Back in May, Pepsi announced many new beverages in their lineup. These included Diet Pepsi Jazz Black Cherry French Vanilla and Diet Pepsi Jazz Strawberries & Cream, along with a new holiday entry: Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash.
Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash
While I continue to mourn the disappearance of 2004's Pepsi Holiday Spice (a personal favorite), I applaud Pepsi for again trying something in the "mainstream flavor with a seasonal modification" category. The packaging of the drink defines this as "lemon-lime soda with a splash of cranberry," though it should be noted that Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash contains no actual juice.
This greets you when you visit the official website
(Source: SierraMist.com)
Personally, I've never been a big fan of Sierra Mist. I have always felt that Pepsi's previous lemon-lime drink, Slice, was superior in flavor. (Sierra Mist Free is even worse). As too much caffeine tends to keep me up at night, I've always on the lookout for a good caffeine free beverage when given the opportunity to have a soft drink. Typically, the leaves you with Sprite (blah, expect for the 3 Remix flavors — Tropical, Berryclear, and Aruba Jam — no longer available), 7Up (which was good until they ruined it), or some other non-cola option (which tends to be rare). If given the option, my favorite caffeine free drink is Schweppes Raspberry Ginger Ale, which you typically can only find in 2-liter bottles. All that to say that I was very interested in seeing what Cranberry Splash tasted like, but I was skeptical due to the Sierra Mist base.
So, my thoughts? Overall, I'm impressed.
The coloring of the drink is pretty much what you'd expect to find with a cherry beverage, such as you'd see with 7Up Plus Cherry, Cherry 7Up, Fanta Strawberry, or ever something like Door County Cherry Cider Cooler. It's a light red, typical of a non-cola derivative. Cranberry Splash is packaged in the same type of bottle that is used for both Pepsi and Sierra Mist. Upon opening the bottle, a pleasant aroma awaits you, similar to what you may encounter with a fresh batch of Kool-Aid. It's strong, but relaxing.
Cranberry Splash joins the regular and diet versions
(Source: SierraMist.com)
The flavor itself has some bitterness, which I would tend to associate with the cranberry flavor. It was better than Jones Soda's Halloween 2006 entry, Creepy Cranberry Soda. The drink starts out well, with a cherry flavor, with the aftertaste sharing a more pronounced cranberry/lemon-lime combination. Overall, the drink feels "light", and really did remind me quite a bit of Schweppes Raspberry Ginger Ale. Heck, I think I liked this drink better than normal Sierra Mist, which is saying a lot. I would imagine that this probably would go well with food, or more likely, probably a good mixer for alcoholic beverage drinking folks.
This isn't exactly a healthy drink
(Source: SierraMist.com)
I'd recommend trying Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash. What's interesting is that in all the marketing, this drink is pitched as a limited time thing. However, unlike other seasonal flavors previously offered by Pepsi (such as Pepsi Holiday Spice, the first-run of Mountain Dew LiveWire, Mountain Dew Pitch Black, and Mountain Dew Pitch Black II), Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash has no reference to "limited time" or "limited edition" on the actual labeling. In fact, there's no "holiday" element at all on the package. One wonders if Pepsi has plans for this drink beyond the holidays. 
Do you think folks actually will use these?
(Source: SierraMist.com)
Finally, should you hop over to the Sierra Mist official website, you'll find that they have built a small section for Cranberry Splash, including drink recipes you can make with the beverage in downloadable PDF format. Given that these probably won't be online forever, I've included the PDF here (see if you can find Pepsi's typo!), as well as provided the recipes below. You can chuckle at the fact that they all include Pepsi-owned products. Enjoy!
Cranberry Recipes
Created by those little red scamps the Cranberry Elves, these cranberry recipes are sure to become holiday favorites. You could say we're "juicing up" you holidays. But we wouldn't recommend it.
Cranberry Vanilla Smoothee
12 oz. Sierra Mist® Cranberry Splash™, 3 cups ice, 2 tbsp vanilla ice cream, 2 tbsp vanilla yogurt, splash of white cranberry juice – mix in blender. Makes 3 servingsCranberry Energy Spritzer
3 parts Sierra Mist® Cranberry Splash™, 1 part Tropicana® Orange Juice, 1 part SoBe® A-RushHoliday Breeze
1 part Sierra Mist® Cranberry Splash™, 4 parts Tropicana® Orange JuiceCran-Cherry Punch
Sierra Mist® Cranberry Splash™, splash of grenadine, splash of cranberry juiceCranberry Sparkler
3 parts Sierra Mist® Cranberry Splash™, 2 parts Dole® Sparklers™ Pomegranate/Blueberry
WHY DO YOU NOT OFFER SEIRRAMIST CRANBERRY ALL YEAR??????
It is great and it is VERY dissapointing to have it so hard to find. It is no where in my area (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) and has been out of stock for a week already or so……???????????????
i am writting to you to see y u discontinue the seirramist with crannberry in it we have been lookin for it all over the place but now can not find it at alll… they should have it all year long. i love tht drink and so does my dauighter tooo so think about having it alll year long please..
millie
Hi your cranberry splash is the great i buy 10 bottles every two weeks when we shop. I wish you can sell this all year. if you can please do.. also your new logo sucks its not very eye catching at all.it looks like a nonname brand drink. go back to your logo you had last year.
Guys….perhaps one of the greatest beverages to be bottled and you discontinue it? Uh this has got to be one of your best and consistant sellers while shelved. Do you really enjoy on missing out on the benefits? Is your boss a communist?? Really?
I liked Cranberry Splash at first but after a few times buying the 2 litter I stopped liking it. It has a pretty strong aftertaste I find, which is odd for a non-diet soda. Also the red dye is rather strong. I noticed it was really staining my glasses. That can't be good for your teeth. The Sierra Mist-Ruby Splash is probably the best of the alternate Sierra Mist flavors.
it's BAAACK!
we tried and like the diet cranberry serri mist before the holiday sand now we can't find it ,is this a one time deal or are you going to make it all the time , it is very good like it better the the diet cherry 7 up ,would like to know where to find it we live in St Peters ,Missouri
I just LOVE Cranberry splash Sierra, but our stores only have it a Christmas where can I get it year round.?
Thanks Brenda Weekley
I am ticked again. Why do companies put out good products just to take them off the market a short time later. Please bring back Seirra Mist Cranberry Splash. It is just the right sweetness and flavor that is very satisfying. My whole family is upset over this. DO SOMETHING!!!!!P>S> NO SUBSTITUTES
Why don't you keep Sierra Mist Cranberry on the market all year long…It is a great flavor… although the ruby splash is okay… Nothing like the cranberry..Can you please consider doing that…
ARE THEY STILL SELLING THE CRANBERRY SPLASH DIET SIERRA MIST? I LOVE THAT STUFF BUT I CANT FIND IT ANYWHERE.
I love this stuff (have to have diet Cranberry Splash) and grab a bottle or more whenever I find it. But….that's the problem!….I can rarely find it on the shelves of any store! I have found only one bottle so far this fall. This isn't very wise of Pepsi–if you have a popular product, put it out there! I can't find any store except Target that lists it on their inventory, and all the Targets in my area list it as "out of stock." Does anyone know where to find it? I live in the central Texas, Austin to be specific, area.
Please Please Please make diet cranberry splash available in Huntington Wv all year round . I got hooked on it and Love it . But can`t find it here . When I visited my daughter in Parma Ohio I found it and brought some back home with me.