# What happened to lemon flavored Coke & Pepsi? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [February 19, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906 "2011-02-19T12:47:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/21 "2011-02-21T02:28:40Z")
> [@MobiusStripes](#): > > I haven’t seen lemon in years (never liked it personally). Now, the diet cherry pepsi on the other hand. That stuff was like Slurm. I’m half-glad I can’t find it anymore. I couldn’t stop drinking it. What the heck is Slurm? 😕 Leo in NY ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/22 "2011-02-21T02:39:48Z")
Wow, all this talk of discontinued pop has me wondering about Teem. It was better than 7-Up, and as I recall, nearly as popular at one time. ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/23 "2011-02-21T02:40:57Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > What the heck is Slurm? 😕 > Leo in NY It comes out of a worm’s butt. It’s addictive. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/24 "2011-02-21T02:48:45Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > And many grocery stores seem to be settling on having a certain portion of their soda pop shelves set aside for ‘seasonal’ flavors. So the local bottler will make these weaker-selling flavors for a few months, and they will be stocked & promoted at local grocery stores, then will disappear for months or years. The better they sell, the sooner they will come back. Some might catch on well enough to become a regular item, at least in that local region. Actually, it seems to be the local soft drink distributors themselves that decide what gets stocked, not the grocery stores. The store leases/sells a certain amount of shelf space to the distributor, and the distributor fills it up as they see fit. And, as near as I can tell, it’s the distributor, not the store, that decides what soda goes on sale and when. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/25 "2011-02-21T02:50:43Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I don’t mind diet pop, which is good because that’s the ONLY way I can get caffeine-free Dr. Pepper. And I adore Dr. Pepper. They sell regular caffeine-free Dr. Pepper in my neck of the woods, but the diet stuff’s not too bad. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/26 "2011-02-21T04:18:27Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > My friends and I did taste tests, and we couldn’t tell the difference, which was what made it unusual. Well, caffeine is artificially added to the Coke, so not adding it doesn’t change the taste. I just can’t have any caffeine. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/27 "2011-02-21T04:53:54Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > What the heck is Slurm? 😕 > Leo in NY > [@Heyoka13](#): > > It comes out of a worm’s butt. > > It’s addictive. [It’s **highly** addictive.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt2dlPiWGeo&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/28 "2011-02-21T08:10:52Z")
> [@Morelin](#): > > Well, caffeine is artificially added to the Coke, so not adding it doesn’t change the taste. I just can’t have any caffeine. Actually caffeine has a strong bitter taste, so simply not adding it \*could \*change the taste. I imagine the formula for caffeine-free Coke might be slightly different from regular Coke in other ways to adjust for that, but they do taste pretty much the same to me. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/29 "2011-02-21T16:26:44Z")
> [@Heyoka13](#): > > It comes out of a worm’s butt. > > It’s addictive. Looks like a snail to me. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/30 "2011-02-21T16:38:38Z")
Is “Blak” coke still made? It was coffee-flavored coca-cola-and it tasted awful! ---
**Author:** ![Deegeea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Deegeea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deegeea)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/31 "2011-02-21T19:08:48Z")
I think diet cola tastes much better than regular. Regular cola (Coke, Pepsi, etc) is way too sweet and leaves a nasty taste in my mouth (it’s that weird flavor that means the bacteria in your mouth are kicking in, or so I’d gathered from my dentist). I like the lime and vanilla flavored ones, and sometimes even the cherry. Lemon was not good though: it really did taste like it had Lemon Pledge flavoring! The concept of lime flavored cola is kind of hard to wrap my mind around though - lime is one of the basic components of cola flavor in the first place, so I guess it is just extra lime, like extra hops in beer? ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/32 "2011-02-21T21:11:36Z")
I miss RC cola. Company is still in business I hear, but nobody carries it around here. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/33 "2011-02-22T03:16:25Z")
I too am diabetic, so its the diet ones I was looking for. The lemon Pepsi version was called Pepsi (and Diet Pepsi) **Twist** and it was really good. Although I also did like Diet Coke with Lemon it did kinda taste like soda with furniture polish in it, incredibly artificial! But both seem to be gone even though I still see both Coke & Pepsi with **Lime** (even though the Coke version also tastes really artificial, just like the lemon did). And I don’t see why Lime (or Vanilla) would be more popular then Lemon? As far as Caffeine Free cola is concerned, for me its the same as skim milk. IOW without caffeine its not cola at all… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/34 "2011-02-22T03:51:57Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I miss RC cola. Company is still in business I hear, but nobody carries it around here. It’s still in business (it’s been owned by Dr Pepper Snapple for about a decade). However, in a lot of markets, Dr Pepper Snapple’s products are bottled by either the Coke or the Pepsi bottler in that market; in those places, they may not be willing to bottle RC, as it’s a more direct competitor against Coke or Pepsi. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/35 "2011-02-22T03:54:45Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > But both seem to be gone even though I still see both Coke & Pepsi with **Lime** (even though the Coke version also tastes really artificial, just like the lemon did). And I don’t see why Lime (or Vanilla) would be more popular then Lemon? My guess (an educated guess; I used to have one of the big soft-drink companies as a client) is that the lime and vanilla flavors are simply newer (both of them introduced far more recently than the lemon flavors). As noted earlier, there’s only so much shelf space, and the soft-drink manufacturers tend to jump onto what they perceive as the latest / hottest flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Dizzyangel201](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@Dizzyangel201](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzyangel201)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/36 "2011-12-15T11:47:58Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I miss RC cola. Company is still in business I hear, but nobody carries it around here. check your local/nearest cracker barrel. RC cola and moon pies tend to come together. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/37 "2011-12-15T12:48:26Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > Sadly, the lemon flavoring they chose to use was, in fact, Lemon Pledge. That was my reaction too. Lemon juice added to Coke = good. Vaguely lemony chemical added to Coke = bleargh. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/38 "2011-12-16T02:57:23Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > My favorite soft drink is Diet Coke with a twist of lime, so I was fairly interested in Diet Coke with Lemon. > > Sadly, the lemon flavoring they chose to use was, in fact, Lemon Pledge. It was awful. I bet my friend a dollar that he couldn’t drink an entire can of the stuff- it was the easiest buck I ever made. My sentiments exactly. I hated the lemon Diet Coke, but I drink lime Diet Coke regularly; it’s very refreshing. All it needs is some rum added fora summer treat. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/39 "2011-12-17T21:31:48Z")
Flavored versions of long lasting sodas, as a rule, just don’t last very long. They are gimmicks to drum up sales. Even the most beloved don’t seem to create a large market for themselves. If, at the end of the day, you’re still selling the same amount of soda, you might as well stop wasting the effort on the other varieties. I’m lucky–the only kind I really liked were Cherry (which did stick) and Vanilla, which you can mimic at home by adding cream soda. I’m sure there are similar recipes for adding lime. I know Sonic does a good enough job for my sister, who always gets a Diet Coke with lime. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906/40 "2011-12-17T21:36:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m lucky–the only kind I really liked were Cherry (which did stick) and Vanilla, which you can mimic at home by adding cream soda. You can still buy Vanilla Coke. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-lemon-flavored-coke-pepsi/571906.md?page=3)