La Croix – Black Razzberry

My understanding is that black raspberries are raspberries, not blackberries, and they also aren’t black, but purple. Am I wrong? Not sure why they spell it like that—“Razzberry” instead of “Raspberry”—is that an alternate spelling? It’s not in any dictionary of mine! It’s fruity, as one might expect. My initial reaction is “not good”—but perhaps I’m biased by the foul day—I’ll have to give it another chance. Tasted it again on a less foul day. No. It’s okay. Just boring. Does the world need another fucking berry anything? Again, that’s the foul mood talking. How about a water called “Berry Gold Water?” At least that’s funny. Anyhow, this gets me thinking about that whole “blue raspberry” thing—you know, with Slurpee and Flavr-Ice—more than one brand decided that bright blue was the color of raspberry—why? Wine coolers, even, at one point! Well… I always kind of celebrated the blue food thing, that unnatural color imposed—it just seemed so crazy—so even to this day, I like it. In fact, if I totally imagine this water to be bright blue—close my eyes and taste it—now it totally makes sense to me. What if they decide, for a change, that they’d artificially color just one of their sparking waters—blue—this one—would people freak out? Or would it sell like hot cakes?

12.7.23