The Impulse Grocer: San Pellegrino Aranciata Review

Italy, home of espresso, Ferrari, and pizza. Incidentally, it is also home to San Pellegrino, maker of inexplicably expensive bottled water - and as I recently found out - sparkling orange beverage. Is the ostentatious price and strangely fancy name enough to make San Pellegrino Aranciata better than our sari-sari store staple orange soda? Find out after the jump!

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When you see bottles of San Pellegrino sold for PHP90 at the local Starbucks, you begin to wonder why anyone would ever spend that much money on water. Literally two seconds later, you buy coffee worth a couple hundred bucks and feel nothing. *snaps in z-formation* I was casually passing by some random aisle when a NEW! sign caught my eye. It must've caught on really good because from what I remember, I already reached home before I found out that it cost me thrice as much as regular canned soda.

If the San Pellegrino brand weren't enough to convince you of its opulence, the can's packaging would. My plebian mind couldn't even wrap itself around the fact that a can of carbonated liquid could even get this fancy. I mean, this was literally the first time I saw a can of soda - ugh okay, sparkling orange beverage - that had a peel-off lid. Yayamanin! True luxury means that you don't have to wipe before drinking. The subdued colors of the can also give off a sense of luxury, and If you look close enough, the can is decorated with ripples - a style reminiscent of printed money.

I have a feeling that this would taste hella different than regular orange soda. I figured that if the packaging said that this contained ~real~ orange juice, it would probably taste more like legit OJ than the fake, candy-flavored powder kind. Going au naturel orange juice-wise means that this won't be super sweet, and there will be the specter of bitterness from the peel. With a drink this fancy, I really hope that drinking this won't get me addicted and turn me into a some kind of Kardashian. 'Di kaya ng wallet ko yung lifestyle.

After peeling off the lid, opening the can, and hearing the hiss of escaping gas, I finally got a whiff of sparkling Italian aranciata. Realizing that I spent more than 50 pesos on this, I carefully took my first sip - making sure that I don't accidentally consume half the can in one go.

As the expensive liquid reached my taste buds, I was greeted with a familiar orange flavor. And immediately after I taste the bitterness of the rind. Personally, this bitterness is what I don't like about freshly squeezed orange juice, and carbonating it and putting it in a fancy can did not help with the cause. Most people are probably better OJ lovers than me and with that, I realize that 21 years into life, I'm still not a fan.

How did San Pellegrino Aranciata fare?

On a scale of NO REGRETS (0) to REGRET PA MORE (10), this product scored 6. Sana binalik ko nalang. It may seem unfair to score it a 6 since I knew that I don't like fresh OJ, nagsisi pa rin ako na binili ko 'to. So I guess that's fair enough. Blog ko naman 'to. Wala kayong pake!

On a scale of LUGI KA PA (0) to TOTALLY WORTH IT (10), this product scored 0. #RealTalk Mahal. Mahalia Jackson. Maharlika Village. A can of sparkling orange beverage just doesn't seem to be worth PHP64.00 when you can probably buy a liter of OJ for the same amount.

I may have just done you guys a favor for trying out San Pellegrino Aranciata so you don't have to. But if you've got extra cash and for some reason you feel like spending, buy this. Promise, ubos agad pera mo. You gotta hand it to the folks over at San Pellegrino, though, for making the experience of drinking soda exciting again. ✌

Belated happy birthday to readers/fans Jenelle and Therese!

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And while you're here, why don't you check out my other reviews?