Similar to the classic vs diet coke thing.....

I can't drink undiluted fruit juice any more, since I had my son and have been diluting his. Before having him, I could drink it just fine, but now undiluted juice tastes much too sweet.

All this fuss over a Coke? Have a cow and make a Coke float.

OK, I'll remember you too!

Maybe it's one of those you-have-to-go-through-hell-to-get-to-heaven things.

I agree totally with Keith and Gothampc. I used to drink regular Coke and now find it way too sweet. I love my diet coke, and although I now limit myself to only 2 or 3 a day, I really look forward to the one in the morning. When I'm overseas, I'm just happy to find diet coke or coke lite. It doesn't matter to me which one, so ling as I find it.

I went on my first excursion oversesas.. and really had an education.. even with soft drinks. I found that sodas were more expensive than water.. and most other beverages.. I think soft drinks are a real treat in Europe. I spent 6 days in the Canary Islands.. and caught planes in Madrid, Paris, London, and Tenerife North and South.. and spent a week in Tenrife. I asked for a diet coke.. and they handed me a coke light. I drink diet drinks .. more recently decafinated diet drinks.. like Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, and diet dr. pepper. I was flabergasted.. that they didnt have diet drinks.. they only had light drinks over in Europe.. I could not find any in my travels. The light drinks tasted sweeter and had less carbonation and good taste.. but if I wanted a soft drink.. thats what I had to drink.. And they give you these drinks in these small tubular tall glasses.. sometimes with .. sometimes without ice. So, I ordered a gingerale on the plane going home to USA and that tasted just the same..The food in Europe has a blande taste.. even their breads and rolls taste different. I actually bought a Nestle choc bar.. and that tasted different. Just didnt taste the same.. Its a culture shock when you get in a renta car..in spain.. and its a stick shift.. and it doesnt have a key.. has something else to insert by the steering wheel.. and everything is written in spanish and kilometers.. and traffic signs can be seen in triangles.. sometimes you see exclamation points. I can take that culture difference; but when it comes to soda.. I thought that all countries were on the same page of music.. It was funny.. I walked into the supermarket here in Calif.. looking for Coke Light.. and all I found was coke 2 and diet coke.. and all these funky flavors.. but no coke light. So, I figured that Europe likes Coke Light and the USA likes Diet coke.. cafinated and decafenated.. what a difference.. especially when you are counting calories.. I get enough calories from my meals... I did like the soda water or club soda with the carbonation.. that was the only thing that was the same.. Um...where can you get Diet Dr Pepper. or Coke, or Pepsi .. in Europe or countries away from the USA.. ???

It's called Coke Light all throughout Europe and is nothing new. It's been in Germany (Berlin) for at least the last 10 years that I have gone to visit my sister. I see it served in restaurants, cafes, etc. there. I don't drink Diet Coke so it has never crossed my mind to try it. I am not surprised that the taste is revolting - that is how I feel about Diet Coke. I drink the real thing: Coke!

And I'm still trying to work out why anyone would drink Diet Coke in the first place - revolting stuff, even worse than regular Coke.

Just a thought. Because I am allergic to corn I cannot drink any sodapop in the USA as any of it has some type of corn syrup in it.

Not a problem because I really don't care that much about Coke etc.

But one thing (at least in Italy up to a few years ago) is that the Coke there had sugar instead of corn syrup. I was always told that the Coke sold there was bottled in Germany. Because of the sugar versus the corn syrup I could drink it.

I have not been in Mexico for some time. Up to my last trip there the Coke in Mexico had sugar versus corn syrup in it. Howeever we have a cafe in our town that sells Coke from Mexico. This Coke now has corn syrup instead of sugar.

Could it be the difference between the corn syrup here and the sugar used in Europe Coke that causes the difference in taste? Just a thought.

oceans66; as has been said; Diet Coke is called Coke Light in Europe; it may have been altered slightly to adjust for different taste preferences here, but still has no calories. The name 'diet' on food or drink is just not popular in Europe; that is why they call diet drinks 'light'. If you want to drink something healthy; drink water. From the tap or bottled.

