Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined topic chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-third day of the month is "Atmosphere."
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The skies are endlessly bleak, as is normal for January. But it leads to all of us being a little bit grumpy, sighing heavily over the thought of having to go outside yet again into the cold and damp. Dr. BB's winter break is over and he has to go back to campus today. And he has to work a full five-day work week, which is going to feel absolutely miserable for him.
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| Always grumpy when I make her stop in the middle of a perfectly good walk to pose. |
To fight this atmosphere of winter blahs, I have decided that while he is away at work this week, I am going to plan a series of blind taste tests for him.
Taste test #1
Sprite, 7Up, and Starry (which is Pepsi's new replacement for Sierra Mist) - I'm hoping I can find all of these in a can at gas stations
Pepsi, Coke, Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi
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To see what Bestest Friend has to say about atmosphere, go visit her at Too Legit to Quit.
This is so cute. I love that you are planning this for him. Please share the results. I fully believe that I could tell Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi apart, but who knows what would happen if I actually tried. Would you be up for doing a taste test of all the Mountain Dews? I feel like there are so many different wild and wacky flavors. But that particular taste test might lead to a very sleepless night.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I could coerce my husband into drinking Mountain Dew. Hmmm...maybe I could buy the various ones and have him give ME a taste test.
DeleteWait! You should add Coke Zero into the taste test. Isn't it different from regular diet Coke? And I want to hear the results of these tests!
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel your pain- i know those gray winter skies of the midwest. Hang in there.
My husband doesn't drink diet sodas at all, so I'm interested in whether he can even tell the difference just between Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi. I'm pretty sure the nuances of the various sugar-free Coke options would go over his head!
DeleteSo fun! I've never done one of these, but have always wanted to. I THINK I could pick out Pepsi vs. Coke because I always say I prefer Coke...but I don't drink either very often and likely wouldn't have any idea.
ReplyDeleteI hope Dr. BB enjoys this fun game and it sounds like a great way to break up the monotony of winter!
I have never done it, either, but my taste buds are fried. I can't even tell the difference between Coke and Diet Coke, so I'm pretty sure I'd be unable to discern the difference, although I maintain that regular Pepsi has a great first sip and a terrible aftertaste. I might be fooling myself into thinking that, though.
DeleteThe taste testing sounds like fun! I've always preferred Coke to Pepsi, and I'm sure I could tell the difference from cans (oddly, Pepsi doesn't bother me as much as a fountain drink). I had never heard of Starry; out of touch with soda developments, I guess!
ReplyDeleteStarry is VERY new. We saw it at the grocery store for the first time just this past week. They phased out Sierra Mist very quietly earlier this month, so I don't think Pepsi has really given it a huge marketing push yet. You're not out of the loop!
DeleteHannah is patiently lovely.
ReplyDeleteHere in NEO we just got a heavy, wet snow dump. People who like snow would call it Pretty since it is clinging to trees and bushes quite picturesquely, but it is still grey, grey, grey here. And now unsafe for me to walk outdoors since not everyone shovels or salts their sidewalks and streets are not fully plowed. Ugh.
That's a lot of soda! I hope you both like it all. I heard about Starry, but I've not seen it anyplace here. Then again, I don't shop for soda, so...
I suspect he will only need about two sips of each kind and most of it will go down the drain, so don't worry too much about our sugar addiction. I only know about Starry because I listen to a podcast called Food News and the hosts talked about it last week - I think it's been an under the radar change, so I'm not surprised you haven't heard about it!
DeleteOoooh a taste test is a fun idea. I did one with the kids with different types of apples that was a big hit— they’d love a soda test
ReplyDeleteI think different types of apples and different types of honey would be excellent taste tests, too.
DeleteOoh this is a fun way to add some fun to your week. I have done a blind taste test of coke and pepsi in an MBA marketing class and I could definitely tell the difference between the 2. Their flavor profile is so very different! Coke is more of a syrupy sugary taste, pepsi's is just different but I can't put it into words.
ReplyDeleteWhile I very rarely drink bottled water, I am kind of bougie about bottled water and prefer to drink Fiji. My husband wanted to do a blind taste test of dasani, aquafina, and tap water. This was years ago and he couldn't find one of the types of water the night we did it. I think I got 2/3 right. When I lived in Charlotte, I worked with this guy who did pH tests of a bunch of different kinds of bottled water. And I remember Fiji was one of the ones that had the best results. This was almost 10 years ago so my memory of it is foggy.
Lastly, we are experiencing gray days here, too. But the temps are pretty mild so I'll take it. It's been a really pleasant January aside from getting a TON of snow but I do miss the sun!
