Yes, we’re totally not kidding. Coca-Cola is brewing a drink with “a metaverse flavor.” According to the company, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Byte is a “Flavorful pixels sync with a great taste of Coca‑Cola® Zero Sugar for a next-level experience.”

Anytime I hear about product launches that evoke the metaverse, I’m always trying to wrap my head around them. Coke, for example, recently stated that its new limited edition metaverse beverage was “inspired by the playfulness of pixels.” What does being playful taste like? What does eating a pixel taste like? What makes pixels so amusing?

These questions are pretty hard to answer, but the company claims that Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Byte’s taste is “rooted in the experiences that gaming makes possible”—it’s also not a flavor—and will be available in slim can two-packs starting May 2. The limited edition cans will only be available for purchase online, making them “a portal between the digital and physical worlds,” according to Coca-Cola.

The most important thing Coke has said about their new metaverse beverage is that it tastes “bright.” So, we’re assuming that it’s citrusy, right? According to the business, the soda’s “upfront taste is reminiscent of powering up a game,” but that is also incredibly vague and impossible to imagine.

Someone on Twitter once described drinking Diet Coke to be “like drinking an algorithm,” so perhaps we have to give Coca-Cola credit for knowing its own products. Perhaps a sip of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Byte “brings pixels alive in a taste experience.” The Coke Byte launch includes a Fortnite Creative island with four minigames “that can only be accomplished by working in tandem with neighboring players,” as well as a separate augmented reality game that “tells the story of Byte, an 8-bit pixel left behind when Coca-Cola Byte entered the metaverse.”

What exactly does it mean to “enter the metaverse”? Coke claims to have “entered the metaverse” for the first time last year when it sold an NFT collection for 217 Ethereum (about $644,490 USD at current prices). This was to benefit the Special Olympics. I suppose it’s cool that they raised money for charity, but it’s not that innovative when stated that way.

Coke Byte is the second Coca-Cola Creations limited edition beverage. The first was Coca-Cola Starlight, which is said to taste like “outer space,” and if I’m being honest, I’m really curious to know what “nothingness” tastes like.

Coca-Cola hasn’t been afraid to hop into new markets and trends in recent years with it’s own coffee and hard seltzer. Are you copping the Coke Sugar Byte on May 2?

Photo via Coca-Cola