I thought I had finally found a healthy drink I liked with no artificial sweetness and they had to go and fuck it up
Stevia isn’t artificial lol
But it tastes artificial and fucks with lots of tummies.
I think anything you’re not used to has the potential to fuck with your tummy
I have yet to find a low calorie sweetener that doesn’t bother my digestive system. My wife, who lives on diet Pepsi, doesn’t believe me.
I have the exact same issue! Haven’t met anyone else with the same problem yet. Really sucks that more and more non-diet drinks are containing some amount of artificial sweetener.
Liquorice (there’s also an actual root, not just the confectionery) is very sweet and tummy-friendly, actually recognised as a herbal remedy over here for (mild) gastritis because antiinflammatory and antispasmodic (alongside helping with coughs and having some antibacterial properties) but too much will fuck with your blood pressure, avoid it if you have any issues there. A bit will probably be fine but a habit generally isn’t “a bit”.
There’s some medicinal teas over here which pretty much only contain it to taste better (otherwise makes no sense in combination with e.g. valerian). The stuff is actually sweet and pleasant, not a neutral but woody sweetness, not to be confused with North European liquorice confectionery where the predominant flavour is Salammoniac. Which are also very good… hey I grew up with the stuff, don’t look at me like that. Anyhow if you want a naturally sweet herbal tea adding a couple of shavings of the stuff should do the trick.
Yeah Stevia tastes like poison to me, super bitter.
Basically all artificial sweeteners taste like either bitter or nothing at all to me. So I’m really angry when I buy a product I’ve been buying for years and it suddenly tastes like a Nintendo Switch cartridge.
>:(
suddenly tastes like a Nintendo Switch cartridge.
Fuck. I know this smell. You just triggered NES and Super Nintendo memories in me. Never played Switch but I’m assuming they’re about the same.
The switch cartridges have a bitterant added to them since they’re small enough to be a choking hazard. It’s not the smell of the construction material they’re talking about.
Ah, so not the scent-memories that were triggered in me then. Different Nintendo scents, makes sense.
I love the smell of electronics! What I’m referencing is indeed the bitter compound they put on Switch cartridges, it tastes really bad and you taste it for a really long time, a stern warning to would-be choking children.
Like the sweet plasticky taste of dasani.
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You’re thinking of xylitol which gets mixed with commercial stevia crystals to cut the sweetness
Have we applied the same scrutiny to HFCS or refined Sugar itself? Or does sugar get a pass because it was the first plant processed for its sweetness?
“Death to plastic”
“Here drink from this plastic-lined can” (https://www.plasticstoday.com/business/liquid-death-may-murder-your-thirst-but-it-won-t-kill-plastic-no-matter-what-the-ads-say)
Not only that, but unless you can guarantee that a significant portion users will recycle those aluminum cans, they are significantly more energy intensive to manufacture compared to single use plastic bottles.
Do most people not recycle cans?
Here in Cleveland, we used to just put all trash, no recycling, on the lawn. Then in 2008 or so, they put out a recycling innitive. Each resident had to pay $10 per family (so duplexs would buy 2 per house), and they’d get a blue bin. You put the recycling in the blue bin, and a seperate truck picks that up.
Sounds great right?
Welll…in 2020 or so they found out the 1st truck would take your black bin regular trash, and the 2nd truck would take your blue bin recyclables, and then BOTH trucks would drop off in the same pile, in the same landfill with zero recycling done.
Since that was discovered I see a massive 90%+ dropoff in blue bins. Not only have people lost faith in buying blue bins at all, but most people now use their blue bins as 2nd regular non-recycling trash can.
It’s true, I have no idea what actually happens to my recycling after it’s picked up, but I guess I can hope…
It’s easier if you don’t hope. Less inevitable disappointment that way.
Where I live, every time you buy a plastic bottle, aluminum can or glass bottle, you pay extra 10 cents that you get back when you take them to the recycling (that every store is mandated to have, IIRC).
