Cola Confusion: Coke introduces "Coca Cola Zero"

[viva]

I tried Coke Zero the other day.  It isn't bad, but Diet Coke with Splenda has a far superior taste and taste much more like real coke to me (then again I haven't tasted real coke in almost two years, so, my sensory memory could be faulty). 

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I respectfully disagree. To me, Diet Coke with Splenda tastes like Pepsi or RC, while Coke Zero tastes like... Coke.

I still like Diet Coke (particularly Lime and Cherry), but I'll add Coke Zero to the rotation.

[kellycolorado]

I got a bottle of Coke Zero for my husband to try- I haven't had diet sodas in a few years, but it reminds me a lot of the Coca Cola light in europe we had a few years ago( in Italy and France I believe) which was also made of a combination of diet sweeteners. Actually I wonder if it is the same thing. It tastes OK at first.... and then that aftertaste kicks in!

Edited July 22, 2005 by kellycolorado (log)

[ronnie_suburban]

I got a bottle of Coke Zero for my husband to try- I haven't had diet sodas in a few years, but it reminds me a lot of the Coca Cola light in europe we had a few years ago( in Italy and  France I believe) which was also made of a combination of diet sweeteners.  Actually I wonder if it is the same thing.  It tastes OK at first.... and then that aftertaste kicks in!

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FWIW, Coke Zero tastes different in cans than it does in bottles. I love the product in cans but I had a bottle the other day that wasn't even a close match in flavor to the canned product. If it had been my only experience with Coke Zero, it probably would have been my last. Like most Coke products, the canned version is noticeably superior, so I recommend staying away from the PET packaging and giving it another shot.

=R=

[deibu]

Actually, I have seen the commercial for Coke Zero, only I didn't realize it was for Coke Zero at the time, just thought it was for Coke. Anyway, it's a varient on the "I'd like to teach the world to sing.... I'd like to buy the world a Coke" song,* now it's "I'd like to teach the world to chill.... I'd like to buy the world a Coke and chill with it a while." The young, hip, er "chill" singers are holding Coke Zero bottles. You can see the commercial via the Coke Zero website. Click "Chilltop" then "commercial." You can even download the song as a cell phone ringtone.

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I didn't realize it for a while, but that's actually G. Love in the commercial (of G. Love & Special Sauce fame).

[rickster]

Interesting to see the different taste perceptions. Coke Zero tastes to me like regular coke, but I prefer the less sweet diet version. Diet Coke with lemon, and especially with lime, tastes to me exactly like they were sweetened with saccharine.

[phaelon56]

I finally tried this and was amazed. I'm not much of a soda drinker but had guests for the weekend and picked up a bottle. I actually prefer it to regular Coke with HFCS.

[MarketStEl]

So come on Perlow.  Thanks to this silly website you are a powerful man now!  Get on the phone to the CEO of Coke and demand they actually give Coke Zero some publicity!  I've seen five Diet Coke with Splenda ads in the past few days and not a single Coke Zero ad. 

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Maybe you live in the wrong metropolitan area.

There have been a number of Coke Zero ads airing on Philadelphia-area TV over the past six months.

Perhaps that's because the ads were shot locally and feature a local folk-rock-meets-hip-hop singer who has had some national success, G. Love (Garrett Dalton, of G. Love and Special Sauce).

In the ad, he's jammin' on a South Philly rooftop with a bunch of his homies, singing a revised and updated version of the most famous Coca-Cola jingle ever written--probably the only commercial jingle ever to become a No. 1 pop hit, back in 1971.

Only this time, the lyrics are "I'd Like to Teach the World to Chill."

The long version of the ad is on the Coca-Cola Zero Web site. (Edited to add: If you visit, click on the "Making Of" link to view the story of the remake, which evokes the spirit of the original as well as revises the song for a new generation.)

I can tell you that the big Art Deco box with a cage on top of it that is in the background of some of the shots is the former Frank Palumbo Middle School in Bella Vista. Also, any of you who have ever been to Philadelphia should recognize the quick jump cut shot of City Hall Tower with the William Penn statue atop it about a third of the way through. It ends with a panoramic shot panning from the rooftop towards the Center City skyline.

