Make Your Own Ecto-Cooler II

Boys and ghouls, pull out your Proton Packs because today is National Ghostbusters Day!  Yep, believe it or not, 2014 marks Ghostbusters' 30th Anniversary and I'm here to celebrate with one of my favorite drinks of all-time... Ecto-Cooler!!  If you're a fan of The Holidaze, you may remember when I first concocted my own version of Hi-C Ecto-Cooler using the Ghosbusters Chicago recipe.  It was difficult finding all the necessary ingredients, but worked out wonderfully and got me through the dark times of Hurricane Sandy.  Ecto-Cooler, known for creating so many childhood memories, provided me with another in adulthood as my family and I sat in pitch black darkness drinking the batch of Ecto-Cooler I had put together before Hurricane Sandy knocked our power out and left us cut-off from the outside world.  For so many reasons, it's special and means something different to each of us who remember when Slimer was prominent in our lunch boxes.

Today, to honor one of my favorite films or all-time and it's 30th Anniversary, I wanted to do something that truly stood out and, in the process, would bridge the gap between Summer and Fall as the re-release of Ghostbusters will do tomorrow night in theaters.  Although I've made my own Ecto-Cooler in the past and it was featured on the official Ghostbusters Facebook page, I wanted to do it again in an easier fashion.  Plus, unlike last time, having a refrigerator keep it cold without losing energy would make for a more enjoyable week of green slime.

The key to creating Ecto-Cooler in today's day and age is finding a way of taking Orange and Tangerine flavors and mixing them to perfectly recreate the taste and flavor we all know and love.  Last time, that wasn't easy.  I had to order Tangerine Kool-Aid on Ebay and hunt down a slew of products that I could only hope would bring out the Ecto-Cooler flavor or, at least, come close to the classic.  But now, thanks to Juicy Juice Orange Tangerine, all the hard work is already done for us!  All wee need to do is pour in a little green food coloring and..boom.. Ecto-Cooler!

But before we get mixing, Juicy Juice isn't the only brand offering us Orange Tangerine flavoring.  Market Pantry, which is Target's orginal brand, now has an Orange Tangerine liquid water enhancer.  I'm a big fan of these juicy drops, from Kool-Aid to Crush flavors, and was pumped to find Orange Tangerine on the same day.  Plus, the flavor's name is colored green.  Hmm.. Coincidence?  If I were a Market Pantry executive, I'd probably go with an orange color scheme.  Unless, of course, I'm looking to invite fans of Ecto-Cooler to give my product a whirl.  Regarless of the case, they lured me in and we now have two Orange Tangerine options.  Until Hi-C wakes up and brings back Ecto-Cooler, I'll go with the competition.

 

Orange Tangerine Juicy Juice goes from an ordinary, everyday, drink to Ecto-Cooler in a mere matter of 8 drops.  Once the green food coloring is mixed...

Ahhhh... Now how's that for a beautiful green color?  If you remember my first go-around with an Ecto-Cooler recipe, the flavor was on-point but the color was disgusting.  It was more of a sewer brown than a Slimer green, but it was all we had and it did the trick.  But this time, because we have less ingredients and the Juicy Juice is more diluted, the green food coloring shines through and pops much more significantly than we had before.  It's a gorgeous color and much closer to what I remember as a kid.  You can play around with the impact by dropping more or less food coloring into the juice, but I'm happy with this shade.  It's not only perfect for a refreshing Halloween drink, but does Ghostbusters and Hi-C Ecto-Cooler justice.

Sure, on a 90 degree day, you'd think this hits the spot, but all it did was attract bees and wasps that attempted to attack me, once again, as I photographed the custom Ecto-Cooler.  If Halloween wasn't enough reason for Fall to make an early arrival, these nasty bugs leaving for 6 months surely is!  As I ran away, screaming more than any man ever should, I successfully pulled of 6 new Karate moves you've never seen before.  It was embarrassingly impressive, but I'm much more of a Ghostbuster than I am a Bugbuster. Those flying pests quickly chased my inside where I finished mixing my Ecto-Cooler.  But don't focus on my inability to handle creatures the size of my finger nails and put that attention on the gorgeous green color of this Ecto-Cooler.  That's much more important than my defeat.

