Your summer drink just got a serious upgrade with South Side Hard Soda

Summer is almost officially on, which means the braai is calling, the pool is waiting and your favourite people are already in the group chat. All that’s missing is the right drink in your hand.

Consider it handled.

lifestyle

Simonsig opens Vonkel, a mediterranean-inspired restaurant in Stellenbosch

If your feed has been acting a little strange lately, you weren’t imagining it. Those cryptic posts? The teasers that told you precisely nothing? They were all building to this: Watermelon Twist, the newest flavour from South Side Hard Soda and, frankly, its most anticipated drop in months.

So, what’s it like? Think ripe watermelon, the good kind, the kind you eat over the kitchen sink in December with juice running down your wrist. It’s crisp, juicy and properly sweet without ever sliding into syrupy territory. There’s no artificial aftertaste and no chemical finish, nothing that reminds you it came out of a can. Just the easy-drinking, slightly irreverent energy South Side has built its whole personality on.

But here’s the plot twist. Watermelon Twist isn’t just another flavour on the shelf. It’s the latest move in a seriously good year for the brand. South Side has announced a national rollout across 2,000+ retail doors, plus real investment in local production. Translation: this isn’t a quiet comeback. This is a brand scaling up.

“We’ve been listening to our community, and the demand for new flavours has been loud and clear,” says Director Trent Varejes. “Watermelon Twist proves we’re not slowing down. We’re evolving, staying irreverent and giving our community exactly what they’ve been asking for. This is just the warm-up.”

The warm-up. Read that however you like. We’re choosing to hear a promise.