Milky Way Midnight rocks. The regular bar is only so-so.
It’s been a long, long time, so I don’t remember that well. From my recollection as a kid, New Coke seemed to taste more like Pepsi. I recall it being sweeter and more citrus-like or something than regular Coke. As I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I preferred regular Coke to the new one, and we even did little blind taste testings as kids for fun, playing off the whole “Pepsi challenge” thing with Coke, New Coke, and Pepsi. I preferred regular Coke consistently, but New Coke did actually win out in our informal and unscientific focus group.
Right, that was by design. The Pepsi Challenge wasn’t a lie: Most folks really did prefer the taste of Pepsi to Coke. So, in what seemed a logical enough move at the time, the Coke folks decided to change their formula to taste more like Pepsi. The problem is that the Coke brand has built up such a long tradition, that when people saw that they’d changed the recipe, they didn’t give it a try; instead, they panicked and said “How dare you change such an American classic!”, and refused to buy it. With the end result, of course, that Coke went back to (almost) the original recipe.
Cool Ranch Doritos and Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles.
Most of us knew then and still know now what the various cola products taste like. I know it’s fun to think we’re all rubes who cannot tell the difference between various brands, but Coke and Pepsi don’t taste anything alike. Hell, they don’t even smell alike. Coke smells of cinnamon, and Pepsi of lemon.
Don’t you mean these?
Yes. Coke Zero is much more like Coke Classic in flavor; Diet Coke is very “battery acid”-tasting.
That would probably be Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos. (Or, less likely but still possible, one of the really tasty Doritos flavors aimed at the Hispanic market, like Flamas or something.)
That is because Coke Zero is the zero calorie version of Coke. Diet Coke is a completely different formula with a different flavor profile. I think it was based on Tab, but I am not sure about that part.
It was sort of a lie. How many more people preferred Pepsi? Did they ever show anyone picking Coke? Do you think that meant no one did? How scientific were the tests? Did they over-sample people who really like sweet things, like say 10 year-old boys?
Also let’s say 55% picked Pepsi and 45% picked Coke. Is it then logical for Coke to reformulate so they taste just like Pepsi? Wouldn’t that alienate the 45%, many of whom were Coke customers?
The only thing I’ve agreed on in this whole thread is Crunchberries. Those were delicious!
There’s a reason for that. Fritos have exactly three ingredients: corn, oil, and salt.
Here’s the ingredient list of Chili Cheese Fritos (from their web site):
OK, so neither one is exactly good for you, but I’ll stick with the original.
I didn’t like original Doritoes until I had the Cool Ranch variety.
I took the Pepsi Challenge once. They gave me a cold, fresh cup of one drink and a diluted with melted ice, flat cup of the other. Guess which one was the Coke.
This man speaks the truth…for Skittles, anyway. I also like the “Crazy Core” ones.
I prefer the “summer flavors” variety of Starburst.
And ‘Almond Snickers’ kicks regular Snicker’s (Snickers’s?) ass.
When I took it, I pointed at the Coke and said “I prefer the Coke.” The tester shrugged and said a lot of people do. I snuck a peek at her score sheet and it looked about 50/50.
Where I live, Toasted Corn was the original flavor, with Taco being second.
As for my preferences to newer flavors being better, my first choice is Vanilla Diet Coke, although I’m not sure they sell it any more, at least in 2L bottles (I can’t find it in any of three different chains). Also on the list are pretty much any non-hot non-original flavor of Doritos, Cheddar and Sour Cream (one flavor) Lay’s / Ruffles, Golden Oreos (white cream and white cookie - but not Double Stuf), Dark Chocolate and Pretzel (different flavors) M&Ms, and Peanut Butter Twix.
Combine these and you have a winner: Cherry Coke Zero is basically the only thing worth drinking on the whole planet.
I used to love Cool Ranch Doritos, but since being introduced to the magic that is Spicy Sweet Chili, I can’t go back.
I’ve heard that New Coke was quite similar to what you’d get if you made a sugared version of Diet Coke.
It’s actually the diet version of New Coke, although my recollection is that they don’t taste as close as Coke and Coke Zero do.
–Cliffy
Snickers ice cream bars are better than any variety of actual Snickers.
I believe that when the test is fair, Pepsi really did come out on top (it certainly did when I took the Pepsi Challenge c. 1981), but that might not mean that the customer would prefer a whole can of Pepsi vs. a whole can of Coke.
But the Cola Wars, I think, changed all that. Now people know what Coke and Pepsi taste like such that hiding the label doesn’t effectively hide the products’ identities.
–Cliffy