9 Childhood Drinks You'll Miss The Second You See Them

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Most adults spend their days drinking coffee and water. To us, that means we're hydrated and awake, but to a child, let's be honest — that probably sounds incredibly boring. It might not necessarily be best for their health, but kids love color, sugar, a little fizz, and some creative packaging. And there was a time when we boring adults, with all of our bottles of water and Starbucks lattes, could relate to that. 

If you cast your mind back, you can probably remember days spent stocking up on fun bottles and cans of soda from the school vending machine with money that was supposed to be for lunch. Don't remember? That's okay, because the second you see the drinks we've listed below, it's guaranteed to all come flooding back.

If you get the urge to rush out and stock up, we have great news: Many (but not all) of the childhood drinks on this list are still available (at least in some countries). Read on and take a sip down memory lane with us.

Welch's Grape Soda first hit the market in the 1970s and quickly became a favorite for kids everywhere across the U.S. The company released other flavors, but for most, grape was hard to beat. To this day, many maintain it's the best grape soda they've ever tried.

If the sheer mention of Welch's Grape Soda has your taste buds tingling, then we have some good news. While it was discontinued in 2011, the popular beverage returned a few years later, due to popular demand (a Facebook page called "Bring Back Welch's Grape Soda," for example, has 1,700 followers). 

At the time of writing, you can find the drink at Dollar Tree stores nationwide, as well as several other retailers, small delis, and street carts across the U.S. The iconic drink is sold in bottle or canned form, and if you want to try some other flavors, Welch's also offers pineapple, blueberry, strawberry, orange, and punch.

Starting your day with orange juice is all well and good. But what about starting your day with a mix of five different citrus juices? Now that's exciting. At least it was for the American children of the 1970s and 1980s, who had the option of Five Alive juice with their breakfast.

Produced by Coca-Cola, the drink was sweet, a little tangy, and smoother than orange juice, and many kids loved it. But unfortunately, it wasn't destined to last — not in the U.S., anyway. While Five Alive is still available in some countries, including Canada, it was discontinued in the U.S. before the turn of the century. 

If you miss the taste of Five Alive, you can import it from other countries (but you'll have to pay an extra fee). Of course, there is always the option of hopping on a plane. It all depends on how nostalgic you're feeling.

If you were a kid in the 1990s, you probably remember Fruitopia. It was one of those drinks that you would beg your mom to buy you from the vending machine, and when she conceded, you would savor every sugary, artificially fruity drop. On Reddit threads, people recall sipping away on flavors like Strawberry Passion Awareness during their school lunch breaks, even if it meant they didn't have much lunch money left to buy anything else.

Fruitopia was once so popular that it even received a shout-out on "The Simpsons" (from Stephen Hawking, no less). But the drink, also produced by Coca-Cola, disappeared from the U.S. market in the early 2000s, depriving the kids of the aughts of the same beloved memories of a Fruitopia-laden childhood. In Canada, though, the kids are safe, because the fruity drink is still available there in retailers like Walmart, Loblaws, and Valu-mart.

Donald Duck is one of the most iconic and beloved Disney characters of all time. He was created back in the 1930s, and over the decades, he was adored for his slapstick humor and his distinct, often unintelligible voice. So it makes sense that when Disney decided to start selling orange juice in the 1940s, the company made it Donald Duck's own signature brand.

The juice was a success and stuck around for a long time after, becoming a staple drink in many children's morning routines. In fact, a few years ago, you could still buy Donald Duck Orange Juice from a few retailers. Sadly for Disney juice fans, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. A quick search for the drink at the time of writing shows it as out of stock at several major stores, including Ralphs and Kroger.

However, if you're now really missing Donald Duck Orange Juice and want to relive the memories, it's not all bad news. You can find several vintage cans being sold on eBay, for example.

Hershey's is one of the most popular chocolate brands in the U.S., there's no doubt. People love the brand's candy bars and, of course, its iconic Hershey's Kisses. But back in the 1990s, many people remember sipping on Hershey's milkshakes, too. 

