It's been a long time coming...
But I can no longer continue to support this brand. I only do sugar free drinks, and many of Rockstar's offerings were among my all-time favorites—namely, throwback sugar free, zero carb, mandarin orange, TMGS, and fruit punch. I saw three of those flavors disappear from shelves as a result of the Pepsi buyout, but I continued purchasing them online. The other two remained in stores near me, and I could count on getting them cheap when deals came around. Now three of those flavors have been axed, and I've been told TMGS and fruit punch are no longer seeing distribution in my area. Being unable to find a single flavor I love during my local supermarket's last 10/$10 promotion is just the straw that broke this camel's back, and man have I tried to stick with it.
I tried to enjoy both the 2021 and 2023 iterations of the "new" sugar free original, but it tastes like it has twice as much sucralose as it needs. I tried to enjoy the recovery line, but they've since discontinued 3 solid flavors, and orange has never been as good since they changed it to orangeade. Lemonade is awesome, but it's also less common than orangeade. I tried to enjoy the focus line, but it was a complete miss imo. As for pure zero, silver ice is still solid. I enjoyed strawberry peach and grape, but they're both gone now, too.
I just don't understand why they're seemingly so hellbent on changing their best products for the worse or doing away with them entirely. If someone hands me a can of silver ice, I won't turn it down, but as I sit here sipping on my last zero carb, I can't imagine Rockstar will ever get another dime from me.