The age old question. Coke? Pepsi? Store brand? Any other?

I’m personally a Dr Pepper guy myself.

  • sincle354@kbin.social
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    5 months ago

    Do yourself a favor and trick yourself into liking the Zero or Diet versions of your chosen soda. Notably, the Zero formulations have less and less aftertaste. I have found Zero versions of Dr. Pepper, Sprite, Pepsi, Coke, etc. I even found Cherry Dr.Pepper Zero, which if you know what that means is just nonsensical. I go back to the regular sugar sometimes and it doesn’t taste any better. I enjoy my acidic spiced cherry lemon Dr.Pepper without the diabeetus.

    Calorie rant: Why? 1.5 cans of soda is 250 kcal. That is equivalent to 30 MINUTES OF EXERCISE. PER DRINK. 3500 kcals (or calories) is equal to 1-0.5 pounds of fat gained or lost. Stop drinking or substitute soda for 2 weeks and lose a pound/0.4kg. Stop for a year and lose 25 pounds/12 kg FOR NO EXERCISE. Do you know how disheartening to know that all of my exercise is wasted by just chugging a large soda? Do the inverse and save an hour of jogging with a large DIET/ZERO soda.

    • weeeeum@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Another important note about diet soda is that they can often increase appetite, so try to avoid drinking them before or during a meal. Of course water is better but we all know damn well nobody is perfect lol. With thoughtful timing and good moderation you can enjoy diet drinks without worry (water still better though).

    • Aa!@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Well as long as you’re doing yourself favors, try to go with water, and cut out soda for most of your diet.

      But of course this isn’t really an answer to the question at hand.

      • sincle354@kbin.social
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        5 months ago

        I agree! I have also found carbonated water to quench my need for texture. I can’t find it sold as a drink in the drive-thru, though. But when I partake, I can’t get enough of it when I take a big, painfully acidic and bubbly sip.

        As for just water, I find the water/ice dispenser in my new apartment’s fridge to be the #1 health device I can use. I imagine diet and zero soda to be stepping stones to sparking water, which is a stepping stone for still water.

    • i_dont_want_to@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      5 months ago

      I went to artificially sweetened sodas. I started getting these gnarly tension headaches. (And sometimes my jaw would hurt too.) Bummer. I bit the bullet and just went with drinking less soda instead.

      Ice really makes water taste a lot better at least.

    • Aquila@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      For anyone wondering difference between zero sugar and diet. Diet is meant to taste ‘lighter’ so it’s supposed to taste different where as zero sugar soda attempts to taste the same as the original.

    • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I can’t stand replacement sugars and sweeteners. I do enjoy sodas, but I try to drink mostly water. They all have a metallic, chemical flavor that makes me feel queasy.

    • Canopyflyer@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      My wife introduced me (53M) to Coke Zero on our honeymoon 18 years ago.

      I dropped 10 pounds just from that one change. It didn’t take me any time to “get used” to drinking it, like Diet Coke, which to this day still tastes metallic.

      Adults really should minimized any and all calorie intake from drinking. So that means water, or zero calorie sodas and drinks.

    • hperrin@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Soda is great for energy if you’re doing crazy exercise though. On the Seattle to Portland ride, I was able to up my calorie intake by about 800 kcal just by drinking full sugar soda when I stopped to eat. I still wasn’t able to consume enough calories, but it got me a might closer.

      • pedestrian@links.hackliberty.org
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        5 months ago

        I wouldn’t say it’s “great” since it’s so sugary, but they had soda at an ultra marathon I did last Saturday. It was a great pick me up to drink a cup of coke. Supplimented the soda with other food, but it helped recover some calories quickly and has caffeine. I really try to stay away from the stuff otherwise.

        • hperrin@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          When you’re burning many thousands of calories, it could be the difference between making it to hour eleven or crashing at hour nine.

      • smort@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        My wife got me a kegerator a couple years ago. It’s amazing! Like $700. Fill up the keg with tap water when you run out (my keg is like 10 gal), refill the CO2 tank every 100 gals or so. I did a math a while back and it’s like 6 cents per glass, not including upfront costs.

