Cherry Popping (Diet Cherry Coke)

Member Name: susie19

Product:	Diet Cherry Coke
Date:	17/07/07 (242 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's cherrylicious

Disadvantages: Cherry coke is a bit kinky

I love cherries. There’s something so summery about nibbling or sucking juicy ripe cherries and then having a stone spitting competition. They also remind me of my holiday as a teen in St Tropez, you could spot cherries all over the beaches. Cherries are delicious.

For most of my life I have hated fizzy coke with a passion. Every time I tried it, I got the feeling of being blown up inside like a hot air balloon. I didn’t get it why coke was so popular. I always opted for a nice cold lager instead.

That was until I was pregnant with my youngest. I got that morning nausea at first and if you’ve been pregnant you know you’ll try anything to make it go away. Ginger biscuits and fizzy coke are supposed to work; I tried the coke option and found that it did. Ever since, I’ve had quite a liking for Coke (but not Pepsi or cheap alternatives), always of the diet variety. I can’t stand the thought of drinking so many teaspoons of sugar in one drink (it’s about 17 spoons I believe, per can). My teeth already have enough fillings to set off an airport metal detector so I’m trying not to get any more.

Cherry coke is not a new drink though, just remember the Kinks were singing about it back in 1970 with Lola (although I know the cherry bit was added later) 'Where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry-cola' (http://youtube.com/watch?v=hMCdY78k_Q4) Pop it on in the background, it goes with this review.

Coca cola have recently introduced Diet Coke with Cherry as one of many new flavoured coke varieties (others include with lime, with lemon, with vanilla and with citrus zest). The cherry variety had immediate appeal. I like most things cherry (perhaps the best bit of my Babycham youth was the maraschino cherry soaked in alcohol, mmmm squish it in the mouth). Diet Coke has been around since 1982 but the Diet Coke with Cherry was introduced in the UK in 2006. It has no nutritional value and just 1 calorie per 100ml of drink. It has zero fat, protein and sugar and is basically made up of water, vegetable extracts and chemicals including the controversial sweetener aspartame which is thought may have carcinogenic properties.

Cherry Coke is in my opinion one of those drinks that is refreshing for a hot day and certainly not something I would want to consume on a daily basis. It tastes much nicer from a glass than from a can or plastic bottle and it has a really delicious cherry fragrance which you can’t help sniffing when you first pour it out. The aroma is also a little similar to that of dandelion and burdock, which my taste buds quite like too.

Cherry Coke is quite cherrylicious for a hot day. It is sticky and sweet but the cherry flavour does come bursting through with a volume. If you like cherries, especially maraschino cherries, and you like fizzy drinks, you may well want to give this a go.

Diet cherry coke is the sort of drink for:
~ Enjoying bikini clad in the garden on a hot day, perfect with a bowl of ripe cherries to nibble alongside.
~ Barbeques and garden parties;
~ Picnics;
~ The Sheffield Pyjama Jump (to reduce the student nightie out morning after effect);
~ Drinking whilst writing a review at the pc.

It is less suitable for:
~ Kiddy lunch boxes (fizzy drinks every day habits not good for kids);
~ Cold, rainy days;
~ Kiddy birthday parties (it contains caffeine so will make them extra giddy);
~ Drinking in the bath (try Baileys instead if you’re old enough);
~ The car, you are bound to spill it on the move.

You can buy Diet Coke with Cherry from most supermarkets in a variety of sizes. Individual 330ml cans, 6 packs x 330ml, single plastic bottles 500ml and large plastic bottles 2litres. Sometimes they are BOGOF as are the 6 pack cans at Sainsbury’s at the moment. When on offer, 12 cans will cost you around £2.45, so just 20p for a cherry nice drink.

Diet Coke with Cherry is a drink you really must drink cold. You can add ice but I don’t, as this makes the Coke taste watery and also gives me brain freeze. Ice and cherries can be a good combination though. A word of warning, don’t pop your can in the freezer and forget about it as happened in our house just this week. It explodes and makes a sticky mess in your freezer drawers, (what a way to pop your cherry). You can cool your cherry coke this way but remember to set a timer for 30 minutes to prevent that explosive sticky mess.

For a more fattening drink, you can add a scoop of vanilla (or cherry) ice cream to your glass to make a cherry pop float. Kids love it.

I think Diet Coke with Cherry is the nicest of all the cokes made by Coca Cola. It is not necessarily good for you but a few treats every now and again are good for the soul and if you choose the diet variety over the full sugar one, you will at least not be getting fat on it. Cherry pop has never tasted so good and if it would stop raining I'd be outside in the garden enjoying it bikini clad.

Thanks for reading.

Summary: A fizzy drink for cherry lovers.