Benjamin Ashford|'It’s Coca-Cola, only spiced': New Coke flavor with hints of raspberry and spice unveiled

Coke is Benjamin Ashfordabout to get a whole lot spicier.

Coca-Cola announced Wednesday it is introducing a new permanent flavor to its lineup: "Coca-Cola Spiced". The first permanent addition to the Coke lineup in three years is laced with flavors of raspberry and spice, according to Coke, and comes in both regular and zero sugar variations.

"It’s Coca-Cola, only spiced," says Coke about the new flavor. "Coca-Cola Spiced transforms the familiar into the extraordinary, blending the iconic taste of Coca-Cola with a burst of refreshing notes from raspberry and spiced flavors."

The new offering is "Coke’s boldest tasting brand innovation yet," says the company about the new flavor, adding that the drink is not necessarily spicy but provides an "uplifting taste experience unlike any other."

When does Coca-Cola Spiced come out?

Coca-Cola Spiced will be hitting shelves at retailers across the country on Feb. 19.

What does Coke Spiced taste like?

Coke Spiced includes notes of raspberry and an aromatic blend of spices, as per Coke. In the regular Coke variant, the raspberry flavor takes dominance while the spices go undetected in the first few sips. You really have to focus on each sip to pick up the spicy notes. Coke has not revealed what spices have been included in the drink, which makes it even harder to tell.

However, in Coke Spiced Zero Sugar, the flavor of Coke Zero Sugar itself is more prominent with the notes of raspberry somewhere in the background and the spice blend barely felt.

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The new addition is part of Coke's focus on innovation in their brand strategy.

“Innovation is so critical to Coca-Cola’s brand strategy – we're constantly looking at industry trends and exploring new ways to offer our customers more choice," Vice President Marketing Sue Lynne Cha said in an email to USA TODAY. "We are always innovating with new flavors to offer new experiences for our fans."

She adds: "People want to experiment with unique flavors and Coke Spiced is a direct response to that trend."

Coca-Cola’s North American marketing chief Shakir Moin, at a media event in New York Tuesday, said the new flavor was developed in just seven weeks compared to the 12 months plus that it usually takes to develop a new product, adding that the company is "disrupting" the way they are working internally to better meet customer demand.

Other Coke flavors

Other flavors have been permanently added to the lineup over the years as well, like Diet Coke, Coke Zero Sugar (previously Coke Zero), Cherry, Vanilla, Cherry Vanilla.

And then there was the infamous "New Coke", a reinvented version of the traditional soft drink that debuted in 1985 to much media attention and consumer interest, only to be discontinued years later.

Happy tears

Besides Coca-Cola Spiced, Coke is also dropping a limited-edition flavor on Random Acts of Kindness Day − "Coca-Cola Happy Tears Zero Sugar" − to "celebrate acts of kindness".

The new flavor, packaged in a "hype kit" containing two Coke Happy Tears Zero Sugar cans, a packet of tissue papers, "Happy Tears" stickers and apparel will only be available to purchase on TikTok while supplies last. This is the first time that Coke is launching a product directly on the social media platform. The cans and packaging of the hype kit have been embossed with an iridescent drop of joy.

The flavor, developed under Coke Coca-Cola Creations, "draws inspiration from the simplicity of happy tears – a small, clear droplet filled with optimism and joy that’s created from the smallest acts of kindness," as per Coke.

What is Coke Creations?

Coke Creations was launched in 2022 as "a culture-first innovation platform that introduces new expressions of the Coca-Cola brand, driven by collaboration, creativity and cultural connections," says Cha. "We call it culture bottled."

According to Senior Brand Director Oana Vlad, Coke creations "is a really unique product innovation that gives a taste to something that's never been tasted before, like space, dreams, a future."

Through this initiative, the brand aims to better connect with Gen Z and the younger generations, said Vlad at Coke's media event in New York.

Since its inception, eight Coca-Cola Creations have been launched around the world, as per Cha. In February last year, the company teamed up with Grammy Award-winning artist Rosalía to release a limited-edition flavor: Coca-Cola Move.

Prior to that, in 2022, Coke rolled out five fantasy-flavored Coca‑Cola Creations: Coca‑Cola Starlight, Coca‑Cola Byte, the artist Marshmello’s Limited Edition Coca‑Cola, Coca‑Cola Dreamworld, and Coca‑Cola Soul Blast.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.