9 Best & 3 Worst Fanta Flavors + Tasty Alternatives

Diana Barkley (Senior Editor)

If Fanta has always seemed like a fruity cousin of Coca Cola to you, you’re exactly right: its origins date back to World War II Germany, when trade embargoes restricted the importation of Coca Cola syrup. Here you’ll find the best and worst Fanta flavors, plus tasty hacks.

Even Fanta’s name directly links with its unique history, being an abbreviated version of the German word ‘Fantasie’ or imagination.

Their flavors have certainly been imaginative over the years, with over 200 known flavors having been created since its inception. We’ll cover some of the most popular and lasting flavors, as well as some more unusual varieties plus, of course, the worst ones which you’d better skip.

Interesting Facts about Fanta Flavors

Interesting Facts about Fanta Flavors

Undoubtedly the most fun fact about Fanta is its origin story, which we’ve already briefly disclosed above. It was created as a result of trade embargoes restricting the importation of Coca Cola syrup.

As such, the original Fanta was a completely random concoction, which even the name Fanta (from ‘Fantasie’ or imagination) implies.

Fanta is available in a huge variety of flavors, both nationally and across the world. Nowadays the popular soft drink is available in over 180 countries internationally.

Fanta is part of Coca Cola’s portfolio. While it’s distinct in packaging and taste, it’s owned and manufactured by the Coca Cola Company, which is one of the largest drinks companies in the world.

The popular soft drink has become ingrained in pop culture across the world. It’s appeared in TV shows, movies, music videos, and more, and has become a symbol of fun and refreshment.

Lastly, there are over 200 flavors available worldwide, with many unusual limited editions. So there’s plenty to choose from and discover, even while traveling.

What Fanta Is

What Fanta Is

Fanta is owned by the Coca Cola Company, but was created specifically by Coca Cola Deutschland during World War II. It’s known for its sweet, fruit-flavored fizzy soft drinks that are available across the world.

Who Invented Fanta

Who Invented Fanta

Fanta was invented by Max Keith, the then-head of Coca Cola Germany in 1941. He created the drink to get around a trade embargo that restricted the importation of Coca Cola syrup.

He described the creation of the first drink as using ‘leftovers of leftovers’, including sugar beet, apple pomace (wasteful residue made up of the peel, seed, core, etc of apples and created via the manufacture of apple juice), and whey.

What Is Special About Fanta

What Is Special About Fanta

Fanta is a caffeine free soda which is available in plenty of fun, fruity flavors. However, most special is probably Fanta’s invention story, which makes it especially unique.

A rather negative aspect of Fanta is that the US varieties are still made with high-fructose corn syrup and artificial flavoring. Fanta doesn’t contain any real fruit juices, which is a shame.

The Best Fanta Flavors Ranked

The Best Fanta Flavors Ranked

Fanta’s market share may not be the biggest in the US, but it’s grown over the past few years.

With so many flavors to choose from, including many limited edition varieties, it’s tricky to pick just which ones are the best.

Below is our list of favorites, carefully selected based on our own tastes as well as those of the many Fanta fans out there on the internet.

Pineapple

Pineapple

Described as a yummy lemonade with tropical and pineapple flavors, this one ranks very highly amongst fans. It’s fruity, refreshing, and great cold. Besides, it’s also one of the cheeriest cans you can get, bringing sunshine vibes with every sip.

Grape

Grape

Grape Fanta contains a whopping 44 g of sugar per can (that’s a bit over 10 teaspoons!) This makes it a particularly unhealthy, sweet flavor. Which may just be why it’s so hugely popular. Grape flavors tend to be quite divisive, but Grape Fanta is a firm fan favorite out there.

Orange

Orange

If you’ve ever had any kind of soft drink, Fanta Orange will likely have been among the selection. It’s widely popular, sugary, and faintly citrusy.

Fanta Orange isn’t sour in the slightest, so if you’re looking for a little bit of tanginess, it won’t be for you.

However, as far as sweet orange-flavored drinks go, this one is up there. Just make sure you have it iced cold.

Lemon

Lemon

If you ask us, Fanta Lemon is one of the nicest flavors out there. It’s not quite as sweet as many of the other varieties and has a nice citrusy flavor to it. It’s not sour but does have a pleasing tang. The bright, pale yellow color also makes for an attractive, old fashioned lemonade-vibes drink.

Melon

Melon

Fanta Melon is relatively hard to get a hold of, as it’s a Japanese flavor. If you can get your hands on a can, you’ll love the juicy, sweet melon flavor with a nice tropical twist.

People absolutely rave about this flavor. It’d probably be fairly nice as a mixer with some vodka, too.

Strawberry

Strawberry

This flavor gets mixed reviews, though the majority of Fanta-fans seem to rate it highly. It’s certainly one of the sweeter varieties, perfect if you enjoy a sugary drink.

The taste is often described as simply ‘fruity and sweet’, and we’d probably have this one iced cold if at all.

Very sweet drinks tend to taste especially awful when warm.

Mango

Mango

Fanta Mango was sadly discontinued in 2020, though it was a popular variety. It offered a sweet, syrupy smell and a distinct mango taste.

It’s nice and light with a satisfying carbonation that ordinary mango juice obviously doesn’t have (the juice can be rather thick.)

All in all, we’re a little disappointed that this popular flavor is no longer available.

Lime

Lime

This flavor tastes completely different from the other popular Fanta citrus flavors. Lime is tangy, zesty and refreshing. It’s a Chinese flavor, and can be a little tricky to get a hold of. The coloring is also fairly garish (think fluorescent Ghostbusters-green) but the taste is scrumptious.

