Dr Pepper Ten

[kcchief19]

Apparently the good folks at Dr Pepper are trying out a new diet formula with 10 calories per serving. Given that I'm a Dr Pepper fanatic and way overweight, I decided to give it a try.

I normally hate diet sodas due to aftertaste and lack of flavor. Most diet sodas tend to also give me a stomach ache, and aspartame is my least favorite sugar substitute.

All that said, this isn't bad. It's still not as good as the full leaded version, but I will continue trying it. KC is one of six test markets but I think this has legs. It's apparently targeted toward men under age 34, so most of us are probably in or or near the target demo. If it is available in your area, give it a whirl.

[Saul Goode]

Shut up and buy, buy, buy. Send more money.

[Doug5984]

I drink the hell out of some DP- not over weight, but working on it- so maybe this is something I could switch to if it makes it everywhere

[Jughead Spock]

I always found Diet Dr. Pepper to be one of the very few diet sodas I could tolerate (the other being Diet Barq's). Will definitely give this a shot when/if I see it.

[bryce]

Yea, Diet DP is actually really good, by far the best diet soda out there, which is why I'm a bit confused why DP is releasing another diet drink. And the original Diet DP has even fewer calories at 0...

[QuikSand]

I agree on DDP as being among the best diet sodas currently.

The model here has to be Coke Zero -- stake a claim that this is a "different" offering, maybe market it as being quirky or alternative or whatnot, all in hopes of commanding more of the most elusive quantity in the marketplace, shelf space. Coke did this brilliantly -- I have no idea how much of their CZ sales are simply cannibalized from Diet Coke, but it can't be 100%. And now they have a pair of essentially same-niche products that actually get fountain slots in many places as well as shelf space. It's a tremendous coup.

The CZ campaign to subtly suggest that this is the drink for the people who "get it" is really clever... and effective (I happen to agree with it, too... I can't believe people still choose DC over CZ when faced with both options). Something along similar lines has to be the gameplan for this DP10 product, I'd think. I'll try it, for sure.

[Toddzilla]

Keep in mind also that Diet Coke is NOT Coke with an artifical sweetner. It's a different soda formula altogether. If they were to takethe formula for Diet Coke and use sugar (well, HFCS), it wouldn't be the same as Coke.

So there has been a market space for Coke Zero and they finally get it right.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I can't believe people still choose DC over CZ when faced with both options

Eh, I occasionally opt for DC over original C at times, and that's for taste rather than any caloric reasons.

[cuervo72]

My wife actually prefers DC to CZ. I don't really care either way, depends on what mood I'm in.

[ColtCrazy]

Sadly, for me, aspartame gives me massive headaches. So I'll just have to stick to the high calorie alternative. Not that I'm complaining...

[RendeR]

Anyone who can't taste the distinct difference between diet coke and coke zero has no taste buds.


Diet coke is disgusting and taste like chemicals.

Coke Zero tastes like a far less sweet Coca Cola.

[kcchief19]

Sadly, for me, aspartame gives me massive headaches. So I'll just have to stick to the high calorie alternative. Not that I'm complaining...
Same here. Diet sodas typically make me sick -- headaches and stomach aces. It's just not worth it.

DP10 would appear to have much less aspartame than other diet sodas. Frankly the DP10 is pretty darn close to regular DP. The biggest difference is that DP10 lacks the high-power fizz of the regular version. But it's still pretty good.

Given the success of DDP, it does seem a little unusual to roll out a new diet drink. But I imagine DDP has lost some market share to Coke Zero, so perhaps this is merely an attempt to cut back into the CZ market.

The only thing that disappoints me is that aA Quik noted regarding CZ as a fountain drink, it seems unlikely that Dr Pepper can snag three fountain slots at most places especially since it's an uphill battle to get DP everywhere as it is. I would love to see DP10 as a fountain drink but that seems a longshot.

[Passacaglia]

The CEO of my company loves Diet Dr. Pepper, so he made sure the vending machines in our break room sell it -- I guess that's the kind of thing you can do when you're a CEO. I don't know if this was his doing, but once I selected a regular Dr. Pepper and got a diet. I pretty much hate all Diet soft drinks, and the Dr. Pepper variety was no exception (it may be better than the rest for all I know, but since I simply can't drink any of them, I didn't notice a difference).

[stevew]

I found a Doctor Pepper 10 today on my travels. I gotta say that it is waaaaay better than Diet Dr Pepper.

Diet Sunkist is probably my favorite low calorie soda right now.

[Izulde]

Anyone who can't taste the distinct difference between diet coke and coke zero has no taste buds.

Diet coke is disgusting and taste like chemicals.

Coke Zero tastes like a far less sweet Coca Cola.

Agreed, which is why I like Coke Zero, because regular Coke is too sweet and gives me the feeling my teeth are rotting. Coke Zero hits the spot.

[thealmighty]

Coke Zero hits the spot.

That's what she said.

[tarcone]

Does CZ have sugar or what do they use to sweeten it?

[JeeberD]

Aspartame

[sovereignstar v2]

Does CZ have sugar or what do they use to sweeten it?

oy

[Passacaglia]

The CEO of my company loves Diet Dr. Pepper, so he made sure the vending machines in our break room sell it -- I guess that's the kind of thing you can do when you're a CEO. I don't know if this was his doing, but once I selected a regular Dr. Pepper and got a diet. I pretty much hate all Diet soft drinks, and the Dr. Pepper variety was no exception (it may be better than the rest for all I know, but since I simply can't drink any of them, I didn't notice a difference).

Turned out, the vending machine had both slots for Diet Dr. Pepper, and none for regular, but one of the logos really looked like it was regular -- it was a zoomed in part of the logo that made it more maroon than white, but it actually was a diet dr. pepper logo.

[kcchief19]

Well Dr Pepper Ten appears to have gone national and is drawing criticism for it's marketing campaign, which in so many words says that it's only for men. The campaign is being called sexist in some parts.

The campaign doesn't surprise me since Dr Pepper targeted this toward men, whom the research shows tend to steer clear of diet sodas that are considered too feminine. It's the same reason Coke Zero and Pepsi Max avoid the word diet.

I finally saw one of the spots tonight, and while I initially thought they might have been a bit too honest in their it's-only-for-men approach, what surprised me is that the ad was immediately followed up by a beer ad in which all the guys were gainging up on the "wuss" who wasn't acting manly enough by drinking the beer.

In the context, I feel the Dr Pepper Ten ads are at least honest in their intent, compared to the beer ads. There are plenty ads that use stereotypes to pitch their products toward either men or women.

So what's wrong with a company developing a product aimed at enticing male buyers and flat out saying that? Would it have been less sexist if they the guy not drinking DPT was called a wuss and unmanly with a bikini model in the ad?

[CrimsonFox]

I love diet dr pepper. I drink the hell out of that shit.
cherry coke zero is my second favorite

[Rizon]

I love Dr. Pepper.

Would not touch a diet drink with a 10 foot pole.

[PraetorianX]

I love DP but have always hated DDP. Saw this the other day and gave it a try...it's better than DDP but still nowhere as good as the original DP. It is, at least, drinkable, which DDP is not.


Still, none of those three can compare to the awesomeness that is Cherry Dr Pepper.

[Matthean]

I also like the Vanilla DP.

[Draft Dodger]

I love Dr. Pepper.

Would not touch a diet drink with a 10 foot pole.

the good news is, you weigh like 80 pounds

[BillJasper]

Wife cut me off of regular cola after the ER visit yesterday, so I stopped and picked one of these up.

Not terrible, but it'll take some getting use to...

[Ksyrup]

A bit off topic, but has anyone experienced Coke Freestyle? We went to the local Moe's about 3 weeks ago, and they had this Coke Freestyle touch screen thing set up for fountain drinks. It was basically a high tech way of choosing your drink. But the awesome thing was that for Coke Zero, they had about maybe 8 flavors you could try - Vanilla, Cherry, Cherry Vanilla, Lime, Lemon, Orange, Raspberry. I may be forgetting one or two.

I now want one of these in my house.

[Doug5984]

Been drinking Dp 10 a bit more lately, once you get used to it- it's really not bad.

[Ksyrup]

I've been drinking diet pop so long that I can't drink the regular stuff. Love DDP, even DP10 seems to heavy/syrupy to me. I had a regular Coke not too long ago and I couldn't drink it.

Basically, this is just like my experience with milk - once I switched from D to Free, going back made me ill.

[BillJasper]

I've been drinking diet pop so long that I can't drink the regular stuff. Love DDP, even DP10 seems to heavy/syrupy to me. I had a regular Coke not too long ago and I couldn't drink it.

Basically, this is just like my experience with milk - once I switched from D to Free, going back made me ill.

Yeah. I switched from Vitamin D to 1% Skimfat a while ago (after my last ER visit) and now when I try to drink the Vitamin D it has the texture of Cottage Cheese to me.

[Warhammer]

If you want a regular Coke without the syrupy taste, find one of the "Mexican" Cokes. They are made with sugar, I can't drink a regular Coke any more.

[MJ4H]

If you want a regular Coke without the syrupy taste, find one of the "Mexican" Cokes. They are made with sugar, I can't drink a regular Coke any more.

co-sign

[rjolley]

A bit off topic, but has anyone experienced Coke Freestyle? We went to the local Moe's about 3 weeks ago, and they had this Coke Freestyle touch screen thing set up for fountain drinks. It was basically a high tech way of choosing your drink. But the awesome thing was that for Coke Zero, they had about maybe 8 flavors you could try - Vanilla, Cherry, Cherry Vanilla, Lime, Lemon, Orange, Raspberry. I may be forgetting one or two.

I now want one of these in my house.

I've seen them at a few places around town for the past 6-9 months. They've been hit or miss on having all of the choices, but it's a great idea. Choose a Coke product, add a flavor if you like and viola!, you have a nice variety of drinks. I've had the peach Sprite and Fanta from them on different occasions. Pretty good.

[Matthean]

A bit off topic, but has anyone experienced Coke Freestyle? We went to the local Moe's about 3 weeks ago, and they had this Coke Freestyle touch screen thing set up for fountain drinks. It was basically a high tech way of choosing your drink. But the awesome thing was that for Coke Zero, they had about maybe 8 flavors you could try - Vanilla, Cherry, Cherry Vanilla, Lime, Lemon, Orange, Raspberry. I may be forgetting one or two.

I now want one of these in my house.

One of the artist I follow on FB keeps posting pics of them and talks about how awesome it is.

[Easy Mac]

A bit off topic, but has anyone experienced Coke Freestyle? We went to the local Moe's about 3 weeks ago, and they had this Coke Freestyle touch screen thing set up for fountain drinks. It was basically a high tech way of choosing your drink. But the awesome thing was that for Coke Zero, they had about maybe 8 flavors you could try - Vanilla, Cherry, Cherry Vanilla, Lime, Lemon, Orange, Raspberry. I may be forgetting one or two.

I now want one of these in my house.

Every time I hit one of these up, the syrup to soda is way off and it ends up tasting more like flavored soda water than actually the drink I'm trying to get. I've tried flushing the line with water prior to filling up, but still no go.

[korme]

Diet Sunkist is probably my favorite low calorie soda right now.

winner winner

[Toddzilla]

I was hoping this thread was bumped with the news that Dr. Pepper finally ended that horribly misogynistic ad campaign for DP10 so I could finally try it.

[terpkristin]

A bit off topic, but has anyone experienced Coke Freestyle? We went to the local Moe's about 3 weeks ago, and they had this Coke Freestyle touch screen thing set up for fountain drinks. It was basically a high tech way of choosing your drink. But the awesome thing was that for Coke Zero, they had about maybe 8 flavors you could try - Vanilla, Cherry, Cherry Vanilla, Lime, Lemon, Orange, Raspberry. I may be forgetting one or two.

I now want one of these in my house.

