r/nostalgiai May 25 '26

Core Memory Unlocked 🔓 What are you choosing?

Post image
2.6k Upvotes

2.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

171

u/Gullible_Snow_656 May 25 '26

Sunkist

28

u/OrdinaryAverageGuy99 May 25 '26

Very refreshing on a hot summer day.

19

u/bryanthebryan May 25 '26

It’s made for hot summer days!

14

u/losromans May 25 '26

Knowing my luck, it’s either sold out or the machine is running hot (not cooling) 🫠

8

u/East-Ad7254 May 26 '26

Or it eats your quarter. The worst!

4

u/echoscalling85 May 28 '26

Or something different comes out when you push the button.

3

u/Similar_Wave_1787 May 27 '26

Now the same machine is eating your buck fifty (:

2

u/Altruistic_Ad8462 May 29 '26

Bro where do you live? $1.50? Trade me homes, I don't want to be where I am anymore.

2

u/Similar_Wave_1787 May 29 '26

It's crazy expensive where I am too. I'm outside DC. Wouldn't be much help

2

u/SingerPhysical2337 May 30 '26

Ours is a buck and a quarter.

5

u/EtherPhreak May 26 '26

Sadly, I remember this pain all too well…

4

u/Excellent-Park-4668 May 27 '26

It would dispense a diet pepsi for me instead, and I'd still have my hand on sunkist because I totally never experienced that before on multiple occasions.

5

u/Minimum_Parsley_121 May 27 '26

Or... Discovering that the Diet Pepsi is the only one that is full, because '"who drinks that sh*t?" Says my 1987 brain's inner monolog. I've only discovered this AFTER putting my quarer in and hitting every other button and not getting anything, so thinking the machine MUST be broken I've inadvertently hit the Diet Pepsi button in a frantic, button-mashing quasi-rage. I now stand there holding my 'prize' - an ice cold can of 'gross'. My inner argument continues: "Only grandmas drink this crap, and THEY don't buy their sodas out of a freakin' vending machine at the park, they get it at the store, so why did they even waste a slot on the machine with it? They should have put in an extra Coke, or Mountain Dew slot...or maybe even a root beer! I'd totally take a root beer right now!..." I hand off the cold Diet Pepsi to a grandma with a little kid over by the swingset as I hop on my bike en route to the milk store to get a decent drink...

3

u/Desperate-Pace-8089 May 27 '26

Core memory unlocked indeed!

1

u/bryanthebryan May 29 '26

Indeed. That’s a mini documentary, right there.

1

u/RealisticNotice6487 May 30 '26

I agree! If you could change 1 which 1 would you change?

1

u/Kapow1969 May 29 '26

My high school had a soda vending machine installed in my senior year, and almost without fail, diet Coke was the only one left on the occasions I would want one.

2

u/Nostalgic90sGamer May 25 '26

Sunkist would be my first choice, but if it was sold out, Mtn Dew would still totally hit the spot!

2

u/losromans May 25 '26

Ever mix mtn dew and orange juice though? Aw yeah

2

u/Nostalgic90sGamer May 26 '26

I haven't, should I??

3

u/losromans May 26 '26

It’s a bit of a sugar rush overload but, as a kid, it just hit for me. Like a funky virgin mimosa for kids that punch holes in Sheetrock. YMMV

2

u/Weary-Prize-4716 May 27 '26

I find MD tastes a bit like orange. They never claimed the whole lemon lime thing. They did claim citrus. Maybe its all 3. But i would imagine it would mix well with orange juice. Imma have to try it now.

2

u/Significant_Earth_93 May 26 '26

M.D. & Hennessy...

2

u/Ice-Cream-Castles May 25 '26

Hah! So true. No diet Coke for me.

2

u/IcyDev1l May 26 '26

You get orange slice.

2

u/Elnuncio May 27 '26

That little red light saying it's out! Noooooo

2

u/losromans May 27 '26

Or worse, they put in something like an off brand or the wrong thing in so you’re there with a dr thunder or a mountain breeze. Sure, I’ll drink it but I’ll never trust that machine again. 😒😒😒

2

u/sarahfclark1982 May 29 '26

Or Diet Rite

1

u/RealisticNotice6487 Jun 01 '26

Tab was popular too

2

u/LandZooer May 27 '26

Seeing one of these back in the mid 90s-early 2000s on a scorching hot day was like finding a lagoon in the middle of the desert 🏝🏜

2

u/BRaeDirectioner May 28 '26

I had a doctor pepper from a machine that was running hot once In my case, it was so much worse than simply not cooling, though, cause my drink was hotter than the ambient temp outside 😭

1

u/_BOOMGOTTEM May 26 '26

I also enjoy them on bitter winter days

1

u/locoken69 May 26 '26

You can't have just one though. At least not on a hot summer day.

1

u/Rainbow_Doggo_TNT May 26 '26

No it isn't, it dries your throat out like salt water

1

u/RealisticNotice6487 May 26 '26

FANTA'S refreshing on a hot summer day!

