‘Twas a sad day recently when Becky and I ventured to Wal-Mart and discovered that the local branch of everybody’s favorite evil corporation has stopped stocking my favorite carbonated beverage, C2.
I really like C2. It has half the sugar of regular Coke — thus preventing me from experiencing a major sugar high, and a correspondingly major sugar low, whenever I drink it — but still tastes pretty much like regular Coke, if not a bit better. (Once you get used to C2, regular Coke tastes awfully sweet and corn syrupy. Because, well, it is.) I typically try to keep at least one 12-pack of C2 around the apartment at any given time, and it’s my standard beverage of choice when I feel like having a soda. Especially during finals week:
But C2’s market share has been decreasing ever since Coke Zero was introduced, and more and more stores have stopped stocking C2 altogether. Martin’s, the supermarket that’s walking distance from our apartment complex, has until recently stocked C2 only irregularly (so whenever I would see it, I’d typically buy three or four 12-packs), and now it seems they’ve discontinued it altogether. But until this semester, I could always depend on Wal-Mart to have some C2 in stock, so on the rare occasions when we shop there, I’d always buy a bunch of it. Alas, now it seems Wal-Mart has discontinued it as well, which appears to leave me with no local C2-buying options. :(
This is bad news for me because I’ve always hated Diet Coke, Coke now generally tastes too syrupy to me (plus there’s that whole sugar-high issue), and I don’t like Coke Zero nearly as much as C2. It doesn’t taste as good, and it doesn’t have any sugar, so unlike C2 — which gives me just a little bit of a sugar pick-me-up, but not too much; in other words, it’s “just right,” Goldilocks-style — it does nothing for me when I need a little sugar boost. I suppose I could mix some Coke and some Coke Zero together and drink a half-and-half mix, but the process of doing that robs the soda of some of its carbonation, and anyway I like soda directly from the can better than in bottles or cups. Besides, I’m lazy. ;)
Anyway, this post doesn’t really have a point, I just wanted to complain. And because I have a blog, I can! Muahaha! So yeah. Stupid Coca-Cola Company! Stupid Martin’s & Wal-Mart! Give me back my C2!! Harumph.
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Categories: My Life, Utter Miscellany
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January 25th, 2007 at 5:37:39 pm
My preference for soda containers:
1. Glass bottle
2. Can
3. Cup
4. Plastic bottle
January 25th, 2007 at 5:41:08 pm
I agree, actually. I was assuming plastic bottles with my comment about liking cans better than bottles.
January 25th, 2007 at 5:46:13 pm
This happened as well with my once favorite Coke product: Diet Vanilla Coke, or I referred to it “DVC.” The evil empire phased out my beloved DVC with a far more medicine-tasting product, Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke, or “DBCVC” which I refuse to drink.
January 25th, 2007 at 6:45:25 pm
Did this post appear/disappear/reappear, or am I going crazy?
I swear I remember reading it last night, and then **POOF** it was gone…
Please confirm that I am not living in some weird time warp.
January 25th, 2007 at 7:48:10 pm
Confirmed. I posted it briefly, then decided to hold off because there were already several relatively new posts that I didn’t want to bury.
January 25th, 2007 at 7:57:46 pm
I hate it when companies phase out products I love. I remember from 5th - 7th grade there was this type of Starbust that had all of the strawberry flavors in it (strawberry, strawberry banana, strawberry watermelon, and a new flavor, strawberry punch). It was wonderful, but is no more. I wish it was still around.
Condolences on the C2.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:22:18 pm
So switch to Mountain Dew, instead ! Raise your computer geek factor by an order of magnitude !
(grin)
January 25th, 2007 at 8:48:55 pm
I strongly suggest 50/50 mix, but then again, I’m a chemist.
Did anyone like Diet Coke Lemon. I loved that stuff — I called it “Diet Joy”
January 25th, 2007 at 8:51:12 pm
I was forced into the switch to Diet a few years ago, and now anything but tastes awful. Diet Coke does have a bad aftertaste (at first) but you’ll find Diet Pepsi to be a little smoother (i.e. taste more like the regular Pepsi). The harsh aftertaste goes away after a few days–really. I generally drink Diet Pepsi (though I liked regular coke better than Pepsi) but occasionally I’ll drink a diet coke to change up.
Diet 7-up/Sprite is *really* close in taste to the original, as is Diet Root Beer. You may want to consider them.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:52:56 pm
The other random thing I’ve noticed is that Diet Coke/Pepsi tastes better if it is cold BEFORE you put in ice. If you serve it warm and then add ice it doesn’t have the same smooth flavor for some reason.
*My first job was managing a concession stand at football games which had 32 different sode spigots I had to test every weekend. I usually went home and had a big glass of milk after those days.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:57:54 pm
My issue with Diet Pepsi has always been the carbonation. You can leave an opened can of Diet Coke in the fridge overnight and its still good the next day. Diet Pepsi goes flat in a matter of minutes, it seems.
January 25th, 2007 at 9:04:43 pm
Soda is so bad for you.
