When in Mexico, Drink Mirinda

I love Mirinda!

It's an orange soda made by Pepsi that I first discovered it in Mexico a few years back. I developed an addiction for it. As far as I'm concerned, it's way way way better than Fanta, or Sunkist or Crush.

Sadly, it's not something I can just pick up at my corner store here in Minnesota. Pepsi doesn't sell Mirinda in the US, which is something I just can't understand, especially considering Pepsi sells it all around the world (read more about my Mirinda obsession here).

I've tried the Pepsi orange pop version that is sold here in the US -- Tropicana Twist. But even still, it just doesn't taste the same.

On my recent trip to Mexico, one of my fellow travelers pointed out that Mirinda isn't made with high-fructose corn syrup (that evil sweetener prevalent in soda). Instead, Mirinda is made with sugar. It says so right on the label = azucar.

Could this be the secret to both Mirinda's different taste and the reason it's not sold in the US?

Hmmm. I wouldn't be the first wonder about the big money and big business behind high-fructose corn syrup.

Mirinda Miricle at Midtown Global Market

I doubt there are words to describe just how excited I am, but...being the dedicated writer that I am, I will try.

Yesterday I headed to the Midtown Global Market in South Minneapolis. The market is inside an old, renovated Sears complex. It was set up to have a "mercado" atmosphere. Small business owners, many of them immigrants, lease booth space in the market and set up shop.

The thinking behind this was that a market stall would be cheaper to rent than a brick and mortar store thus giving more first-time business owners a crack at the American Dream.

Plus, since the market is located in a large immigrant-based community, would also be a more familiar business model for potential vendors.

It's a place I've been to before. It's fun to poke around in the stalls and soak up the international vibe. Yesterday I was there on a story assignment. I was to interview a group of women business owners stationed in the market.

Interviews securely done, a free afternoon stretched before me and I decided to stick around and shop. I wandered into a Mexican grocery and that's when it happened. I found Mirinda!

My eyeballs nearly popped out of my head! I couldn't believe it! MIRINDA!

This sweet orange pop is made by Pepsi Co. and the first time I ever had it was in Mexico City. It was October 2005, the second day of a six-month around-the-world trip that I took with my newly-wed husband, and from the moment it touched our lips, both of us were in heaven.

We became fast fans, always preferring it over Fanta. We drank our way through Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina on Mirinda. The brand disappeared in Chile, only to reappear in Thailand. It was also abundant in Vietnam, where a Mirinda root beer line was unveiled as well.

Mirinda was one of the things Hubby and I both missed upon our return home. We'd developed quite a Mirinda addiction and none of the other orange pops on the market compared. We knew. We tried them all.

But now I'd found it! I'd found Mirinda! I bought a bottle (I restrained myself to just one) and it was all I could do to stop myself from running to my car, starting it up and driving right home. I was so excited. I didn't even waste my breath on a cell phone call. Hubby would just have to see this to believe it!

Unfortunately, we had plans last night, otherwise we would have cracked that 2-liter bottle and downed it all. Luckily, there is nothing on our agenda tonight...nothing except a Mirinda taste test.


Photos -
Mexican-imported Mirinda in Minneapolis! Joy!
Mirinda in Bangkok.
Mirinda in Vietnam.