There is a podcast called Totally Beverages and they did a blind taste test and they ranked Fuji as the #1 watered bottle, so I don't think you're alone in your preference! I hadn't heard that the pH was perfect, but I thought it had to do with the purity and lack of minerals. I can't really tell bottled water apart, but Dasani tastes like a salt lick to me, so I think the "added minerals" in that is just tons of salt!
DeleteI can definitely tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. Coke, to me, has a "spicier" flavor, while Pepsi is not as nuanced.
ReplyDeleteI once had a colleague who loved root beer, and we did a root beer taste test. There are a lot of root beer options out there. The other day, I was buying mini cans of soda for my kids' birthday party, and I had forgotten how many different kinds of gingerale there was.
I didn't realize about Starry/ Sierra Mist! what's wrong with Sierra Mist? Can't keep up here. I think in my mind Sierra Mist was just what I got when I went to a restaurant that didn't have Sprite.
I am so excited about all these different taste tests. I haven't done a lot of research into which root beers are gluten-free, but that is definitely another good possibility for us to do this winter!
DeleteSierra Mist was getting destroyed in the lemon-lime soda niche, so they replaced it. I think that's the end of that story. Let's pour one out for old boring Sierra Mist.
Ha, that's a fun idea. (I am pretty sure I can tell the difference between the Pepsi- and Cola-brand items, but I have not confirmed that with a taste test). Curious to hear out it goes ;)
ReplyDeleteThe fancy car dealership where I took the car for an oil change today had RC cola in the fridge, so I grabbed one of those to add to the challenge! I'm so excited about it.
DeleteJUST LIKE FOOD NEWS! Actually when I heard Sierra Mist was discontinued, I was like...Sierra what? I have never heard of it.
ReplyDeleteSorry your winters are so grey. That is one upside about Calgary winters - 3/4 of the time, they are very sunny.
I heard about Starry ON FOOD NEWS. I think they're planning a taste test next week, but I need to find a single serving of it because there's no way I'm buying a multi-pack. Sierra Mist has been around since the 90s! I can't believe you've never heard of it - I wonder if they ever released it in Canada?
DeleteI've never even HEARD of Starry. Stupid Canadian limited bubbly drink choices. My friend group does frequent taste tests at our dinner nights - olive oil, maple syrup, different fruits. We tried to do the Coke/Pepsi thing with all the diet and caffeine free varieties, but I think it took us so long to gather some of each that we gave up.
ReplyDeleteI am feeling exceedingly January-ish at the moment. Nearing the end, at least.
Starry is very new, so you can be excused for not knowing about it. I'm sure you'll be seeing it soon! January is almost over, so hang in there!
DeleteI did try the Pepsi/Coke way back in time when the Pepsi Challenge became their popular commercial.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is VERY confident in his abilities to discern the differences, so I'm interested to see how it really plays out. I'll report back.
DeleteI could 100% tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, and I would wager a large bet on it. hahaha!! I LOVE Coke. And I hate Pepsi. And I hate Diet Coke.... To me, they have very distinct flavor differences. In the past I have ordered a Coke at a restaurant, only to have the waiter bring me a Pepsi, probably figuring, "Same difference- we don't have Coke, so I'll just give her a Pepsi." NO. Not okay. Or if I order a Coke and they say, "Pepsi ok?" I'm always like, NO it's most certainly not ok!!" hahaha.
ReplyDeleteThe thought of drinking a Diet Coke makes me salivate. I LOVE it so much, but never have it because I really limit the caffeine I have. Back when I drank more soda, if they said "is Pepsi okay?" I'd make a face and ask for water. Ha! I *think* Pepsi has an aftertaste, but it's really hard to know at this point!
DeleteI love this idea. We did a taste test many years ago, and my husband taped it, but sadly it is private and I cannot share it. I can, however, tell you that our results were inconclusive. We didn't do diet, just sugar vs high fructose corn syrup, pepsi vs coke. You can read about it here, if you're so inclined: https://jellyjules.com/?p=2324
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that there was no clear winner! I'm really surprised by that. I guess those slight differences in taste are why there are so many different cola types on the market.
DeleteOmg, I heard about Sierra Mist being discontinued and now Starry being the brand and I was like, "Hold on, WHAT?!" And then I saw it in my grocery store! What a strange thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI am positive I can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, and definitely between regular Coke and Diet Coke. But now I really want to do this blind taste test with my family to see if we can tell the difference!
I think it's such a fun thing to do with a family. And since you only need a bit of a taste and not a whole can per person, you can do it fairly inexpensively!
DeleteYou are so funny! I've had about one or two sodas a year (I don't count my once-in-a-while ginger ales as they are medicinal 😜) I've never heard of Starry. Let us know how it goes!!
ReplyDeleteOh, I will document all my findings!
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