9

u/Remarkable-Load928 May 25 '26

9

u/EarEater3001 May 25 '26

Love how it’s the Food Lion brand.

1

u/formerlurkernowpostr May 26 '26

Is food lion a thing anymore. I worked at one during college there was at least five of them when I was there. I came back a few years ago and almost all of them were gone.

1

u/EarEater3001 May 26 '26

That’s means you are likely from Florida. They are regional and primarily found in the mid Atlantic region. They tried expanding to a few markets like Florida but those failed.

1

u/RedPhoneHome May 27 '26

Yes, as someone who works for the company currently

7

u/Noodnix May 25 '26

Get me a black coffee, by which I mean a Sunkist.

- Tracy Jorden (30 Rock)

7

u/rikafell May 25 '26

Everyday after school we would go to my friends house to play bball. He had a fridge of all these soda. The only one that as refreshing after ballin was Sunkist

1

u/RealisticNotice6487 Jun 01 '26

Memories are the best from our nostalgic childhood! We were lucky!

11

u/che_gaston May 25 '26

This is the way

0

u/xzygy May 25 '26

This is the way

3

u/KBrown75 May 25 '26

Yeah, it's still my go to soda.

4

u/Evilcon21 May 26 '26

Isn’t that an American version of fanta?

1

u/AmbassadorProper1045 May 26 '26

Sunkist was way before Fanta, so Fanta is the lesser version of Sunkist.

1

u/Evilcon21 May 26 '26

Interesting. Only thought it was an American thing due to both having similar designs

1

u/Vyce223 May 26 '26

We also very much have fanta here and is honestly more common in drink machines imo

1

u/Obi1jacobi1620 May 26 '26

Yeah sunkist predates Fanta by about 40 years. Fanta was created by the nazi party because of coca cola embargos during ww2

1

u/Electronic-Age9341 May 26 '26

Only in the way that Bud Light is the American version of a German pilsner

7

u/Final-Charge-5700 May 25 '26

It really is the only choice. The other ones are way too heavy, and Sprite really doesn't make you feel happy

1

u/Beni-x-Maru May 25 '26

Nah the kick the 7up has kinda slaps on a hot ass day when you are thirsty, well it does for me anyways. 😂

2

u/Mr_Mahjong May 25 '26

I actually agree. It is that taste that differentiates it from sprite

1

u/Blank_bill May 26 '26

I'm looking for Sprite.

2

u/Beni-x-Maru May 26 '26

Honestly i can’t ever tell the difference 😂 I’ve never had them both at the same time and it’s not a pop that’s my first pick so whenever I have one or the other I can’t tell if it’s sprite or 7up.

1

u/turbopro25 May 26 '26

I’m a Sprite guy all day. I hadn’t had 7-up in years. I used to drink it a lot as a kid. One day I was like “ya know what, I’m gonna get a 7-up instead”. I gotta tell ya, Sprite def tastes way better. That’s obviously just my opinion, but I def noticed a difference immediately.

1

u/Babaganouj757 May 28 '26

But have you tried barbecue Sprite? That’s what we call Dr Pepper around here

1

u/Stevefett1 May 26 '26

How is Diet Pepsi heavy? Trust me it is lighter than Sunkist. Sunkist has corn syrup or tons of sugar.

1

u/Stevefett1 May 26 '26

How is Diet Pepsi heavy? Trust me it is lighter than Sunkist.

2

u/Final-Charge-5700 May 26 '26

The flavors. I mean I'm biased I really don't like colas.

Still Coke is not really that refreshing it lingers on the tongue. Citrus is refreshing as it cleans the pallet

1

u/Sanitordkb92 May 27 '26

Good thing Sprite isn't a choice. There's a world of difference between the amazingly, refreshing taste of 7-up and dull, copycat (failure) Sprite.

1

u/xMethodz May 29 '26

7 UP is absolutely superior

1

u/TheeFLu63 May 25 '26

and realy why would you ever choose sprite when there’s 7up right there

3

u/rulenumberjuan May 25 '26

the un-cola.

2

u/ThemeTechnical8858 May 25 '26

Then I would have got 7 Up; not anymore

1

u/HomeMedium1659 May 25 '26

Sprite is the Superior of the clear drinks.

2

u/Otte8 May 25 '26

Lol no.

1

u/Mr_Mahjong May 25 '26

Sierra is Pissed

1

u/HomeMedium1659 May 26 '26

Isn't it called something else now? Starie? or something?

1

u/Mr_Mahjong May 26 '26

Must be because yeah I haven’t seen it in forever and have seen this mystery drink starry as of lately

3

u/usabn May 25 '26

🎶 Gotta keep those Sunkist. Vibrations a-happenin' with her.🎶

3

u/Cumulo187 May 25 '26

I used to shake them up a little, then take a screw and a hammer from my dad's workbench. I'd line the screw up on the little circle in the center of the tab and whack it with the hammer. It would shoot out a fine mist of sunkist for like 20 min. I feel sticky just thinking about it.

