Off Topic Question
Pitchers and catchers report today. The volume of baseball information is about to increase, and we'll certainly have lots to talk about in the coming weeks. But in the meantime, I do have an off-topic question for you.
Do the cola drinkers among you prefer Coke, Pepsi, or some other brand? Do you prefer diet or regular?
Personally I love Coke, preferably made with real sugar, in a glass bottle imported from Mexico. Unfortunately my metabolism can no longer sustain a heavy daily intake of this ambrosia. . .I already have a substantial weight problem, and if I drink too much sugar soda it just gets worse. I can't stand the diet stuff, so right now I just make due with coffee.
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62 comments
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If caffeine free Diet Rite isn't available
I’ll settle for Wild Cherry Pepsi. I enjoy fountain the most, but I drink it way too fast, so I normally opt for a 20oz bottle and suck it down over a couple of hours during the morning
by gghulsebus on Feb 17, 2026 12:22 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
RC
I used to drink RC back in college.
by John Sickels on Feb 17, 2026 12:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I’m in college now and its still what everybody gets when we can find it
by Archie A on Feb 17, 2026 12:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
the very rare coke
preferably in a can, though in a cup will do. can’t stand it in a plastic bottle.
There is a Mexican apple soda that is superb, by Sidral Mundet. Very smooth, pretty subtly sweet: http://www.mexgrocer.com/6259.html
The local Kroger carries it, since we’ve got a large Mexican population in my town (Durham, NC).
by gogotabata on Feb 17, 2026 12:27 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
agreed
Agreed that stuff in cans is better than stuff in plastic bottles.
But the old glass bottles are best of all.
by John Sickels on Feb 17, 2026 12:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I think
those plastic bottles hold in the carbonation too well. You take a swig and it just turns to foam in your mouth.
Those sexy, curvy glass Coke bottles were the best. They bled carbonation just enough to be perfect when you finally popped the cap. In Mexico, I think they used cane sugar instead of corn syrup. Gawd, they were good.
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by padmadfan on Feb 17, 2026 1:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Pepsi Throwback!
Significantly better than that crap with High Fructose Corn Syrup in it.
by jar75 on Feb 17, 2026 12:28 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
yeah
Yeah I had one of those last week. Good stuff!!
by John Sickels on Feb 17, 2026 12:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Mountain Dew Throwback also.
The throwbacks and the Dr Pepper with real sugar beat all the high fructose crap.
by Dor12 on Feb 18, 2026 10:49 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I'm not a Mountain Dew fan
So I haven’t tried that one (but maybe I will before they shelve the product). I haven’t been able to find the Dr Pepper version in my area unfortunately.
by jar75 on Feb 18, 2026 12:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
RC
1. RC
2. Pepsi Throwback
3. Pepsi
4. New Coke (yeah, yeah, there’s always one guy)
5. Coke
1024. Coffee
My office is losing its Pepsi machine because our volume is too low (despite my best efforts) but we will be getting an RC/Dr. Pepper machine.
I hate anything diet. I am the region’s foremost human artificial sweetener detector. If the waiter accidentally brings me diet, it takes me a milli-sip to figure it out.
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Good discussion.
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by kosmo99 on Feb 17, 2026 12:45 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Pepsi
Followed by Mountain Dew. I’m trying to cut myself off though.
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by RoyalsRetro on Feb 17, 2026 12:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I’ve tried to phase all cola (especially dark cola) out of my diet. When an alternative isn’t available, I couldn’t care less whether it is Coke, Pepsi, or some other brand.
by jfish26101 on Feb 17, 2026 12:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I'm gonna be that guy.....
Give up the sugar. I gave up regular soda and lost 15 lbs so fast I couldn’t believe it (195lbs- 180lbs).
Get a little distance from overly sugary drinks and you don’t miss them.
by my dixie wrecked on Feb 17, 2026 12:57 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
+1
I was up to about 195 myself (high school weight was about 160-165), and then a few years ago I gave up beer, soda for the most part (still drank about 4 sodas a year) and cut out most of the fast food (Subway is still a fave of mine). Dropped about 10 pounds and got into the mid 180s. For New Year’s I am gave up all my sugary sweets. I still ate a ton of cookies, candy, cake, pie, etc. They’re all gone, as well as the soda. I dropped 8 more pounds in a month without changing the rest of my diet one bit. Now I am down to about 176lbs and feel so much better. A bad back is preventing me from working out much and trying to get back down into that 160-165 range which is my goal.
As for Soda, early last month when I was craving sweets something fierce, I would drink a Coke Zero to help satisfy the urges and keep my new diet in tact. I haven’t had one for about a month now, but I thought they tasted a lot like regular Coke. I have never been a huge caffeine fiend, even when I drank soda it was usually Sprite, so I don’t know if the caffeine levels in Coke Zero compare to regular Coke or not.
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by Boxkutter on Feb 17, 2026 4:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
+1
Coke Zero is very good. So is Diet Dr Pepper. I hated the crashes I got after drinking sugary soda, so I cut them out more than 20 years ago. I don’t miss the sugar at all.
If the taste of diet sodas bothers you, give Diet 7up a try. I think it’s the most natural tasting of all the diet sodas out there.
by Flynn Blake on Feb 18, 2026 12:33 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
orange soda
Who loves orange soda?
by Kenan and Kel on Feb 17, 2026 1:08 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
I like Orange Soda mixed with Dr. Pepper
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by Gobroks on Feb 17, 2026 8:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Fresca
It’s a magic drink.
No calories. No caffeine. All sorts of taste!
Of the major two brands, I’m a Pepsi man. But Fresca is just awesome.
by Galt on Feb 17, 2026 1:09 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
That about sums it up for me
If I want caffeine, I’ll usually just drink coffee, although the occasional Sunkist or root beer will do.
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by Brickhaus on Feb 17, 2026 2:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Pepsi Max or Coke Zero
My wife was diagnosed with Type II diabetes a couple of years back and it’s been only diet pop since then for us*. I don’t care for Diet Pepsi at all and I’m not a big fan of Diet Coke. Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi is good, so is Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet A&W. Any of the Zero brands from Coke are good, to me those taste the most like regular pop.
*I have tried the Pepsi and Mountain Dew Throwbacks and the Dr. Pepper Heritage. They’re very good, the difference between cane sugar and HFCS is just insane. My grandma has ordered some cane sugar sodas online, I think the brand was Hank’s, it’s from Pittsburgh I think. It’s good too, particularly the orange soda and the root beer.
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by gatling on Feb 17, 2026 1:11 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Hank’s is very good.
A-Treat, which is a Lehigh Valley thing, has a great cream soda, as well as good Grape and Orange flavors.
I second your Coke Zero call as well. It’s not as good, but its better than that diet junk.
I have mostly cut out all soda the last 5 years. I seem to be a bit of a kidney stone factory, and soda made it way worse. If I steer clear of soda I can avoid kidney stones, so I do.
by Cormican on Feb 17, 2026 2:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
no thanks
I never liked soda, so I just drink juice for my sugar buzz. I am an oddball that way…
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by feslenraster on Feb 17, 2026 1:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Coke in a glass bottle
It doesn’t get any better than that!
by SChandler on Feb 17, 2026 1:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Not a fan, but...
This stuff tastes terrible, but this commercial was too incredible to resist posting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYFdFoU5xE0
It sort of like drinking maple syrup, only worse.
by nmh on Feb 17, 2026 1:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
About five years ago, I suddenly started to hate all soft drinks
They’re just too sweet for me. Getting old I guess.
When I did drink them I liked Coke more than Pepsi and despised Dr. Pepper.
If you want to try a comically bad soda, drink Moxie. It’s hard to find outside the northeast, and people from Maine seem to love it…but I sweat it tastes like wood. My buddies and I used to keep a can in the fridge and offer it to people just to see their reactions.
by nivarsity on Feb 17, 2026 1:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Since people are posting other drinks, this is what I used to like as a kid.
I haven’t had one in probably 15 years but I used to get them every week. They have since switched to plastic bottles but I imagine, like Coke, they tasted better in the cold glass bottle.
These are OK but not nearly as good:
Of course, one of these would certainly do the trick as well:

by jfish26101 on Feb 17, 2026 2:02 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Coke
I for a long time was a diabetic until bad health required me to have a transplant in which I was given new kidney and panreas (thus eliminating the diabetes profile). I always had to have diet coke for obvious reasons, but since there isnt the big sugar fears from before, I have been a Coca Cola guy.
Funny thing is that now that I am in my 40s, have realized that lots of Coke goes right to the waistline, and have reverted back to the Diet Coke.
A local favorite here in Milwaukee is a small company named Black Bear, great Root Beer and flavored sodas.
by backtocali on Feb 17, 2026 2:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Dr. Pepper, Mt. Dew, Coke in that order and only those three will do. I love the glass bottle mexican cokes, and won’t pass one up. I cut my daily intake to one soda per 24 hours two years ago and I have lost some 25 pounds since then. I dropped the first ten in about 3 months and started back on an irregular exercise program that has help me fluctuate between 220 and 235 for the last 18 months. My wife hates the fact that I quit drinking so much soda and instantly lost weight. It doesn’t work for women.
by JFP on Feb 17, 2026 2:22 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I prefer Pepsi to Coke. I also preferred New Coke to Coke Classic back in the old days, too.
My favorite soft drink was Mr. Pibb, which sadly is hard to come by in New Jersey where I live.
by samjjones on Feb 17, 2026 2:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Coke
Hands down. Pepsi tastes like medicine… artificial. No big surprise: I’m from Atlanta… Coke funded my high school education, essentially. But still, Pepsi sucks!
by sunking1056 on Feb 17, 2026 3:24 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Oh
And the World of Coke is a great time :)
by sunking1056 on Feb 17, 2026 3:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
always been a dew man
but i have recently switched to diet or zero stuff if i have any soda…i find when i’m craving a soda, an apple fills the same craving for me….
of the colas, it was always coke, but i’ve tried a cup of the pepsi throwback, and that would kick coke’s taste….now i have not had cane sugar coke either, so that could be part of it….
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by biggentleben on Feb 17, 2026 3:57 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Try Diet Dr. Pepper
I absolutely love it. It’s the best diet drink on the market IMO - coming from someone who always used to drink regular coke…
by Dfarth on Feb 17, 2026 4:35 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
+1
the commercial doesn’t exaggerate that much-the taste is quite similar to regular Dr.Pepper
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by Gobroks on Feb 17, 2026 8:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Coke from McDonald's
That has long been my favorite.
But I must be honest here: I haven’t had a soda, regular or diet, since Black Friday, and I couldn’t be happier with the results, in regards to weight loss. I drank soda like it was water, for a long time. Now I drink water everytime I want a soda. So far, so good.
by Lemon Kush Kid on Feb 17, 2026 4:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
How much weight have you lost?
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by 306008 on Feb 17, 2026 5:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
apparently i'm the minority here
i love diet pepsi. i started buying it when they had a “free itunes song with every bottle” promotion. it is a sweet, delicious nectar.
if you’re not acclimated to the taste, i agree that transition can be a bit much. but it’s easier to do when you get it from a fountain. in fact, i transitioned from coke to diet coke when i didn’t notice a huge difference at fast food restaurants. in fact, it took me longer to transition to diet in cans/ bottles than it did at restaurants.
also, if you like root beer, try sprechers (and NOT the diet version). alas, it’s not available where i live, so it’s a rare treat these days.
by Capt Science on Feb 17, 2026 5:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I'll pass on the soda pop
I’m a water with citrus guy or sweat tea or powerade. Of course you have to buy the Powerade but we make the rest. I just get a pitcher of water and cut some lemons, limes, and oranges and drop the pieces in. Nature takes care of the rest.
