Why Coke And Pepsi Taste So Different

On the surface, Coke and Pepsi have a lot in common: they come in brightly colored cans, they give you a sugary caffeine kick, and they've both released some flop spin-off flavors — we're looking at you, New Coke and Crystal Pepsi. Very few people, however, consider Coke and Pepsi completely interchangeable. Among soda drinkers, the majority have a preference for one cola or the other, and picky drinkers may not accept substitutes. There seems to be a consensus that Pepsi is a sweeter, more citrusy soda and that Coke's flavor leans more towards vanilla, with better carbonation and a more complex profile. This may have to do with the fact that Coke contains more sodium than Pepsi, while Pepsi rounds out its ingredient list (which is otherwise identical to that of Coke) with sugar and citric acid.

Preference for Coke vs. Pepsi seems to be drawn along the lines of what consumers value more: sweetness or fizz. While some pop drinkers gravitate towards the candy-sweet flavor of Pepsi, others deride it as being too syrupy. Likewise, Coke's aggressive carbonation might tickle your upper lip just right, or it might be a turn-off. For whatever reason, Coke tends to trump Pepsi when it comes to mixed drinks like Spain's Kalimotxo cocktail of Coke and red wine. While there's no proving it, it could be the case that we drink Jack and Coke or rum and Coke as opposed to spirits and Pepsi because the cloying sweetness of Pepsi tends to overwhelm other flavors. It could also be because of a game-changing, chart-topping 1940s song, the Andrews Sisters' "Rum and Coca-Cola."

On Reddit, users scoffed at the idea that any consumer could possibly mistake Coke and Pepsi. "Pepsi is sweeter, while Coke is sharper," one commenter decisively declared. Further downthread, another Redditor had a more objective take: "Coke definitely has a more cinnamon-y taste which helps it mix well with liquors. Pepsi is definitely more of a saccharine choice in terms of taste, which I don't mind, but has far less complex a flavor as Coke." 

Elsewhere on Reddit, a claim arose that Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi were even more dissimilar than their full-sugar brethren. "Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke are much farther apart than Pepsi and Coke," wrote one commenter. "Diet Pepsi is super sweet, way too sweet. Diet Coke is far less sweet and has a bit of a bite." The agreement about the two colas carried over on Facebook, where one poster declared that there was, in fact, a difference: "Yes, Pepsi tastes sweeter. Too sweet and less carbonated."

In the so-called soda wars, there's unlikely to ever be a true victor. Taste is subjective, and, for every soda drinker that likes Coke's nuance and fizz, there's going to be a naysayer right behind them who likes that pop of citric acid and extra sweetness in Pepsi. One thing seems to be a guarantee, however: most folks with any degree of experience drinking cola won't be fooled when it comes to telling these two beverage heavyweights apart.