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

[phaelon56]

We don't have a Trader Joe's anywhere within a few hundred miles or more of where I live. I suspect the closest one is about 250 miles away in NJ. Wegman's carries a few of the obvious suspects like Pellegrino Limonata but only in the small bottles and their prices are very high on specialty sodas and beverages.

[squids]

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.

I tried C2 this weekend as well, and I concur...I've noticed, actually, that Splenda DOES have a diet aftertaste, albeit not as offensive to me as Nutrasweet. And, even though I don't like Nutrasweet, I actually like Diet coke with Lime (but not regular or with lemon) and I will drink Fresca on occasion. But I would definitely root for a reformulated Fresca with Splenda! (I even liked it better made with saccharin--I grew accustomed to saccharin, but never to Nutrasweet, bleechh!)

My take on the C2--I actually like the stuff. Even though it tastes as if someone took half a can of diet coke, and mixed it with half a can of regular.

I must clarify that:

1) I am a very brittle type 1 diabetic for over 33 yrs, and have had my share of diet sodas.

2) I am a classic coke lover

3) I only get to drink Coke when my blood sugar is very low (and then I can't even drink the whole can or else my sugar will go way off in the other direction)

4) My husband hates it when I steal a sip from his coke--Now I can have my own!

This weekend I drank a bottle of C2 when my sugar dropped rather low. It was nice to be able to drink half the bottle and not have my sugar going off the deep-end in the other direction! (I shared with my husband, and he even thought it was tolerable) And it was refreshing, unlike diet sodas, which I find just make me thirsty. So I vote yes on the C2, and will definitely purchase it so it does not go the way of "new" coke.

[KateW]

I had been drinking C2 from the can until recently I didn't have any cold ones. So I poured it into a glass with some ice. It tastes totally different--much more diet taste. Why does this happen?

[ColaFan]

New Pepsi Edge ads this week:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040701/nyth098_1.html

[jhlurie]

New Pepsi Edge ads this week:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040701/nyth098_1.html

Yeah, it's great they have ads. Does a lot since they can't get stock in any of my local stores. C2 is everywhere, but Pepsi Edge seems to be pretty scarce in these parts. A whopping 25 miles from Pepsi World HQ.

Not that I see any evidence that people are buying C2 even though it's there. Those stacks of 8 packs always seem untouched, especially compared to the 12 packs of the other varieties which are right next to them and on sale.

[Mayhaw Man]

I was in the grocery just a bit ago and had the same thought.

There was an end cap refrigerator on the check out aisle full of coke products. THe whole of the top shelf was filled with C2. THe rest was a mix of Dasani, Coke, Diet Coke, Barq's, and Sprite ReMix (which I like alot-wish they would make diet-but I probably like it because of the sugar ).

Most of the drinks were gone as it was the end of a big shopping day, but the C2 shelf was virtually full and I wondered to myself is that was just here in South Louisiana, or all over. I guess it's the same everywhere.

[Jason Perlow]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...wcarb_survey_dc

Legg Mason beverage analyst Mark Swartzberg said on Wednesday that sales of mid-calorie colas recently introduced by both PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. "are either slow builds or something closer to dead on arrival."

In a research note, Swartzberg said the findings were based on feedback from 51 U.S. retailers who had devoted shelf space to Coke's C2 and Pepsi's Pepsi Edge colas. The products, launched in June, were intended to appeal to calorie- and carb-wary consumers, reducing the sugar by adding Splenda, an alternative sweetener.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/...ining&track=rss

Pepsi Edge "ends up tasting too much like Diet Pepsi, which defeats the purpose," according to a review on Carbwire, a Web site for carbohydrate counters. "Coke C2 wins the battle of the midcarb soda."

Pepsi responded that Edge offered "full flavor," noting that company taste tests found it provides the "perfect balance of taste and calories."

Other reviews and consumers have complained that C2 is "flatter" than Coca-Cola Classic, the company's original cola, and leaves an unpleasant aftertaste from the artificial sweetener aspartame, also an ingredient in Diet Coke.

Ouch.

For what its worth, I like Pepsi Edge, but its very hard to find, and doesn't come in cans, which is my preferred medium for mainstream soda consumption these days.

