Fresca vs Squirt
This was another evaluation with my sister Elaine, and bro-in-law, Zac. Elaine and I grew up with limited access to soda and Saturday nights were “soda night”. Most times we chose Fresca as our weekly indulgence. Although Squirt comes in regular and diet, I picked the latter because Fresca is only offered as a diet soda.
Fresca:
Fresca seemed to have particularly big bubbles and had a very nice grapefruit smell. We all agreed the taste was a nice balance of sweet and tart and seemed “full-bodied” because it actually tasted like fruit and not just artificial sweetener that sometimes diet sodas tend to do. This was light, refreshing and very grapefruity.
Squirt:
We found this to be more sour tasting than Fresca. The flavor seemed more muted somehow, but it did smell pretty good. Zac thought it was very watery and we felt the aspartame was a little too much since it wasn’t offset by much fruit flavor. It was almost like watery, sour, lemonade (with bubbles) and tasted harsh.
Wrap up:
Even with Elaine and I’s history with Fresca, we really went into this with an open mind and were interested to see if there was another option for this drink but we really felt Squirt wasn’t as good, this was confirmed by Zac too. This was our evalaution and clearly enough people like Squirt enough to keep it in production, but these really seemed different enough to be able to tell the difference. Fresca seems to be more balanced and smooth, which (for us) makes it more enjoyable to drink.
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October 18th, 2008 at 3:22 am
Squirt shouldn’t even be offered as diet. Try it as regular and I think you’ll like it more! I’ve never even heard of Fresca, actually.
October 18th, 2008 at 10:46 am
I’ve never heard of squirt and haven’t had Fresca. We usually have Sprite - is that comparable?
October 18th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Hi Randi,
You’re in VT, right? I think Squirt is only sold at random locations and only in non-diet. I got this diet squirt out in Oregon , they also had a Ruby Red Squirt that looks pretty good but I had nothing to compare it to. Ethan (my husband) who grew up in NH said he used to drink Ruby Red Squirt so I’m guessing they pulled a Mello Yello on the Northeast and relocated their product (or at least some) to be available only in other parts of the country. Fresca and Squirt are both grapefruit flavored soda but I do have a Sprite/7UP match coming up
October 18th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Yup, I’m in VT. Oooh - Sprite/7Up - that sounds good…
October 21st, 2008 at 7:02 pm
I live on Fresca and Diet Coke. For a long time my morning drive to work was a Fresca and Harvest (Power) Bar. But they redid the bars and now they’re gooey and too sweet. Years ago I only drank (regular) Coke. When New Coke replaced it I switched to Diet Squirt, since Fresca wasn’t available. It tasted a lot like the Fresca I remembered from the 60s. It also helped me switch to Diet Coke. It disappeared here in the Northeast, but Fresca arrived shortly. The one thing I miss from the old days is the grapefruit pulp at the bottom of the bottle!
Make sure you get the Original Citrus flavor, Peach and cherry are just nasty. I recommend cans, they seem more carbonated, and the 2 liters don’t stay bubbly that long.
kaymarie: You mean you’ve never seen Caddyshack? “Say, Danny, how about a Fresca?”
October 24th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
I used to think Fresca was pretty good, but I don’t like it much anymore. I bought a case recently because it was on sale, but I could only drink one can of it. It seemed to have too much of a funky aftertaste for me. I wish Coca-Cola would bring back Citra. Now that was an awesome grapefruity soda! Oh well. Add to the list of great food and drink products that were discontinued like Surge, Tropical Sprite Remix, Reese’s Crunchy Cookie Cups, Crispy M&Ms (in the U.S.), Pillsbury Bagel Shoppe Bagels, Pop-Tarts Minis, Wahoos, Doritos 3Ds…the list could go on and on!
November 4th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I miss Fresca! I used to mix it half & half with cranberry juice.
November 5th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
“I love you like I love Fresca”
December 13th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Squirt is whats up, but not if its diet. Ive never seen the diet, but i did once find a 20 oz bottle of squirt with a whole bunch of caffine in it at some random gas station on the interstate. i dont remember what they actually called it, somthing like squirt energy - i know that isnt the actual name, but it was somthin like that, and it tasted exactly the same.
April 9th, 2009 at 5:25 am
I know I’m posting comments on some pretty old posts, but I just discovered your awesome website. While not available at the time of this showdown, I would recommend the new Sierra Mist Ruby Splash. It’s Pepsi’s first real competitor to Fresca.
June 19th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
I don’t know what’s with Squirt, but the taste of it makes me want to squint and spit it out. It’s horrible and makes me sick. >.<
Wouldn’t mind trying Fresca. Maybe it’ll taste better.
August 24th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I was shocked by this match-up, because I think of Fresca and Diet Squirt as being too different to compare! Fresca has a soft, mild taste, while Squirt has a bit more edge to it! Both delicious! (Although Diet Squirt is a much, much better mixer with cocktails: it’s delicious with gin and a squirt of fresh lemon juice, shaken.)
I find it interesting how much the flavor of Fresca changes depending on how it’s bottled, though. I find it has a more sour tang when canned (which makes sense, because of the aluminium), and the two-liter is its mild, dopey taste cousin. I tried it in a 20-oz. bottle for the first time last night (I’d never seen one before! I guess they have them in Boston, but not on the west coast) and was shocked to find that it had a strong orange essence flavor that completely dominated the grapefruit.
Either way, I think we can agree that either of these is infinitely better than Safeway brand diet pink grapefruit. Blech.
October 16th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Fresca is just generic citrus, not grapefruit. Ting vs. Squirt: that’s your match-up.
Fresca was good, really good, when it was made with saccharine and came in glass bottles. The canned stuff tasted metallic, but that’s a universal with soda pop. Then about 25 years ago they exchanged saccharine for aspartame, which made it taste like ecckh and also gave me low, dull headaches right over the eyes. Couldn’t drink it anymore.
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:31 pm
squrt ive had fresca i have not 7up sierra mist and sprite ive had to sierra mist sprite and 7up do all kinds of flavors but the sweetest one ive tasted is sierra mist cranberry splash
November 16th, 2009 at 4:20 am
I like Fresca. Squirt is also good, but not as good as Fresca.
Do you remember RONDO? I think it was a Coke Product? That reminded me a Fresca.