My top five beverages are:
1 = water
2 = milk
3 = soy chocolate milk
4 = orange juice
5 = beer
January 25th, 2007 at 9:15:11 pm
Screw coke, give me my Jarritos!
January 25th, 2007 at 9:15:34 pm
This thread is a great example of the BrendanLoy.com Comment Section Unpredictability Principle. :) To be honest, I figured this post would be a dud — I thought it was kind of a boring topic, something I was posting only for my own amusement, and nobody would comment. That’s part of the reason I temporarily removed it after posting it last night, as Jay noticed; I didn’t want to have it on top of what I figured would be more active threads, comment-wise, like the Kyle McAlarney and Nancy Pelosi posts, on a weekday morning.
Those threads were active. But so is this one — 13 comments in less than 5 hours on a Thursday evening! Huh? And meanwhile nobody has said anything on the Dick Vitale thread, which was on top of the homepage for almost 3 hours during bloggy “prime time” (mid-to-late morning on a weekday) and which I figured would have attracted at least a bit of good-natured Dickie V-bashing.
Shows you how much I know.
January 25th, 2007 at 9:26:30 pm
When I worked in the Congress, I was always amazed at which pieces of legislation generated the most passion, the most debate, the most member interest–it was the Legislative Appropriations bill. Members ALL had an opinion on this bill, because the things in there affected them personally and daily. They really had some good fights and debates on this one, and they all knew what they were voting for on each amendment (as contrasted with the Intelligence Appropriations, which, because members have to sign a book to have access to the classified report, is only seen by about 12-18 members each year, despite all 435 voting on it).
So anyway, I guess what this says about BL.com readers is that we are all pretty passionate about our soft drinks.
January 25th, 2007 at 9:28:47 pm
With so much serious *stuff* going on in the world, such as terrorism and sports, it’s good to have something trivial now and then.
Speaking of terrorists - is there any hope for HughManatee?
January 25th, 2007 at 9:30:57 pm
“such as terrorism and sports”… LOL.
As for Hugh Manatee, your guess is as good as mine. I’ve only been getting updates through the blog, so I have no idea what’s happening. I wonder if we’ll be seeing any new Hugh videos (perhaps uploaded on HughTube? haha…sorry) featuring as a lovely background Kristy and V’s swanky new apartment…
January 25th, 2007 at 9:36:11 pm
I’m just like you Brendan. I thought C2 was the perfect blend between diet and regular. It wasn’t as bad for you but still tasted good. I still buy regular Coke too but mix in a fair amount of C2. I’m worried the next time I go to Wal-Mart to see what I find.
January 25th, 2007 at 9:36:51 pm
Soda is so bad for you.
Admittedly drinking a large amount of soda CAN have bad effects, but i’d hardly call it bad for you. I suppose if we are talking about the weight gain effects that its incredibly ironic that you then add BEER to your list since its just as bad if not worse when it comes to empty carbs.
January 25th, 2007 at 10:34:30 pm
My own nod to diet drinks is to take regular sodas, like Mountain Dew or the colas, and make ‘em 50/50 with water …
More thirst-quenching, less calories per fluid ounce …
For me, the diet sodas have too much of the lingering characteristic aftertaste … even the local eau de robinet tastes better !
January 25th, 2007 at 11:26:13 pm
What is the earliest that people drink their first soda of the day? I feel guilty from drinking Diet Coke darned near first thing in the morning, but it wakes me up.
January 26th, 2007 at 2:28:09 am
I fear the day Pepsi One disappears from the shelves. And I don’t feel at all guilty about drinking it first thing in the morning, as only it and coffee taste right until I’ve been up for a couple of hours, and the coffee maker wakes other people up.
January 26th, 2007 at 11:35:37 am
According to Wiki, Coca-Cola, Inc. is sticking with C2, so the problem is either in the local bottlers or with the stores who’d rather stock Zero than C2.
Try The Pop Shop on 933 at the state line; they usually have everything there. If they don’t have C2, then the local bottler has discontinued it.
January 26th, 2007 at 11:38:14 am
P.S. or just switch to Diet entirely. It only tastes awful for about a week. Then you don’t miss sugar at all.
Before I started Atkins, I was at a mechanic’s or someplace that only had a vending machine. They were out of everything except Diet Cherry Coke. I bought it. It was awful. But now that I haven’t had sugar in more than a year and a half, Diet Cherry Coke tastes great to me. You really do develop a sweet tooth.
January 26th, 2007 at 12:45:54 pm
Why have you not switched over to the choice of a new generation? Havent you seen all the commercials that show how much fun pepsi drinkers have? and the pimped out cars? You are focused way too much on the utility of coke2 and not your image.
Does anyone know where i can get a Clear Pepsi?
January 26th, 2007 at 3:53:46 pm
Diet soda has no adverse health effects, really. You still need to drink your daily ration of just plain water and be a bit careful with the caffeine consumption, but when dieticians bemoan soda consumption, they’re generally talking about sugar sodas.