Jeremy Stein - Journal

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Lemon Lime Soda

We’ve always loved blind taste tests. I’m not sure why. Maybe because it fights the marketing that convinces us to buy certain brands. Maybe its just cheap entertainment. In any case, we’ve learned that the best macaroni and cheese from a box is our local grocery store Wegman’s brand. (Take that, Kraft!) And the best orange juice is Minute Maid.

Our latest taste test was for lemon-lime soda. That unique flavor pioneered by the uncola, 7-Up was copied by the Coca-Cola Company with Sprite, and more recently by PepsiCo with Sierra Mist. Of course, our local Wegmans has their own brand, W-Up.

Without knowing which clear beverage was which, Tara and I agreed that two of them tasted very similar. When we later revealed their identities, it turned out that we had both selected 7-Up and W-Up as similar. (Judging by the name of the latter, that would seem to have been Danny‘s intention.)

The final results show that we didn’t agree on much more:

Jeremy’s Picks   Tara’s Picks
W-Up   Sierra Mist
7-Up   Sprite
Sierra Mist   7-Up
Sprite   W-Up

7-Up and its superior imitation have a sweeter flavor that I like, but apparently isn’t for everyone. I found subject 4 (Sprite) to be tasteless at best and I can’t understand how anyone would like it.

So what does this mean for the Stein household? Well, I guess when we’re buying Wegmans macaroni and cheese and we need some lemon-lime soda to go with it, we’ll have to buy two! Or maybe we’ll just get ginger ale instead. Ah, but which brand? We need a taste test!

January 11, 2005 3 Comments.

3 Comments

  1. Tara replied:

    Actually, I thought Sierra Mist ’05 was the superior brand — a more serious, full-bodied flavor without the cloying sweetness of the -ups. [Jeremy: I had originally misordered Tara’s list, putting Sprite first rather than Mist]

    January 11th, 2005 at 1:14 pm. Permalink.

  2. Mark A. Hershberger replied:

    Hmm… Wegman’s was just named the best place to work. And they’re moving into PA.

    Maybe those of us deprived of Wegmans haute cuisine will soon be able to experience their delicious Mac-n-cheese.

    January 11th, 2005 at 3:13 pm. Permalink.

  3. Dave Wolfe replied:

    P. says our next taste test should be bottled water. This should test the functionality (or lack thereof) of our tastebuds. Plus, it’s the cheapest taste test out there…!

    April 22nd, 2005 at 3:05 pm. Permalink.

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