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Comment by alexb_ | Hacker News Reader

The funny thing about Coke is that they have literally invented a version that tastes exactly the same, except it has zero calories and zero sugar. It's called Coke Zero.

We have two versions of Coke, both taste exactly the same except one kills you and one doesn't, and people will still voluntarily choose the one that kills you instead.

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It doesn't taste exactly the same though.

I agree. In my experience all the Coke Diet/Zero/etc varieties has this really distinctive taste and the aftertaste is also quite different from Classic. My husband is a fan of Zero and also claims it tastes the same. He has occassionally poured Zero into a glass for me thinking I couldn't tell the difference. Every single time I take one sip and that's all I need to identify it. YMMV.

That bad artificial sweetener aftertaste is way less pronounced if you are making a Rum and Coke though, so I always use Coke Zero for my adult beverages. Can't let the sugar kill me when I'm having several cups of vodka!

I think it does. But even so, 80% of the taste with 0% of the calories seems like a bargain. Getting some marginal pleasure for 140 extra calories seems like a bad trade-off unless you're not trying to lose weight.

For me Zero tastes quite different and quite unpleasant. I had the same senstation of unpleasant flavour with Diet as well. If the only option was Zero/Diet/etc I probaly would just give up Coke altogethrer.

Diet Coke absolutely tastes different, but Coke and Coke Zero taste exactly the same - I doubt you would get a reliable result if you did a blind test.

I find this varies from person to person. I have nothing to back this up, but I have a hunch it is a genetic thing, like how cilantro tastes like soap to some but not to others.

I can identify the taste of Coke Zero (or anything with artificial sweeteners) vs coke 100% of the time. They barely even taste similar to me. My wife can’t taste a difference at all.

No, it doesn't taste the same. It's different from Diet Coke because Diet Coke has it's own unique formulation but Coke Zero 100% has that artificial sweetener taste.

I can assure you that one sip is enough for me to reliably identify it. Both Diet and Zero leave a very distinct and unpleasant aftertaste that's just absent on the regular one.

(doesn't apply to Pepsi though - here the regular one also tastes bad now as it contains sweeteners as well, so I doubt I'd tell it apart from Pepsi Max unless trained beforehand - they're both gross, so I unfortunately had to switch to Coca-Cola for my occasional coke cravings)

Which is which? Aspartame is the devil.

You're thinking of Diet Coke. Aspartame absolutely does have a taste, but it has also been studied an absolutely insane amount over literal decades and nobody can ever actually pin down a negative health effect from it.

This says Coke Zero has aspartame: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/about-us/faq/what-is-aspart...

Aspartame and/or Asesulfame K make my farts smell like literal death.

You know the kind that's not even funny, the kind that makes you yourself gag from just a little whiff.

Coke Zero has aspartame has main sweetener. It also has acesulfame potassium.

Sugar is one of the main contributors to suffering and death in the US. Evidence that aspartame is harmful at all is comparatively weak.

Better the devil you know. Everyone knows that sugar is bad for you. But aspartame is sold as being good for you because it’s zero calories. Must be good, right? It’s Diet Coke! A diabetic friend said his doctor told him regular coke was better for him. It causes migraines (source: me). I have heard many doctors say it is worse than real sugar. Yes, we don’t understand it yet. But we are pretty sure it’s bad, that’s why it’s the devil.

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