Kansas State sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson teamed up with BevHub — a local beverage manufacturer — and Wildcat NIL to launch his strawberry lemonade soft drink.

Since its release in late March, the drink quickly became Manhattan Hy-Vee’s most popular seller outside of bananas, leading to it being sold on the NIL collective’s website as well.

“This is an exciting opportunity for me,” Johnson said in a press release. “It wasn’t long ago that I was a young athlete in Wichita, Kansas with big dreams. To have the opportunity to create my own personally-branded soft drink is really special, and I hope it can serve as an example to young athletes across Kansas and beyond that dreams can absolutely become reality.”

The release stated the collaboration aims to bring an electrifying soft drink to the market that fans of the quarterback can enjoy due to its taste and being a low-calorie, low-sugar alternative to similar drinks.

The drink is good in and of itself, but is it a good tailgate option to sip on in the parking lot of the Bill before a big game? I think it is! 

After mixing the drink with some Tito’s Handmade Vodka, the first sip presented a sweet and refreshing taste. It was a solid level of tartness, just enough to prevent it from being too syrupy.  

This drink could easily send you back for a second round. It goes down like water, which can be good or dangerous for you depending on the kind of drinker you are. Although it would be nice to sip on before football games next season, drinking it gives me summer vibes. The refreshing strawberry lemonade flavor feels just right to drink on a warm summer night. 

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The drink is sweet, clean and goes well with vodka. Is it the kind of drink that I usually partake in? No, but the flavor is not bad, and it’s a perfect drink for summer, and potentially fall football tailgates.