# Tab (the soft drink)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 14, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004 "2016-03-14T19:14:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/1 "2016-03-14T19:14:30Z")
Who knew they still made Tab? I was surprised to recently discover they still make and market the stuff. Tab was a Big Deal back in the late 60’s/early 70’s because it WAS the market (well, that and Fresca) on ‘diet soft drinks’…but the stuff was, and I guess still is, sweetened with SACCHARIN!!!:eek: Who would want to drink that when they’ve developed aspartame, sorbitol, and several other far less offensive tasting artificial sweeteners?
When was the last time you drank Tab?
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### Author:  [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/2 "2016-03-14T20:40:51Z")
Tab was my mom’s drink of choice back in the day. I haven’t tasted it in over 30 years, but can still recall the vile “flavor” as if it were yesterday.
Cool bottle, though!
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### Author:  [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/3 "2016-03-14T21:01:14Z")
There is actually an old (closed?) rural store nearby that still has a Tab sign out front, but I haven’t seen the drink itself in a lot of years.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/4 "2016-03-14T21:15:27Z")
> [@Cardigan](#):
>
> Who knew they still made Tab? I was surprised to recently discover they still make and market the stuff.
Seriously? I didn’t know the stuff still existed, but the [earworm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJL4yQn_7qQ) is still with me after all these years.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/5 "2016-03-14T22:34:00Z")
> [@Cardigan](#):
>
> Who knew they still made Tab?
I did - my spouse loves the stuff, sucks it down like a fish sucking water.
> [@](#):
>
> I was surprised to recently discover they still make and market the stuff. Tab was a Big Deal back in the late 60’s/early 70’s because it WAS the market (well, that and Fresca) on ‘diet soft drinks’…but the stuff was, and I guess still is, sweetened with SACCHARIN!!!:eek: Who would want to drink that when they’ve developed aspartame, sorbitol, and several other far less offensive tasting artificial sweeteners?
Nope, they’re using aspartame these days. Says so right on the can. (We have a lot of Tab cans around here)
> [@](#):
>
> When was the last time you drank Tab?
About 25 years ago - I tried it once. YUCK. But like I said, the spouse loves it. He’s weird.
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### Author:  [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/6 "2016-03-14T22:55:42Z")
I think depending on your local grocery store/ chain it can be special ordered. My mom drank it when I was a kid and I did find some maybe 15 years ago and and tried it again.
Yeah, no. It’s that bad. It’s why Diet Coke was developed.
Fresca is fairly easy to find and I like it and we have it around the house most of the time.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/7 "2016-03-14T23:10:28Z")
I knew they still made it because there is a supermarket that I shop in sometimes that carries it. It is right next to six packs of [Moxie](http://www.gastronomica.org/moxie-a-flavor-for-the-few/). Let that sink in for a minute. This isn’t some weird hipster grocery store. It is a medium sized mainstream store that only carries what sells well. Someone is still buying not one but two of the worst tasting soft drinks ever invented. I have never seen anyone that actually had either of those in their house but they are out there…somewhere.
In the likely event you have never tasted Moxie, take my word for it and just don’t. It is the oldest continually produced soft drink in the U.S. but nostalgia can’t even justify it.
Moxie was invented during a time when carbonated drinks were sold as medicinal tonics and it certainly lives up to that legacy. I would rather drink a 6-pack of Tab instead of even one Moxie.
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### Author:  [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/8 "2016-03-14T23:15:05Z")
I loved it back in the day. The day being decades ago. Had no idea it was still around.
It was foul tasting, but had that certain _je ne sais quoi_ that was quite addictive. Like cigarettes, now that I think of it.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/9 "2016-03-14T23:18:55Z")
If you like bitter, Moxie is perfectly fine. Like if you like tonic water or alcoholic herbal drinks like Campari, it should be up your alley. They don’t really sell it around here (AFAIK) so it’s a rare treat I have when I’m in Moxieland. Now Big Red the soft drink…yuck.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/10 "2016-03-14T23:22:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Now Big Red the soft drink…yuck.
