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. 

Diet Coke Flavors 2018

Products circa: 2018

In 2018, Coke released a bevy of flavors for their Diet Coke line.  Definitely an odd choice, as Coke Zero (Sugar) had been out for a long time by then, and I'm pretty sure it was the more popular 0-calorie product.  But with that said, some 20 years ago Coke experimented with both Lemon and Lime variations of Diet Coke, and I've heard die-hards talk about both of them ever since; they should really re-release those to see how they perform.

Twisted Mango - A very light mango taste added to the original, whose mild tartness somehow makes the mix taste less sweet than the original.  Refreshing, even.  Nice.

Feisty Cherry - A cherry flavor that is dry and not overly sweet.  Bordering on peppery, like a black cherry.  Interesting, but not my cup of tea.

Ginger Lime - Dry ginger, like a ginger ale, and a dry tart lime.  Refreshing, like the mango above.

Zesty Blood Orange - Light tart orange, and it really goes great with the Diet Coke formula.  Definitely the best of the bunch. 

Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the lot, mainly because they seemed to realize that the sweetness needed to be restrained.  Impressive!  But we'll definitely never see these again.

Key Lime Pie Oreo

Product circa: 2015

The green-filling-on-vanilla-cookie aesthetic alone is worth the trouble for this one!

Unfortunately, that’s where the novelty ends.  Natural citrus flavoring is inherently volatile, and cannot survive the industrial processing and shelf-life required for mass-produced snacks like these.

As a result, these are flavored with the same flavoring that you’d find in a lime lollipop, which really tastes nothing like lime, much less key lime.  It’s disappointing because the food scientists set out making this product probably knowing that their attempt would be a sham
 

Mountain Dew Ice Cherry

Product circa: 2017-2018

As mentioned in my review of the original Mountain Dew Ice, this product is a Mountain Dew-turned clear lemon-lime soda, alongside a dose of caffeine and a bit of 0-calorie sweetener to bring the calories down.  This version has the addition of cherry flavoring.

Overall, it’s really not bad.  The bitterness of the caffeine and the restrained use of 0-calorie sweetener keep it from being awful.  In the end, it tastes like a half-decent cherry lemon-lime soda.

Mountain Dew Baja Cabo Citrus

 

Product circa: 2025

Note: This is a Presumptive Ephemeral Nom.

Simply put, a flavor that somehow concentrates on citrus flavors within a formula that is already based on citrus.  I get added flavors of orange, lime, and maybe even grapefruit.  But it is missing additional acid - this feels sweeter than it needs to be, and I think the product suffers for it.

Moon Pie Key Lime

 

Product circa: 2024-2025

Note: This is a Presumptive Ephemeral Nom

There's a small handful of Moon Pie flavors out there, and I would love to see more!

Seemingly a plain (vanilla?) Moon Pie (a mini one, in this case) covered in a thin frosting that is so green, it has hints of blue in it.  The frosting is the only part of the snack flavored like key lime, and it has an ever-so-slight perfume of lime in it.  Overall, this is fairly unpleasant. 

Fritos Flavor Twists Lime & Jalapeno

Product circa: 2025

Note: This is an Presumptive Ephemeral Nom.

I love to see new flavors of the Flavor Twists.  These were a nice sight for sore eyes.

The lime is assertive, but there's a heavy sweetness that balances it very well.  You have your typical savory spices, along with buttermilk powder that gives it that fatty/cheesy flavor that it really needs with the lime.  The jalapeno isn't overly flavorful, but the heat doesn't let you ignore it.  This is probably the best lime-flavored snack I've ever had.

Sprite Remix Aruba Jam (Wendy's 2024)

 

Product circa: Summer 2024

In an unbelievable move, Sprite has revived their 20 year old product, and one of my favorites of all time.  Returning as a Coke Freestyle machine offering, I'm not one to complain.  It's hard to say if this stuff tastes like the original, but it's damn close, and it's damn good.  Sprite with a vivid lime and complementary strawberry.  The original was clear, but the color of this modern version has no bearing on anything.

The freestyle machines really offer Coke an amazing opportunity - to bring back discontinued flavors in a way much more cheaply than bottles or cans, which require them to (re)create marketing and packaging.

What a special experience to relive this product.  Thanks Coke, keep it up!

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.

Sprite Chill

 

Product circa: Spring 2024

Cherry lime isn't exactly a very innovative flavor to add to Sprite, but I think this works pretty well.  The cherry is restrained, and I don't even taste the fake lime flavor... perhaps they added just enough to provide a bitter balance to the cherry.  Overall, not bad, but nothing something I'll yearn for when it's gone.