I had a small hope in the back of my mind that this Orange Tangerine mix was going to be green.  That colored text had me thinking that maybe, just maybe, Market Pantry truly was attempting to make their own version of Ecto-Cooler.  I knew it was a long shot, but I can't deny that the thought was present and quickly eliminated once I snapped open the cap.  It's obviously orange and, of course, that makes sense.  Once mixed with the water, the scent was much stronger than that of Juicy Juice.  Based on aroma alone, this seemed to resemble Ecto-Cooler much more than Orange Tangerine Juicy Juice, so I was excited to drop in some food coloring and give this a taste test.

On the left, we have the dyed Juicy Juice while, on the right, we have the dyed Market Pantry Orange Tangerine.  Obviously, the liquid enhancer gives us more of that sewer color than the Juicy Juice, but the flavor is much stronger.  Believe it or not, the Market Pantry enhancer is the closest thing I've had to Ecto-Cooler since I first put together the Ghostbusters Chicago recipe.  What's cool about the water enhancer is that you control how much, or how little, you actually want in your bottle.  I added a lot and I think that makes a big difference.  On one hand, you're losing that bright green color but, on the other, you're adding more flavor.  If you remember Ecto-Cooler, it was tasty, it was sugary, and it was delicious.  While Juicy Juice looks great and is certainly verrrrry close to the original, Market Pantry Orange Tangerine comes even closer.  But, the best news?  Regardless of which one you choose, you're getting Ecto-Cooler.  There's no doubt in my mind that slimy green memories will instantly start flooding back!

It's been 30 years since Ghostbusters first graced the big screen!  In 1984, I wasn't even born yet, but my Parents exposed me to the animated series where Slimer really blew up in popularity.  From there, they let me watch the movie and I remember being terrified by Gozer.  I was probably between 4-5 years-old and I don't think I slept for days.  But, as I grew older, I came to appreciate the film, the series, and the characters.  Today, they're a huge part of my nostalgic life and I love going back to relive and enjoy the franchise in as many was as possible.  Whether it's through cinema, animation, video games, merchandise, or drinks like Ecto-Cooler, I love the fact that Ghostbusters is still alive and well in the minds and hearts of those who lived through the time and those who are living it for the first time!

If you want to make your own Ecto-Cooler, these are the easiest ways of pulling off the recipe and enjoying the legendary Hi-C drink.  If you're anything like me, you'll be pouring this into a bottle and sneaking it into theaters to watch the first Ghostbusters film as it flies back into theaters for a limited-time only.  Enjoy!

Who ya gonna call?

Hi - C Horror Collection

If this Halloween season has taught us anything, it's that the improbable may very well come to fruition.  Who would have ever thought that Frute Brute and Yummy Mummy would be back on store shelves?  It's things like that, along with the eventual finding of Ghoul-Aid Jammers and Jones Halloween Soda, that make the Halloween season so unpredictable.  You truly never know what companies are going to have in store for us fiending fans.  But, sometimes, due to licensing agreements, copyrights, and the fact that certain products would never fly with children under 13, you can pretty much guarantee that you'll never see mainstream horror on anything other than toy shelves.  That's when you take matters into your own hands.

In recent years, I've created custom Halloween soda wrappers.  They're not to scale and I never printed them out, but they were fun to design and I would have loved to see Coke or Pepsi release something similar.  As mentioned, Jones is the only company that thinks outside the box with their soda, but they've been missing in action until this year's rumored comeback (we'll see!)

Now, because stores aren't complying with my addiction to Halloween and the need for more products, I had to do something to get my mind working and creativity flowing until they do.  So this year, spinning off of my love for Hi-C Ecto Cooler, I designed "Hi-C Horror" juice boxes based on a few of my favorite characters and iterations.  While we may never see these boxes in our stores, we can still get an idea of what they might have looked like if we did.

