You all know that I have a serious Diet Coke addiction, right?
Well, if you didn't, now you do, and I have absolutely no intention of going into rehab for it. I have "quit" many a vice of my wild and trashy days, but Diet Coke is the one thing that I intend to hang onto to keep my life interesting.
However, I do know how horribly horrible the stuff is. Dark soda stains your teeth. Any soda wears down your enamel. The carbonation causes bloating. The caffeine causes jitters. There probably isn't a single good thing about Diet Coke.
Until now. I am talking about vitamins. Coca Cola has extended its Diet Coke line with Diet Coke Plus, which we mentioned at the end of last year. The soda isn't a drink to compete with the multitude of energy drinks out there, but something to ameliorate the damage of drinking nothing but trash (that's not part of the marketing, just my opinion) with added vitamins and minerals. I was skeptical about how much better for my health this would really be, and even moreso, about the taste (does anyone remember the disastrophe that was "New Coke?")
I saw Diet Coke Plus in the market, so I decided to give it a go. Why not? It's not like $1.50 is an outrageous price for a can of soda. Besides, if the "plus" part really does have a healthy, vitamin-packed punch, it's worth it, right? Diet Coke Plus is supposed to have Niacin (vitamin B3), vitamins B6 and B12, zinc and magnesium. It sure sounds like a slice of fortified Wonder Bread!
The can is still the regular 12 ounces of a regular can of soda, but has a straight, sleek design like many of the energy drinks out there. I'm not sure if this is some Jedi mind-trick to get energy-drink-obsessed people to come back to Coke (even though Diet Coke Plus is not an energy drink), or just a lark on the part of Coca-Cola. It clearly worked on me, because I bought it.
So, how does it taste? I have to admit, that without doing a side-by-side Pepsi Challenge (oops! wrong taste test) with regular Diet Coke, I couldn't really tell that Diet Coke Plus was any different from the regular Diet Coke. It was just as fizzy and refreshing. I think I might have expected it to taste sweeter with this association in my head between Flintstones and vitamins. It wasn't any sweeter, and if the taste was at all slightly more bitter due to vitamin enhancement, I certainly didn't detect it. In fact, taking sweetness down a few degrees in any soda is never a bad idea, in my opinion.
Would I drink this again? Sure, since I'm going to drink Diet Coke anyway, may as well get the benefits of the vitamins and minerals. However, I doubt I'd go out of my way to look for it in the market. I have been brainwashed into reaching for the familiar silver and red can, and popping vitamins on the side.
Reviewed elsewhere:
Diet Coke Plus at Baking Bites
10 More Dirty Restaurant Tricks
5 Things You Didn't Know About Turducken
10 Catchiest Food Jingles We Love to Hate
