Diet soda for someone who hates diet soda?

Cafe Society
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Or cola is simply the drink that you preferred in its regular version, so you are comparing it directly to the diet versions.

I’m a Diet Coke drinker, and I don’t find the cola flavor even remotely subtle. I’ve just learned to like the taste of the sweetener.

I was a Coke drinker. My gateway diet drinks were fruity or ginger ale, because that wasn’t what I normally drank and I couldn’t compare them directly.

Diet Coke doesn’t taste like Coke. They just share a name.

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I’d go in a different direction. Find some Gold Peak diet iced tea. You’d swear you were drinking homemade sweet tea.

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I’ve never liked diet soda. I could never get past that nasty aftertaste that comes from artificial sweeteners. I tried Coke Zero (I’m a lifelong Coca-Cola junkie), and while it tasted fine in the beginning, that terrible aftertaste still came through.

The only diet sodas I can tolerate are Diet 7-Up and the original citrus Fresca. I think it has to do with picking a flavor that still tastes good without sugar, and citrus seems to fill that bill well.

In the non-soda category, I’ve really started liking SoBe Diet Cranberry-Grapefruit. They have it in the fountain dispenser in my hospital cafeteria, and it’s replaced Mountain Dew as my pre-lunch libation.

84

Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper is my store-bought drink of choice. But since it’s got lots of caffeine, it might be wise to avoid it in the late evening.

My non-store-bought drink of choice is sweet tea, sweetened with Splenda instead of sugar. The recipe’s simple enough:

  1. Put a quart or so of water in a pan or teakettle on the stove. Turn burner all the way up.

  2. Put in 4 teabags of store-brand-quality tea. Caf, decaf, or mixed, depending on your preference.

  3. When the teakettle boils, turn off the heat. Let cool until it’s just warm.

  4. Pour the tea into a half-gallon pitcher. Stir in Splenda. Using the kind that comes in bags rather than packets, I put in just under a cup’s worth. YMMV. Once you’ve done that, fill the rest of the half-gallon pitcher with water. Or put in a few ounces of lemonade and then fill up with water, if you like your tea with lemonade.