, whatever that means, and Fire was dragonfruit-inspired.
Eventually there were 15 different types of Snapple Elements, and flavors included Turbulence, which tasted like shredded lemon, and Volcano, which was indigo grape-flavored. The drinks were discontinued in 2005, around the time Snapple was experiencing a reckoning due to the fact that their drinks did not consist solely of “the best stuff on Earth” and “all-natural ingredients,” as they had claimed, but rather contained large quantities of high fructose corn syrup.
Today, Snapple no longer hides how much sugar is in its drinks, and many fans were awed to learn that the Elements line would return in 2022. However, the revived flavors received immediate backlash from many people online, many of whom were devastated when the drinks didn’t taste quite like they remembered from back in the day. It’s hard to get the taste of childhood back, but a sugary drink-lover can dream.
Squeezit
These drinks came in memorable hourglass-shaped bottles and contained fruit-flavored liquid inside. They were tailor-made to be catnip for kids looking for lunchtime entertainment, and often featured characters from beloved cartoons like The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Eventually, it fell out of production in the 2000s, possibly due to poor sales or maybe backlash against the sheer amount of sugar packed into those things.
OK Soda
OK Soda was trying to be different when it came onto the scene in 1994. This soda’s marketing campaign specifically targeted Gen X. It tried to use an anti-corporate and anti-marketing aesthetic, and was even emblazoned with a number that drinkers could call in order to hear mysterious and cryptic messages.
Unfortunately, the brand may not have realized that anti-marketing and anti-establishment youths may not have appreciated a marketing campaign designed specifically to target them, and the brand was discontinued in 1997.
Josta
Before there were Monster energy drinks, there was Josta, which was the first energy drink to be released by a major U.S. beverage company. It came out in 1995 and lured customers in with its blend of caffeine and guarana, a vine that grows in the Amazon and is significantly more energizing than coffee. The product never quite caught on and was discontinued in 1999, but it still retains a cult following and was definitely ahead of its time, given the subsequent energy drink craze. A number of megafans have been campaigning for its revival for years, with some even devotedly trying to recreate the drink at home.
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