The Definitive Difference Between Coke and Pepsi’s Taste

If you prefer Pepsi over Coca-Cola, I feel bad for your life decisions, but I at least respect your right to be wrong. If you’re in the camp that “soda is soda” and think they all taste the same — wrong!

Apparently the answer to why they’re so different has been hiding in Malcolm Gladwell’s 2005 book “Blink.”

According to Gladwell, Pepsi has more of a citrus flavor, while Coke has more of a vanilla-raisin taste.

He also said the citrusy taste from Pepsi usually leads it to win blind taste tests because it gives a stronger initial flavor blast, while Coke’s is a bit smoother.

Gladwell’s analysis does make sense when you see that Pepsi’s ingredients do include citric acid, which occurs naturally in citrus fruits.

Coke’s ingredients are noticably lacking in the citric acid department:

So there is a true difference in the taste, and if you enjoy the citrus tanginess that Pepsi provides, more power to you. I’ll just never understand how anyone can drink one of those glass bottle Mexi-Cokes and still want to side with Pepsi.