Review: Coke Zero

[Tannerman]

During our travels in the Pacific Northwest, Amy and I found a bottle of Coke Zero at a gas station when we were putting gas in the rental car. This drink was announced back in March and it seems to be targeted at a male audience.

Unlike Diet Coke, which is sweetened with aspartame, Coke Zero is powered by both aspartame and acesulfame potassium (also known as Ace-K). This is in contrast to Coke's other "not officially diet but it really is" drink, Coke C2, which is sweetened by a mix of aspartame, sucralose, and Ace-K.

The packaging is very cool, in my opinion. I like the use of black and white colors, with just a highlight of dark red. The font style used for the word "Zero" is also innovative if you take a close look. The "Z" is very bold, but by the time you get to the "O" the weight of the letter is thin. Nice illusion there.

It should be noted that the formula for Coke Zero is a diet version of the Coke Classic formula, whereas the formula for Diet Coke is actually a diet version of New Coke/Coke II, thus there is a big difference in taste.

The drink smells like Coke, which is a good sign. Upon first taste, it was obvious this was a diet drink. It just has that "funny" taste that you associate with artificial sweeteners. That said, it's probably one of the best diet drinks I've tasted from Coke. Not too bad, though I'm still not a fan. Those who lean more towards diet colas will probably like Coke Zero quite a bit.

[jasonfletcher]

I haven't seen/tried Coke Zero yet, but this past year I must admit that I have become a Diet drink addict. Lately I have been gravitating toward Diet Coke with Splenda (as opposed to the aspartame). It is notably sweeter than regular Diet Coke, but I'm not sure if the recipe is quite right.

If you go to www.dietcoke.com you can download a coupon good for $.75 off a 2-Liter.

fletch

[Childs]

From what I hear, Coke Zero is not doing too well here in Detroit. Meijer was practically giving it away at 50% off in some cases.

[Dan Beach]

Zero isn't too bad. In fact, it passes the Dan Beach taste test. One reason I was psychologically scarred because of Diet Coke, was the bitter nasty taste (probably saccharin) which I just couldn't choke down.

I'm really liking C2, but the ad is a cheezy knock-off of Terminator 2... which turns me off. Be inventive... be creative... we live in a re-label, re-package society and I hate that people must plagarize other work for their ad campaign. But, alas, the product does taste good. Now when I have a Coke Classic it tastes too sweet!