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by 306008 on Feb 17, 2026 5:29 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I'm a Moxie guy
Probably one of only five left in the world…
by ThomasG on Feb 17, 2026 8:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
You and David Eckstein
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by padmadfan on Feb 18, 2026 12:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Ha ha, well played.
But I hear most people don’t like it because of its grittiness and tendency for the cans to get dirty.
by ThomasG on Feb 18, 2026 12:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Pepsi
I like Coke and Pepsi but it has to be out of a glass bottle. I remember being on vacation in the Dominican and everyone was excited about the all inclusive bar, but I was pumped for the glass bottled Pepsi in my room.
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by King Billy Royal on Feb 17, 2026 8:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Dr. Pepper in a bottle
easy #1 then Coke that’s about it for me
don’t tell me Mr Pib is Dr. Pepper
by ribman on Feb 17, 2026 11:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
My favorites are actually Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, and A&W Cream Soda.
However I work for Coca- Cola so I don’t get to drink them much. It’s mostly Coke products as long as I work there.
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by tj.hendricks on Feb 17, 2026 11:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
cherry coke
is actually my favorite, followed by coke and RC. Don’t like Pepsi, don’t like diet soda. Try to keep myself to just a couple sodas a week though.
by Dalman on Feb 18, 2026 12:43 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Coke in a Bottle
I too am a huge fan of Coke in a bottle, and all other sodas are just bad imitations.
I drink ALOT of coffee, but when looking for a tasty non coffee drink, Diet Raspberry Snapple is a great drink and ZERO calories!!!
by topjimmy on Feb 18, 2026 12:51 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Mexican Coke in a bottle.
I pick up a case of it at Sam’s every couple of months.
by imauis on Feb 18, 2026 9:34 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Diet works for me
I had to give up the sugar as part of a weight-control situation.
After a while, the diet starts tasting good. I have a particular affinity for caffeine-free Diet Coke, though it’s good to slide a Diet Pepsi in there now and against. Changeups are good.
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by criminal type on Feb 18, 2026 11:01 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Coke Zero
best caffeine soda out there
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by Michael Cave on Feb 18, 2026 12:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
JERI's Soda Picks...
Diet Dr. Pepper…can’t stomach any soda with sugar. Diet Dr. P tastes better than any soda in the world to me. When I was a kid there was a soda my mom would get sometimes called Faygo..chocolate soda. It’s probably a good thing that I never see that around anymore.
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by mssickels on Feb 18, 2026 3:29 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Sprite and Mountain Dew are what I drink alot of, not much of Cola guy
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by WVPiratesfan on Feb 18, 2026 4:29 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Coke is hard to resist...
but when I drink it, I only get the small glass bottles (which I’ve been told are 100 calories; I keep forgetting to check) or the 100-calorie cans, which contains the damage done.
by jpollo02 on Feb 18, 2026 6:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Grew Up w/Coke
But switched to 7UP years ago when I had my wisdom teeth removed. Now the only caffeine I get is in chocolates.
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by WayneCampbell08 on Feb 19, 2026 12:29 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Of the cola's, it's got to be Coke, but...
1- Jones Soda (inverted sugar, not HFCS)
2- Thomas Kemper Rootbeer
3-Mexican or UK Coke (made with sugar, not HFCS)
4-Coke
5-Throwback Mountain Dew
6-Canadian Ginger Ale
7-Sprite (can or bottle, not fountain)
Refuse to drink Pepsi or any diet or anything with cherry flavoring, ie Mr Pibb, Dr. Pepper.
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by Garran on Feb 20, 2026 12:40 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
John
I had some pretty major weight-gains after I left an on-your-feet job and didn’t reduce my Coke intake.
After balooning from 190 to 215 in about 2 months, I realized I needed to make a change. Like you I couldn’t stand the taste of Diet…
What I did, is mix the 2 and slowly ween myself off the regualr full calorie Coke… Now I think the regular tastes like thick syrup…
I hope that helps.
by pffriberg on Feb 20, 2026 11:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs







