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
5-07-2007 @2:38PM David said... I'm willing to bet that the bioavailability of all of those vitamins and minerals is next to nothing. Diet Coke Plus is lipstick on a pig.
Reply
5-07-2007 @3:04PM Mrs.MGA said... I could taste a foul difference. Much like a can of diet coke sitting in the sun, then allowing the soda to go flat. I was not pleased.
Plus, it's mostly just B vitamens and Niacen.
Reply
6-18-2007 @10:51AM Amy said... I could taste a difference too. It wasn't as bad as the taste of Diet Coke with Splenda, but along the same line. But much, much less so. (Can you tell I hate the Diet Coke with Splenda). My friends, at first, didn't think there was a difference in taste either. One even bought herself a 12 pack. After just one or two she can't drink the rest and is trying to give them away.
Reply
5-07-2007 @3:24PM mpauletteb said... Diet Coke Plus isn't a good idea! If people didn't drink so much diet coke, they'd have more room to eat actual food with real vitamins in it!
Reply
5-07-2007 @4:06PM laura said... I definitely taste a difference. It tastes flat and boring. I also taste some a strange chalky flavor, as if I just chewed up a calcium tablet. I am a huge Diet Coke fan (and especially love Diet Coke with Spenda®) and this Diet Coke Plus is terrible. I do not recommend it.
Reply
5-07-2007 @4:18PM Zac T said... If you drink 8-10 cans a day you can get %100 of a few vitamins...
"Each 8-ounce serving of Diet Coke Plus provides 15% of the daily value for niacin and vitamins B6 and B12, and 10% for zinc and magnesium"
Reply
5-07-2007 @6:19PM Rick Lyon said... I could tell a huge difference. Diet Coke has a kick to it, carbonation or something, slightly bitter, then bubbly. Diet Coke Plus is smooth, almost flat like in taste and a little fruity sweet.
Reply
5-07-2007 @9:52PM Katie said... Mostly, I could taste the zinc. Ever had one of those Cold-Eeze immune-boosting cough drops? Those truly, truly awful-tasting cough drops? I tasted that in Coke Plus.
Reply
5-08-2007 @2:07AM Eric said... Funny, the twelve-pack I bought had perfectly normal cans.
The taste was also very easy to identify - Coke Zero. I guess they thought Coke Zero Plus was too absurd a name.
Reply
5-08-2007 @7:26AM Gobo said... Getting vitamins through diet soda is fishy at best. It's so artificial that they're likely not even absorbing into your body... just passing right through. Niacin and B-vitamins? Just eat a small banana, and you've done better than this stuff.
Reply
5-08-2007 @11:12AM Lynds said... I could taste a difference too. We bought a pack to take to the beach this weekend and we all thought it tasted like Coke Zero, we were not amused. Will I drink it again maybe if choices are limited.
Reply
5-10-2007 @9:01AM Jamie said... I personally despise artificial sweeteners, so I'm not a Diet Coke fan, but this really didn't taste any different than a regular diet soda to me. I really think it might be one of those genetic things,though -- certain people are unable to taste some substances through a dominent or recessive expressed gene.
Reply
5-10-2007 @1:37PM Lesley said... I thought it was vile. It is sweeter and more artificial tasting than regular Diet Coke. I'll get my vitamins elsewhere!
Reply
5-10-2007 @5:15PM lindsay said... this drink tasted horrible. luckily it was only 99 cents at Target. It tasted like an empty can with fizzies inside.
Reply
5-10-2007 @7:00PM Emily said... It definitely has a chalky after taste to it. I figured it was because magnesium sulfate was the second ingredient (if I remember correctly). I didn't think it tasted anything like Coke Zero, but regardless.. the taste difference isn't cool. Not worth the vitamins and minerals. I'm going back to my regular Diet Coke thank you.
Reply
5-11-2007 @7:05AM Jim Grillo said... Just can't say enough about how I like Coke Zero! I just can't.
Reply
5-11-2007 @7:34AM steph said... Funny how everyone's taste buds react differently. I hated Coke Zero, but love the new Diet Coke Plus and I am a die hard Diet Coke fan. I don't find a chalky at all but instead find it almost creamy in texture. I figure as much Diet Coke as I drink I might as well slip one of these in every once in a while and perhaps get some benefit from it.
Reply
5-11-2007 @7:36AM Sad in Virginia said... I too fell into the trap. Diet Coke pulled me in with its Blue label and Rainbow colored 'Plus'. It promised all kinds of things with that rainbow! But it didn't deliver :( I was looking for a way to describe the taste to someone else, and having read these comments, I think I agree! It tastes almost flat, or yes like it was left out in the sun! and then refrigerated, as if it were someone's cruel joke! Also! I think this drink may have actually taken vitamins OUT of my body! I hope this insanity is just temporary! I went into my local convenience store and in the Diet Coke section, NOTHING BUT DIET COKE PLUS. The horror. So now I drink Diet Pepsi, and Coke will have to work hard to make me want to come back. :[
Reply
5-11-2007 @7:57AM Jc said... Why drink Diet Coke or Diet Coke Plus when there is Coke Zero with NO aftertaste? Coke Zero is the best ever!
Reply
5-11-2007 @8:02AM NJ said... I love this new product! I feel like I have a little more engery, and peace of mind after I drink a can of it. I am a little shocked to see so many bad post written on here about it. I love Coke Zero, Sprite Zero, Pibb Zero, Diet Coke, & Diet Cherry Coke. I will buy Coke Plus along with all of the others I buy. I Drink 6 - 8 cans or bottles a day. This will never change! Pepsi sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply