Which of the cola drinks is best when the drinks are tasted from mugs without seeing the brand? We found out about it in a big cola drink test.
Cola drinks, or plant extract drinks, are year after year the most popular soft drinks in Finland. You can find a long list of them on store shelves, both from soft drink waste and from the stores’ own discount brands.
– The share of soft drinks in liter sales of cola drinks is a good 60 percent. They are clearly the best-selling soft drinks, says the sales manager of S Group’s convenience store Mikko Kovalainen.
Finns especially prefer sugar-free versions of cola drinks. For example, almost 70 percent of the cola drinks sold in S group stores are sugar-free.
We put the lollipops to a blind taste test
Many cola lovers are loyal fans of one brand. We decided to find out if there are real taste differences between cola drinks and put a panel of four to taste 12 different colas. Five of the drinks tested were cola drinks containing sugar and seven were so-called light cola drinks, which contain almost no energy. Light lemonades are sweetened with sweeteners.
A jury consisting of Iltalehti editors tasted the drinks blindly. They didn’t know what brand they were tasting at any given time. However, the testers were told that they were first tasting sugar-free and then sugary drinks. All drinks were served chilled.
The jury gave each drink a rating on a scale of four to ten. Inka Soveri
Cola drinks were familiar to all council members. Two of the testers said they drink colas often and two occasionally. Two said they generally prefer sugar-free soft drinks, while one said they especially prefer sugar-sweetened ones. One of the council members said that he drinks both equally.
The international lemonade giants won overwhelmingly in the blind taste test. Of all the 12 drinks tested, the highest marks were given by all members of the jury Coca-Colawhich is sweetened with sugar.
You got the second best grade from the board Pepsi Max, which is a sugar-free version of Pepsi. It got the third best rating of all soft drinks Pepsi. The tasters also recognized the most well-known brands surprisingly well among others.
Test results for sugary cola drinks:
1. Coca-Cola
Rating: 9
– Tastes like the real thing. Would it be real Coca-Cola? I recognize.
– Definitely Coca-Cola. Gets a layer on the teeth right away.
– Good bubbles and a balanced Cola taste. It would be good with a Burger!
– It is good. It tastes a bit like Hese, so would you like some Pepsi?
2. Pepsi
Grade: 8-
– Sure, Pepsi. A duller taste than Coke, you can’t feel it in your teeth.
– This is Pepsi! It’s sweet and soft. No wonder you get hooked on these. I like it.
– Quite OK. Pretty basic flavor.
– Pretty good. Got a Hesburger vibe, so I’m guessing this is Pepsi.
3. Freeway Coke
Rating: 7.5
– Is this a Lidl cooler? Pretty sweet. A familiar taste from cabin summers, when groups bought cheaper limppira. Holy crap.
– A cheaper cola version. I wouldn’t want to be the first to drink this.
– Quite OK. Nice bubbles and an appropriate taste. Pretty basic.
– Clearly some cheap school. Not acidified enough. It feels like the bottle was opened yesterday. Weird little aftertaste.
4. K-Menu
Rating: 7
– Familiar taste, wildly sweet! My teeth are literally decaying, but it tastes good.
– It tastes special, like a Euroshopper from the 1990s.
– Round, sweet, not nasty.
– Pretty strong sweet taste. A bit too much for me.
5. Rainbow
Rating: 6+
– Not terribly sweet. Come on.
– I would not buy.
– If the taste of Cola can be boring, this is it. A pungent aftertaste that makes your mouth spin.
– Blah, not acidified enough. It tastes runny.
Test results for light cola drinks:
1. Pepsi Max
Grade: 8+
– Smells like Pepsi Max. This is pretty sweet. I’ll take another shot. Is there really no sugar in this?
– Pepsi Max clearly. Good.
– Quite a good smell. Kind of like the taste of sweetener. Would do.
– Weird aftertaste.
Shared 2nd place: Siti Cola
Rating: 7+
– Nice smell. Quite OK. It would be suitable as a substitute for real Coca-Cola or Pepsi.
– This is good. It tastes like childhood and a cottage, so nostalgia points.
– Ohhh, cheap taste. No further.
– Really fluffy, too sweet. A bit boring too.
Tied for 2nd place: Coca-Cola Zero
Rating: 7+
– Pretty nice.
– I can’t say if this is good or not. Not cola-like enough.
– Quite OK. Would be fine in a restaurant, but not a favorite.
– Disturbing aftertaste. Doesn’t taste like Coke.
4. Rainbow cola sugar-free
Rating: 7
– A really basic drink. Doesn’t offend anyone, but doesn’t stick in my mind either.
– Tastes like essence. A film remains in the mouth.
– Diluted taste. No further.
– Weird aftertaste. A bit mild and that’s why the aftertaste comes from there.
5. Olvi Cola 2.0
Grade: 7-
– A basic thirst quencher.
– More flavor than the others, but it tastes a bit runny.
– The sweetener pushes through. Not very sweet, pretty bland.
– Watery taste. It feels a bit like a restaurant’s hanacokis.
6. Pirkka Cola light
Rating: 6+
– Sweet taste. Maybe a little thin and watery. No aftertaste. Cheap brand?
– Quite fruity, not cola-like. Boring.
– Smells a bit cheap. It tastes good. Cool aftertaste. Not bad, but not good either.
– Tastes like old, stale coke. I drank with a bad hangover.
7. Xtra Cola sugar-free
Grade: 6
– Now it’s sour. Sweetness attacks afterwards. A good summer drink.
– The taste does not strike.
– Pungent, cheap Cola taste. Pretty nasty aftertaste.
– Excited, not acidic. As if it had been opened once and put back in the fridge.