And do you do that?
Yes? Because every time we bring back a bag of bottles, we get about 10€. Would you rather throw out the 10€?
I also return mine but most people around me don’t seem to. You can often find them littering the streets or walkways or even out in the woods unfortunately.
Here in California we have high deposits and I never see cans left unattended for long. $0.05 is nothing in this economy.
Don’t know about other places with a deposit system, but in Finland 98% of aluminium cans are recycled. Seems to work pretty well
I’m lazy enough and a frequent enough soft drink & beer consumer that by the time I take it in, it’s at least 10€, but can be 20€ or more. I have also gotten over 100€ but that was cheating, it was from previous year’s summer solstice celebrations. And like the commenter above you, it’s the same price for me, 10 cents a bottle or can. Mostly because we apparently live in the same country.
According to the actual Aluminum Association, only 43% of aluminum cans shipped within the United States are recycled.
Stevia can only be added in the manufacturing process by a cyclone valve which is actually quite noisy.
I thought stevia wasn’t an artificial sweetener. It’s just a leaf.
Stevie leaf extract is a petroleum base sweetener. It was used as an artificial sweetener , but then they found that it could be naturally occurring in small quantities and rebranded. It works like natural flavors where it can still come from petroleum so long as its naturally occurring with some source. I find it extremely bitter and soapy, just like almost every other artificial sweetener.
Could you give a source? I can’t find ANY mention of stevia being “petroleum based”.
Afaik Stevia is entirely produced from the shrub.
sounds more like aspartame, aspartame is entirely artificial, stevia comes form the stevia plant.
I hate this brand, we now pay 6$ for water from a stupid can instead of having water bottles at festivals for 1-2$, the dude who owns it is friends with insomniacs owner, ruined the water supply at every festival. Redbull is typically cheaper than water now at 4$.
No ppl dont think you’re drinking alcohol like they claim its for, that has never been a valid reaon to grab it, we all know its water, someone asking you for some water should be the first clue ppl dont think its alcohol.
Cans are actually recyclable. That’s the benefit. The rest is marketing.
Red Bull doesn’t give you wings either.
The reason venues live the cans is that that can’t be recapped after opening, so they are harder to refill so you keep buying more instead of reupping in the bathroom.
They throw away caps either way, but like 50% of ppl are nice and let you keep them
Forget your water backpack or theres a fat line? Liquid Death is there to empty your wallet, or you can die to dehydration.
Where the fuck were you getting $2 water at festivals? I remember paying $5 for anything to drink back when the Mayhem Festival was still a thing.
Insomniac like the video game company? Are they problematic? Or am I misunderstanding?
The company behind massive music festivals like EDC.
Ah, thank you. That makes more sense.
The company that has a monopoly on music festivals now, post covid especially.
Ah, thank you. That makes more sense.
They keep raising prices, keep overselling down to the night of, damn near get crowd crushed every other festival, I kinda stopped going to the more mainstream ones because of it
How were you convinced sweet tea was a healthy drink to begin with? https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-is-stevia Stevia to reduce the amount of agave nectar used is making it healthier if anything. Can you actually taste it if it’s used sparingly in addition to real sugar?
Stevia leaves a disgusting after taste and is an immediate deal breaker for me in any drink.
I agree if it’s the sole sweetener in a sweet thing. But if it’s combined with real sugar in a only lightly sweet thing I find it unnoticeable. I recommend giving it a shot.
I can tell every time. Nasty stuff. Reminds me of sachirine. I get that stevia is natural, but it’s taste is real obvious. If they want to use less sugar… Just use less sugar.
Same. A small amount of time I can find it just passable at best. When it’s added to yogurt? Probably the worst thing I’ve tasted sold on shelves.
