Not that we have any inclination towards cola drinks, but the variety of their variants gives us so many possibilities, that sometimes we have to try something. This time it was a cherry cola, namely, four of its variants (in the main photo from right to left):
- Cherry Coke, known to us for years
- Coca Cola Cherry in a new can, similar to those imported
- same variant, but imported from the UK
- British Diet Coke Cherry
Our goal was to find, whether two Polish colas are different from each other apart from the can, Does the Polish version differ from the British one and does the calorie-free version taste similar to the others?.
Before opening the cans, we looked at the composition and nutritional values. Polish drinks are basically identical, if you omit the difference of 0.1 g of carbohydrates. The British version has slightly different numbers, so it should also differ in taste. In the case of Diet Coke, the ingredients are long. Here we find citric acid, absent in other variants, aspartame, acesulfam K, sodium citrate (the acidity regulator) and tartaric acid.
The smell of the Polish versions does not differ. We have a clear scent of classic Coca Cola and a delicate hint of cherry, a little chemical. The taste is similar – classic drink and cherry aroma, unobtrusive, but also perceptible. Tasty, although, as usual, he leaves a "slipper" in his mouth. In the blindfold test, we couldn't tell them apart.
British Coke has a stronger cherry aroma. Also a bit chemical, reminiscent of hard candy. This aroma outshines the classic cola aroma to a greater extent, but you can still say, that the whole thing is harmonious. The taste matches the aroma again: cola and hard candy. Interestingly, you can smell almond candies here, not only fruit. The composition is interesting, certainly richer than the Polish version. The drink is also a bit sweeter, what to expect after taking a look at the nutrition chart. Somewhere in the background there is also a bit more acidity, but hardly perceptible and rather positive for the overall impression. The "slipper" in the mouth was also felt, which is typical for sugar-sweetened beverages.
Finally, we left ourselves Diet Coke. The impressions here are weird to say the least. After putting his nose in the glass, it turned out, that coli can not be felt there. We were attacked by a very distinctive aroma of cheap fruit jellies. Very sweet, downright nauseating, with a chemical mixture of fruits. It looked like it, that the drink will be overwhelmingly sweet, here, however, was the surprise: the taste was completely out of it, what you could feel with your nose. First, what jumped "on the tongue", is the sour taste of lemon juice. And it wasn't just a subtle aftertaste, something, which was more like my lemonade than anything else. Only after a while did the aftertaste of cherry aroma emerge from under everything, but it was still completely dominated by lemon. The sweeteners also made themselves known after some time, which in the end had an effect that was at least strange. It is also worth mentioning, that Diet Coke seemed to be higher carbonated, because it was so scratchy in the throat. It was not an objectively distasteful drink, but out of the four tested, it was by far the worst, especially, that instead of sweet cola with cherry, we got a sour counterfeit that smelled like discount gummies.
Our verdict, then, is as follows:
- Polish Coca Cola Cherry and Cherry Coke are the same product, only in other cans (It is true that I am not able to dig the link, which proves it, but after the test, I found information about it somewhere in the depths of the Internet, that Coca Cola officially admitted, that the change of packaging is only intended to standardize the image of Cherry Coke in different countries, and there is exactly the same product in the cans, what before.)
- British Coca Cola Cherry has a more expressive, richer taste and aroma
- British Diet Coke Cherry has nothing to do with the rest of the drinks.
The winner in the ranking is, like for us, british cola. Polish counterparts do not differ drastically somehow, but nevertheless their taste and smell are less pronounced. Unfortunately, it's not the first time, when we find out, that the same products available in Poland are less interesting than those bought abroad: We had similar impressions during the Dr Pepper drinks test, which we set up out of curiosity a year ago (we will try to repeat it soon).