If a product here is labelled 'diet', it is really meant for a specific diet. If there's a diet section in a supermarket, it will have special products for people who are on a very restricted diet, ie salt-free, gluten-free.

Neil, When you are used to Diet COke, soda with sugar taste revolting.

I wonder if we have to learn to like pop, like people do with beer, but it just happens when we are so young that we don't remember it?

Keith

As the start of the thread noted, diet coke and coca cola light, no matter what anybody tells you, are 2 completely different drinks. Neither uses sugar and neither has any calories...

For years, the coca cola company has been using corn syrup instead of sugar in its US flagship brand and claims the taste is no different whether they use sugar or corn syrup but of course that is a problem if one is allergic to corn.

In the UK, you find many of the myriad flavours of diet coke we have in the US. I am most partial to diet vanilla coke. Interestingly enough, it is becoming somewhat more difficult to get diet vanilla coke in London; many convenience stores only carry diet coke and diet coke with lemon.

On the continent, there is only coca cola light, no coca cola light with lemon, no coca cola light with vanilla. But there is vanilla coke!

Now of course, it's much more healthy to drink wine both for your heart and your pocket book!

Thanks Tulips and friends...what an interesting world we live in!!! I still drink diet drinks.. only select ones.. water is better for the body.
Until next time..........be healthy!!

Well, who would have thought that a Diet Coke thread would be so entertaining? Anyway, thanks Tulips for definitely stating that there is no sugar in the Coke Lite. My daughter is diabetic and drinks Diet Pepsi sometimes, but we will be in Italy soon and I am sure she will order the Coke Lite with her meals.

Keith, your question interested me. You asked: I wonder if we have to learn to like pop, like people do with beer, but it just happens when we are so young that we don't remember it?

As a case study, my parents did not allow my sister and I to drink soda as kids. We drank juice, water, and later on we drank seltzer/club soda.

Since we never had it at home, it never really occurred to us to drink it elsewhere (not even from the school soda machines). To this day, neither one of us can stand Coke or Pepsi, Diet or regular (the regular is MUCH too sweet).

On the other hand, I do like some "non-cola" drinks. So maybe it's not "pop', but just "cola". I drink Diet Sprite or 7Up, and I also drink Diet Caffeine Free Dr Pepper now that they sell that. I also like Diet Root Beer.

I don't drink caffeine in general, but that's a different subject (although could be because I wasn't exposed to it as a child, I suppose). I also only drink diet soda (no need for extra calories), and not often. But, if you look in my refrigerator, the only soda you'll find is seltzer.

Karen

My daughter keeps everything so I rummaged through her room and found 2 cans of Coca-Cola light bottled in Bodegraven, Holland - ingredients: carbonated water, colour(E-150d), phosphoric acid, sweetners(aspartame,acesulfame k), flavorings, caffeine, perservative(E-211), citric acid.

1 can of Sprite also bottled in Holland- carbonated water, sugar, citric acid, flavourings, acidity regulator(E331), anitoxidant(E300).

1 Fanta(orange) bottled in Mexico - agua carbonatada, azucares, concentrados y conservador.

1 Pepsi light bottled in Mexico - similar to the coca light.

I grew up with a diabetic sister so we usually didn't have any items with sugar in the house. Diet drinks were a treat and back then contained cyclamates which were later banned but are now considered safe(?). Regular soft drinks seem slimey when you are used to diet drinks.

Loveitaly - It appears the Sprite can is dated 09-00 and the Fanta is 03 so I don't know if that helps with your corn allergy but were still sugar at those times.

kybourbon -- your daughter and my son should get together. He started a collection of bottled light sodas from his travels in Europe and all I'm thinking is, more junk.

She has enough collections! Marvin the Martian 150+, Rainbow Brite 50+, small metal replicas of the major sights in Europe (Notre Dame etc.), small plaster Europe sights/monuments and many other collections. Those weren't the only drink cans/bottles in her room. Wonder if Red Bull in Europe is different? I don't want to know!