Now, as for the cola itself: I can't say I feel any younger, hipper or more chill after drinking it, but I usually can't stand diet cola. This is a diet cola I would buy for myself and drink regularly.

Door stickers promoting the product around here read "Great Coca-Cola Taste + Nothing: Everybody Chill." I'd say that's a pretty accurate description of how Coke Zero tastes. It's more like The Real Thing than The Real Thing itself.

Edited October 31, 2005 by MarketStEl (log)

[Human Bean]

I've only just recently seen (or perhaps actually noticed) Coke Zero ads around here.

It's the second 'diet' soda I've tried that doesn't have a disgreeable 'diet' taste (the first being Diet Dr. Pepper - maybe the artificial sweetener taste is masked by the other flavors).

Coke Zero does indeed taste more like 'real' Coke than any of the previous 'diet' versions that I'd tried.

At first.

The 'diet' flavor kicked in as an aftertaste though; I don't think I'm overly bothered by this, but I haven't decided yet.

I'm not much of a soda drinker anyway.

[lancastermike]

Zero has now become my drink of choice. Better than any of the other Diet Coke options. I have no idea how this happended, but I like it as much as the real deal

[MelissaH]

I can't stand Diet Coke, the regular version or the Splenda variant.

I don't care for most of the other diet sodas on the market, unless you count seltzer as "diet soda".

I look forward to Passover, when I can get real Coke with real sugar.

Sprite Zero is just plain nasty, with a chalky aftertaste not present in the non-diet version.

I do like Diet Dr Pepper, although I really wish I could get the caffeine-free version here so I don't stay up nights.

And Coke Zero is quite drinkable as well. Now, once again, if it only existed without caffeine....

MelissaH

[phaelon56]

My newest girlfriend - maybe the final one - drinks only diet soda so I once again stocked up on a few varieties. I hadn't tried Coke Zero since last year but having compared it over the course of a few days to Diet Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet Pepsi - it's by far the best of the bunch. But I recently tried Boylan's Diet Black Cherry soda and it's even better. Oddly enough - I don't care for Boylan's Diet Birch Beer - too much chemical aftertaste and not as good as IBC or even the standby A&W.

[MelissaH]

My newest girlfriend - maybe the final one      - drinks only diet soda so I once again stocked up on a few varieties. I hadn't tried Coke Zero since last year but having compared it over the course of a few days to Diet Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet Pepsi - it's by far the best of the bunch. But I recently tried Boylan's Diet Black Cherry soda and it's even better. Oddly enough - I don't care for Boylan's Diet Birch Beer - too much chemical aftertaste and not as good as IBC or even the standby A&W.

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And I tried Boylan's cola over the summer (the regular version) and didn't care for it at all. The Diet Canada Dry Ginger Ale's not too bad.

I have yet to find a Pepsi product I enjoy, with or without sugar.

[lancastermike]

I have yet to find a Pepsi product I enjoy, with or without sugar.

On this we are of a like mind. Pepsi products I can do without. Just recently they have switched vending companies were I work. You guessed it, all Pepsi now. I now bring my own to work

[lancastermike]

My newest girlfriend - maybe the final one wink.gif smile.gif - drinks only diet soda

Hey Owen, I sure hope she likes coffee as well.

[lancastermike]

Lamenting the late great soft drink thread, I did notice in yesterday's NYT an article regarding Coke Zero. It stated that Zero has now reached 0.8% of the soft drinks sales in the USA equaling the sales of diet 7-up. Also noted was the advertising strategy that Coca-Cola has chosen for Zero. No mention of it being a "diet" drink as the demographic they are going after is younger males. I am well past their target age, but I love the stuff. I went looking today for a link and could not find it. Perhaps it is lost in the ether.

When I went to the store to get my 4 12-packs for 11 dollars along with a store coupon for another buck fifty off, I saw the first Zero add on brand. Zero Cherry was on the soda barge just inside the door. Cherry must be the bomb as I believe there were 6 different kinds of cherry coke, diet and regular.

I know the confimed Diet Coke drinkers of the world, like Megan Blocker, will never agree, but Zero is much better than Diet Coke. Also, since I like it, it makes me a happening kind of guy.