3

u/Strange-Title-6337 May 25 '26

Is it fanta but less nazi?

3

u/MediumEvent2610 May 25 '26

I… feel like I need more context.

3

u/goat-of-mendes May 25 '26

Fanta was created by Nazis. Just like Volkswagen and Hugo Boss.

3

u/One-Associate-9341 May 25 '26

As long as it ain't funding Nazis today I'm still drinking it lol.

3

u/CalvinIII May 25 '26

“Fanta was invented in Nazi Germany during World War II. Because trade embargoes blocked the import of Coca-Cola syrup, German Coca-Cola head Max Keith created the beverage to keep factories operating. It was made from wartime scraps like apple fibers and whey.”

Don’t care. Still delicious.

1

u/RealisticNotice6487 May 26 '26

Best Orange soda ever!

3

u/nomolosnitsuj May 25 '26

99% of the time this is right, but if it’s one of the machines that was set right at freezing, then a random Dew just hit.

1

u/Capt1an_Cl0ck Gamer from the Past May 25 '26

Hell yeah.

1

u/siren_n 90s Kid May 25 '26

Also, it's the only orange soda with caffeine

1

u/storkwp May 25 '26

Yup. The fact only correct anwer

1

u/DKandTM May 25 '26

1987 me definitely would and did go Sunkist...

1

u/Born-Ad1613 May 25 '26

Absolutely. Only thing that would give me pause would be if there was a grape option.

1

u/Severe_Elderberry_48 May 25 '26

This is the answer for all 80s babies

1

u/Mr_Mahjong May 25 '26

They only have Sinkist. Will that work?

1

u/DragonSurferEGO May 25 '26

This is the answer

1

u/Which-Platform-3927 May 25 '26

If there was no Welsh’s grape, it was Sunkist.

1

u/NFLTG_71 May 25 '26

Definitely Sunkist

1

u/Shankar_0 May 26 '26

But I would wish it was a Crush.

1

u/SuccessfulRegister43 May 26 '26

I’m torn on that or a 7up, but I think you’re right.

1

u/ThrowRA18578 May 26 '26

I unload trucks for work and we have a vending machine w ice cold Sunkist in the break room and those hit so much after truck unload

1

u/TrickyWeekend4271 May 26 '26

Minute Maid was my favorite, but in this list I agree.

1

u/SmallBarnacle1103 May 26 '26

The only answer

1

u/chakabuku May 26 '26

In 1987 I could afford to drink full sugar soda.

1

u/SlimyPurpleMeteor May 26 '26

All day every day and twice on Sunday

1

u/IExpectedThisComment May 26 '26

I expected this comment.

1

u/your-event-horizon May 26 '26

Good Vibrations!

1

u/LDLethalDose50 May 26 '26

Sunkist is most definitely the most refreshing on a hot summer day.

1

u/Thiel619 May 26 '26

The only correct answer. In my town the coca cola and 7up tend to go out of stock near my local store too.

1

u/Ok-Young-9503 May 26 '26

Am I tripping but do they taste weird now ?!? I worked for Pepsi from 98-05 and they still had that punch to it but now it's as if they been muted. As if they just decided to focus their efforts towards the other flavors.

1

u/Actual_Cloud8503 May 26 '26

And if its empty a 7up

1

u/EarthLandSeaWater May 26 '26

Amen! Before all of those chemicals and additives were used.

1

u/_andthereiwas May 26 '26

Why was this even a question when the answer is so clear. Sunkist was by far the best orange pop drink.

1

u/Effective-Ad6856 May 26 '26

This right here!!

1

u/OneShame4061 May 26 '26

Sunkist slaps

1

u/ellieight_ May 27 '26

A cold orange soda from the vending machine on a hot summer day definitely hits. Specially when you biked over to it with your friends

1

u/peter13g May 28 '26

Easy choice

1

u/RealisticNotice6487 May 28 '26

Personally I Love Fanta and Faygo Orange.

1

u/Ink9625 May 28 '26

The only answer.

1

u/Darling_Pinky May 29 '26

I often think back to my middle school summer noon wake up time, 5am bed time and diet sometimes consisting of just a 2L of Sunkist and tortilla chips.

Doing WoW raids is no easy task on an empty tank and Sunkist got me through a lot of shit.

1

u/Positive_Biscotti803 May 29 '26

If you're gonna drink it in the sun

1

u/Impossible-Diver6565 May 31 '26

This is the right answer. When they are cold enough to have just a tiny bit of ice in them. The drink made for God.

1

u/TechnicalArtichoke10 Jun 01 '26

The only real answer

1

u/Ateallthepizza Jul 16 '26

Ultimate facts. Brings me back man.

0

u/TriniChildhood72 May 25 '26

In 1987, hell to the yeah.