"Mid-Calorie" Sodas: C2, Pepsi Edge, etc.

[KateW]

I got one of each of these today (actually I had to get an 8-pack of the C2) and I went into it expecting to like the Pepsi better because of what I'd read here. I found I like the Coke better. I'm wishing I had an original Coke here to compare because I can taste no difference. I don't taste any diet-like or metallic flavors even when it's warm.

I taste a little diet hint in the Pepsi which is weird because it doesn't even have the same sugar substitute as diet.

Just called the fiance and asked him to get a "real" Coke before he comes home.

I don't touch diet soda and I can see myself having a C2 to quench those rare soda cravings.

[Jason Perlow]

I got one of each of these today (actually I had to get an 8-pack of the C2) and I went into it expecting to like the Pepsi better because of what I'd read here. I found I like the Coke better. I'm wishing I had an original Coke here to compare because I can taste no difference. I don't taste any diet-like or metallic flavors even when it's warm.

I taste a little diet hint in the Pepsi which is weird because it doesn't even have the same sugar substitute as diet.

Just called the fiance and asked him to get a "real" Coke before he comes home.

I don't touch diet soda and I can see myself having a C2 to quench those rare soda cravings.

Where is Pepsi Edge avaliable? Where do you live?

[KateW]

I found it at a Shaw's in New Bedford Mass. It was in 20 oz. bottles in one of those little fridges near the checkout lines. I didn't notice what packaging for Pepsi Edge was in the soda aisle but they had the 8-packs of C2.

[dumplin]

I was looking forward to trying C2. I had heard that the only artificial sweetener it contained was Splenda. That's the only artificial sweetener I can consume without horrible bladder cramps. (I have a bladder disease called Interstiticial Cystitis). I can actually drink a real coke every once in a while without any bladder trauma, but the tiny bit of aspartame that my Alavert allergy medicine contains is enough to set me off. I'll be waiting for the Pepsi Edge. I think Pepsi is really too sweet anyway, so I'm curious about how sweet Edge will be. Most diet drinks out there are off limits for me, and I've been longing for a great occaisional drink with less sugar and no nasty aritificial sweeteners. Splenda is ok and doesn't affect me, so I do sub it when I'm making my own sweetened drinks. I don't like really sweet things anyway. I may just start making my own soft drinks, too.

[KateW]

Compared C2 with regular coke. So close but C2 is just a tad sweeter, I think. (Hey, I don't work again until Friday, so I got a lotta time on my hands )

[Jason Perlow]

Just tried my first Pepsi Edge. I bought it at the Englewood NJ Shop Rite, which looks like they just started stocking them in the last day or so.

One word: Awesome. Provided Pepsi continues to make it, I'm never buying regular Pepsi ever again. As a product I think its even more groundbreaking than Diet Pepsi Twist, which I thought was an excellent product in and of itself. I'd love to see a Pepsi Edge Twist or a Pesi Edge Vanilla.

Tasted warm, it has a very slight Diet Pepsi aftertaste -- Tasted on ice, it has almost no diet soda taste whatsoever.

Rachel, who has a serious dislike for diet soda and would rather drink no soda at all said "Its definitely better than Coke C2"

[Rachel Perlow]

Ah, but I also said it still has a diet soda aftertaste.

[Jason Perlow]

Ah, but I also said it still has a diet soda aftertaste.

Yeah, but you are over sensitive to it. You hate all diet soda. The important thing is this product tastes a LOT more like real Pepsi than C2 does Coke Classic.

[Jason Perlow]

BTW, now that Coke has fucked up with C2 and its probably going to be a immense failure, I think there is only one way for them to salvage the diet soda mess -- NOSTALGIA. How can they do this?

I think they should reformulate TAB. And bring it back in the original groovy 1963 glass bottle design, with maybe a screwcap as a minor improvement. And they should use the original Groovy Can Art too.

