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Nothing works up a thirst faster than digging trenches around your home during a flood and repeatedly wringing out and washing every towel in the house in oppressive 100% humidity… And when you get a thirst that big, it is time for an ice ̶c̶o̶l̶d̶ cool can of ‘Apple’.
This striking can was spotted at a random convenience store and brought home to await my hour of need. It was bought ‘as seen’ and I had no idea what this sh1t actually was.
After holding the ice ̶c̶o̶l̶d̶ cool can to my forehead, still dripping with a mixture of sweat, rain water and possibly sewage, I cracked the pull tab and sniffed several times at the opening. It surprisingly smelt fairly close to apple juice, thwarting my expectation of a more artificial confectionary tasting ‘apple flavoured drink’ as I had guessed from the labeling.
Off to a good start, I took a swing of the concoction and examined the can further as I let the ice ̶c̶o̶l̶d̶ cool, carbonated liquid roll down my throat. It seems that it is: “ Manufactured under licensed of “Ice Cool” “ Which is a brand ‘oem’d’ by “SHENG SHENG F&B Industries Pte Ltd” or “SSFB”. This particular can appears to have been made in Malaysia.
Wasn’t sure if ‘oem’ was supposed to be spelled like that or if it was a typo – so I looked it up and it turns out OEM is an acronym for ‘Original equipment manufacturer’. I am not all that clear on what is going on here or who makes it, but I am going to guess that this drink or at least parts of this drink are made separately by other companies and then assembled as a product by SSFB. Rebadged drink, perhaps? 🤔
Of course, I don’t really care as long as it tastes good. And this did taste good – like sparkling apple juice, tangy, not super sweet, but wait… I am detecting a bitter aftertaste…
Yes, there it is – this has sweetener in it as well as sugar, luckily they used the two sweeteners that offend my taste buds the least, Sucrolose and Stevia. There is a ‘Healthier Choice’ badge proudly displayed on the front of the can claiming that it is ‘lower in sugar’ (25% lower than standard soft drink).
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Serve Ice Cool – 6.5/10
