As a hardcore fan of Coca-Cola, I have to admit that I’m loving the Coca-Cola Creations line. For the uninitiated, Coca-Cola Creations is a fairly new subsection of the brand that brings a steady stream of brand-new flavors and celebrity collaborations to the soda space. Now, I’m not one to be charmed by celebrity endorsements, I could care less what a celebrity likes, but a new flavor of soda? Bring it on.
So far Coca-Cola Creations has given us a collaboration with DJ and electronic producer Marshmello, which ironically wasn’t a marshmallow-flavored soda but a mix of strawberry and watermelon. Next came a flavor called Starlight, which came across as a mint cola. Another was called Dreamworld, which is a “Dream Flavored” soda that was inspired by M.C. Escher and Salvador Dali (unfortunately, it did not get you high). And yet another was called Byte and was a flavor inspired by pixels. Yes, pixels.
Now Coca-Cola has teamed up with multi-Grammy award-winning artist Rosalía for Coca-Cola Move, a flavor inspired by transformation.
What does “transformation” taste like? Does it taste like a “dream”? Will it ironically taste like marshmallows? We found out by grabbing both Coca-Cola Move and Coca-Cola Move Zero to give you the full rundown on this new flavor.
Coca-Cola Move/Move Zero
The Concept:
Before we dive into the flavor, let’s talk about the concept. From the outside, Coca-Cola Move sounds pretty f*cking random. If you’re a Rosalía fan (she was my most listened-to artist of 2022), it all ties in perfectly with her excellent 2022 album Motomami. Motomami is largely an album about transformation, both lyrically and visually with mariposa (butterfly) imagery. Sonically, Rosalía takes the familiar sounds of Latin music and deconstructs it via Virgil Abloh style, thereby transforming it into something that sounds radically brand new.
So as basic as “Move” sounds as a flavor, it’s meant to evoke the same sort of sensation you get from listening to Motomami. This is dope because instead of it being a random and empty celebrity team-up (what the hell does Marshmello have to do with strawberry and watermelon flavored soda?), it seems like Rosalía actually put some thought into the concept around Move. From a flavor perspective, it sort of works.
Tasting Notes:
Move has a shifting and evolving flavor. It hits the palate with sweetened coconut notes before transitioning into cotton candy flavors and a hint of freaking marshmallows. As the name suggests, this flavor is always moving across the palate, offering up something new with each taste. There’s a certain spring vibe to this flavor, which ties into the butterfly imagery used on Motomami, but it still has that distinct chocolate and cinnamon flavor you’d associate with Coca-Cola.
The soda has a nice strong fizz but lacks that characteristic bite that Coca-Cola is known for. It’s a lot softer on the throat and the flavor lingers on the tongue like Cherry Coke.
The Zero version of the flavor tastes very similar, but it has even darker notes and comes across as a bit sweeter despite having no sugar. I prefer the full sugar version easily. But if you’re a Coke Zero drinker, the sugarless version is likely more up your alley.
The Bottom Line:
Unfortunately, as cool as I think this soda is from a conceptual standpoint, I don’t know that I need a coconut, cotton candy, marshmallow-flavored soda. Coca-Cola Move is interesting, and as a soda drinker, I appreciate that it’s a unique flavor that doesn’t exist anywhere else. For that reason alone, it’s worth seeking out. But at the end of the day, I rather just have a classic Coke.
Buy Coca-Cola Move and Move Zero.
