Coke Zero: Tastes Like Lime?
I have this weird problem with Coke Zero (that’s the American Coke Zero, which may be different from international branding). This version of Coca Cola differs from Diet Coke because it contains a different sweetner: Acesulfame Potassium (also known as Acesulfame K) instead of Aspartame. The problem is, it tastes like lime to me.
To put this in perspective: for me Coke Zero tastes and smells like Lime Diet Coke. Seriously. I can’t tell them apart. I’ve also tasted this effect in Diet Coke with Splenda, another drink that contains a different combination of sweetners that includes Splenda and Acesulfame K. It’s like Diet Coke with a slight limey flavor.
I can think of a couple of reasons for this. One is that Acesulfame K really tastes like lime to me for mysterious reasons. I’ve never tasted the sweetener alone, so I don’t know for sure. The other possibility is that I can’t taste Acesulfame K at all, meaning I’m picking up too much of the other acid flavors in the drinks.
Anyone else have experience with this?
I’ve never actually tried Coke Zero, but I thought the whole difference was that it was supposed to be the “Man Diet Coke.” I didn’t realize there was actually a different formula.
I don’t know the lime thing, but I can’t drink most of the splenda flavored diet drinks because they do tend to pair it with the Acesulfame K which has sulfur in it & it causes my sulfite/ate/ur reaction. Kinda peeves me off since Splenda is ok for me. I think they pair those together since taste tests show that they are complementary (most artificial sweeteners really are a suite of things).
Oh, and note besides, Splenda gives David nasty heartburn (noted side effect, though unusual). He kept trying it in various of his health/energy drinks and finally isolated what was causing the heartburn. So, in this house at least, we forgo the Splenda/Acesulfame K sweetener mixes.
(And other random ramble, I like lime in diet dp, but only fresh.)