The Consumer’s Corner

Go, buy it, right now. Um, never mind, read this article first, then go. Just make sure you go at some point.

Diet Pepsi Max is Pepsi’s latest and greatest diet cola. What is the difference between this and the 274 other varieties of Diet Pepsi, you ask? Caffeine. Lots of it. More so than a Mountain Dew. My math brought the totals (not listed on the can) to 69 mgs per 12 ounces. Those are ‘Vault,’ or ‘weak energy drink’ like numbers. There is even a touch of ginseng for that extra kick.

Another big difference; Diet Pepsi Max is to Diet Pepsi as Coke Zero is to Diet Coke, a much better tasting product in this humble blogger’s opinion. It’s all in the sweeteners folks. Aspartame alone just doesn’t cut it anymore; it’s bitter, artificial, and leaves a nasty aftertaste. Sure, if you drink it long enough you will become immune to this, or even start to crave it (Diet Coke people, I’m talking to you!), but why settle for an inferior flavor when there are better options? If you add in the magical ingredient known as Ace-K, it cuts most of that bitterness, and leaves a much (much!) more pleasant taste in your mouth. That’s the secret to Coke Zero, Diet Pepsi Max, Diet Coke Plus, and every sugar free energy drink I’ve grown to enjoy.

Diet Pepsi Max tastes like a non-diet product. It can easily stand toe to toe with the popular Coke Zero, and by adding the energy drink elements, might be able to lay down some smack. Coming from me in particular, that is saying quite a bit; I’m a Coke Zero disciple, chugging it from day one. At some point I may have even said Zero came ’straight from Heaven.’ Well, Coke, you’re no longer the lone distributer of the Promised Land; they’ve installed a Pepsi dispenser up there.

Side note, and one I try not to talk about too often; the packaging looks awesome. A guy can walk down the street with a 20 ounce of Pepsi Max in his hand and not look like a total sissy. Guys are image conscious too, and sodas are our accessories. Pepsi has recognized this, and they’re marketing Pepsi Max to males quite heavily; just watch the football games this weekend.

Coke Zero wont be leaving my fridge, it’s still a great product. It’s just going to be sharing some space with Diet Pepsi Max for now on. Should the energy boost continue to be efficient, Max will be my new ‘number one’ in time. Diet Pepsi Max should be available in your area now, or soon, in most packaging options. Okay, now you can go.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

pepsi, diet pepsi, diet pepsi max, caffeine, ginseng

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 1:21 pm and is filed under Diet Products, Soda. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.