        Or you can get an adapter to use with a standard CO2 tank with a soda stream machine. Refill those CO2 tanks at your local home brewing supply store, which again is way cheaper than the sodastream CO2

      • Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Sometimes… no all times, I wish I also couldn’t taste Bitter 2. Unfortunately when you carbonate water, that is literally the only flavour it has. And it has alot of it. It’s one of the most disgusting flavours to people that can taste it, and completely non-existent to everyone else.

  • andrew@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    When I was a kid, we had a drink called “suicide punch”. You mix equal parts of every drink in the fountain.

    It is definitely not that.

    • TIMMAY@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      ooooh man I had forgotten about “suicides”, high fructose corn syrup makes kids do crazy shit

      • andrew@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Idk. That’s more a case of kids making high fructose corn syrup doing crazy stuff.

    • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      I have to drop my daughter off at dance class for 45 minutes every week. Fortunately there’s a Taco Bell nearby that led me to discover the wonder that is Baja Blast Zero. Now it gives me something to look forward to every week.

    • Aquila@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      For some reason the zero versions of mtn dew give me a headache. Which is sad because I love mtn dew but refuse to drink the sugar versions

    • LadyLikesSpiders@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      I remember when Jarritos was this exotic little mandarin drink, only stocked in one row at my local super market. I’ve loved them since then, and now I see them everywhere in all flavors. Like watching a child grow up :')

  • Seasoned_Greetings@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    I know I’m going to be in the minority here, but I’ve been on a carbonated flavored water kick for a few years after I realized sugar was killing me. It was a two fold realization that I just really enjoy the fizz and not the sugar.

    That said, Polar seltzer-ade with lemon or lime juice is just 🤌 if you’re into carbonated waters

  • Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    There’s so many cliches, but despite them all, Mountain Dew. Not because it makes me feel Xtreme while I’m playing Call of Duty and eating Doritos on my skateboard, it’s just a much better flavor.

    • Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I miss Canadian mountain dew. It was just the pop, no caffeine. Turns out caffeine doesn’t taste very good. I mean you would assume that, but it really hit home when the pop I loved all of a sudden added it. Wish they continued to offer a caffeine free version. But I know in the states the caffeine is like their whole marketing thing.

  • calabast@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    The prices for coke and pepsi products has gone up an absurd amount the last few years. Unless they drop back down a bit in price (unlikely) I’m sticking to my sodastream for all my home carbonation needs.

  • stoy@lemmy.zip
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    5 months ago

    That depends on the context.

    Eating pizza, nothing can ever compete with a nice glass of Trocadero, it just feels right.

    At cristmas? Coca Cola? Absolutely not! Give me Zeunerts Julmust every time!

    Drinking soft drink with friends and watching a movie, give me an Indian Tonic with a lemon slice, lasts long and is very tasty.

    Have some dark rum (I have plenty) and want a quick drink with a good mixer, Fanta used to be great, but they have added sweeteners in addition to sugar, so they taste like crap now, so I tend to look for som itallian orange soda, it is works well.

    Eating a bruger, Coca Cola is still great!

    Having a quiet evening by the computer? Just stick to mineral water.

    • gregorum@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      My favorite with a slice is Mandarin Jarritos. Sometimes Lima. Stewart’s Orange Creame soda is also pretty great.

      I’m also a big fan of ice-cold Sprite.

      • stoy@lemmy.zip
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        5 months ago

        I am expecting Sprite to get the sweetener treatment as well, but for now it makes a great drink to mix it with some local distilled raspberry liquor I have, tastes like Sprite, but with a really nice aftertaste of Raspberries

  • morphballganon@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I’ve been into vanilla coke zero sugar for a while now.

    Sprite zero sugar if you want no caffeine.

    Both work well with alcohol. Bourbon or spiced rum with the coke. Vodka with the sprite.

    • slingstone@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      On those funky Coke machines in some restaurants, there was an option to get Raspberry Coke Zero for a long time. I grew to love it. Now it looks like they’re taking it away in most places.