Favorite diet soft drinks?

[Chimayo Joe]

Now that my favorite Dr. Pepper Ten has become impossible to find here, I'm on the hunt for something else.  Diet Dr. Pepper is what I've switched to, but I don't like it nearly as much (due to the lack of the small amount of sugar in Ten, I suppose.) Diet A&W Root Beer is good, but root beer is something I only like to drink infrequently.  

 

I haven't tried a lot of diet sodas, but I'm looking for something better than Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Pepsi, Diet Rite Cola or Diet Dr. Pepper.   I haven't had much beyond those.  The caffeine free varieties seem especially weak.  It's been so many years since I've tried the "flavored" versions of Coke or Pepsi such as Vanilla Coke or Cherry Pepsi that I can't even remember what I've tried and they would have been the sugared versions anyway. 

 

i know preferences for this sort of thing are going to be rather personal, but does anyone have any diet favorites or suggestions?

 

(Maybe I should just go to the quick stop and try one of everything, but I thought I'd ask here first.)

Edited May 31, 2018 by Chimayo Joe (log)

[Dave the Cook]

52 minutes ago, Chimayo Joe said:

Maybe I should just go to the quick stop and try one of everything

 

This is exactly what you should do. Please report back, including price, observations as to color/carbonation level,etc., and of course tasting notes.

[Darienne]

Something to consider.  I am not a soft drink drinker.  At all.  But I found this suggestion about drinking Tonic Water because it contains an amount of quinine which is supposed to help with night leg cramps.  (Boy do I hate night leg cramps.)

 

I was mistaken about how Tonic Water might taste and find that it's not bad at all and it certainly cuts through everything which I like a soda pop to do.  It's about 100 calories per can.  Not exactly zero calories...but not too bad.

[Lisa Shock]

I prefer to just drink water with a wedge of lemon or lime in it.

 

Although, I too am a fan of drinking tonic water. It's very refreshing.

 

I'm not too keen on most of the sweeteners on the market. (what ever happened to left-handed sugar???) Not to get into it too much, I have chosen not to consume some of them. Some of the natural brands of soda are sweetened with stevia, which I think tastes pretty good. (there hasn't been as much research done on it as other sweeteners, so, I'm still waiting for more evidence about any possible effects) Anyway, as a former Santa Fe resident, I still root for the home team in the soda wars and would recommend that you try Blue Sky sodas. They currently have a money-back guarantee on their zero calorie products, so, you can't really go wrong here.

[heidih]

Maybe once a year, on a super hot day, an ice cold diet Pepsi calls to me. In the past I've enjoyed tonic water (diet!) with a few drops of A-bitters and a squeeze of lime. 

[lindag]

13 hours ago, Darienne said:

Something to consider.  I am not a soft drink drinker.  At all.  But I found this suggestion about drinking Tonic Water because it contains an amount of quinine which is supposed to help with night leg cramps.  (Boy do I hate night leg cramps.)

 

 

You've probably heard about it (and I have not tried it personally), but I've heard many, many reports of the effectiveness of placing a bar of ordinary bath soap under the sheets of the bed near the foot.

 

[kayb]

14 hours ago, Darienne said:

Something to consider.  I am not a soft drink drinker.  At all.  But I found this suggestion about drinking Tonic Water because it contains an amount of quinine which is supposed to help with night leg cramps.  (Boy do I hate night leg cramps.)

 

I was mistaken about how Tonic Water might taste and find that it's not bad at all and it certainly cuts through everything which I like a soda pop to do.  It's about 100 calories per can.  Not exactly zero calories...but not too bad.

 

Potassium. I'm not a big banana eater, so that's never been a big option for me. However, frozen orange juice from concentrate (and who knows, maybe fresh-squeezed OJ as well) is high in potassium. So I tank up on OJ.

 

[Darienne]

47 minutes ago, heidih said:

Maybe once a year, on a super hot day, an ice cold diet Pepsi calls to me. In the past I've enjoyed tonic water (diet!) with a few drops of A-bitters and a squeeze of lime. 