Edited March 6, 2007 by lancastermike (log)

[nikkib]

This was the recipe stolen and offered to pepsi who turned it down and handed the culprits over to coke wasn't it?

[ronnie_suburban]

I know the confimed Diet Coke drinkers of the world, like Megan Blocker, will never agree, but Zero is much better than Diet Coke.

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I agree. Zero is, in my opinion, far superior to Diet Coke. BTW, I had my first Coke Zero fountain experience over the weekend. It was at White Castle, which I learned, has replaced Diet Coke with Zero . . . at least at some of their Chicago outlets.

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[lancastermike]

I know the confimed Diet Coke drinkers of the world, like Megan Blocker, will never agree, but Zero is much better than Diet Coke.

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I agree. Zero is, in my opinion, far superior to Diet Coke. BTW, I had my first Coke Zero fountain experience over the weekend. It was at White Castle, which I learned, has replaced Diet Coke with Zero . . . at least at some of their Chicago outlets.

=R=

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Have yet to see Zero in fountain sales around here. I am much looking forward to that.

[Human Bean]

Link to NYT article that lancastermike mentioned above: clicky.

[Emily_R]

Chiming in here with my total looooove for coke zero! For those same reasons everyone else cited -- tastes more like regular coke, no aftertaste! It is constantly stocked in our house...

Emily

[CaliPoutine]

I know the confimed Diet Coke drinkers of the world, like Megan Blocker, will never agree, but Zero is much better than Diet Coke.

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I agree. Zero is, in my opinion, far superior to Diet Coke. BTW, I had my first Coke Zero fountain experience over the weekend. It was at White Castle, which I learned, has replaced Diet Coke with Zero . . . at least at some of their Chicago outlets.

=R=

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Have yet to see Zero in fountain sales around here. I am much looking forward to that.

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They had it for awhile at Target( in the snack bar area, where you could and still can get a medium drink and a popcorn for 1 buck), but its gone.

What happened to the diet coke w/ splenda. I loved that, it made a great float!!

[MarketStEl]

This should tell you something:

Lately when I've gone to the supermarket, I've only been able to find Coke Zero in 2-liter bottles. The 12-packs of 12-ounce cans seem to fly out the door when Coke products are on sale.

I'd love to see it on the shelves of my local stores in 20-ounce 6-packs. No such luck yet.

[lancastermike]

I know the confimed Diet Coke drinkers of the world, like Megan Blocker, will never agree, but Zero is much better than Diet Coke.

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I agree. Zero is, in my opinion, far superior to Diet Coke. BTW, I had my first Coke Zero fountain experience over the weekend. It was at White Castle, which I learned, has replaced Diet Coke with Zero . . . at least at some of their Chicago outlets.

=R=

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Have yet to see Zero in fountain sales around here. I am much looking forward to that.

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They had it for awhile at Target( in the snack bar area, where you could and still can get a medium drink and a popcorn for 1 buck), but its gone.

What happened to the diet coke w/ splenda. I loved that, it made a great float!!

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I liked the Diet Coke with Splenda till I tried Zero. At my market on the big pile of Cocca-Cola products just inside the door there were a few of the Splenda product, but it was way down at the end with the stuff like canned ice tea. Certainly was not getting the big push like Zero

[phaelon56]

My newest girlfriend - maybe the final one      - drinks only diet soda

Hey Owen, I sure hope she likes coffee as well.

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She doesn't like drip coffee bur she loves mocha latte's - and she's amazed now that she's tried some really good ones. On our first date we met at the Ithaca coffeehouse of her choice and I immediately dragged her down the block to the one of my choice - which she had never tried and was quite pleased with.

Now that my fridge remains regularly stocked with diet soft drinks (yes - it's over four months and she's still putting up with me) I have come to have a continued appreciation for Coke Zero and also like Sprite Zero. I'm still not much of a soda drinker but the Zero products are pretty darn good. Now I'm hoping they'll come up with a Dr. Pepper Zero.

[Lilija]

I'm another Zero convert. I've been drinking Diet Coke for years, but the Zero reminds me of what Coke tasted like when I was younger. Not the same, but close enough to make me happy. Plus, it mixes better with alcohol, and that's important. No cloying aftertaste to fight with the rum.