Diet Coke Lime (2025)

 

Product circa: autumn 2025 

Diet Coke with Lime was a fairly short-lived product from 2004, but it gained such a cult following (though not nearly as much as Diet Coke with Lemon from 2001), that I started to get annoyed hearing about it over the decades.

I'm glad that Coke revived it under this slightly different name, though I have a feeling that they would never bring it back permanently, even if the fan response warranted it.

And it's a shame, because this shit is good.  I wasn't a fan of the original in 2004, and it's impossible for me to say how accurate this stuff tastes to the original.  But the lime here (which isn't too unnatural tasting) totally compliments the Diet Coke, in a way that tastes smoother and better than Diet Coke.  If this were a permanent product, I would probably buy it somewhat regularly (and I never buy Diet Coke). 

Tic Tac Coca-Cola & Sprite

Products circa: 2019 & 2023, and intermittently after

For ages the only flavors of Tic Tac were various minty ones, and orange.  But over the last decade, they have started marketing more flavors, most of them fruity.  A few of them cross over into odd cross-branded promotions, like these. 

Coca-Cola - Using the same flavoring utilized by cola-flavored candy, this flavor goes quite well with the Tic Tac candy base.  After some moments, the candies take on a strange perfumey taste, which I don't hate, but is likely very polarizing.  Also the adorable Coca-cola logo on each candy is overkill, but an impressive attention to detail.

Sprite - These tastes immediately of a flavor recognizable as "lemon-lime", but in this case it reminds me more of Gatorade than Sprite.  However, quite quickly these become intensely bitter, almost as if the candy is trying to simulate citrus pith.  If so, that would be impressive, but in the end, these are very unpleasant. 

Oreo Coca-Cola (cookies, not soda)

 

Product circa: 2024

It feels like I've been waiting forever for this exact product, but I'm dismayed to find that how Oreo has executed this is much more of an enigma than I expected.

The smell and initial taste is unmistakably cola, but as you keep chewing, you might be surprised to find cola's constituent flavors identifiable here.  Notably, I explicitly get cinnamon and lemon/lime, both of which are indeed in your average cola.

It's almost like I would have liked this more if I had gone in with a different mindset.  I expected a creme cookie that tasted like gummy cola candies, and instead I got a complex cola flavor, almost like those expensive boutique cola brands.  I'm disappointed in my own reaction.

Overall, an impressive product from Oreo, one that I never would have expected from them.

Oh yeah, it also has popping candies in the creme to emulate a cola's carbonation.  Those can fuck off. 

Pepsi Lime

 

Product circa: summer 2024

I've long contended that Pepsi is much better at making flavored colas than Coke.  This stuff features Pepsi with a flavor that manages to taste like lime peel, and not just the fake lime flavoring that they most likely used.  The lime is so subtle, however, that I'm not sure I'd be able to detect it, if you told me that it was regular Pepsi.  With that said, I like how they did it here, I think it's great, and I'm so glad that they tried this in the first place.

Coca-Cola Y-3000 and Ultimate

 

Coca-Cola Y3000 - God, the marketing copy is so exhausting.  We get it, this is what Coke from the Future would taste like.  AI Coke.  Yeah.  After tasting this myself, it was hard slogging through the Google search results to see what others actually thought of it.  Most opinions hew close toward "fruit candy".  The closest my own brain got was "rainbow sherbet" or even blue raspberry.  Regardless, "artificial fruit" is definitely the vibe here.  It's pretty tasty, but not tasty enough that I'd want to have permanent access to this.

Coca-Cola Ultimate - Made jointly with Riot Games, the marketing says that this is flavored like "+XP", which is short form for gaining character experience in a video game.  Fine.  This stuff is very subtle, and I actually went through several bottles and a 12-pack just to research it more heavily.  The internet opinions on this product are all over the place, and frustratingly so.  My take is that this has a generic fruity flavor which I can't pin down (but leans "green"), and is slightly sour.  And it's not lime.  So the closest I can peg here would be white grape or unripe mango (if you've ever tasted one).

Pepsi Fire

 

Product circa: 2017

A lightly cinnamony Pepsi with some spice that will catch you in the throat.  Very good!  But it doesn't compare to Cinnamon Coca-Cola or (THROWBACK) Pepsi Holiday Spice.

Crystal Pepsi

 

Product circa: 2018

The legendary mid-1990s product that was re-released in 2018 and 2022.

Just Pepsi without the coloring... but I swear this stuff tastes different than the real stuff, but in a way that's hard to describe.  It's delicious, and that's because Pepsi is delicious.  Anyone who says otherwise isn't being honest with themselves.

Organics by Red Bull Simply Cola

Product circa: 2019

Note: This is a Presumptive Ephemeral Nom.

This stuff just sorta came out of nowhere, and I noticed it one day in my supermarket's bargain bin.

But upon research, I found that Red Bull has released a line of these organic soft drinks, and it seems they're aiming these to be mixers for alcoholic beverages.  The marketing is heavy with their use of whole and natural ingredients in these products, and frankly, it shows in the taste.

This stuff tastes like an average cola but with less sugar, bolder flavors, and a squirt of lime juice.  Everything is just so flavorful.  Immediately noticeable is the lime and lemon, and they've really let the tartness shine in this mix that makes it infinitely more refreshing than an average cola.

You'll soon start tasting the earthier elements like galangal/ginger, cinnamon, and kola.  You might even find the clove.  All the flavors are bolder than most colas you've ever tasted, save a few that come to my mind.

When it sits on ice a bit, I start wishing it were a bit sweeter, but I know that if I were sipping this outdoors on a hot day, I'd be celebrating how Red Bull made this drink.


