Zima, the clear beverage of youthful regret, is back

[jpak]

http://bangordailynews.com/2017/06/24/living/zima-the-clear-beverage-of-youthful-regret-is-back/?ref=latest

Chalk up another victory for pointless ’90s nostalgia: MillerCoors is bringing Zima back to stores for a limited time. The clear, sticky-sweet, chemically citrusy malt beverage — sold under slogans such as “Zomething Different” — was beloved at high school and underage college parties, where it was often adulterated with Jolly Ranchers just to make it palatable.

Zima is but one in a long line of wine cooler-ish products that were popular at the time, which included Bacardi Breezer and the more established Bartles & Jaymes. But Zima was born into a world where clear beverages such as Crystal Pepsi were cool and novel. Let’s take a stroll down memory line through the pages of The Washington Post in March 1993:

“In a bid to invigorate a market gone flat, Miller Brewing Co., the nation’s second-largest beer maker, said yesterday it would introduce a beer of a different color – Miller Clear – to several markets later this month. Milwaukee-based Miller calls the product the beer industry’s first clear beer, and industry watchers said other brewers may be getting ready to introduce similar colorless products.

“Consumer-products giants such as PepsiCo Inc. (with Crystal Pepsi), Gillette Co. (with Sensor deodorant) and Procter & Gamble Co. (with Ivory dishwashing liquid), as well as smaller companies, have recently introduced clear versions of popular brands, betting that consumers will associate colorlessness with purity and all-natural ingredients. Whether the same strategy works with beer – where color is associated with rich flavor – is uncertain. Coors Brewing Co. of Golden, Colorado, is testing a clear malt beverage, called Zima in three markets.”

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[ProudLib72]

1. Unfortunately, I was in college during the Zima craze

One night a local bar was having some Zima promotional blowout deal, and I went with my friends. I was lucky because I had decided to be on the wagon that week.

[brush]

2. Sorta like remaking old movies that weren't that great in the first place.

Hope they re-work it because that stuff tasted terrible.

[COLGATE4]

3. I remember it best for the 'ad' line a comedian on TV had:

Zima - tastes like ziss.

[SeattleVet]

14. I remember an SNL parody commercial where the tagline was...

Zima - tastes like zhit!

[BannonsLiver]

4. Don't forget Crystal Gravy

[smirkymonkey]

10. ROFL!!

Ok, that made me spit out my drink.

[Docreed2003]

13. Lmao!!!!

[Aristus]

5. The only nostalgia I have for Zima is the commercial with the really hot actress.

Some Zima-drunk creep asks her: "What's you Zign?"

She replies: "Zzzzztop!"

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

6. So it was the Annie Green Springs of the 90s

Yes I'm showing my age.

[irisblue]

12. I had totally forgotten about that

Oh the times we had this at a cast party in HS in the early 70s.

[RKP5637]

7. I thought it tasted horrible. Maybe I didn't drink enough of it! LOL!!!

[underpants]

8. No. It's not like cheap beer or booze

Having a few doesn't make the next one any better.

[underpants]

9. Let's crank up The Offspring and tailgate the new episode of Friends

[Docreed2003]

15. Lmao.....right????

Zima was hipster before most hipsters had tasted their first IPA

[smirkymonkey]

11. Jolly Ranchers and Zima - Breakfast of Champions!

[Persisted]

16. I'm going to party like it's 1999. nt

[melman]

17. It's never really gone way

They just changed the name to Smirnoff Ice. Not really but it is more or less the same thing.