4 ms·

I will never understand how people would think artificial sweeteners even taste like sugar. Particularly as it relates to soda, it always tastes distinctly ...

I will never understand how people would think artificial sweeteners even taste like sugar. Particularly as it relates to soda, it always tastes distinctly ... chalky or at least an under-taste of bitterness. Can't people taste that? I associate that taste also with the feeling I get, like drinking tea on an empty stomach, a touch nauseated. When younger in the 80s-90s, my sister and mother would gulp down Diet sodas, but I would never touch it - they were nasty tasting. My wife experiences the same sort of feelings also. Here in Norway (I grew up in the US), Pepsi Max or Coca-Cola "uten sukker" (without sugar) is heavily marketed. Regular Pepsi and Coca-Cola or local/generic brands are much better (and much more moderate tasting than the American counterparts, with hyper-sweet corn syrup), but cost a few kroner more because of the sugar tax. The sugar-frees are equally terrible tasting, like as if there was no real progress in actually making "sugar-free" satisfying. I don't drink much soda anyway, and if it is, it will just be the store brand - it's a treat more than diet staple. Even too much sugared soda will catch up to me. Like alcohol, I have never deliberately moderated myself, but just have. It's not a point of pride, just something that happened. Because of this, I am not as tolerant to either alcohol or any type of sodas. I get buzzed too fast and I start feeling the soda after a little too much that I get a bit scared of both. Just like alcohol, I feel like people will rationalize sugar-free soda consumption based on some values that they have. The article mentioned that "diet" soda is a "guilt-free" treat - whether that's an value alignment to sell more or this is a genuine response from the consuming public, it is something I will not understand. I mean, in the end, TANSTAAFL ... despite my sweet tooth, knowing I can get carried away (and my body lets me know!), I'd rather just eat sugar than chemical concoctions.

BbzzbB 4y ago
You're implying that Diet Coke is not meant to have a distinct (aspartame) taste. Coke Zero is the one meant to be an imitation, and it is much closer.
- bigpeopleareold 4y ago
  I vaguely remember in the past there was suggestions in advertising that Diet Coke was like regular Coke. By naming it the same thing, it does suggest an affinity, particularly on the dimension of taste. I am probably wrong, but this can be my own "consumer" expectation, giving the naming. Coke Zero or the local variant still doesn't taste like Coke, but bitter fizzy water, to me :)
  - pram 4y ago
    Diet Coke isn’t even based on Coca-Cola, it’s a derivative of a truly wretched soda called Tab afaik. It’s genuinely a completely different drink.
    - bigpeopleareold 4y ago
      In the end, I should tell that to teenage-me, who was confounded as to why Diet Coke (and Diet Pepsi for that matter) would use the same name when they were actually different. Tab was truly nasty too :) So, in the end of this - TIL :)
    - ziml77 4y ago
      I developed a taste for Diet Coke some years ago when I tried to cut back a bit on sugar. Being based on a different drink would certainly make sense given the large flavor difference! Funnily enough it was just a few weeks ago that I justified getting a Diet Coke to a friend by saying that I get Coke Zero when I'm in the mood for Coke and I get Diet Coke when I'm in the mood for Diet Coke.
    - crazygringo 4y ago
      That's not really true at all. In terms of sweeteners which has the biggest effect on taste, Tab mainly used saccharin, while Diet Coke is mainly aspartame. And then it's more accurate to reverse it and say Tab was a derivative of Coca-Cola. Tab was simply Coca-Cola's diet version back when they didn't want to "dilute" the trademark. So no, Diet Coke isn't a "completely different drink". I mean, you can taste them side-by-side -- do you genuinely think there's some crazy different flavor profile in terms of the the citrus oils, cinnamon, and vanilla used?
      - pram 4y ago
        Tab tasted nothing like Coke my dude.
        crazygringo 4y ago
ozmodiar 4y ago
I used to hate diet colas, but then I became diabetic and had no choice but to drink them if I wanted a soda (I don't drink much pop in general). After a few years I just stopped being able to taste the weird diet aftertaste it used it have. In fact sometime I worry I wouldn't be able to taste if I were drinking a sugar cola by mistake. So now I think people who prefer diet beverages may just not be tasting the same thing.
crazygringo 4y ago
I mean, I don't think anybody thinks artificial sweeteners taste exactly like sugar. In fact they can't since they generally have an entirely different mouthfeel, on top of whatever residiual bitterness there might be. But guzzling sugar water is exceedingly unhealthy. And so if you want a beverage that's cold, fizzy and flavorful, you reach for the Diet Coke. Not because you think it tastes identical to Coke, but because the last thing your body needs is an injection of sugar. Sure, sometimes you'll just refill your water bottle at the water fountain. But sometimes drinking just water gets boring, you know? It's fine you'd rather have sugar than "chemical concoctions". But hopefully you can understand why plenty of other people prefer a chemical concoction to a sugar rush followed by a sugar crash? And of course this also explains the newfound popularity of fruit-flavored unsweetened carbonated water like LaCroix, which has flavor but no sweetener whatsoever. But in a lot of situations, that product category is simply not available.
- bigpeopleareold 4y ago
  I know people who drank a lot. [In the end], I never really cared to point out that diet decision and they should manage their own health (though was always interested in some co-workers with a conspicuously large amount of empty Pepsi Max bottles near their desk ... :D ). I am just talking about personal experience. The colorful language is just my own personal reaction to something that I have come to not like. But I am not going to think too much with other people's rationalizations. (Even though I made some reference to that. I am not going to overthink that one.)
bluecalm 4y ago
You probably have a very sensitive/better developed sense of taste. I knew a girl like that: every artificial sweetener got bitter aftertaste according to her. Glycerin didn't but that kinda defeats the point. I think most people can't taste what to do though. For me for example coke zero has a very pleasant sweet taste and I prefer it to the original one.
- bigpeopleareold 4y ago
  Yes, you're absolutely right. I also don't like spicy foods, if that's something to note. It feels like torture if it is overly spicy and takes away from the experience.

