Top Five Bizarre Discontinued Soft Drinks from the ’80s and ’90s

The ’80s and ’90s were a golden age for utterly strange soft drinks. Before “no added sugar” and “sparkling spring water” took over the shelves, companies were throwing out wild flavours, odd marketing gimmicks and questionable colours — and somehow convincing us to drink them.

Some became cult favourites, others vanished almost instantly, and a few were so bizarre you might wonder if you dreamt them. Here are five of the strangest discontinued soft drinks from the era that were actually sold in the UK:

5. Tab Clear (1993–1994)

The pitch: A clear, sugar-free cola from Coca-Cola.

Why it was weird: It was cola… but see-through. Marketed as “the future of refreshment”, it had all the taste of diet cola with none of the reassuring brown colour. Many found it unsettling, and some swore it tasted “watery” just because it was transparent.

Legacy: Famously killed off in what was rumoured to be part of the “Cola Wars” with Pepsi. These days, it’s mostly remembered as a pub quiz question.

4. Pepsi Tropical Chill (mid-1990s)

The pitch: Regular Pepsi with a tropical fruit twist.

Why it was weird: Cola and mango don’t sound too bad… until you drink it. The flavour was oddly perfumed, like someone had dropped fruit squash into your Coke.

Legacy: Barely lasted a year in the UK, but the colourful cans are now a collector’s item.

3. Virgin Cola Black (1994–mid-90s)

The pitch: Virgin Cola… but extra caffeinated and with a “darker, richer taste”.

Why it was weird: Marketed as the edgier sibling to normal cola, it came in black-and-gold cans and promised a more “grown-up” flavour. In reality, it just tasted like slightly burnt cola.

Legacy: Virgin Cola itself faded away in the UK by the 2000s, and Black disappeared even sooner.

2. Lilt Pineapple & Grapefruit with Lemon (1980s–1990s)

The pitch: The “totally tropical taste” with a twist of lemon.

Why it was weird: The original pineapple and grapefruit Lilt was already unusual in the UK fizzy drink market — adding lemon made it a slightly sharp, confusing flavour that you either loved or binned after two sips.

Legacy: Lilt was discontinued entirely in 2023, rebranded as Fanta Pineapple & Grapefruit. The lemon variant is long gone.

1. Quatro (1982–1989)

The pitch: A bright green, fruity soft drink with four flavours — pineapple, orange, passion fruit, and grapefruit.

Why it was weird: It looked radioactive, tasted sweet but tangy, and had some of the most over-the-top ’80s TV adverts ever made.

Legacy: Cult classic status. Still mentioned nostalgically on forums by people who remember its day-glo cans and unique flavour combo.