Pepsi-Cola Holiday Spice found its way into our home as a result of my inabilty to turn down the double whammy of a newfangled gimmick that was deeply discounted. (Ok, since we don't get any commercial television, it's new to me. For all I know you all have been drinking and mocking it for months now.)

The packaging says, "Celebrate the season with family, friends and new Pepsi Holiday Spice. It's a festive blend of holiday spices and great tasting Pepsi. But it's only around through the season, so this is one gift you'll want to open early. And often!" The bit about being a blend of holiday spices and cola kind of made me nervous, but I figured they'd surely spend a huge wad on taste testing it and I had little to fear.

When we cracked it open I was disturbed to note that it was an misbegotten reddish-brown in color, but I put my anxieties aside and decided to try to let that go and try to just enjoy my belated Holiday Spice experience. Like any good mom, I first passed the cup to my children who are happily willing to suck down anything that boasts a large quantity of caffeine and high fructose corn syrup. I knew we were in trouble when the first three reviews were, and I quote, "MMM, gingerbread!" "Cinnamon sugar!" and "It's like a cookie!" The toddler merely said, "mmm hmmm" in a puzzled way, and passed it on to his father.

The girls were right, it's startlingly like drinking a ginger snap, or consuming a snickerdoodle that makes you burp. It was not at all pleasant, and the only conclusion I can reach is that the folks in the review I linked to above must be on the payroll of the Pepsi-Cola company because they didn't give this product negative stars. Between the six of us, including the sugar addicted members of the family, we couldn't finish the one 12 ounce can...it was truly that bad.

So, I think I'm sticking to water for a while.