It's currently the sugar-substitute that tastes the best to the most people, so I'm sure that they could replace it with something that would please you, but it would probably displease many more.
What about a savoury drink like a Bloody Mary?
Try xylitol. I use it for my coffee and the difference to sugar is barely noticeable.
Works, but is extraordinarily toxic to dogs... I think that's why it's not as widely used.
Erythritol is also a popular sugar substitute. Personally, I'm happy with aspartame, but I know a lot of people frown on it from the unsubstantiated claims of brain cancer correlation.
Yeah, I can't believe they're stuck on that. Surely there's gotta be something better? Stevia? Monk fruit? The -tol's? Honey?
I would just like them to leave it out to be honest. Then I could mix in my own questionable amounts of whatever sweetener I choose.
How about sugar of lead? It's 100x as sweet as sugar. It was popular with the Romans, who made it from storing wine in lead. It's cheap too.
And actually toxic!
Unfortunately, surcralose is the best sweetner for this purpose. Can you explain what would be better? It can't be processed by the human gut, its has no risk of toxicity in any reasonable dose, and very little of it is required for sweetness.