Tasty drink and happy purse! (Tesco Diet Cola)

Member Name: eilidhcatriona

Product:	Tesco Diet Cola
Date:	12/11/09 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty, great price

Disadvantages: Took a few drinks for it to grow on me

At some point earlier this year, I developed a rather expensive addiction to Diet Coke. At a time when money was tight and I was trying to cut costs, this was not helpful. I was shopping around, trying to find cans on buy one get one free. Eventually, a few months ago I decided it was time to bite the bullet and try own brand cola.

I ordered a 12 pack of cans of Tesco diet cola when I was doing my shopping online. It was £2.31 (the price I had recently paid for a 6 pack of Diet Coke) so seemed like a really good bargain to me. The following day I bought a small bottle of M&S diet cola to go with my lunch, and started worrying I had wasted my money on the Tesco cans - the M&S stuff smelled and tasted foul, like some kind of weird alcohol, Cinzano or the like, the stuff you steal from your parents alcohol cabinet age 15.

My worry wasn't helped by the fact that that same day, I read a scathing review of Tesco diet cola here on Dooyoo. By this point it was too late to change my order, play safe and order Diet Coke.

Once my shopping arrived, I took a can out of the pack to try it with my tea. The first thing I noticed was that the can is shaped slightly differently to the standard shape you get with all branded soft drinks. The can is slightly more rounded, has a narrower diameter to the top and a higher rim.

On my first taste, I could tell immediately it was different from Diet Coke. Yes it is a cola taste, but it was quite clearly not the branded version I know and love. It is as fizzy as Diet Coke however. Throughout drinking my first can, I thought it was drinkable but not great - but unlike the M&S one I had tried, I did finish all of this. My main thought was that it was too different from Diet Coke, and that I probably wouldn't buy it again. I even wondered whether I would want to finish the 12 pack I had bought.

So first impressions weren't entirely positive, but not too bad either. It was drinkable. Me being me, and not wanting to waste anything, I had a second can the next day. This was better. I enjoyed the drink more, and thought that maybe I could continue drinking it.

This improvement continued over the next few cans, and before long I was enjoying the Tesco diet cola quite happily, and although still noting its difference to Diet Coke, I didn't find this a bad point as such.

By the end of that first 12 pack, I was no longer debating whether or not to buy the product again. The next time I was doing a Tesco online shop, I added a 12 pack of Tesco diet cola to my trolley without even thinking twice about it. I'm now perfectly happy drinking this instead of Diet Coke, and generally now I only buy Diet Coke if I really want a drink when I'm out and about. Yesterday I noticed my local Co op has Diet Coke 6 packs on buy one get one free, and I'm debating whether to bother or not, as they are priced a little higher than the Tesco diet cola 12 pack.

I'm definitely a convert to Tesco diet cola. It's tasty and cheap, so my purse is happier, and although the taste is clearly not that of Diet Coke, it's not a bad taste. If at first you're not sure, like me, give it a couple of goes and see if it grows on you as well. I was addicted to Diet Coke - now I'm addicted to an affordable alternative!

Summary: I won't be going back!