Let's kick it all off with Beetlejuice and his Hi-C flavor "Beetle Juice."  Not that original, but most appropriate for the character.  I'm starting with this one because it didn't require much creativity, but enough to set the mood for the rest of the collection.  This is probably the only mainstream design in my collection and, if they ever make Beetlejuice 2, I could actually see Hi-C releasing their version of Beetle Juice.

"Freddy's Sweet Dreams" was actually the first one I made.  Remember, these were all put together very quickly and are far from perfect, but I wanted to get a feel for what I was actually making and this one is awesome.  I only wanted to change characters, flavor, name, and graphics.  I wanted to stay true to the juice box so that meant not changing the Hi-C logo or yellow background.  Of course, I could have really "Nightmare'd" this out by adding an elm street sign or boiler room, but just like Ecto-Cooler, I want to maintain the personality of Hi-C.  Overall, I'm a big fan of the Freddy box and I think fruit punch, for it's red juice, is the perfect flavor.  Having Freddy slice fruit with his glove doesn't hurt, either!

"Mango Myers," get it?  Of course, you do.  Michael Myers has always been my favorite character and if I ever saw a drink, any drink, associated with him or "Halloween," I'd buy it in a heartbeat.  I don't know if mango is the best flavor choice, but when it comes to the play on words, it makes for the best flavor title so I ran with it.  The drawings were done quickly in illustrator, but you get the idea.  If any artist wants to contribute to the collection and provide their own juice boxes, let me know.  I'd love to see them.

"Trick R Treat" is such an underrated movie and I wish more people gave it a chance.  Unless you're a big fan of horror, you may not even be aware that this movie exists, but it's one of the greatest movies I've ever seen in terms of setting the mood.  For me, it's not really about the stories or the killing, but the ambiance.  I love the falling leaves, the swaying trees, the Halloween lights and party, and of course, Sam!  He's become one of my favorite horror characters and I had to include him in the collection.  "Sam's Stand" was chosen as the theme because, one, it rolls off the tongue, but two, Sam is a cute character that lures you in.  What better way than an orangeade stand?

Well, a pink lemonade stand is just as luring and that's why I had to design two variations.  Sometimes, when I get an idea in my head, I run with it.  If another pops into my mind, I have to make that, too.  Personally, I like the pink lemonade stand better than the orangeade because of the color and flavor.  But either way, we'd be getting an awesome product.

Some people don't consider "Jaws" to be a horror movie.  Can you believe that?  Of course it is!  But instead of a masked maniac killing kids and adults alike, it's a 19-foot Great White Shark with his mind set on eating anything that gets in his way.  I've probably seen this movie more than any other horror film besides Scream so it had to be included.  For obvious reasons, I chose "Grape White" as the flavor and based the juice box off of the legendary poster.  The water has been changed to represent the purple color of the drink, but I forgot to add an unknowing victim swimming at the surface.  Ah well, I doubt Hi-C would have liked that, anyway.  As if a blood Michael Myers knife is any better.

"Jason's Machete Cherry" is one of two Jason Flavors in my collection and we'll get to the second in a minute, but I think the name is acceptable.  I thought "Jason's Juice," or "Crystal Lake Water," but those weren't working for me.  So I went with something that rolled off the tongue and sounded fun.  Plus, like Freddy, Jason deserves a red-colored drink to represent the amount of blood he has on his hands.  After all, he has more kills than Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface.  Mr. Vorhees NEEDS a bloody drink!

