Zima Was Popular in the 90s -- Until People Tasted It 

That's a wonderful story!

This cat story is amazing! 😃😊😆

Zima and Jolly Ranchers sounds gross, and I drank a bottle of rootbeer schnapps once.

@@michaelpineiro533 LOL!

I enjoyed Zima in college, too. I was a freshman in 1993.😀

You'll notice a pattern in history, if you're clever and observant. Everything old becomes new again. That packaging would have been called Art Deco in the 1930's.

@@bigguy7353 litteraly what's happening right now, I'm 21 so I'm not super old, but already noticing little things like the art style of cartoons, and the parachute pants and loose clothing teenagers are starting to wear again, the Lauren hill inspired music, it's like the late 80s and 90s all over again and teens swear there pioneering a wave 🤣🤣🤣

@@velezpressurewashing5749 When I was a kid in the '90s, 'flare-leg' jeans were popular with girls. Same exact thing as bell bottom jeans in the '70s, lol.

@@Excalion88 bell bottom jeans were semi popular in the mid to late 2000s

@@Excalion88 jnco 😆

Lol imagine going alcoholic for Zima, of all drinks

I’m sorry for your traumatic childhood, but WHAT?? Breaking sobriety over 5% vol piss water is wild. At least go for the handle of vodka like an adult 😂

Wow do you need me to coddle you? To validate your childhood? Get over it MILLIONS of people have had the same experience and don't try to get "likes".

Good.

@@coyotelong4349they was gateway drinks lol wine coolers are period

GO ACE

Lol did not expect to see Hiroshi Tanahashi in a video about shitty beer

Honestly the ribbed sides made it feel so cool In your hand

They did a promotion in Japan where you could get free NJPW trading cards on some bottles! Tanahashi even got his own flavor: "High Fly Lemon"

I came to post this, glad others noticed. I had no idea he was in a Zima commercial. He won’t be sharing one with CM Punk after their match this month though.

I used to regret that I couldn't at least try zima once...until I've read your comment. Thanks. Knowing what zima actually is, I'm glad to know it only as a pop culture punchline. Imagine...if it was so popular it could replace or at least largely substitute beer. That world would be my own personal hell.

@@evanharrison4054 Zima is delicious and it's still sold

@@ThisIsSolution So is spritzer lemonade with a dash of vodka and maybe a bit of zest. At least as far as I can tell from the description, that's roughly what Zima is. You're probably wrong about the it still being sold part, though. Japan discontinued it in 2021 and the last time new stock was manufactured by Coors was in 2018. I mean technically, you can still find them in some stores, but at this point it's likely a very finite resource, at least until they make new batches again. Hopefully I can snag me a bottle somehow before the last one is drunk. So many of my favorite tv shows referenced it that at this point, I'd consider it a life not well lived if I miss out on knowing what it's like. If it's anything like American chocolate or American cheese, then at least I'll be in on the joke the next time around.

Now this hits the nail on the head/makes lots of sense - always follow the money

@@evanharrison4054 just drink white claw , trulys or any other seltzer water alcohol nowadays , I think that would match the experience quite well

if you have the cases ill buy it for my birthday.

Why

Some of my friends got away with this!! Not my mom tho. Mama wasn't no fool.. lol

Grandma knew it was alcoholic but she didn't care because it was Zima and she knew it would be undrinkable.

My best friend once tricked his mother into buying him Everclear under the guise of needing PGA for a school science project. Never did that science project, but we _did_ discover Waffle House hash browns come up the same way they went down.

She probably knew and bought it for ya’ anyways to secure her name as TheCoolGrandma! 😎👵🏻

I had kinda the opposite happen... I was 18-ish. My dad found my beer and Zima stash and confronted me. He said he wasn't upset about the beer, but was upset about the Zima. I don't remember exactly what he said but he was under the assumption that Zima was a stronger, higher alcohol content drink.

Hell yeah, as long as it had alcohol in it. But now, it's weak as water. No point in drinking anything under 8% ABV; takes too much to get a buzz.

That's funny. I used to pour gallons of cheap vodka into a big fuel can. Everyone wondered why I hung out in the garage all night. I like to work on different shit but I really liked getting shit faced. Moved on to pills after an injury and then life got really bad. 5 years clean baby!

@@mma1st105 congratulations on staying clean. Keep it going!

