90's Kids How-To: Remember JOSTA?

Ah, Josta.  This was my first energy drink, and my favorite soda by far.  However, Josta was owned by Pepsi, and was killed off not too long after I graduated High School.  (born 1995, died 1999)

I have moved on, but like a first love, I looked back every now and then with fond memories.  No soda since has matched the taste of Josta.

So, on a whim, I decided to search the internet for any movement to revive this dead drink.

I found a few message boards, but no chance of the drink coming back.  I did, however, find people discussing the taste and how to recreate it.  People were mentioning dragonfruit a lot, saying the fruity juice tasted a lot like the fruity overtones of Josta.

So I decided to experiment to see if I could recreate the taste, using existing drinks or flavors I could easily access.

I set up my lab (picture somewhat unrelated) and decided to start concocting.

Since Josta was a Pepsi-branded drink, I decided to use Pepsi as the base.  I'm a Coke-man myself, but I want to stay as true to the taste as possible.

Josta was marketed as 'with Guarana' so this was the first ingredient I looked for.  I knew it was more than just cola and guarana, but figured this would be the most difficult part to find.

Not so!

Meet bawls, a guarana-infused soda.  The taste is unique, and isn't loaded with additional flavors.  Bawls works perfectly.

Next is the dragonfruit.

Since I couldn't find pure dragonfuit juice, I used Vitamin Water power-c.  It's laced with dragonfruit, and not much else.

Guarana + Dragonfruit + Pepsi, in equal parts...

As I mixed the three drinks together, that familiar deep-red foam started to emerge.  Was this the Josta I remembered so well?

It looks like the real thing.

It smells like the real thing.

But it's been about 15 years... so I have no idea if it tastes like the real thing.

However, it tastes fantastic.  If it's not a perfect recreation, it's damn-close.  So close, I may have to make this more often.

If you want to recreate this recipe yourself, be sure to use equal parts:

- 1 (20oz) bottle of Pepsi
- 1 (20oz) bottle of Vitamin Water Power-C (or dragonfruit juice if you can find it)
- 2 (10oz) bottles of Bawls

Mix together, and enjoy 40oz of fantastic Josta goodness.  90's kids rejoice, Josta is back!