Beverage Review: Coke Zero
That great Coke, Aspartame, and Acesulfame Potassium taste.
by Meredith Pinault
If any company deserves an innovative beverage engineering prize for routinely discovering tasty new ways to drum every last calorie out of a soda... it's Coke. Their latest offering is Coke Zero, a soda with an appealing black motif on its bottling and a seriously refreshing blend of two artificial sweeteners, aspartame and acesulfame potassium.
Even before I tasted it, I knew I would love Coke Zero, because the calorie count is actually incorporated in its name. This helpful nomenclature allows consumers to instantly see that Pepsi One is an inferior choice compared to Coke Zero. I mean, Pepsi One has one calorie. That's one more than Coke Zero. And it can add up. You have ten Pepsi Ones, that's ten calories. 3500 Pepsi Ones, and that's a whole pound. You have 3500 Coke Zeros, and that's zero, zip, zilch calories and one sleek tummy.
Coke Zero is typified by a cluster of medium-fine bubbles in a fine dark liquid. Its flavors elude the nose but dropped hints of licorice. A robust caramel blossomed on my palate, infused with strong varietal sweetener flavors. The taste is lightweight but with plenty of effervescence, a toasty acidity, and minerality lingering on a long finish. This drink will pair well with nothing, as it was intended.
The uber-yummyness of Coke Zero is detracted only by the evidence that consumption of this product may lead to headache, dizziness, depression, migraine, fatigue, convulsions, vision problems, hyperactivity, nausea, irritability, insomnia, heart palpitations, memory loss, anxiety, tinnitus, vertigo, slurred speech, rashes, joint pain, breathing difficulties, menstrual irregularities, bloating, excessive thirst, tremors, and numbness, or aggravate an existing condition of diabetes, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, lymphoma, brain tumors, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, blindness, systemic lupus, Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig's disease, Lyme disease, Graves disease, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and heart valve disease.
-- June 2005