Did not know that Tonic water came in diet format.  I'd have to check the 'sweetener'.  Can't tolerate Aspartame.  

[lindag]

This time of year I become obsessed with Iced Tea and often will drink it all day long.

Very little sugar in mine, I don't care for Sweet Tea.

I make a pitcher-full in the mid morning and keep it in the fridge.

[heidih]

5 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Did not know that Tonic water came in diet format.  I'd have to check the 'sweetener'.  Can't tolerate Aspartame.  

 

The website says sodium saccharine. I don't drink enough (actually it has been several years) to worry

 

ETA: that would be from Schweppes

Edited June 1, 2018 by heidih (log)

[Duvel]

1 hour ago, Darienne said:

Did not know that Tonic water came in diet format.  I'd have to check the 'sweetener'.  Can't tolerate Aspartame.  

I like Fevertree "Slimline" tonic - no sweetener, just a bit of Fructose (not HFCS). Very good and  makes excellent G&T ...

[Toliver]

I've given up artificial sweeteners (since last autumn) but used to drink "Canada Dry Ginger Ale 10" (which is like your Dr. Pepper 10)...it's a mix of sugar and artificial sweetener. Also no caffeine and no caramel coloring. It's very refreshing.

[blue_dolphin]

I'm not a regular consumer of carbonated beverages but I enjoy Bundaberg's diet ginger beer (25 cal/375ml or ~ 12 oz).  It contains sugar, aspartame, Acesulfame K and Sucralose - a little something for everyone!

 

I also like Q tonic.  It's sweetened with agave and has 24 calories/5 oz serving.

[Chimayo Joe]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I haven't tried any yet, but I will get to them eventually.

 

 I looked for Bundaberg diet ginger beer, but my supermarket didn't have it.  I ended up bringing home Vernors Diet Ginger Soda (aspartame sweetened).  I have had the non-diet variety long ago and didn't remember disliking it, so I thought I'd give the diet version a try.  It's good, but I'm not sure if it's something I'll want on a regular basis.  

 

Also tried La Croix Pineapple Strawberry Sparkling Water and Simple Truth Strawberry Watermelon Seltzer Water(zero calories for both of those).  I didn't like them at all which was a bit disappointing because I usually like strawberry flavored drinks.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Chimayo Joe (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

If I recall correctly, Trader Joe's has some very good naturally flavored sparkling water drinks without sweeteners. You have to be careful with these though. I bought some from the Dollar Store one time that are artificially flavored and just undrinkable. I still have them in case the water goes off and I need to flush the toilet. Don't laugh, I actually did that one time with some artificial orange soda after I started reading about brominated vegetable oil. The orange color had completely faded to clear by the time the now flat soda was finally made use of.

 

Our tastes are similar, I love diet Dr. Pepper and have a 2 liter of A & W rootbeer I am hoarding for a treat. If you see diet Yoo-Hoo, or Lite Yoo-Hoo (they are hard to find) you might give them a try and like them. They are chocolate flavored, but I think the "lite" has 70 calories, so not really that lite.

 

Diet sodas are not really offered up in the abundance of flavors the regular versions come in. Another one that is pretty good is diet Cheerwine. This is an NC drink and might be hard to find locally where you are. It has a cherry flavor to it and you may like it.

 

Jarritos is a Mexican soda brand that used to do a lite mandarin and a lite tamarind. They seem not to be available anymore. Jarritos is one of the few naturally flavored sodas I think is actually worth the calories of the full sugar version. Soda licious! Why does Mexico seem to do soda so much better than we do?

[lindag]

3 hours ago, Chimayo Joe said:

 

 

Also tried La Croix Pineapple Strawberry Sparkling Water and Simple Truth Strawberry Watermelon Seltzer Water(zero calories for both of those).  I didn't like them at all which was a bit disappointing because I usually like strawberry flavored drinks.

 

I bought a short case of La Croix soda (don't remember which variety) some time ago and it was so bad I ended up throwing it all out.

