Since I'm on here, I might as well write about Surge. I've covered it on Twitter and Facebook, but the bottom line is... it's back!
Some Surge, yesterday
Surge existed in the United States from 1996 until 2001, or in other words, right around the time when my parents were finally letting me drink pop (or at least pop with caffeine). Surge was glorious. I vividly recall this deep green delight, whether it was in a can, in a bottle, or from the fountain at McDonald's.
I almost had forgotten about the demise of Surge until I began college at Drake in the fall of 2004. There, one of my best friends reminded me of this awesome stuff (and I think he was even contemplating importing some from Sweden, where it was still sold as "Urge").
Turns out™ that very winter break I was at my grandma's house, where she did her best to run a museum of pop in her basement. There, while looking for something with caffeine that was non-diet, I came across a two liter bottle of Surge. I could not believe it, and I was rightfully overjoyed. At least until I decided to check the expiration date, which told me it was best consumed by early 2000. Ugh. Despite this, I took it with me and brought it back to Des Moines for the second semester.
There, on January 17, 2005, exactly five years after its expiration, Frank and I opened up that bottle and had a drink. Unsurprisingly, it was mostly horrible because it had lost all carbonation and the taste had begun to change. But still. It was amazing to have Surge in our hands, even if it was terrible old Surge. We continued to hope that one day Coca-Cola would figure things out and bring Surge back.
In a way, it did, in the form of Vault. This was very close to the taste of Surge, maybe somewhere between 80 and 90 percent there. But not quite. And with way more caffeine. Its adoption was quite widespread, you could find it nearly everywhere (gas stations, Target, even some restaurants), although in most places it overtook Mello Yello, my other favorite Coke product. Sometime in 2011, Vault did go away, allowing Mello Yello to make a comeback in places it was overtaken (and come to Arizona!!). On a side note, Mello Yello still has a ways to go to gain full adoption here, whereas it is much more common in the midwest.
This week, however, this news of Surge's comeback caused me to run to my computer and jump onto Amazon faster than anything maybe ever. I saw this page on The Verge while browsing Twitter, and after skimming it as fast as possible (even selectively ignoring the fact that they call it the "worst soda of the 1990s"), I clicked on the Amazon link.
It will be sold exclusively on Amazon (for the time being, at least), in 12-packs of 16 oz cans for $14, with free Prime shipping. I bought three of these. Unsurprisingly, they sold out rather quickly (I'm guessing Coke underestimated how crazy us Surge lovers are). Originally, I was expecting to get them by the beginning of October, but I got an update the next day saying it is expected by September 23. I can't wait to provide an update.
Currently, it still shows it is sold out (or some ridiculous price – right now it is going for $250), but hopefully they will both restock it soon and then continue to carry it indefinitely. Certainly, it is much more difficult to get by ordering from Amazon than just going to Target or to a gas station, but I will surely take that option over no Surge at all. So, once it's available again, please buy it! We cannot let our Surge be taken from us a second time.
JB