Pepsi Max > Reviews (61)

Some people prefer Coke to Pepsi. For others, the opposite is true. Me? I don't give a 4X one way or the other...it's not as if it's an important beverage decision to make, is it? Not like beer. So whatever the trouble-n-strife manages to struggle all the way home from the shops with is fine by me.
Mrs P is pretty game and will try anyything once (at least she used to), so in our house, just as you get used to one thing, it's gone and something else takes its place. Luckily, this policy doesn't extend to husbands....yet.

And so it was that Diet Pepsi was unceremoniously replaced by PEPSI MAX.

I read somewhere that the idea behind this drink was that men are apparently a little shy when asking for Diet Pepsi as they think it's not quite macho to order low-cal drinks. That'd be the same men who spend a fortune on moisturizers, hair products and other such grooming aids? A person with a more sardonic outlook than myself might think a big company like pepsico just bring out new products as money-making gimmicks.

Some would say, therefore, that Diet Pepsi and PEPSI MAX are essentially just the same drinks...y'know, sugar-free carbonated water with some sort of gloopy, flavour-enhanced, preservative-loaded, sugar-deprived, syrup added to it.

Nothing could be further from the truth...my, but you're a cynical lot, aren't you?

For a start, the 330ml can is a different colour - royal blue and black as opposed to silver, with MAX splashed boldly across it to save any further confusion. So the packaging is totally different.

What about the taste?

It's fizzy. really fizzy. It's as fizzy as an Alka Seltzer dropped into a bottle of Bud then pumped up with an extra double-dose of Co2 (no, I've never tried that concoction, but I'm taking a wild guess and assuming it'd be pretty darn fizzy). It's hard to discern any flavours due to the insane level of carbonation, but once swallowed, a fruit-like, sweet caramel flavour comes through (just like cola). It's not too sickly-sweet, but the sweetness most definitely tastes artificial and quite chemical. It leaves a slightly dry aftertaste and a thoroughly un-refreshing feeling.

I find there's a very noticeable chemical-type flavour to this. It could be the sweeteners, or it could be the water supply used - I'm reminded of the delightful experience of swallowing water in a swimming pool. Y'know? That nasty disinfectant-like flavour that you hope is only chlorine before making a mental note to avoid the swimming pool on mother-n-toddler day next time.

As for ingredients and nutritional values - one is unpronounceable and the other is non-existent. The good thing is there are hardly any calories in a can of this... 2kcal, to be precise. This means it's a perfect, low-fat accompaniment to a deep-fried pizza and chips. In conclusion, I'm still not convinced this stuff doesn't just come out of the same tank that Diet Pepsi gushes forth from..and I don't really care.

If you're a fan of Cola, or you've not yet been 'turned on' to the steely delights of Irn Bru, and you're looking for a low-cal soft-drink, and you're too much of a he-man to ask for Diet Pepsi, or if your darling partner transports a case of it down the road and insists you drink the bloomin' stuff as she doesn't go shopping for the good of her health y'know, then it's fine...as long as you don't worry about additives and such.

Personally, it doesn't have enough beer flavour for me. A case of 12, 330ml cans of Pepsi Max was purchased in Asda for £2.99. It also comes in 550ml and 2-litre botles, but I haven't got a scooby how much they cost.
Thanks for reading,

©proxam2004