Like that coke ad where there’s a fake candid camera where in a theater they pretended to swap all coke drinks with coke zero, nobody noticed and everyone is laughing
WTF I would have noticed at the first sip and immediately go to complain to the clerk “you gave me the wrong overpriced drink”
For me the flavor of any sweetener gives me a terrible aftertaste, I much prefer plain water
Fair enough if you’re in that camp
To be fair, I’ve heard it’s a migraine trigger for some people, but I suppose everything is a migraine trigger for someone.
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How about drinking water from the tap? Much cheaper, not wasting cans, and healthy. If you live in a community with bad tap water, write a letter to your local water board, and buy a filtration tank you can put in your fridge.
If you must really have flavor, buy some of the powdered dehydrated lime or orange powder packets.
I presume you’re not from the US.
Many municipalities across the US have poor quality or non drinkable water, and many more do not offer public access to water fountains. Thus, bottled water is a huge market in the US as free facilities are not always available.
I’m Canadian and I legitimately cannot recall the last time I bought bottled or canned water. I bring my two 18.9L jugs to the store to fill them with filtered water for $5 and that’s the extent of my “bottled water” consumption. Elsewhere, I carry a metal water bottle I can get refilled anywhere for free.
Yes, the US is a mirage of a first-world country.
Have drank tap water across the US for decades. Some municipalities are crappier than others, but a fridge filter tank takes care of those places.
Absolutely, I’m not stating that the US’ water is undrinkable, simply that enough municipalities have poor quality or non-drinkable water that it’s easier for companies to market water bottles to people.
Stories like Flint, Mi. go international, and its crisis lasted for a really long time, despite being mostly the exception (see the other commenter’s Wikipedia link). And public access water fountains are not a thing in many cities, leading to an even greater perceived scarcity by consumers.
My point above was that enough municipalities have a drinking water quality problem to drive sales of water bottles across the country, the US’ drinking water is not bad across the world stage, but probably worse than most western European countries.
The solution should be either a water filter, or a filtered water dispenser from a refillable jug. Not disposable water bottles.
I’ve quite literally drank Flint water. Not for a humble brag (far from it) but I really hate that they became some kind of trope. They have needed help for decades and could have recovered faster if America ever cared about people. Good people there. Shitty America management. It’s like they keep them down for the Internet points.
As for municipal water. Stop by Altoona, Iowa sometime and drink their water. It’s just so terrible. Ground water full of stuff they can’t filter at scale. I don’t hate them for it, it’s what they can suck out of the ground, for maybe a few more years before it becomes brine.
It is hard to produce drinking water that is safe, and also tastes good. Is my global point.
Personal filters can improve that. Otherwise, buying water just leads us to a human future that is by far the worst reality we could ever impose upon ourselves.
Edit: TL;DR: bad tasting municipal water isn’t a conspiracy. It’s just the reality you have to work with at the time.
That’s tea
Ahhh this line of logic. Yes, people can forego luxury items and save money while being healthier. You could never eat red meat, or drink soda, or have ice cream, sure, that would be much healthier and cheaper.
I’m sorry, you didn’t actually think this beverage was healthy to begin with, right? Lol
For starters, agave is one of the highest fructose-containing sweeteners out there. Our bodies can’t use fructose directly, so most fructose metabolism occurs in the liver where it’s converted to glucose. Overconsumption of it may promote metabolic syndrome even more than glucose.
The only two sweeteners I use are date sugar (whole powderized dates), and rarely molasses. Unsweetened teas might be an acquired taste for some, but after getting used to it, they generally add plenty of sweetness on their own.
Why do all the 0 calorie sweeteners have to taste like a dead hobo’s arse?
They don’t
The products containing them definitely taste weirder though.
Pepsi Max is about the only one that I think tastes decent. Fanta zero? Weird. Coca Cola Zero? Weird. Sprite Zero? Does nothing for me. Sugar free red bull? Ew.
Monster’s white Ultra flavour, whatever it’s called, is semi-ok. Watermelon Ultra is OK. But neither is as good as say, Aussie Lemonade, which has sugar in it.