Those are fighting words. I loves me some Big Red or at least I used to when I could get it. I don’t know what flavor it is but bubblegum seems to be the closest match. It is overly sweet and brightly dyed to match but it is like drinking candy if you are in the mood for that sort of thing.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/11 "2016-03-14T23:33:57Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#):
>
> Those are fighting words. I loves me some Big Red or at least I used to when I could get it. I don’t know what flavor it is but bubblegum seems to be the closest match. It is overly sweet and brightly dyed to match but it is like drinking candy if you are in the mood for that sort of thing.
You and the spirit world. A short glass of Big Red is a a common offering at little spirit shrines all over Thailand. Best guess that anyone has come up with is it’s a stand-in for blood.
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### Author:  [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/12 "2016-03-14T23:34:36Z")
I wouldn’t have made it through college without Tab and Fresca. They were ubiquitous. You were either in one camp or the other. I preferred Fresca (still do when I can find it) because I’ve always loved grapefruit and it had a real grapefruit taste. Back then these were considered a healthy alternative to regular soda and no one was the least bit alarmed about all the unnatural chemicals we were pouring into our bodies, so we drank a lot of it.
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### Author:  [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/13 "2016-03-15T02:51:56Z")
My father-in-law still sucks down Tab by the gallon. Disgusting stuff, but it’s still around.
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/14 "2016-03-15T03:44:14Z")
I don’t think they even sell it around here. I’ve never seen it. Then again, I rarely look in the Coke coolers, and then it’s usually for Sprite.
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### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2016, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/15 "2016-03-15T07:38:17Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#):
>
> I knew they still made it because there is a supermarket that I shop in sometimes that carries it. It is right next to six packs of [Moxie](http://www.gastronomica.org/moxie-a-flavor-for-the-few/).
I liked Tab when I was small, because it was a carbonated drink, and my Mom allowed few of those. Coke, ginger ale, 7-Up, Tab–if I was offered a glass, I’d take it. Tab is no longer available locally, but if it was, I’d ignore it in favour of plain ol’ Coke.
Moxie. I tried that once while driving through New England. It was like drinking liquid bubblegum. We didn’t know whether to drink it or chew it–only, you couldn’t chew it. At any rate, it was awful, and we threw out four cans of a six-pack at a rest stop in New Hampshire.
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### Author:  [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/16 "2016-03-15T16:16:48Z")
> [@Cardigan](#):
>
> Who knew they still made Tab? I was surprised to recently discover they still make and market the stuff. Tab was a Big Deal back in the late 60’s/early 70’s because it WAS the market (well, that and Fresca) on ‘diet soft drinks’…but the stuff was, and I guess still is, sweetened with SACCHARIN!!!:eek: Who would want to drink that when they’ve developed aspartame, sorbitol, and several other far less offensive tasting artificial sweeteners?
>
> When was the last time you drank Tab?
When they switched from cyclamates to saccharine.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/17 "2016-03-15T22:08:58Z")
Thanks to Sarah Silverman, I know Tab is still a thing.
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### Author:  [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/18 "2016-03-16T01:28:34Z")
Like Dr Pepper I’ll have one every great once in a while; to remember the past. One thing I’ll never do is drink it the way my one great-aunt did ------ hot. :eek:
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/19 "2016-03-16T02:16:33Z")
> [@Spoons](#):
>
> I liked Tab when I was small, because it was a carbonated drink, and my Mom allowed few of those. Coke, ginger ale, 7-Up, Tab–if I was offered a glass, I’d take it. Tab is no longer available locally, but if it was, I’d ignore it in favour of plain ol’ Coke.
>
> Moxie. I tried that once while driving through New England. It was like drinking liquid bubblegum. We didn’t know whether to drink it or chew it–only, you couldn’t chew it. At any rate, it was awful, and we threw out four cans of a six-pack at a rest stop in New Hampshire.
Bubblegum? You sure that was Moxie? I’d say it’s more like a less sweet version f sarsaparilla or root beer with a bitter kick to it. The gentian root, which is extremely bitter, is kind of the signature flavor. Now Big Red, yeah, that’s overly sweet bubblegum.
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tab-the-soft-drink/749004/20 "2016-03-16T02:52:52Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#):
>
> Tab was my mom’s drink of choice back in the day. I haven’t tasted it in over 30 years, but can still recall the vile “flavor” as if it were yesterday.
My mom drank it when she was pregnant with my brother in 1983. She let me try it and I will never forget that it tastes like battery acid.
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