Wild Cherry

Wild Cherry

Fanta Wild Cherry gets mixed reviews, as most cherry-flavored beverages seem to. People either adore cherry flavors or find them a little medicinal.

What is particularly popular is McDonald’s own Frozen Fanta Wild Cherry. Nothing like a retro-style treat to really get you in the mood for summer.

Worst Fanta Flavors

Worst Fanta Flavors

As with any big drinks brand that’s created literally over 200 flavors, not every single one has hit home. Here we list the top 3 most awful Fanta flavors.

The first is particularly bad both in flavor and, surprisingly, color. Try these for yourself or do yourself a favor… and steer clear entirely.

Strawberry Cheesecake Mystery Flavor

Strawberry Cheesecake Mystery Flavor

Fanta only began their range of ‘mystery flavors’ in 2022, but already most are horrendous. The idea behind them is to ‘challenge your tastebuds and fool the senses’, and they certainly got that right, but not in a good way.

The Strawberry Cheesecake flavor is the most obvious ‘miss’ in the range.

It’s a horrible purple color (think: I washed out several different paintbrushes and should really change the water now.) The flavor is sweet and horrendous. Nothing more needs said here.

Blood Orange Mystery Flavor

Blood Orange Mystery Flavor

To us, this is what should have come out when the Germans first tried to make a new soft drink during the Coca Cola syrup shortage.

It’s a creepy black color, and apparently should taste like blood orange.

Absolutely nobody seems to have guessed this one though, so really, it remains a mystery. And not in a good way.

Fruit Twist

Fruit Twist

This one is actually reasonably popular. It’s a weird mix of citrus fruits (orange), peach, apple, and passion fruit. To us it just tasted very sweet and undefinable.

If you like tropical Fanta, we recommend you try the pineapple flavor instead, and if you like citrus flavors, go for the original Orange, Lemon, or even Lime.

The Original Fanta Flavors

The Original Fanta Flavors

When Fanta was first created during the Second World War, it was out of necessity rather than anything else.

As Coca Cola syrup had run out, the German Coca Cola plant manager, Max Keith, decided to make a drink with whatever ingredients were available: including apple fiber and whey to flavor it, and beets for coloring.

As such, there was only one original flavor of Fanta.

Fanta Orange

Fanta Orange

The original orange Fanta probably had very little to do with actual oranges.

It was more of a concoction of random ingredients, but the coloring likely inspired the flavor.

While we have no idea what the original truly tasted like, it’s safe to say that ‘orange’ was meant to be the first flavor. And of course Fanta Orange is still very popular to this day.

Tasty Alternatives to Fanta

Tasty Alternatives to Fanta

You may be looking for an alternative soft drink that’s similar to Fanta but offers different flavors. Or you might want to try a healthier alternative to the popular Fanta Orange. Below are some of our favorite Fanta alternatives. Which one is your favorite?

Coca Cola

Coca Cola

The standard Coca Cola taste is hard to describe, but it does have a reminiscence of spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Cola isn’t the healthiest drink in the world, but it’s a nice alternative if you’re looking for a good mixer to go with vodka or rum.

Dr Pepper

Dr Pepper

Similarly to Coca Cola, nobody truly knows what flavor Dr Pepper is meant to be.

It tastes of spices and sweetness, but nobody’s 100% sure exactly what the 23 flavors are meant to be. With that said, there are many Dr Pepper fans out there so it’s worth a try if you’ve not had it before.

San Pellegrino

San Pellegrino

Italian San Pellegrino makes a slightly healthier alternative to Fanta, particularly if you enjoy citrus-flavored sodas. Some of the most popular flavors include Lemon, Lime, Orange, and Blood Orange.

Pellegrino boasts ingredients from ‘natural origins’, so while these still contain sugar, they may be slightly healthier than Fanta.

Tasty Fanta Hacks

Tasty Fanta Hacks

Did you know that you can cook and bake with Fanta? The German Fanta Cake has been a staple birthday party treat since the 80s and 90s.

The other recipe hacks we list here are equally tasty, however.

You could essentially make an entire Fanta-themed meal with these (though we wouldn’t recommend going that far.)

Fanta Cake

Fanta Cake

Fanta cake is a German creation from the 80s/90s, when it was hugely popular at kids’ birthday parties. It’s readily made as a traybake using just flour, Fanta Orange, sugar, and oil.

The glaze for it is, similarly, made using icing sugar and Fanta. You can then decorate it with some sprinkles. It’s a sweet cake, but the bubbles in Fanta make it a nice and fluffy treat.

Fanta Ice Cream Float

Fanta Ice Cream Float

Ever had an orange creamsicle? Then you’ll enjoy this Fanta Orange ice cream float.

All you need is Fanta Orange (or, to be honest, any other flavor) and vanilla ice cream.

Top your homemade ice cream floats with whipped cream and, ideally, some orange-flavored popping candy. Can you think of a better birthday party treat? We can’t.

Delicious Fanta Chicken

Delicious Fanta Chicken

This may sound odd but, trust us, it tastes delicious. It’s a little like a sweet and sour chicken, but with minimal effort.

All you need is:

• some chicken
• yellow and red peppers
• some green beans
• an onion
• a can of Fanta Orange (or Fanta Orange Zero if you want to skip the sugar)
• chopped tomatoes
• white wine vinegar (for added tanginess)
• some chicken stock
• and some pineapple chunks.

Super easy and delicious over brown or white rice.

(40 votes, average: 4.90 out of 5)
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