 

One of the coolest action figures released in recent memory is the NES "8-Bit Jason" by NECA.  The toy was a SDCC exclusive and, unfortunately, I missed out on its limited release.  But it's garnered so much attention that, now, everybody is obsessed with the 8-Bit Jason.  The reason is because of his unorthodox color scheme.  I couldn't tell you why, but in the original "Friday the 13th" video game for Nintendo, the developers created Jason in purple and blue.  It doesn't make sense, but it's become nostalgic and now everybody loves it.  I'm a huge fan of this Jason and had to include him.  But unlike the others, I did play around with the background by adding the cabin walls from the NES game.  I also changed the flavor from "Jason's Machete Cherry" to "Jason's Machete Berry" for a Blue Raspberry taste.  Man, I want this one!

This one might be my overall favorite because we're combing a whole lot of nostalgia here!  We have the 8-Bit Jason Vorhees in complete, head to toe, purple and blue.  We have the old-school 1990s Hi-C logo.  We have an 8-bit font featuring another new name, "Jason's 8-Bit Berry," along with the classic styled box.  This was designed to remind you of Ecto-Cooler.  Remember the orange box with green graphics?  People seem to forget about that and only remember the yellow, but they're both legendary and I had to throw in a  "Limited Edition" version of these boxes.  Jason's not the only one...

We've all heard the phrase "Scream Bloody Murder," well this one is called "Scream Bloody Orange."  It was originally known as "Tangerine Scream" until this name came to me and stuck.  I like this one a lot.  First of all, I love ghostface and couldn't tell you how many times I've seen Scream 1-4.  In 1996 alone, I probably watched the original 20 times.  I love it.  But I also love the fact that he stabbed the orange to make this taste like Blood Orange.  I'd actually love to see Hi-C release such a flavor because I think it would taste delicious.  Maybe, one day.  For now, we have an awesome graphic.  Okay, decent graphic.

I love the thought of having limited edition versions of anything.  Even if it's a fake juice box, limited editions give you the ability to change the style, be more nostalgic, and break the rules.  In this case, we have the "1997 Stab" version of Hi-C.  Only real Scream fans are going to get this, but Stab is the movie based on the Woodsboro murders in Scream 2.  It's like Inception's dream within a dream.  You'd have to had seen the movies to understand, but I always liked the "Stab" movie posted because it featured ghostface in green.  I loved that!  So I used that as my inspiration for "Green Scream."  It's classically designed to portray the 1990s box and, the best part, I chose the original Ecto-Cooler "citrus drink" flavor for "Green Scream."  If I could own this box and see green Ecto-Cooler pour from it, I'd be pretty damn excited.  But this is never.. ever.. going to get produced!

If you'd like to share these images, feel free to use the photo above which has already been formatted for Instagram.  And, of course, don't forget to follow me @HolidazeBlog =)

Here are the classic versions of "Friday the 13th" and "Scream" as well.

If you have any ideas for designs or flavors, let me know.  I already have "LemonFace" for Leatherface and "Saw-Berry" for Saw.  They'll most likely be a part of the next collection.  Also, to clarify, while I did draw (sometimes trace) and color everything in illustrator, I can't take credit for anything but the ideas.  Google was a big inspiration for artistic motivation so credit goes to their rightful owners.

To submit ideas, comment below or email me at CMKnueppel@gmail.com!

Hi-C Ecto Cooler

  

If you're a fan of The Holidaze, you know that I really don't keep up with it outside of September and October.  I really do intend on keeping up with it, but I fall out of the Holidaze spirit after Halloween, start buying presents for Christmas, and the next thing ya know, there's not much left to talk about.  Last year, I posted a few things in June.  I talked about some cookies and Pop-Tarts.  It was fun, it was interesting, but again, I didn't keep up with it as the months went by.  I'm not making any promises this Summer, but I am back now and I'm connecting the past to the present.

If you remember, my Halloween came to abrupt end thanks to Hurricane Sandy.  Before the blackout, this was a topic I had planned on posting.  In fact, it was something I was saving for Halloween day.  Obviously it didn't get posted, but it is now.  Let's take a little bit of Halloween 2012 and connect it to Summer 2013 as we transition into the next Holidaze..

Make Your Own Hi-C Ecto Cooler!

