It\u2019s more of a fun collab for fans and collectors than a mind-blowing new flavor experience. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSeason 5 of Stranger Things <\/em>is finally happening\u2014Volume 1 on November 26, 2025, Volume 2 on December 25, and the series finale on December 31\u2014and Hawkins is in full merch-o-rama. TV show brand tie-ins can sometimes feel a little forced, but this one with Gatorade sorta makes sense. If you\u2019re sprinting out of the Upside Down (or, you know, your fourth rewatch like me), electrolytes feel canon. Max, girl, cue \u201cRunning Up That Hill\u201d one more time.<\/p>\n\n\nRelated Story<\/span>This collab resurrects Citrus Cooler, a highly coveted retro \u201980s flavor, in collectible 28-oz bottles starring Eleven, Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin\u2014plus an \u201cUpside Down\u201d edition that looks like it could stain the fabric of reality (and your bed sheets). As a \u201990s baby (Glacier Ice is Mother), I missed Citrus Cooler the first time, so I went in fresh, admiring the bottles, eager to chug a little nostalgia, and to mainly figure out what the hell the \u201cUpside Down\u201d tastes like. <\/p>\n
Label-wise, they nailed the modernization of the 1987 \u201cNo Ordinary Athlete\u201d Gatorade campaign. And nutrition-wise, it\u2019s classic Gatorade math per 12-oz serving: 80 calories, 160mg sodium, 22g carbs, 21g sugar. Nothing spooky in the panel\u2014just standard sports drink stats all dressed up for Hawkins, basically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Sean Abrams<\/span><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\nWhen it comes to the drink itself, Citrus Cooler pours a yellow-orange color. For my first sip, I got muted tangerine notes, some soft acidity, and a big splash of\u2026water?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s very easy; it\u2019s not a loud flavor. Think tangerine spa water with electrolytes. Would I rank it above the usual Gatorade suspects? Probably not. Would I buy it for the bottle, the limited-edition-ness of it all, and if I were absolutely obsessed with Stranger Things<\/em>? Absolutely. <\/p>\n\n\n
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Sean Abrams<\/span><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\nNow, the \u201cUpside Down\u201d bottle. The liquid inside is Demogorgon-nail-polish-dark\u2014deep, inky purple-black\u2014then pours out a weirdly sewer-green tint. I braced for wild and weird with excitement. What\u2019s the opposite of tangerine? Sour grape? Burnt sugar? Tar? But plot twist: it tastes like\u2026Citrus Cooler. It\u2019s that same mellow tangerine profile, just goth. It\u2019s cool on a shelf, but the reveal is more visual than for the taste buds. <\/p>\n
Odds are this won\u2019t be my sip of choice for the final season. If I\u2019m honest, I\u2019m a \u201cwine and yell at the screen\u201d kind of person. But as a hype vehicle, this works. The bottles are fun, the callback is pretty smart, and if you\u2019re team hydration during a three-part binge, this won\u2019t fight you. Your bladder might, but that\u2019s what the pause button is for.<\/p>\n\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
Gatorade revived Citrus Cooler with Stranger Things collectible bottles, including an \u201cUpside Down\u201d edition. Citrus Cooler tastes like a muted tangerine sports drink; the Upside Down bottle looks wild but tastes similar. It\u2019s more of a fun collab for fans and collectors than a mind-blowing new flavor experience. Season 5 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}