Zima
The clear, faintly citrus malt beverage Coors pushed as "Zomething different." Part of the '90s clear craze, it was briefly everywhere before late-night jokes turned it into a punchline.
Zima was a clear, lightly carbonated malt beverage made by the Coors Brewing Company — an early 'alcopop' with a lemon-lime flavor and around 5% alcohol. After test marketing in 1991, it launched nationally in the US in 1993 and became a fast fad, hitting a peak of about 1.2 million barrels sold in 1994, especially popular with young drinkers.
It arrived amid the '90s 'clear craze' alongside Crystal Pepsi and Tab Clear, riding the idea that see-through meant clean and modern. But — and this trips people up — Zima was alcoholic, not a soda. Its momentum didn't last: a mocking 'girly' reputation and relentless parodies from David Letterman turned it into a national punchline.
Zima was discontinued in the US in 2008 — MillerCoors announced the end that October — though Coors brought it back for brief, nostalgia-driven summer runs in 2017 and 2018. It has had a longer life in Japan, where it was reintroduced and — after a pandemic-era pause — returned again in 2023.
Similar items
Crystal Pepsi
The clear cola that tasted like 90s optimism and regret mixed together. Crystal Pepsi was caffeine-free, marketed on a fever dream of purity, and backed by a Super Bowl ad that tried desperately to make it cool.
Snapple
The iced-tea and juice-drink brand that defined 1990s refreshment, served in a distinctive glass bottle with a metal cap (the famous "Real Facts" printed under the lid didn't arrive until 2002). That satisfying pop when you opened it, the quirky trivia, and flavors like peach and raspberry made Snapple a generational memory.
Slush Puppie
Neon syrup and soft pellet ice from the countertop machine at the convenience store, the skating rink, the community pool — anywhere a kid had a dollar. The cup had a puppy in a knit hat on it, and if you saved enough of them, prizes.
Sunny D
The fluorescent orange juice drink that tasted like the sun and lived in every 90s fridge door. The ads where kids rejected "the purple stuff" are permanently burned into your memory.