[gulfporter]

I sometimes buy Diet Squirt here in MX, but mostly we 'brew' decaf iced tea in the sun and drink it unsweetened.  Or agua mineral which is cheap and everywhere.  I prefer agua mineral with lunches when I am not having a wine.  While wine pairs well with foods and IMO enhances the dining experience, I never drink a flavored beverage (not even iced tea) with meals when not having wine (or beer which I drink with spicy meals, nothing else).  

[Norm Matthews]

My favorite diet soft drinks are Diet Dr. Pepper,  Diet Squirt, Diet Canada Dry Ginger ale, Coke zero and Cherry Coke Zero. 

[ChocoMom]

I don't drink much real pop anymore, but when I do it's usually Faygo: Diet cream soda, rock n rye, root beer or ginger ale.  I am kind of a fan of 2 flavors of La Croix fizzy waters ... Key Lime and Mango. The grapefruit isn't awful either, IMHO.   

 

One of my kids tried those Sparkling ICE brand diet fruit sodas....and the Pink Grapefruit is addictive.  I also liked the Peach/Nectarine and the Lime.  I think there are 10 or so flavors- most of which I've not tried. 

 

Not sure if it counts or not, but the no-sugar Redbull is quite helpful when coffee is just not enough, and one is in need of a "jump-start". 

[ImportantElements]

Coke Zero ! 

[royal123]

Virgin Mojito (Made by me) 

[liuzhou]

Water

[Chimayo Joe]

Water is actually my favorite beverage.  When I was a child it was all that was available to me other than iced tea which I didn't like then and still don't really enjoy.  

 

There are a few flavors of SOBE Water and Vitamin Water Zero that I like, but I was really looking for fizzy in this thread.  

 

Diet Squirt has been the top find so far. I'm surprised I hadn't tried the sugared or diet version before now.  Fresca (which I have had decades ago) is okay too, but for that sort of soft drink, I prefer Diet Squirt.  It has a bit more carbonation, and the bite (though not the flavor) reminds me a little of Coke Classic(which was what I drank most before I decided to cut the calories.)

 

Tried and rejected:

Pepsi Zero (not much flavor)

Cherry Coke Zero (didn't care for that cherry flavor--prefer regular Coke Zero)

Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper (surprisingly weak cherry flavor, not much flavor overall)

Diet Mountain Dew (just not something I'd want to drink very often--i always felt the same about non-diet Mountain Dew)

 

In the past I've tended to stick with one particular soft drink at a time, first Coke Classic then Dr.Pepper Ten.  Now I think I'm going to go with an assortment: Diet Squirt (and probably sometimes Fresca), Diet Dr. Pepper, Coke Zero, Diet A&W Root Beer,, and Diet Vernors Ginger Soda(though my liking of that one has faded a bit.)

 

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Oh yes! I forgot to mention my very favorite diet soft drink: plain sparkling water or seltzer. It's nothing but pure water and carbonation. I used to buy Perrier or San Pellegrino, but those are expensive and no longer in the budget. Now one of my treats is plain seltzer water from Food Lion or Harris Teeter. It runs about $1.00 to $1.19 for two liter plastic bottles, and would be cheap and easy to keep in stock if I could get to the grocery without help. I have four cherished and horded bottles from Food Lion now, and lemons to go with them. I don't need it sweetened.

 

The tap water here used to be very good, but we got a different crowd elected into our legislature and they have allowed development around Jordan Lake, where our water supply comes from. There is so much ammonia and/or chlorine in our tap water now, that I am thinking seriously about boiling before drinking. It is horrible out of the tap, and I have to drink a lot of it. It is laughable that the legislators actually sidestepped federal regulators orders to clean up the lake with these stupid Solar Bees. Everyone knew they wouldn't work from the start.  The federal regs have no teeth and I don't ever expect to have good clean water here again, not from my tap anyway.

[gfweb]

Re diet tonic water. Schweppes is much better than Canada Dry which it too sweet.