# Coke or Pepsi? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [December 13, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445 "2017-12-13T23:37:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/61 "2017-12-14T19:56:37Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Diet Pepsi…when I can’t get Diet Dr. Pepper. Diet Dr. Pepper was actually my gateway when I switched from regular to diet drinks. I’m not sure there’s any other soda whose diet counterpart tastes so close to the regular version. Although Diet Crush is a very, very close second. Diet Pepsi, on the other hand, tastes like dishwater soap. And I was a loyal Pepsi drinker when I was still a “regular.” ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/62 "2017-12-14T20:17:37Z")
I didn’t vote because you can’t vote for both. I buy 2 liter bottles of Coke, or Pepsi, depending on which one is on sale. No diet Coke. No diet Pepsi. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/63 "2017-12-14T22:46:54Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > They both taste like malted battery acid, frankly Had some experience drinking that, have you? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/64 "2017-12-15T04:55:21Z")
I’ve always been a reliable Coke snob, even to the point of being able to distinguish Coke bottled in different cities. However, in the last decade I’ve begun adding lemon juice or citric acid to my soft drinks, as I now find them all too sweet. Curiously, that’s caused my preference to flip: Pepsi with lemon is actually preferable to me. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/65 "2017-12-15T05:28:25Z")
I like [Diet] Coke and [Diet] Pepsi equally. But not as much as Diet Rite. That is my go-to-cola. Amazing as back in the 70’s Diet Rite was the worst tripe one could buy. Bye-bye saccharine, hello Splenda! ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/66 "2017-12-15T08:42:51Z")
Depends who’s sponsoring me more at any given time. Got this strange something for Joan Crawford in “Johnny Guitar”, and she married the Pepsi CEO, so that might give it the edge - that incredulous, wide-eyed look of caged sensuality of hers. Beating out Coke. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/67 "2017-12-15T14:57:00Z")
No need to ask an Eastern European-accented Dan Aykroyd, oh, back in the late 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/68 "2017-12-15T15:30:27Z")
It depends. For some reason, Pepsi tastes better when it is ice cold, but Coke tastes better at any other temperature. For diet, I go with Diet Pepsi over any of the Coke choices (and Pepsi Max) - especially the wild cherry variety. Again, however, it needs to be cold. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/69 "2017-12-15T15:38:21Z")
Original Tab. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/70 "2017-12-15T16:30:54Z")
I prefer Coke, though I will freely admit that Pepsi has nearly always had better ads. I hate both diet versions, though [Bob Dole’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7oh1so-2M8) ad for diet Pepsi was the best ad ever. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/71 "2017-12-15T16:38:33Z")
Coke. Because rum and Pepsi is nasty. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/72 "2017-12-15T16:51:55Z")
I like Coke better than Pepsi but I like Mountain Dew better than Sprite, and Dr. Pepper better than Mr. Pibb. I know Dr. Pepper isn’t officially part of Pepsi, they are just usually distributed along with Pepsi products. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/73 "2017-12-15T17:59:21Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Definitely Pepsi. I can tell the difference. > The essence of “cola” flavoring is a mixture of vanilla, cinnamon (or cassia) and citrus and other oil (not juice). as William Poundstone points out in his first _Big Secrets_ book, this basic formula is pretty well-known, and is in reference books like _Merory’s_ (which is why all colas taste approximately the same – which is nothing at all like the flavor of Kola nut extract). Cunningham’s _For God, Country, and Coca Cola_ corroborates the formula. The difference is in the composition of that third ingredient, which is supposed to be a mix of oils from plant rinds – orange, lemon, lime, for all I know grapefruit and tangerine and neroli, with the possibility of things like lavender oil tossed in. If you have your own gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer you could probably figure out the exact compositions of Coke, Pepsi, and store-brand colas. as Poundstone notes, speculation is that Coke is heavier on orange and Pepsi heavier on lemon, which is why Pepsi once marketed a version with lemon in it. It could be – I don’t know, but it’d explain the difference, yet why they’re so close. In matters of taste, it’s all unprovable and subjective, but I prefer Pepsi and find adding a twist of lemon to Coke greatly improves its flavor (and yes, it slightly resembles Pepsi at that point). So the theories about the differences in citrus essence ingredient between the two seems credible. ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/74 "2017-12-15T18:22:17Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > I have always found it interesting that all three “major” colas were created originally in the South. Now that I live just a stone’s throw from North Carolina (home of Pepsi), I expected to see more Pepsi-only places. However, the Coke is strong with most of the South, so much so that even here near Charlotte, you often hear people using “Coke” as a synonym for “soda (pop)”. > > For what it is worth, I have always preferred Coca-Cola to Pepsi-Cola for taste reasons. But I drink diet sodas for the most part, and prefer those that are a cola with some added flavoring (example: Cherry Coke Zero). **But the go-to drink is Diet Dr. Pepper these days. I’m kinda shocked no one has even made reference to the Dr. yet. Personally, I think it’s just a cola with attitude.** > \ (my bolding) See post #39. But I only like the regular Dr Pepper, not the Diet. And to be nit-picky, for the proper spelling of the soda’s name, the word “Dr” has no period after it. ---
**Author:** ![Thuringwethil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@Thuringwethil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thuringwethil)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/75 "2017-12-15T18:29:57Z")
Coke. If a restaurant serves Pepsi I’ll drink water instead. In 2nd place is RC Cola, and in 3rd place is Shasta Cola. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/76 "2017-12-15T20:58:51Z")
Definitely Coke. A decade or two ago I joined in a blind taste-test that some of my co-workers put together after arguments about what to put in our soda machine. I did the test at least a half-dozen times and the one I preferred was always Coke. That being said, I’m not much of a soda drinker, so the 24 pack we bought for our Fourth of July barbecue still has 19 cans left(beer and wine proved much more popular with that crowd). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/77 "2017-12-15T22:14:29Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Had some experience drinking that, have you? :dubious: Mind you, **Qadgop** never actually said that either tastes bad. To someone who regularly eats neutronium, decade-old cheese, and (shudder) Vegemite, who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/78 "2017-12-15T23:00:34Z")
Sweet Tea. No Lemon. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/79 "2017-12-15T23:06:54Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Apparently, [both Caffeine-Free and Diet Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper exist.](https://www.drpepper.com/en/products) > [@Chronos](#): > > Maybe it exists, but you can still never find it. I have no trouble finding caffeine-free Diet Dr. Pepper, but only in two-liter bottles. I can’t find it anywhere in cans or smaller bottles, though. Back to the main question. Coke over Pepsi, but I don’t think either Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi taste like their sugary older brothers. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445/80 "2017-12-16T05:17:59Z")
> [@jerseymule](#): > > And to be nit-picky, for the proper spelling of the soda’s name, the word “Dr” has no period after it. Originally, there was a period. It was later removed for stylistic reasons. I’m old school. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-or-pepsi/804445.md?page=5)