Jarritos Variety Pack: Mandarin

You may have noticed that the Kibbitzer-in-Chief was not quoted in the previous review (Jarritos Guava). If you read that review, you now understand how valuable her input is to the reports issued by the Lab, and the problems that can arise without her presence.

She was not exactly pleased with the results*.

In any case, she's here now, and so with a more sober mind we shall move on to the next item in the Jarritos pak: Mandarin. Whether a mandarin orange is the same thing as a tangerine is apparently a source of some debate, but most sources I have found suggest that mandarin and tangerine are, if not identical, then very closely related.

So we'll call this Mandarin and/or Tangerine flavor.

Where and when: Donated by Jarritos
Color: Translucent bright orange. About the same color as freshly squeezed orange juice, but more translucent and no pulp.
Scent: Pretty close to actual tangerine.
K-i-C: "It smells familiar. I'm trying to place it."
Me: "Tangerine?"
K-i-C: "Could be."
Sweet, a strong bitter citrus undertone.
Taste: Fairly mild. Quite sweet, but not utterly cloying. The bitter citrus is more understated here, with the dominant flavor being a fairly mellow, not-all-that-tangy pleasant citrus.
K-i-C: "The guava was better."
It's sweeter than the guava, and more artifical in taste.
JAT: "Mmm! Tastes like Orangina."
I disagree; Orangina tastes very much like actual orange juice, with the full tang and bitterness thereof. This forgoes most of the complexity of real fruit for a dominant sweetness and mellow mild citrus. You wouldn't mistake this for carbonated fruit juice.

Quaff rating: 2.5. Not bad, but could be better.
Cough rating: 0.5. Not sweet enough to provoke an adverse response.

* I believe the exact quote when she read it was "Eww. That's really disturbing," followed by some odd sidelong glances and suspicion.