Of course, I’m Estonian, so the baseline here is regular sugar, not HFCS. I love Fanta, but American Fanta was disgusting.
Taste is subjective. I stopped drinking sugar soda several years ago because i’m pre-diabetic and don’t want diabetes. Sugar soda tastes weird to me now because I only drink diet soda.
You’re certainly better off for it, congratulations!
I unfortunately still get the sugar cravings. Not often, usually it’s when I’m tired. But they exist. If I buy a cold 0.5L bottle of my favorite non-caffeinated sugary soft drink, that’s damn near 50 grams of extra sugar in me, but man does it refresh me on a walk.
There was a time when I did OMAD, which really stabilizes your blood sugar. At that time, I did not experience such cravings. I miss being near immune to sugar cravings lol
It really is a spectrum, you’re right - some products definitely taste worse than others.
Pepsi Max tends to taste better because it uses a combination of Acesulfame Potassium (Ace-K) and aspartame (ie. Equal), whereas Coke/Fanta tends to just use aspartame.
I personally find erythritol to be the most neutral flavour-wise, and without that laxative effect in the event of over-consumption.
Stevia definitely has a herbal after-taste that not everyone finds pleasant, but it can/does have its place at times.
Maltitol on the other hand, is the tool of the devil - and I would only wish it upon my worst enemies.
Have you tried dead hobo’s arse?
Can’t say I have, how about you?
Haven’t had the pleasure
This label part about plastics is what’s called green-washing here, and is illegal unless what they are doing is a very signifikant part of the price of the product.
The labeling of what’s NOT in the drink is also under similar regulation, but I don’t recall what it’s called. But the fact that a “sugar” drink doesn’t contain fat is irrelevant and misleading.Whatever country this is from has bullshit regulation.
The thing that is ABSOLUTELY NOT a problem is the Stevia which is clearly labeled!So the “mildly infuriating” part is completely misguided compared to the real problems of that product.
Edit:
Just noticed, Carbs 3%, sugar 6% incl. added sugar 12%.
That’s impossible! You can’t have less carbs than sugar, since sugar is a carb. So these labels are probably illegal in EU on no less than 3 counts!!It’s a US label and the percents are % of recommended daily intake. So that’s 3% of your daily recommended carbohydrate intake, 6% of your daily recommended intake of sugar, and 12% of your daily recommended intake of “added” sugar. The recommendation is something like, no more than half of your carbs should come from sugar, and no more than half of those should be added during manufacturing (i.e. most of your sugar intake should be from fresh fruit, etc.). So the numbers do line up.
In reality there is no recommended sugar intake. We can do perfectly well with zero grams of sugar every single day for a whole life, without it causing a single health issue.
So the label remains nonsense.There is a recommended intake of vegetables and fruit, but not for sugar. Not by any factual based health measure.
This is exactly why, for many years, there was no percentage on the label. They were concerned that people would try to get it to 100%.
Fast forward a few decades, and it’s extremely rare to find Americans consuming that little sugar, so the concern was no longer valid.
Whatever country this is from has bullshit regulation.
I’ll give you one guess…
The only country I know of, that could have this shitty and misleading label and still be legal is USA, but I don’t know that for a fact.
I think if I saw these labels here in Denmark, I would call the police or health authorities immediately on the spot, which are responsible for enforcing declaration rules on items meant for consumption.Those labels are not merely mildly infuriating, they are attempts at scamming consumers.
It’s not percent of total it’s percent of daily recommendation. I’m not defending that choice but it just isn’t the same.
Are they? These seem to be completely different products to me. One has caffeine and artificial sugar whereas the other has neither. I’d have a hard time believing these are the same products and not just similar ones with confusing names
Those are both their Dead Billionare product and they do both have caffeine. In the old can design it was just listed somewhere else not shown
This entire thread had been really disheartening
The drink on the right is caffeinated, maybe that’s why they added sweetener? The label on the left doesn’t mention caffeine.