The drinks, called Super Shakes, were sold in cartons and came in flavors like vanilla and chocolate. They're not available anymore, but some fans who miss the thick creamy texture are committed to bringing them back. On Reddit, for example, some users have encouraged others who remember Hershey's Super Shakes from their childhood to email the brand and request their return.

There is currently no indication that Hershey's Super Shakes are going to be re-released. However, if you're craving a Hershey's shake, Hershey's Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania, does offer Hershey's chocolate shakes and ice cream sundaes. Of course, you could also whip up your own from scratch by simply combining Hershey's chocolate syrup with ice cream and milk and blending it all together. What are you waiting for?

Back in the 1980s, PepsiCo was on a mission to dominate the drink market by any means possible. It saw how popular Coca-Cola's Sprite offering was, and so it launched its own similar version of a lemon and lime drink, called Slice. Not content with just copying one soda, however, it also launched Dr Slice in the 1990s. As you've probably guessed, given that PepsiCo didn't really even attempt to disguise it, the drink was supposed to taste very similar to Dr. Pepper.

Many people remember sipping on away on Dr Slice throughout the 1990s. While it was supposed to be similar to Dr. Pepper, many say it didn't actually taste anything like it. That didn't matter, though, because Dr Slice has its own distinct tasty flavor. Some have described it as being very heavy on the cherry flavor, but in a good way. 

Dr Slice may no longer be around, but you can still find Slice on the shelves. It's not quite the same as it was, though. In fact, in early 2025, it was repositioned as a gut health soda brand. There isn't a Dr Slice or cherry soda clone available, but the brand does offer a range of flavors, including lemon lime, orange, classic cola, and grape.

The rivalry between PepsiCo and Coca-Cola goes both ways. In the 1970s, after witnessing the success of Pepsi's Mountain Dew, Coca-Cola decided to launch its own citrusy soda flavor, called Mello Yello.

The drink isn't as popular as Mountain Dew, but it does have plenty of fans. In fact, some believe that Mello Yello is even tastier than its top competitor. This could be because they genuinely love the flavor, or maybe it's because of the memories associated with drinking it as a child, but either way, this loyalty has been enough to keep Mello Yello around. Like Fruitopia, Mello Yello even got a shout-out in "The Simpsons" once (referencing the rivalry with Mountain Dew), so you know it was a big deal. 

Some may assume it was discontinued, likely because of its inconsistent availability, but Mello Yello is still with us. If you're a fan, you can still order the drink from Walmart, as well as platforms like Instacart and DoorDash.

Introduced to the market more than three decades ago, many kids remember growing up drinking Bug Juice. The drinks came in small bottles, with bright colors and super sugary, artificial-tasting flavors. In other words, they were basically a kid's dream. Many remember growing up drinking them with the likes of Sunny D, for example, and Nesquik.

If the mere mention of Bug Juice has just jogged your memory and made you want to run out to the store to buy a bottle, then the good news is you absolutely can do that, because Bug Juice isn't a drink confined to the past; it's actually still in circulation. It looks just like it did 30 years ago, with bright, fruity flavors, like Outrageous Orange and Grapey Grape, packaged in small bottles.

The bad news? It may not taste quite as good to an adult's palate. A few have compared it to drinking "chemicals," for example.

Snapple drinks hit the market in the 1970s, and went on to become a major success, especially with the children of the 1980s and 1990s. Many people feel particularly nostalgic about the Snapple Elements range, which dropped in the 1990s and featured flavors like Rain (agave cactus), Sun (starfruit and orange), Earth (grape and cranberry), and Fire (dragonfruit).

Each of the drinks was popular, in part, thanks to the curvy glass bottles they were sold in, but people also loved the taste. Rain, in particular, stood out to many, which makes sense, given that cactus-flavored drinks weren't quite as common as fruity options in the drink world. 

Snapple Elements was rebranded in the early 2000s and eventually discontinued. But fans didn't give up on trying to get them back. More than one petition was set up in a bid to get Snapple to re-release the Elements. And it seems they were successful, as the flavors returned in 2022. However, it seems they may have done another disappearing act, as the flavors are no longer showing on the Snapple website.