Diet Coke Feisty Cherry

 

The last flavor I have from this series from Diet Coke is this can of Feisty Cherry. 

Now, I like the deep black cherry aroma from opening this can. It's much nicer than the smell from the others in this series. I had high hopes from the smell, but it's another fail for me. Weak on the cherry flavoring, and the artificial sweetener leaves a bitter flavor. Similar to the Zesty Mango, there's a spice that brings up the rear. Not a fan of this one or the others in this series. 

Diet Coke Ginger Lime

 

Another selection from this series from Diet Coke is this Ginger Lime flavor. Based on the last couple posts, I'm expecting a sharp lime taste with a trailing heat of ginger following. 

The can offers tiny whiff of lime, but very little scent otherwise. Now, I'm surprise by how weak the flavor actually is. This takes a departure from the last two flavors I've tasted in this series. There's a very weak cola flavor, like that of a coke that was finished and all the ice in the glass melted... but with the hint of a slice of lime in the glass. I find it underwhelming. Overall, this series of drinks seems more like Diet Coke trying to offer a competitor for all the flavored seltzer waters on the market. But I find them lacking. 

Diet Coke Zesty Blood Orange

Next, in this series of flavors from Diet Coke is this Zesty Blood Orange. I've liked a number of Blood Orange sodas over the years, though I'm not sure I've ever had one blended with cola. 

Unlike the Twisted Mango, this can presents a sharp orange scent. There's really no cola flavor present as it's overwhelmingly orange in flavor, though somehow thinner than traditional orange soda. I wasn't sure what they meant by "zesty" but trailing the aftertaste you do pick up a little spice in the back of the throat. It's not heat, but more like a tingle you might get from trying an exotic pastry.

Diet Coke Twisted Mango

 

Diet Coke has experimented with a few flavors over the last few years and I've gathered some interesting offerings to try, starting with Twisted Mango.

This has a strange flavor to it and very little scent at all. I was expecting something closer to a melon-like taste, but it's like tasting a carbonated vegetable. The flavor is almost like that of green stalks than that of a sweet fruit. I don't find this pleasant. 

Shasta Diet Ginger Ale

The second Shasta soda on the blog is this diet ginger ale. You can read more on the history of Shasta on the earlier posting here.

A very sharp ginger ale scent arises from this drink. This is very similar to what most describe as "pale dry" ginger ale. It has a bit of bite to it, but it appears slightly later than many other brands after first hitting the mouth. The bite appears mid-palate to me. The flavor is a bit strange. Yes it tastes of ginger, but closer to ginger beer which is sharper to the tongue but this also carries a touch of the chemical tones you sense in cheaper beverages. Overall this is not a soda I'd recommend bothering with.

Frostie Diet Root Beer

Frostie has existed since 1939 when George Rackensperger founded Frostie Beverage Co. in an abandoned Catonsville, Maryland jailhouse. Frostie was sold to Monarch Beverage in 1979 and sold again in 2000, and finally sold to Intrastate Distributors in 2009. Intrastate currently bottles Frostie and Kist brand sodas out of Detroit. The "old man winter" character has been the icon of Frostie for generations.

Frostie is chock full of carbonation and has an appetizing scent. It is, however, what you might expect from a diet soda... that is to say it has a slight chemical tasting bent to it. When it comes to diet sodas more often than not I say stick to the full carb, full calorie version and this one is no exception. 

Virgil's Diet Root Beer

Virgil's began in the early 90's as an independent microbrew soda by the Crowley's. It was sold in 1999 to Reed's Inc. who produce the Virgil's line up of flavors in the Los Angeles area. The flavor line up has grown over the years from Root Beer to include various cream sodas. 

While Reed's Inc. does "brew" it's sodas using old-fashioned methods adapted to modern machinery, they also claim to use authentic ingredients from all over the world. Of this I cannot speculate, but whether or not that makes for a better soda can be debated. I can attest to having had other "premium" or "micro-brewed" sodas that sometimes fail to impress. Although, due to using "all-natural" ingredients you'll generally find Virgil's beverages next to Reed's sodas in grocery store health food/organic food sections.

While most Virgil's sodas use cane sugar, because this is their diet version it is sugar free, but contains Stevia extract as a sweetener. It's only lightly carbonated. It surely tastes like a diet with a different flavor. Unfortunately I did not have the regular diet available to compare, but will have to locate some in the future. The birch flavoring is strong. It leaves a lingering after taste and strangely seems to have a small numbing sensation on my tongue, perhaps from the wintergreen. All in all, for a diet root beer it isn't too bad, but I prefer others. Look for my future post on the non-diet Virgil' Root Beer.

Jones Soda Zero Calorie Vanilla Bean

For more on the history of Jones Soda see my previous post here.

The "Zilch" line from Jones Soda is their line up of no calorie or diet sodas. While there is a small amount of vanilla smell and decent amount of carbonation, I found the flavor of this to be lacking. This tastes like a carbonated bottle of hotel soap. A bit chemically tasting and contrary to the natural taste I was expecting from a name like Vanilla Bean.

Tab

Initially diet drinks often replaced sugar with artificial sweeteners called cyclamates and sometimes mixed with saccharin. The sweetness of cyclamates were discovered by accident in 1937 who apparently did not mind smoking in the lab since it was there that he was working on creating an anti-fever medicine when he tasted a sweetness after picking up his cigarette. In 1966 a study found that cyclamates were linked to cancer and in 1969 it was banned by the FDA. After the ban on the use of cyclamates diet drink makers, including Coca-Cola, turned to saccharin (also known as Sweet 'N Low) as a replacement artificial sweetener but this often lead to a chemical or bitter taste. The FDA also wanted to ban saccharin in 1977 due to correlations in cancer research until further review could be completed. They were unable to ban saccharin but food using it had to carry a special warning label, which was later repealed in the 1990's. By that time nearly all diet drink makers had already been using another artificial sweetener called aspartame (also known as NutraSweet). Diet Coke which was released in 1982 uses aspartame as a sweetener which is what leads to it's distinctively different taste from Coca-Cola Classic.

The first diet soda drink was a giner-ale called "No-cal" sold by Kirsch Bottling Company of Brooklyn, New York in 1952 and was originally made for diabetics. In 1958, Royal Crown Cola came out with Diet Rite. By the 1960's so-called "diet" products were increasing in popularity and Coca-Cola entered the diet soda market with Tab in 1963.

The name Tab has also offered some debate, but when Tab was created the Coca-Cola company had rejected the idea of calling it Diet Coke but agreed that it should have a short name. Coca-Cola used an early IBM computer to churn out a list of words no longer than 4-letters, but excluding any that were unpronounceable or too similar to other products. After paring this to a short list Tab was chosen as it was able to be used as a play on words - to keep "tabs" on your weight. The pink-hued packaging is likely a relic from it's creation in the marketing department's attempts to focus on weight-watching women customers.

When Tab was first introduced it too featured cyclamates and changed to saccharin when the FDA banned cyclamates. Tab still uses saccharin (mixed with aspartame) as a sweetener today but was overtaken by Diet Coke in the 1980's as Coca-Cola's major diet soda brand. At it's apex the Tab brand included Tab Lemon-Lime and Tab Orange. In the early 1990's when Pepsi released Crystal Pepsi, the short lived Tab Clear was sold but was pulled within a year. Tab has a dedicated fan following which keeps it going and is sold outside the US in Spain, South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia and Botswana. Recently a Tab energy drink was also released.

Most people today are familiar with Tab as a cola, but most remember it as a fad or relic from their past due to it being harder to find in some retail locations than others. My own grocery store carries it, but my mother, a Tab fan, goes to specific retailers to find it. I find that Tab has a distinctly chemical flavor to it which immediately reminds me that I'm drinking a diet soda. While the sweeteners may vary it is very similar to a Diet Pepsi flavor. The carbonation is rather average. I tend to steer clear of Tab because it gives me strong headaches between my eyes as though my blood vessels are squeezing tighter, making it harder for blood to move through, but this effect is not equal as some people drink it regularly.

Following, are two Tab caps currently in my collection...