If you grew up in the 90s like me, you will likely remember all those weird and wonderful drinks that we all loved. I loved that they had tiny bottles for kids and tiny cans too (although I now know they were meant to be mixers!).
I’m going to put together a list of drinks that I remember drinking while growing up, some of them are still available (but not the same because of the lack of sugar), and some of them are no longer with us!
Putting this page together was a lot of fun, bringing back a lot of forgotten memories, but if there are some that I’ve missed, please let me know!
If you like this trip down memory lane, you will love my list of forgotten sweets and snacks, too!
Panda Pops
If you didn’t get the chance to try Panda Pops when you were growing up, I’m really gutted for you! These drinks were packed with sugar and E numbers, so there was no way they would have been allowed to stick around these days, but we all went nuts for them at school! I remember the red and blue panda pops being my favourites!
Woolworths Character Cans
These cans weren’t something that I actively remembered until I saw them again and the memories came flooding back! These were tiny cans that had loads of your favourite characters on them. I remember the Mr Blobby one the most… The family all loved Mr Blobby!
Simpsons Cans
Obviously the Simpsons was an absolute staple for most kids in the 90s and 00s, so of course it would be daft not to slap them onto drinks to sell to kids! I actually really liked the taste of these cans, but knowing me, the marketing made them taste better!
The Simpsons Water
In the same vein as above, The Simpsons also jumped on a healthier option too with their flavoured water! My mum bought these all the time when they were out, and to be fair, it did make us drink a whole lot more water, so it worked!
Sunny D
Nothing tastes as much like the late 90s as Sunny Delight for me. I was absolutely obsessed with it and couldn’t get enough. It was probably the massive amount of sugar in them! I took a bottle of orange Sunny D to school one day and while sucking the juice out, my lips/mouth got caught in it (don’t ask me how!) and I ended up with a massive circle bruise around my mouth… there’s a story I didn’t think I would be telling all these years later lol!
Um Bongo
This is another drink that pretty much defined the 90s for me. Un Bongo drink tasted amazing, the song was amaxing and the artwork was amazing… what more could you ask for? They did bring this back out recently, and it tasted close to what I remember, but not quite (again, it might be the massive amount of sugar in the 90s).
If you fancy watching the Um Bongo advert/song… I’ve got you covered
Tizer
This one seemed so normal back in the day, but looking back… it really is a bizarre drink! The mascot was a bright red face with a drink being poured into his brain, and the taste was… well… I’m not actually sure. Fruity?
Lucozade Sport Still Pouch
This one really brings back memories for me, as I can feel that little bit of plastic that you drank through just thinking about it! From my memory, this didn’t taste anything like normal or orange Lucozade, it was lovely and once again… probably full of wonderful sugar!
Barrel Drinks
Man… I remember getting these sometimes when you were invited to a party at the soft play or around your mate’s house. It was always a fight to get the blue one first! I think the blue one had the most E numbers and made you go nuts… Weird how as kids we just knew which ones we liked because of how it made us afterwards…
Twist n Squeeze
While we are on the topic of kids’ drinks, it would be impossible to do a list without mentioning the good old Twist n Squeeze! You still get these today, as I have bought them for my son, but they are just flavoured water inside a coloured bottle… I hope it wasn’t the same back when we were growing up, or it would have ruined them for me!
Goosebumps Can
I, like probably most of you reading this, was absolutely obsessed with Goosebumps. I loved the books (although I wasn’t a big reader), I loved the TV show, I loved the PC games, the merch, EVERYTHING! So it’s no surprise that they brought out a themed drink for us to lap up!
Orangina
I’m now racking my brain to think about what drinks we had at our tuck shop at primary school and what everyone was drinking at the school discos. One of the first that popped into my mind was Orangina. I remember these in a can, but somewhere in my mind was a bottle (glass?) that had bumps all over it, like the texture of an orange… Do you remember that too, or was it just a fever dream?
Appletiser
When thinking of tuck shop, this is another one that popped into my mind. I remember the glass bottle and feeling like I was drinking alcohol as a kid lol. You did feel very sophisticated when you had an Appletiser!
The only thing that is really annoying me right now is that I can remember a small plastic fizzy apple drink that I used to drink all the time, but the name is escaping me! I don’t think it was Apple Tango, but it was similar… If you can remember, please let me know, as it’s bugging me!
Vimto
This is another flavour that you can still get today, but it deserves a mention in the list because it is just a fantastic drink. So nostalgic, and it doesn’t seem to have lost any of its flavour from when I was a kid. Get yourself out to the shops and get a Vimto. Let me know if it tastes like you remember!
Virgin Cola
I’m adding Virgin Cola to the list because I just find the Virgin logo so nostalgic for me. I never really tasted Virgin Cola, but I seen it around the shops all the time. Can you remember tasting it? How did it compare to Coca-Cola?
Refreshers Drink
We knew this already, but the 90s were a weird time, and this weird time brought weird collabs… The Refreshers drink was certainly one of them. Thankfully, it was only a limited edition by Coca-Cola, but for me, it was a definite no!
Yazoo Strawberry Milk
This was another of my family’s staple drinks growing up. We would drink it in our packed lunches at school, for a Yazoo hit in the house or when we had a picnic. We were a big strawberry family too, we weren’t big on the banana flavour!
Nesquik
While I’m on the subject of strawberry milk, I need to mention Nesquik too. You still get this today, but the rabbit on the packaging has been tailored to younger kids rather than being the cool, hip-hop bunny that I remember!
YOP Yoghurt Drink
Although it wasn’t a drink in the traditional sense, I would still consider it to be part of the list! The main thing that I remember about YOP is that advert that they did “YOP ME MAMMA, TILL THE MORNING COMES”
I hope this page brought you back some memories, and if there are any that I’ve missed, please reach out to me and let me know (I love it when someone reminds me of something that was buried away in my brain!)
If you liked this trip down memory lane, you will also love my list of forgotten sweets and snacks, too!
