My church book club's book for the month of August was The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. Some quick info on this book for you: the current geological year is known as the Anthropocene and the entire book is essentially Green giving his opinions on various things. Topics range from Piggly Wiggly to teddy bears to scratch and sniff stickers to the Indy 500, and the city of Indianapolis in general ... along with many other topics.
He begins by giving you a little back story or history on each item, and then sometimes on how it ties into his life and then gives it a rating of 1-5 stars.
Now, while many of us enjoyed this book, as a collective we gave it 3.5 stars. It was an interesting read (or listen, as I chose to do) but not one that we would necessarily pick up again. For some, the fact that it was just a rambling on a variety of topics made it hard for them to read because they didn't really have a strong need to come back to the book because there wasn't curiosity on what was next.
I hosted this month and I made a suggestion to one of the other members that I thought for our discussion it would be cool if we each picked something to rank and then use that as our discussion, but I didn't want it to feel like I was assigning homework. People thought it was a great idea, and half of us wrote reviews. We had skating rinks of the 80s, sour cream and onion Pringles, showers, typewriters, and then my review on Coke Zero.
In the spirit of the book, I'm channeling my inner John Green and sharing with you why I give Coke Zero 4 stars.
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Coke Zero
While it came on the scene in 2005 as Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, it wasn’t until the first reformulation in 2017 and rebranded as Coke Zero that it became a true contender in the diet soda market.
This reformulation led to some backlash from customers, however, Beverage Digest editor Duane Staford noticed the “new” Coke Zero was very similar in flavor to the original Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, stating the formula was likely tweaked slightly as the ingredient list was the same. Staford said it seemed that the rebranding was the main emphasis.
In 2017, Coke Zero was specifically marketed to men, who are shown to associate diet drinks as women’s drinks. In the UK, it was primarily marketing toward young men, and was known as “Bloke Cokes”. The focus was on the drink being a no calorie drink instead of a diet drink.
In July 2021, Coke announced another reformulation of Coke Zero to the US and Canadian markets. The reformulation would be the same recipe available in Europe and Latin America, and would "optimize existing...flavors and existing ingredients" without requiring a change in the listed ingredients or nutritional information.
From just my very minimal observation of Diet Coke and Coke Zero drinkers, all people that I work with, I’ve noticed that there is a very clear divide between Diet Coke and Coke Zero drinkers and it seems the marketing has worked as the Coke Zero drinkers are all male, while the Diet Coke loyalists are female.
To quote my boss, Diet Coke has become the drink of women and olds. This is the same man who, after a waiter told him Diet Coke and Coke Zero tasted the same, told the waiter if he was brought a Diet Coke instead of a Coke Zero that he would know and then be asking to speak to the guy's manager.
I have watched multiple men in my life make the switch from Diet Coke to Coke Zero, while the women have stayed firmly in the Diet Coke camp. I decided that I needed to do research for myself. I wasn’t sure what the hype was. After all, wasn’t this just another knock off of a Diet Coke? How could they really be that different?
Per Google AI, The primary difference between Coke Zero and Diet Coke lies in their taste profiles and the sweeteners used. Coke Zero is formulated to taste more like the original Coca-Cola, while Diet Coke has a lighter, distinct flavor. Coke Zero utilizes a blend of aspartame and acesulfame potassium, whereas Diet Coke primarily uses aspartame.
It was time for me to do a taste test. I had a Diet Coke and Coke Zero brought in to me by a coworker and took the plunge myself. I'm not a huge soda drinker to begin with, so I went in not really having an idea of what either tasted like. I haven't had a Diet Coke since I was studying in London when I was college, and have never had a Coke Zero, so this was a true taste test for me.
I have to admit that I have failed the women, and in a blind taste test, chose Coke Zero. It tasted more like an actual Coke. In fact, it tastes like a Coke where the syrups are just a little off. While I probably still won't be much of a soda drinker, if I had to make a choice now, I would choose Coke Zero.
I give Coke Zero, 4 stars.
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