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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: tp4tissue on Wed, 24 June 2026, 10:24:10
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Now, we know mechanically Pepsi was winning the pepsi challenge because they are sweeter than Coke. People naturally gravitate towards sweetness.
But also Pepsi is more frooty, whereas coke is more bitter/medicine-y
Thuogghts? :D
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I used to drink large amounts of both, with no preference toward either.
Now, in Pepsi over here, some sugar has been replaced with artificial sweeteners, and that is a no-go for me. I'm talking about the regular Pepsi, not any diet soda or "Pepsi MAX".
Coca Cola here is still all sugar, but they sell their Zero more, and some flavour varieties are only available with artificial sweeteners.
I don't know if I'm imagining it or not, but it feels to me like the regular one tastes a little different now: as if the flavour had been adjusted to be closer to the one with artificial sweeteners.
I had even sent some cans back for a refund after that happened.
My favourite has instead become a cheaper domestic variety that taste more like "cola bottle candy".
Thankfully, no high-fructose corn syrup over here.
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Tp4 is not sure why ya'll h8 high fructose kr0n sryup. ;D
It's mostly HFCS in the US sodas as well.
Cane sugar is usually slightly less sweet than HFCS so they have to put more in it to achieve the same sweetness.
But it's benchmarked against a taste profile, the physical number doesn't underpin anything.
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I grew up in the South so preferring Pepsi to Coke is heresy. But I stopped drinking "soft drinks" 20-30 years ago so they all taste nasty sweet to me nowadays.
Living in Marietta, Georgia (suburb just north of Atlanta) there is a kitsch landmark called "The Big Chicken" - a KFC store built in the 1950s in the shape of a chicken. It had fallen into disrepair and Pepsi bought the store and restored it in the 1990s. But they plastered the "Pepsi" logo on the neck and people were outraged, since Atlanta is the birthplace of Coca-Cola.
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I stopped drinking fuzzy drinks about 10 years ago, but my whole life I was a huge Pepsi fan :)
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I think it has to do with genetic disposition for tastes, like cilantro.
Personally I far prefer Coke. Not even comparable flavors, Pepsi is cloying and citrisy, while coke is balanced and refreshing. The natural sugar Pepsi is even sweeter, almost undrinkable for me.
Pepsi Mango was very good though as it played to the sweetness
But lately, it is all about the Sprite Tea!
I've been addicted this Summer, over ice on a hot ass day it is unbeatable!
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS2VjlcOrFhIbTF5YMPzI_jqrg_qe6SqOPsKw&s)
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Sprite already tastes light cough drops.
Adding Tea to it, is insanity. :D