BbzzbB 4y ago

You're implying that Diet Coke is not meant to have a distinct (aspartame) taste. Coke Zero is the one meant to be an imitation, and it is much closer.

bigpeopleareold 4y ago
I vaguely remember in the past there was suggestions in advertising that Diet Coke was like regular Coke. By naming it the same thing, it does suggest an affinity, particularly on the dimension of taste. I am probably wrong, but this can be my own "consumer" expectation, giving the naming. Coke Zero or the local variant still doesn't taste like Coke, but bitter fizzy water, to me :)
- pram 4y ago
  Diet Coke isn’t even based on Coca-Cola, it’s a derivative of a truly wretched soda called Tab afaik. It’s genuinely a completely different drink.
  - bigpeopleareold 4y ago
    In the end, I should tell that to teenage-me, who was confounded as to why Diet Coke (and Diet Pepsi for that matter) would use the same name when they were actually different. Tab was truly nasty too :) So, in the end of this - TIL :)
  - ziml77 4y ago
    I developed a taste for Diet Coke some years ago when I tried to cut back a bit on sugar. Being based on a different drink would certainly make sense given the large flavor difference! Funnily enough it was just a few weeks ago that I justified getting a Diet Coke to a friend by saying that I get Coke Zero when I'm in the mood for Coke and I get Diet Coke when I'm in the mood for Diet Coke.
  - crazygringo 4y ago
    That's not really true at all. In terms of sweeteners which has the biggest effect on taste, Tab mainly used saccharin, while Diet Coke is mainly aspartame. And then it's more accurate to reverse it and say Tab was a derivative of Coca-Cola. Tab was simply Coca-Cola's diet version back when they didn't want to "dilute" the trademark. So no, Diet Coke isn't a "completely different drink". I mean, you can taste them side-by-side -- do you genuinely think there's some crazy different flavor profile in terms of the the citrus oils, cinnamon, and vanilla used?
    - pram 4y ago
      Tab tasted nothing like Coke my dude.
      - crazygringo 4y ago

ozmodiar 4y ago

I used to hate diet colas, but then I became diabetic and had no choice but to drink them if I wanted a soda (I don't drink much pop in general). After a few years I just stopped being able to taste the weird diet aftertaste it used it have. In fact sometime I worry I wouldn't be able to taste if I were drinking a sugar cola by mistake. So now I think people who prefer diet beverages may just not be tasting the same thing.

crazygringo 4y ago

I mean, I don't think anybody thinks artificial sweeteners taste exactly like sugar. In fact they can't since they generally have an entirely different mouthfeel, on top of whatever residiual bitterness there might be. But guzzling sugar water is exceedingly unhealthy. And so if you want a beverage that's cold, fizzy and flavorful, you reach for the Diet Coke. Not because you think it tastes identical to Coke, but because the last thing your body needs is an injection of sugar. Sure, sometimes you'll just refill your water bottle at the water fountain. But sometimes drinking just water gets boring, you know? It's fine you'd rather have sugar than "chemical concoctions". But hopefully you can understand why plenty of other people prefer a chemical concoction to a sugar rush followed by a sugar crash? And of course this also explains the newfound popularity of fruit-flavored unsweetened carbonated water like LaCroix, which has flavor but no sweetener whatsoever. But in a lot of situations, that product category is simply not available.

bigpeopleareold 4y ago
I know people who drank a lot. [In the end], I never really cared to point out that diet decision and they should manage their own health (though was always interested in some co-workers with a conspicuously large amount of empty Pepsi Max bottles near their desk ... :D ). I am just talking about personal experience. The colorful language is just my own personal reaction to something that I have come to not like. But I am not going to think too much with other people's rationalizations. (Even though I made some reference to that. I am not going to overthink that one.)

bluecalm 4y ago

You probably have a very sensitive/better developed sense of taste. I knew a girl like that: every artificial sweetener got bitter aftertaste according to her. Glycerin didn't but that kinda defeats the point. I think most people can't taste what to do though. For me for example coke zero has a very pleasant sweet taste and I prefer it to the original one.

bigpeopleareold 4y ago
Yes, you're absolutely right. I also don't like spicy foods, if that's something to note. It feels like torture if it is overly spicy and takes away from the experience.