[grandcru]

Jason, the only format in which I've seen PE out here in So Cal is in cans. No 20 oz or 2-ltr bottles yet to be found. Ahh, the vagaries of soft drink distribution. Whichever way you slice it, I, like you, prefer PE to C2 by quite a margin.

[jhlurie]

For what its worth, I like Pepsi Edge, but its very hard to find, and doesn't come in cans, which is my preferred medium for mainstream soda consumption these days.

It's odd, I've seen a whole NEW round of PE ads, and yet I STILL don't know a single store in my area which carries it--in any size or packaging. No convenience stores, no supermarkets, no neighborhood delis... The only one I've even ever had, was one stolen from you, Jason, and I recall you saying it was only in one store.

What a disaster if Pepsi can't even get people to carry it. C2 doesn't seem to get much space either, but at least it's THERE.

Both of these damn things will probably be gone by winter.

[ColaFan]

Your local Pepsi bottler determines what sizes and what packaging the PE is distributed. I live in Sacramento and we have both 20 oz botteles and cans in all the local stores. Call your local pepsi bottler and see what they say. I would be curious as to what their spin on not having it available is.

Let us know

R

[jhlurie]

Your local Pepsi bottler determines what sizes and what packaging the PE is distributed. I live in Sacramento and we have both 20 oz botteles and cans in all the local stores. Call your local pepsi bottler and see what they say. I would be curious as to what their spin on not having it available is.

Let us know

R

Pretty much everyone who lives within 70 or 80 miles of PepsiCo, in Somers, NY, is served by the Pepsi Bottling Group--which is 40% owned by PepsiCo and shares the same office space as PepsiCo itself in Somers ("1 Pepsi Way"). It's odd to think that something which is practically an unofficial arm of PepsiCo itself would have a limit on local distribution of their new shiny product. It's like someone who lives in a suburb of Atlanta not having every convenience store in their area stuffed to the gills with C2.

[enrevanche]

Finally tried a bottle of Coke C2 this weekend. I drink a fair bit of soda, absolutely cannot abide regular diet sodas, and am currently making at least a half-assed effort to lose weight, so finding places to cut calories is of particular interest.

C2 tastes *much* better than a Diet Coke, but it does leave a lingering and somewhat unpleasant artificial-sweetener aftertaste. I'll pass, thanks.

I think I'll just continue to drink less soda, more water... and have a "real" Coke every now and then when I want one.

I would try a Pepsi Edge if I saw one, I guess, but so far no luck any place that I shop in NYC.

[squids]

I was purchasing a bottle of C2 today at a CVS in downtown WDC, and I noticed they had a display for Pepsi Edge...perfect opporunity for a side by side comparison.

I took into account those of you who have disliked C2, but said you would drink Edge if you could get it.

After the side-by-side, my feelings are that if you are a Coke drinker, you will not like Pepsi Edge. It is incredibly sweet, so much so that all I could do after taking a swig was to stick out my tounge and say "blecchh" It was an instantaneous reaction. (And I wanted to be fair, so I tasted the Pepsi first...) So, add one notch in the C2 column for me.

As I stated before, I do like Coke better than Pepsi. Two of my co-workers also tasted my C2 and gave it a thumbs up. It does have the bite of Coke albeit with a bit of aftertaste, but IMO it is MUCH better than Diet Coke. I would rank it one above Diet Coke w/ Lime, which is the only Diet Coke I could really tolerate in the past.

As far as the stock of C2 in stores, I had to seek it out in SFW--they had a small supply with the section for Atkins and low carb products. I also found it in the cold cases by the registers at Target. I do however think it's too early to proclaim that no one is buying it. I've been to the grocery quite a bit recently and haven't myself seen any overstocked shelves of C2 amongst depleted shelves of other Coke products.

And, the more I drink it, the more I like it! I guess like anything else, it takes a while 'til you get used to a new flavor.

[ColaFan]

Looks like Pepsi Edge wins in a taste test against C2 by a landslide.

http://www.nbc4.com/consumer/3670749/detail.html

What I find interesting is that it's not even close!

[jhlurie]

Word is, C2 is pretty much dead.

http://www.bevnet.com/news/2004/10-31-2004...rly_returns.asp

[squids]

Maybe now they'll come out with a reformulated product, without ANY Aspartame!