@@nathanielovaughn2145 damn, dude. 8% is my baseline and im almost 19, but that's partly due to my weight :skull:/:rofl:

@@mma1st105 5 years!!!!!!

I salute your sobriety 🤜🤛

I had a buddy who drank Sparks, until I taught him to drink beer. It's kind of sad though. I don't drink at all anymore, and he's a hardcore alcoholic.

Might not be a good idea for you to be clicking on videos about booze. Just saying...could eventually trigger a relapse -- or at least start you thinking about it, which leads to desire.

@@AdamsOlympia Brooks is having a few cold ones right now LOL

I don’t drink any more but even as a teenager I didn’t want to drink that shit. It wasn’t cool and didn’t taste very good.

I remember liking MD 20/20 and Night Train and Thunderbird, bottom-level hobo drinks but at least they actually tasted pretty good. One of them tastes like Felix/Fusen gum from Japan.

Those kinds of memories are always the best. I remember being in high school and stealing a bottle of super, super old red wine from the wine shelf in the basement. Since it had been sitting there for 20+ years, it tasted super musty and just disgusting. That didn’t stop me from drinking the whole damn thing in one afternoon then promptly vomiting the next morning. Ahhh… good times 😂

I’m gonna have my own party with Zima and hookers!

I remember my first drunk moment at 14. Drinking Molson XXX with some friends in a tent in November. The one friend brought an old kerosene tent heater that his stepdad insisted he bring. We only had 2 or 3 beers but were feeling absolutely hammered. Then we started puking and developed horrible headaches. And that was the first time we had carbon monoxide poisoning.....😂

​@@Sniperboy5551as a high schooler that must of been pretty pricey to replace

i remember being in highschool and drinking stealing my dads car and running over stray pets.

lol

LMAO

You got lucky. Mine was Old Milwaukee.🤮

😂

Ahh, memories!🤮😂😹🤣

Flat sprite but fizzy? Sooo, sprite?

@@Ken-fh4jc No flat sprite. but fizzy...

That’s what it’s called! I was thinking four loco or whatever, but that’s the white girl wasted drink today, white claw. I’ve never tried either one, as I’m a full grown adult who can handle beer, wine, and booze, but I was trying to remember this.

White Claw tastes great though!

@@TheBLGL nothing like four loco... White claw and zima both tastes like carbonated water with very little flavor.

@@aaronharrington1337 the original four loco formula was built diff

Still have a bottle in dad’s fridge.

Maybe to scare away guests?

Word

A friend still has one. Its an artifact now lol Great guy, perpetually in college

Maybe it was always there, because they would never drink Zima?

They wanted to tempt you to drink it, bc it’s got that soft drink appeal that might work on kids. Soda pop that gets you lit. 👌🏻🥴😵‍💫

How was the cost to produce less than beer when they said they had to make beer then strip it?

@@3_up_moon Because that's not how they made it. I don't know where this guy got that information. They brewed the cheapest grain, never added hops, rarely used barley. The stand time in the brewing tuns was about 1/3 the time as real beer which was the most drastic cost saving. Perhaps he should have said they stripped the standard beer recipe. That would be pretty much true.

@@eggsngritstn It's not 100% clear (no pun intended) and I could be wrong, but I thought the video stated beer being filtered through charcoal was how the *prototype* for Zima was made.

Then you must know that club 616 served hella Zima... (and Platinum Plus too)

Thats also why its funny California thought taxing it like actual liquor would do anything. Malt liquor in any form is stupidly cheap to make and buy.

They have out here in Japan

Your mom, like all of us who were in our best years back then, just really want the 90s back and hate this new.... whatever this is....

@@pleasuretokill yeah not american but you and me both mate.

@@FuckGodsWorld skill issue

Has she tried White Claw? Some people claim it's similar

I remember the 90s Zima, I kinda liked it. I also remember the mini resurgence, too. I didn't get any.

That should be the new slogan the next time they revive it.

I was so excited when they rereleased it for that summer.

That's a good description of it. Tried it once and felt the same way.

Tasted better than beer. As in not good, just not terrible.

It's only sold in japan now? A couple years ago my mom bought a 6 pack of it from the grocery store because she remembered how popular it was in the 90's. She told me that it tasted like sprite, or 7up. It doesn't, its awful

how much would you charge me to send me a crate of zima to the states?

I preferred chu-hi, but I’m an American that needs his sugar.

@@marroonrider3193 how much would you charge me to send a bottle, aquired via your last comment hopefully, across the states?

The heck you say! I'd be all about that sake. The first time I had it, totally NOT what I was expecting! But now I love it. I can't stand super-sweet sugar fruity alcoholic beverages. Huh, even non-alcoholic. Every once in awhile I'll enjoy a good ginger beer. I can't even remember the last time I had a soda pop!

I can, ZeFrank does great narrations.

I agree! His voice is incredible!

Stephen Colbert?🤷🏿‍♂️

Yeah. Myself, and alot of viewers have voiced this as well. They used to use a few different narrators. But after so many of us shared we like this guy, they've stuck with him.

​@@DeWin157 You beat me to it. Zefrank would be great.

Hey! Never tried Zima, as I'm from Germany. But you might try a "Radler", which is very popular in the summer. It's half sprite/half beer mixed together. Of course, it has to be ice cold.

It was better than any of the currently available drinks I've tried.

Agree. I liked the stuff and was disappointed when it was no longer available.

just get a good alcoholic cider. always refreshing, and the only booze to always have nutritional facts.... for some reason 🤷‍♂️

The title makes you think that Zima failed cuz it tastes awful, but apparently it tastes just fine, it just wasn’t a “manly” enough beverage. If it tastes good who cares?

Our teen says the name sounds like a disease. 🤔

When i was growing up it was chelsea, the one half of one percent alcohol drink the government went after hard ... Shame, it wasnt bad.

You make me feel like I missed out. I was too young when it was out

@@jaynenewcomb2094 🤣

It was so much easier to hold down (or throw up) than beer, so the teenyboppers could hold enough to loose capacity to consent. Brilliant.

flavorless? someone get this man a high noon

@@araybeezy1653 lol... relative to other shit seltzer drinks it has a modicum of flavor. It's still garbage compared to Zima.

Me too Zima is delicious

Seriously. It's weird, I like non alcoholic selzter but the alcoholic stuff tastes like I should be cleaning with it. Just give me a beer or a mixed drink.

I doubt it. Flavorless is just carbonated water whereas zima taste like as*. Tonic water is the only disgusting carbonated water but you can't call it flavorless. Tonic water has this harsh bitter taste to it. Gin and tonic is a drink old people like and even then the tonic water overpowers the gin.

It was way better than the way overly sweet Mikes and other products like that. I think the new versions of these malted beverages are gross. Zima was just marketed wrong and came out at the wrong time. You cant market that to beer drinkers. But I love good beer too.

Same. It was kinda a sweet grapefruit/lime flavor to me. And it was easy to drink.

@@fmilton20 it was! Just sweet enough. We wonder why people are so fat these days and that’s because everything that is on the market is absolutely full of sugar.

Saying something tastes like (insert descriptor) piss is just saying it's horrible. Corona = Mexican donkey piss, Molson = Canadian moose piss, etc.

😂🤣😂 I liked it too. I was in my 20s as well.

I was in my twenties also. I can remember drinking twice when it first came out; the first time to try it and the second time to give it another chance, as I didn't love it the first time. After that, I went back to beer and, regrettably, doing shots as twenty somethings will do. As to the horse piss comment, I also wondered how they got their baseline for a true comparison. Lmao.

Having been in 1st CAV I can say that you don't have to drink it to have an idea of what horse urine tastes like. The smell gives you a strong insight . . . .

Never swallowed any Zima myself but had cased content in the carport for half a year. A red Santa costume accepted the proffered gift.

I mean, all alcohol absolutely sucks so I doubt anyone noticed the difference, let’s be real.

@@caracalcontinuum3118 if your drinking low end shit then yes it’s gonna suck

I was fine with Zima, which came out around the time I was in college. I'm not really a drinker, but I'd probably get a six-pack maybe once a year if they still sold it. Smirnoff Ice is good, too. I like the Mojito flavor the best.

When I was barley a minor we used to drink these but always added jolly ranchers or skittles to add some actual flavor. Oh also pixie Stix

I had it around that time. It was good

I think it's just spritzer with not enough booze in it

I do not mind White Claw if the right flavors in the very middle of hottest part of summer. Do not have Bud Light Lime or similar Bud Light__ fruit flavors and Margarita (despite the Margarita being good), they have enough aspartame to hurt 95% of the population that can't digest aspartame. I do like taking Mikes hard Lemonade and Twisted at ~50/50 to make what I call an Arnold Schwarzenegger the most in summer though both have to be bottle as from the can Twisted Tea is flat, and Mikes hard Lemonade is bad. Never liked Wine Coolers as most just taste fake or fruits that do not mix. The other I like a newer drink from Michelob Ultra, a drink similar to White Claw.

@@caseysmith544 When it's too hot for a beer I drink Radler/ a 50/50 mix between beer and lemonade. It's refreshing and tastes great.

@@etuanno Try the beyond easy drink mix I make that I call it an Arnold Schwarzenegger, it is like a standard Arnold Palmer but with alcohol to the drink.

I really don't like drinking anything less than 8% alcohol, I just find that the "usual" 4.5% makes me feel kinda gross with all the liquid I end up consuming.

Zima starts life as really awful beer. Then it gets filtered so it tastes like nothing. Then it gets citrus flavored. Technically speaking, though, it's still a kind of beer.

I miss it as well.

Bartles and James are a bad knock off of the original California Cooler, and they were just malt liquor in disguise.

@@henryknox4511 OMG Henry! You’re right! I remember Cali Coolers.

same.

It was ok, my favorite was Seagram's Golden Wine Cooler.

I liked it too ☺️☺️☺️

I liked it, and unlike most of the commenters, I was 40 when it came out. I never liked beer, so I appreciated something else to drink in its place. Somehow it always reminded me of a gin and tonic in its taste.

You all are more than welcome to my share.

I had some as well don’t remember it being that terrible

Oh wow I actually expected it to be more like Smirnoff ice.

Haha we did skittles 🤣

@@diabella03 I bet that would have been good too!

We would put it in mason jars and soaked mushrooms in it overnight

That was 2/3 of the recipe 🤣

Green apple jolly rancher Zima awew yeah

You didn’t miss much. It’s beer for people who can’t handle beer. Then in the early ‘00s, it was Smirnoff Ice. Now I think it’s 4 loco or something but I’m a 40 year old woman who can handle real beer, wine, and liquor, so I’m not sure how people get white girl wasted these days.

@@TheBLGL Hard Seltzer.

I remember these as my go to when I first turned 21 they definitely could give you a buzz then Smirnoff ice took over

When it was all there was, we'd bump it up with 100 proof vodka. Well, I guess the Zima wasn't ALL we had, but the vodka was a bonus.

Same 😉 26 years sober here 💜💙✌️

@@JillShaw I envy you but am happy for you, proud of you. Live well!

Omg crystal Pepsi! Lol memories

Yeah I also grew up through the 90's, and like you said by the time I hit 21 Zima was long gone lol 😂.

I'm from Mexico and I had no idea the clear drinks trend was from the 80s. First time I saw it was back in like 1998

@@pomponi0 more mid to late 90s. I was 16 in 96.😁

Zima is the Sega of booze lol

Mike's Hard Lemonade

I drank WAY too many Mike's Hard Lemonade at high-school parties 🤢

Honestly smirnoff ice isn't that bad, didn't have some for a long time but it pretty much nearly tasted like lemon Schweppes

I guess it's the same thing because whiteclaws taste awful. It's like a seltzer but the flavorings and artificial sweeteners make it taste like industrial chemicals.

It could be a hit or miss. Young adults would probably see it as a drink for now-aging Gen X-ers.

I've tried Zima and would take it over any of the seltzers I've tried.

They did bring it back a few years ago.

@Drew Scrivers and thats why Ill stick to spirit based wine coolers. High Noons are where its at

Honestly some people liked it better than Smirnoff ice because it was less sweet and a little more tart. People who like tart lemonade liked Zima also Mikes hard lemonade cut into both Zima Smirnoff ice’s popularity.

@@grahamparks1645 I do, smirnoff is gross, zima was ahead of its time.

Royal Crown Cola kicks ass!!

@@grahamparks1645 I never had a Zima but Smirnoff is so sweet it makes me sick just thinking about it. That shit will give you diabetes before it gives you a buzz.

keep dissin rc and we gonna throw hands

That actually hilarious

To the 90's 🥂

And snorting coke while drinking Zima.

@@ebogar42 dude, right?