But it should be a new generation TAB, one sweetened with 100 percent Splenda. See, the way i figure it, if it had a "Coke" name to it, people expect it to taste like Coke -- which you cannot achieve with 100 percent Splenda. It will taste like Diet Rite. But if they call it TAB, nobody will say anything and people will have lower expectations -- it will have zero calories, it wont taste horrendous, and it will be a new product. Plus, you'll have this whole generation of baby boomers and people in their 40's who will remember it, and the 30-somethings who remember their parents drinking it and their memories of growing up and watching Love Boat, Charlie's Angels and Starsky and Hutch and all the TAB commercials. And you could do this really cool ad campaign with like retro-70's disco stuff and 1970's tv actors in it, and people will love it.

[ColaFan]

That TAB idea with 100% Splenda is great!. I remember those 70 ads and they were something else. That would also give Coke a easy out and still keep face. Tab does need a face-lift and 100% Splenda could be the answer. They would have to make sure they got rid of that mettalic taste like Pepsi has, but I am sure it's possible.

Glad you also agree that the Pepsi Edge tastes better than C2. I think the difference tranceds the usual Coke/Pepsi taste preference boundries. That aftertaste is awefull and if you can have the same product without that metallic aftertastet and no aspartame, then why drink the bad tasting product.

Just my 2 cents.....

[jhlurie]

Just tried my first Pepsi Edge. I bought it at the Englewood NJ Shop Rite, which looks like they just started stocking them in the last day or so.

One word: Awesome. Provided Pepsi continues to make it, I'm never buying regular Pepsi ever again. As a product I think its even more groundbreaking than Diet Pepsi Twist, which I thought was an excellent product in and of itself. I'd love to see a Pepsi Edge Twist or a Pesi  Edge Vanilla.

I'm off to find one later today. I can't say I'm surprised--Pepsi usually knows what they are doing.

Glad you also agree that the Pepsi Edge tastes better than C2. I think the difference tranceds the usual Coke/Pepsi taste preference boundries.

I don't know. The usual pattern is that "regular" Coke is the only product Coke hasn't totally messed up (oh, I know they did at one point--but they MOSTLY fixed it later)--the only one that under the proper circumstances is EVER better than Pepsi. Any and all forms of Diet Coke (in other words, any Cola variant actually formulated in the last 25 years or so) have been piss-poor in comparison to whatever alternative Pepsi comes up with.

Tab was okay, I guess, for it's time. Then again, it's only real competition was Diet Rite back in the 1960s.

[Jason Perlow]

Actually Diet Coke with Lime is pretty decent. But Diet Pepsi Twist is a better product. I'm hoping Pepsi comes out with a Lime flavored Cola soon.

[jhlurie]

Actually Diet Coke with Lime is pretty decent. But Diet Pepsi Twist is a better product. I'm hoping Pepsi comes out with a Lime flavored Cola soon.

Right. Diet Coke with Lime works much better than Diet Coke with Lemon for some reason, but the moment a Pepsi Lime variant comes out, we can probably forget about Diet Coke with Lime.

I would just extend the Pepsi Twist labelling in such a way that Pepsi Twist had both Lemon and Lime variants.

[ronnie_suburban]

Any and all forms of Diet Coke (in other words, any Cola variant actually formulated in the last 25 years or so) have been piss-poor in comparison to whatever alternative Pepsi comes up with.

I know very few folks (present company excluded, of course ) who prefer Diet Pepsi over Diet Coke. I wonder if it's a regional thing.

=R=

[jhlurie]

Any and all forms of Diet Coke (in other words, any Cola variant actually formulated in the last 25 years or so) have been piss-poor in comparison to whatever alternative Pepsi comes up with.

I know very few folks (present company excluded, of course ) who prefer Diet Pepsi over Diet Coke. I wonder if it's a regional thing.

=R=

I've always thought that possible for the non-diet variations. I mean Regular Coke for many years was the less "sweet" of the two brands (until the "New Coke" fiasco") and I think may have reflected a real regional preference.

For the diet ones? If it's true, I think it's more a reflection of people's HABITS--what brand they grew up with. They've only existed for the past generation and a half or so.