Organics by Red Bull Simply Cola:- Great
Original Red Bull(for comparison):- Passable

Cherry Cola Oreo

Product circa: spring 2018

This product was part of a poll product series along with Kettle Corn Oreo and Pina Colada Oreo Thins.

I have to commend Oreo for really getting weird with their flavors this time around, and this one sits on top as one of the craziest yet.  I love just about anything that's flavored like cola, so I was excited.

On the first bite you might get a taste of cherry that reminds you of cough medicine, but it quickly subsides.  What's next is the pleasant commercial cola flavor, probably the same type that's used for the gummy cola candies that you can find.

Not bad, right?  But wait!  These Oreos contain popping candy in the creme, just like the Firework Oreos!  Oh no!!

But it's too late.  Your mouth and throat start crackling and vibrating, and it lasts long after the swallow.  I guess Oreo wants to simulate the cherry cola's carbonation?  Some might like it, but I do not.  The flavor's enjoyable, though.

Cherry Cola Oreo:- Passable
Original Oreo(for comparison):- Great

Crystal Pepsi (2016)

Few other products evoke such a bout of savage nostalgia as Crystal Pepsi.  Because it was sold for only about a year in the early 90s, whatever fill that people sought to have was clearly not sated.  I've heard people talk about Crystal Pepsi for the last 20 years.  It's a wonder that Pepsico took so long to bring it back.

Much like how some folks stick to clear liquor (as opposed to "brown" liquor) because they think it's a bit gentler on their body, so too did there exist some fad in the 90s about how clear products are better than opaque ones.  For this, Pepsi shuffled around their ingredients list a bit and issued Crystal Pepsi, a clear but otherwise unsullied formula of the original soft drink.  Initial sales were strong, but soon tapered off, and Pepsi eventually pulled the product.  Like many things, people didn't realize what they wanted until it was gone, and so I've been hearing about Crystal Pepsi yearning for most of my life.

I only recently just found the stuff in stores as of this posting, but evidently Pepsi rolled out Crystal Pepsi again starting in 2015.  How is it?  Delicious.  Why?  Because it tastes just about the same as Pepsi.  Whether they meant to or not, they did a much better job with Crystal Pepsi than with Mountain Dew DEWshine.  Btw... does clear soda always have a stronger carbonation than dark soda?  I swear it does.  Anyway....

Much like the original 90s version, Crystal Pepsi lacks caffeine.  This was initially done in the 90s because Crystal Pepsi was supposed to be a "cleaner" product than Pepsi, which contains artificial coloring and the addictive drug caffeine.  I'm pretty sure caffeine is clear also, but I imagine Pepsico kept this feature today to remain loyal to the original recipe.  Does this taste exactly like the original?  I have no idea; I was 8 years old in 1992.  Besides, I wouldn't advise you to drink a 20 year old Crystal Pepsi to compare it either (warning: vomit).

The point is this: caffeine is bitter, and any cola that is caffeine-free tastes sweeter than its caffeinated counterpart.  In conclusion, Crystal Pepsi tastes almost identical to Caffeine-free Pepsi, which you can still buy today; go see for yourself.  If I had some on hand, I would compare it, but I don't, so I won't.


Crystal Pepsi:- Great
Original Pepsi(for comparison):- Great

Pepsi Next

Note: This is a Presumptive Ephemeral Nom.

Are you a Coke fan?  Are you a Diet Coke fan?  Rarely will you find a fan of both.  Why?  Well, many don't realize that it's not only the sweetener that separates Coca-Cola Classic from Diet Coke, but the two also have two completely different flavors/formulae.

In 2004 Coca-Cola introduced in the US a product called Coca-Cola C2.  C2 was a variation on Coke Classic which used half artificial sweeteners and half of their normal caloric sweetener; the idea was that this new product would offer a lower calorie drink for fans of the flavor of Coke Classic(as opposed to Diet Coke.)  While I thought the product was decent, it ultimately didn't fare very well and was later axed.

Years later, the company perfected their Coke Classic-flavored diet soda, and they called it Coca-Cola Zero, which is now a resounding success.  Coke Zero and Diet Coke now sit side-by-side on store shelves and have their own fanbases, since they taste completely different from one another. (Ever wonder what Diet Coke would taste like with normal sweetener?  Your answer may lie in New Coke, a Coke reformulation that happened in 1985 which caused a consumer backlash so powerful that the company re-introduced the old formula within months.  Many say that the jist of New Coke's flavor wasn't far off from today's modern Diet Coke.)

For some odd reason, Pepsi has just released their version of Coca-Cola C2: Pepsi Next.  Simply put, just like Coke did 8 years ago, Pepsi has combined traditional and calorie free sweeteners to create a reduced-calorie drink that's meant to taste like their flagship product.  Pepsi Next boasts to be about half the calories of the real stuff.

What's the verdict?  I feel that they didn't hit the mark.  Even with a good deal of traditional sweetener, the spirit of the original Pepsi is not preserved and it ends up tasting more like Diet Pepsi.  This product falls below the quality of the old Coca-Cola C2, even.  I'm not sure what Pepsi was trying to do here, or which market they were trying to go after.  In an age where Coca-Cola can make calorie-free soda whose flavor is true to the original, I'm not sure that it's acceptable to settle for less from Pepsi.

The overall taste of Pepsi Next may be worse than Pepsi, but it's better than Diet Pepsi.  But is its taste good enough to warrant its not-insignificant amount of calories?  No.

Pepsi Next: (Passable)

Original Pepsi (for comparison): (Great)

Acquired: supermarket