@@SoulforSale It was good with a lot of hard drugs. It was easy on the stomach. Add some skittles and you really have a party. 🤣

Lol, is it even possible to get hammered on a 6 back of zima (answer: no)

I'd laugh if they reissued it today under a completely different name, and it did like REALLY well. Like excise the "Zima" name baggage, don't tell anyone it's the same formula(s) and re-badge it something else as a competitor to Mike's Hard Lemonade, et al. Would anyone ever really know, or care? I mean at some point it's all just flavored booze, right?

They rebooted it for a limited time in 2018. My local area couldn't keep it in stock. The Coors's Brewing Company still owns the trademark and right to it. There was talk before Covid-19 about another limited run but sadly the pandemic killed it.

I've still seen it sold.

I grew up in the 80's and 90's and the way I remember it, you officially lost your man card if you were ever caught drinking a Zima. It was for lily livered limp wristed art students. There's too many of us still around who remember that. The Zima branding makes it a non starter regardless of the drink itself.

@@guysmiley4830 but what if it never released in 90s, and instead it’s first release was late 2010s? This is more what I’m getting at

I knew that was him! Had my doubts at first since it was so random and unexpected but hell yeah!! 🤘🏽

Yes they were.. best memories are from the 90's

EXACTLY!

Bud light lime has to be close

And the buzz was fine.

So funny. It's named by russian word. (Зима Zima=Winter) I'm from russia and i never see this drink :D

@@Dr.Pepper001 because it had a 4% ABV lol

Just curious... how does a beer vending machine work? Is there any way they verify your age? I know alcohol laws aren't as strict in other countries as they are in The States but that sounds so foreign to me.

@@muffy1556 you put yen in and beer comes out just like a soda machine. except 1 yen coins, nothing takes those, they can't be used for anything.

@@muffy1556 It's more so that they don't expect underage drinking to actually happen, and oddly enough it is comparatively rare for if that kind of thing existed in the states for example.

​@@Drkbowers1 pop culture doesnt promote it in japan as they do/did in the US or other countries. more often you'd see old drunks which are everywhere

That's literally a Simpsons joke. "Mountain Dew or crab juice?" "Ewww, gross! I'll take a crab juice."

Still better then the Pepsi One. I have 🤢to almost 🤮 just thinking about the Pepsi One that was somehow worse then Diet Pepsi with 1 more calorie.

I liked Crystal Pepsi. I'll never forget its taste, and I feel you so much on the strong feelings of nostalgia. 😞

@@ANSWERTHECALLOFJESUSCHRIST as someone who was a mid teenager when they rereleased it. I genuinely enjoyed it and it was just fashionable. I still miss it

Crystal Pepsi was vile. I suspect whatever made Pepsi dark had an effect on the flavor.

Funny. I never got any notifications anybody replied until blackjacks was sent to me. I hate it how RU-vid seems to pick and choose what it will notify you on. Anyway, here's to the memories!

Yeah, all the sugar and citric acid.

I drank it as teen as well as all my friends. I remember it tasting good until they changed the formula. Once they changed it I remember all of us tasting it and saying nope.

The same period ice beer was all the rage, at least in northern MI...all my teen parties were sponsored by moslom ice

@@dutchybag oh yeah I remember ice beer! Most of the breweries had one... Bud Ice, etc.

Only one subscriber?!! :o

@@SiliconBong 4 now.

You were looking for a bad boy. 😃

@@Bat_Boy LMAO I was looking for a smart boy. I was bored because this guy was kind of dumb.

@@studentdrake y'all subscribing to nothing

Hahah yeah it did taste like fruit a burst

I remember liking those. I think Bartles and James was the main one we drank.

_Thanks for your support._ I occasionally find B&J bottles on public hunting land. Distinctive (but not as cool, by far, as the Zima bottle lol)

90s they were still around. i think they just got rebranded as boxed wine

Wine coolers did not "dominate" the 70's and 80's. I was there.

@@toomanyaccounts Nope. Wine coolers have fruit juice in them. Boxed wine does not, unless there's been some developments in the boxed wine world in the last 10 years, which is possble.

Both possibilities could be true.

It’s probably both

yes! all "wine coolers" are malt now and it sucks. Malt kills my stomach.

Oh is THIS what happened? I though I was remembering wrong.

There's quite a story there. Beer went to war with wine over dwindling market share. In the end, beer won through underhanded politics

Don't worry, not many of us patriots drink it.

Typical Canadian