2009 will go down as the year among beverage enthusiasts as the year we finally saw mainstream reinforcement of the sugar vs. high fructose corn syrup flavor experience. With the April release of Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback, we saw a widespread distribution of a niche product that used "real" or "natural" sugar, however you believe the marketing spin (it's a combination of cane and beet sugar, for those wondering).

The Throwbacks were with us for an 8 week run… and then disappeared, much to our dismay. Based on all the comments posted here on BevReview, as well as on Twitter and Facebook, we weren't alone in that thought! Even the folks at National Public Radio were interested; they interviewed us on the air!

Thus when Pepsi announced in August that we'd see another limited return of the Throwbacks starting in December, there was much rejoicing! Things got more exciting when we started to see the improved designs that both products featured, making up for the poorly-executed visual design we saw in April. With these new looks, the "new" Throwbacks should stand out in the marketplace more effectively.

That said, the rereleased Pepsi Throwback is finally here!

Let's start by taking a look at the new label design. In Pepsi's original announcements in August, they mentioned that we'd see the "Same formula, but cooler vintage look!" (Facebook) and "With the same formula, but new awesome vintage look!" (Twitter).

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