I've always been a fan of nostalgia, and The Ghostbusters are high on my list of throwbacks thanks to Slimer.  I absolutely loved him as a kid!  I think I had a thing for the color green because he, along with the Ninja Turtles, were a huge part of my childhood.  I had every toy and product they pumped out.  I guess that's why my favorite color is green.  Who knows?

But do you remember Ecto-Cooler?  Man, what an awesome drink that was.  Hi-C hit a home run with that one and, to this day, I can't think of a cooler drink for kids.  Pun intended!

I didn't come up with the recipe, but I found one online and knew I had to try it.  The reviews were top-notch and taste-test approved.  That was enough for me!

Most of the ingredients were easy to find, but not Tangerine Kool-Aid was impossible.  I looked everywhere, but I could only find orange or "mandarin."  That just wasn't going to cut it.  Ecto-Cooler was known for its distinct Tangerine flavor so it had to be done right.  The solution? Ebay! 89 cents a packet and I had 10 in my mailbox in less than a week.  Now I was ready to rock!

I took all the ingredients and poured them into an empty gallon.  At this point, it just looked like a big container of orange juice.  But I figured this had to work.  I did everything right, I scoured the streets for Tangerine Kool-Aid, I found it and combined it with more sugar than I ever thought I'd pour.  Ecto-Cooler was almost complete, but you all know it can't stay orange!  It's time to add the green food coloring!

Ehhhh... It's okay.  It's not bad.  It's definitely not the color green I remember, but it's as close as I'm going to get.  When you combine green food coloring with orange, you get sewer.  It's not pretty or bright.  It doesn't remind me of Slimer, but I know it's green and that's good enough for me.  Besides, when you pour it into a cup, it's still pretty cool.

Okay, well, it looks like I took a few of those leaves from the background and mashed them up to create some type of vegetarian cocktail.  Thankfully, when it comes to flavor, this is far from healthy.  No, when you take a sip of this Ecto-Cooler re-creation, you'll know that this IS Ecto-Cooler!  It's not orange, it's barely tangerine, it is something entirely different.  The combination of ingredients and flavors makes for a nostalgic kick that brings you back to a time when everything was easier.  One sip and you're a 4-year-old kid again.  It's pretty amazing.  Sure, the process is a bit messy and it can even be expensive.  But if you want to drink this classic again, this is as close as we may get.

Hi-C has released Ecto-Cooler since the days of Slimer on the front.  It came in green and orange and had the exact same flavor.  I don't remember it because I was mainly drawn in by Slimer himself, but the Internet tells me so and I believe it.  Why Hi-C hasn't released the flavor once again is beyond me, but I'd like to believe that we haven't seen the end of Hi-C Tangerine or, what it will always be known to me, Ecto-Cooler.

As I was searching through Ebay auctions, I was hoping to come across an actual Ecto-Cooler carton or can, but no such luck.  So, being the creative genius that I am, I once again turned to the Internet.  I found a printable replica of the box on Google images and printed it out on sticker paper.  It was fitted to the box so all I had to do was cut it out and stick it on an Orange Lavaburst Hi-C carton.  Of course, I dumped out that crappy orange and poured in the custom Ecto-Cooler.  Now, I really couldn't get any closer to the old days.

The best part of making this drink in October for Halloween?  It lasted me through the blackout and gave me a flavor to associate with the time.  When I think of Halloween 2012, I think of sitting in the dark with my family with a few glasses of Ecto-Cooler.  For as annoying as that time was, it really wasn't all that bad.  Pretty "cool, " huh?

Take my advice and make your own Ecto-Cooler.  If you remember the drink or were a kid when it came out, you owe it to yourself to have that burst of nostalgia.  The flashback is insane.  They say smell is the strongest tie to memory, but I'd bet taste is second because this was a rush.  Although, it also could have been all that sugar :)

Hey, Hi-C, bring Ecto-Cooler back and give the next generation of kids something to remember!