They have one at the local CalTort. It's alright, though some of the syrups seem particularly...medicinal. My biggest grip with 'em is that people are stupid and take a LOT longer to get their drinks, trying to figure out how to use it. Or maybe they're admiring it, I dunno. I was at said CalTort the other day and someone was taking a picture of it, keeping me from getting my drink. I was kinda pissed. ;)

/tk

[Chubby]

The reason it tastes different (at least I think so) is that almost everything is via a cartiridge instead of of traditional BIB bags that get mixed with water/CO2.

edit: talking about the Freestyle

[terpkristin]

The reason it tastes different (at least I think so) is that almost everything is via a cartiridge instead of of traditional BIB bags that get mixed with water/CO2.

edit: talking about the Freestyle

I wouldn't mind that...I use the sodastream thing at home (I got hooked on sparkling water while in London...), but the flavor syrups aren't quite like that, I guess. As I said, to me they taste "sharp" or somewhat medicinal.

/tk

[Chubby]

I wouldn't mind that...I use the sodastream thing at home (I got hooked on sparkling water while in London...), but the flavor syrups aren't quite like that, I guess. As I said, to me they taste "sharp" or somewhat medicinal.

/tk

Is that at multiple machines or just one in particular? It could be the machine isn't calibrated correctly or it could be a function of the "syrup" being more heavily concentrated in the cartridges than in the BIB. Most fountain machines are 5 gallon BIB syrup or 2.5. The carts I saw for the freestyle had to be no more than a gallon but more likely .5 gallons IMO

[terpkristin]

Is that at multiple machines or just one in particular? It could be the machine isn't calibrated correctly or it could be a function of the "syrup" being more heavily concentrated in the cartridges than in the BIB. Most fountain machines are 5 gallon BIB syrup or 2.5. The carts I saw for the freestyle had to be no more than a gallon but more likely .5 gallons IMO

Only one place around here has it, so always the same machine.

Guess I"ll have to see if I can find another... ;)

/tk

[JonInMiddleGA]

but the flavor syrups aren't quite like that, I guess. As I said, to me they taste "sharp" or somewhat medicinal.

We've got several of the machines around here & a great conversation I had with an enthusiastic Zaxby's ass't manager may have at least part of the answer to this.

What we're accustomed to, in most cases, is pre-sweetened flavor syrups. Like what's used in old-fashioned fountain cherry cokes.

The flavoring used in the Freestyle machines has no extra sweetener, that part is added only in the final mix (hence the ability to make cherry flavored diet stuff).

That difference, according to her, is noticeable to some people. Even with the sweetener added, it's not quite as sweet as what a lot of us have gotten used to & it comes away tasting a little bit off/sharp.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The carts I saw for the freestyle had to be no more than a gallon but more likely .5 gallons IMO

46 ounces, at least according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_Freestyle)

[terpkristin]

We've got several of the machines around here & a great conversation I had with an enthusiastic Zaxby's ass't manager may have at least part of the answer to this.

What we're accustomed to, in most cases, is pre-sweetened flavor syrups. Like what's used in old-fashioned fountain cherry cokes.

The flavoring used in the Freestyle machines has no extra sweetener, that part is added only in the final mix (hence the ability to make cherry flavored diet stuff).

That difference, according to her, is noticeable to some people. Even with the sweetener added, it's not quite as sweet as what a lot of us have gotten used to & it comes away tasting a little bit off/sharp.

Might be it. Interesting info, thanks!

/tk

[stevew]

Pepsi's rolling out a new 60 calorie drink called Pepsi Next. I guess they hope it works this time. Pepsi Edge only survived about 5 years the last time they tried this idea.

[stevew]

winner winner

Diet Coke with Splenda has surpassed Diet Sunkist as of now. Splenda Diet Coke is really hard to find, which is a bummer.

[stevew]

Really not feeling Pepsi Next. Tastes way too much like Diet Pepsi.

[Ksyrup]

Perfect name, though. Pepsi? Next!

[stevew]

There's a new Paradise Mango flavor of Pepsi Next that is really good. 100 calories kind of kills the deal though.