[Jason Perlow]

That TAB idea with 100% Splenda is great!.  I remember those 70 ads and they were something else. That would also give Coke a easy out and still keep face. Tab does need a face-lift and 100% Splenda could be the answer. They would have to make sure they got rid of that mettalic taste like Pepsi has, but I am sure it's possible.

The last time TAB was reformulated was in 1984, when it became a Saccharin/Aspartame sweetner blend. So its been 20 years, and thus its about time for them to do it. TAB can still be purchased today although its up to the local bottler to make it, so its hard to find -- I think a renewed push with a new Splenda formulation would make it very popular today, provided they did it with retro-marketing.

[phaelon56]

TAB can still be purchased today although its up to the local bottler to make it, so its hard to find

Funny that you should mention this. I just spotted it the other day at Wegman's and was a bit surprised to see it - had assumed that it was no longer made. It was in cans only and on a bottom shelf with no real visibility but apparently there's still a market for it here - there were only two six packs left on the shelf.

[mags]

TAB can still be purchased today although its up to the local bottler to make it, so its hard to find

Funnty that you should mention this. I just spotted it the other day at Wegman's and was a bit surprised to see it - had assumed that it was no longer made. It was in cans only and on a bottom shelf with no real visibility but apparently there's still a market for it here - there were only two six packs left on the shelf.

Did you check the sixpacks for dust? I think they had been sitting there since 1984.

[phaelon56]

Did you check the sixpacks for dust? I think they had been sitting there since 1984.

Not in Wegmans - they run way too tight a ship for stuff to sit around for more than 6 - 12 months - even on a bottom shelf. I suspect that there was just enough of a local market here that our regional bottler (Clinton's Ditch Cooperative - great name for a soda bottler, huh?) still makes it.

Heavy local radio advertising has started for C2. I find it interesting that the push is "Half the Carbs!". They also mention "half the cals" but the real marketing push is on low carbs. Duh. I should not be surprised (but I am anyway).

[ronnie_suburban]

I bought a couple of 16 oz. PET bottles of each, although I really prefer cans. Found them at Jewel, one of the 2 major grocery chains in the Chicago area. I though it was onteresting that the Pepsi Edge was given an in-store display (warm). I never saw the C2 equivalent, but they did have bottles of it in the single-bottle coolers near the registers.

I'll do a side-by-side tonight. Talk about your cheap thrills...

=R=

[mags]

Talk about your cheap thrills...

=R=

Get'em where you can, toots.

[wilewil]

Got to try C2 this weekend. Has a distinct "Diet" aftertaste, at least to me. Not as bad a Diet Coke though. Have to try Edge now, I guess. In my opinion lime and lemon are the tastes which do best as diet drinks, wonder what Mist Edge or Sprite2 would be like?

[Jason Perlow]

Got to try C2 this weekend. Has a distinct "Diet" aftertaste, at least to me. Not as bad a Diet Coke though. Have to try Edge now, I guess. In my opinion lime and lemon are the tastes which do best as diet drinks, wonder what Mist Edge or Sprite2 would be like?

Actually I'd like to see Fresca reformulated with Splenda.

[phaelon56]

Tall glass of Fresca with about an inch of cranberry juice is my absolute favorite cocktail. I already prefer Fresca to any other diet soda but with Splenda it would be the bomb.

[tsquare]

I wish someone would follow the lead of many Italian soft drink producers - better raw ingredients (e.g. sugar rather than HFCS), much less sweetness (thus fewer calories) and lower carbonation levels. I've never been much of a soda drinker but I don't like drinking lots of fruit juice and don't consume alcohols. I've been trying out a number of Italian alternatives lately and theyr'e great apart from the high price. I think the biggest dilemma is that a huge marketing campaign would be required to get a significant enough number of people shifting in that direction. In the meantime I'm paying $4 for a six pack of 6 oz bottles. Ouch.

Have you priced these at Trader Joe's?