Every Pepsi Flavor Ranked From Worst To Best

Caleb Davis Bradham set up shop with a surname-sake pharmacy in 1892. A year later, he created a sugary sweet syrup that when combined with carbonated water, became a hit with locals. Originally known as Brad's Drink, Bradham changed its name in 1898 to Pepsi-Cola, due to the digestive enzyme pepsin and the fact it contained kola nuts. In the 20th century, Pepsi ascended to become one of the world's most beloved soft drinks, and of course rival to Coca-Cola. 

Pepsi has seen many flavors come and go in its illustrious, caramel-colored history, including such oddities as Crystal Pepsi, Pepsi A.M., and Nitro Pepsi. However, some flavors have stood the test of time as "the choice of a new generation," and for the generations that followed. With more than a dozen permanent flavors on its current roster, The Takeout wanted to figure out once and for all which Pepsi was the ultimate Pepsi, and which Pepsi should perhaps give it a rest-i. The answers we all seek are bubbling up below. Cheers!

Pepsi is all over prebiotic sodas these days. It acquired Poppi in 2025, and also made a batch of its own that same year. Pepsi Prebiotic Original Cola and its Cherry Vanilla version officially launched in stores in 2026 as one of the most anticipated sodas of the year.

The Cherry Vanilla take on Pepsi Prebiotic Cola is offered up in a very attractive can. The text promotes a sugar count at 5 grams, and that 3 grams of dietary fiber will help to take the edge off those 6 grams of carbohydrates.

Taking a whiff, this Cola almost smelled like Diet Dr. Pepper. Its actual taste wished it could be compared to such a soda. Pepsi Prebiotic Cola Cherry Vanilla tasted flat, and the flavoring just wasn't something the mouth responded well to. The cherry came off as being artificial, and the vanilla aspect was too weak. One of our testers noted that it tasted like medicine, and with apologies to Mary Poppins, not sure the short amount of cane sugar included helps this medicine go down. Granted, I am no prebiotic soda expert, but I'm not sure brand-mate Poppi is losing any sleep over this cola.

Just like the Cherry Vanilla version, the regular Pepsi Prebiotic Cola debuted in 2025 before going wide in 2026. It's also outfitted in a cool white can, and here the blue accents almost give off chill, ocean wave vibes. This one also has just 5 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of dietary fiber.

I leaned in for a whiff, expecting it to have a Pepsi Cola type aroma, but instead it had more of a vanilla accent, even if nothing here is supposed to contain that wondrous bean. A simple sip revealed it too tasted like flat cola, and a flat cola that's not really worthy of carrying on with. Its only saving grace is that it doesn't have any fruity flavoring to muddle it any more than it already was.

I guess if you're super into prebiotic sodas, and yet you still want a Pepsi, this is your best option. Although it doesn't taste like Pepsi, and isn't great option for a drink in general.

Wild Cherry & Cream was a new Pepsi flavor that dropped in 2025. Like the regular version, the Zero Sugar Wild Cherry & Cream has one of the more beautifully colored cans in the catalog. Its color isn't cherry red, but more like a lush lipstick that's puckering up and ready to leave kiss marks on a drinker's lips.

This one had a very strong vanilla smell. A first sip began with a rush of vanilla flavoring, but then took a turn and delivered a weird aftertaste. The vanilla flavoring was just too dominant here, and unnatural tasting as well. What seemed to be absent in this version was any sense of cherry in the mix. That's a bit of an issue, since cherry is supposed to be the lead flavor promised here. 

While one of our testers exclaimed, "it tasted like soap," I don't think it was that dramatically bad, but I also didn't think it was dramatically good. Some things are worth the splurge of sugars, and the regular version should be sought out. But more on that later ...

1982 was a big year in the cola wars. Diet Coke splashed onto the scene, and Pepsi introduced a caffeine-free version of its flagship product, as well as a sugar-free take on it. It was then known Pepsi Free, and three years later made for a great punchline when "Back to the Future"s Marty McFly asked for one in back in 1955, and a dumbfounded waiter told him, "You want a Pepsi, pal, you're gonna pay for it" (via YouTube). It's possible consumers were confused by the name, too, and by 1988 it was freed of its "Free" nature to become Caffeine Free Pepsi and Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi.

The Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi today comes in a snowy white can, with its name in a reflective gold text you can barely see. This cola didn't have much of a discernible smell, other than perhaps a faint cola one.

We're now entering the part of the ranking where from here on up, I would recommend any of these drinks for human consumption. Congrats, Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi, you passed the test! This one had that similar extra carbonated bite that Caffeine Free Pepsi had, but in that diet form that provided an extra bit of bite to its taste. The more I tried it, the more it started to remind me of Coca-Cola's dearly departed and retired diet drink Tab Cola. I mean this comparison in the best possible way.

Pepsi's first foray into diet sodas was Patio Diet Cola. It was introduced in 1963, but ended up having a short shelf life, as  the company shifted its attention to its next lo-cal product — Diet Pepsi, which hit shelves in 1964. The formula of the drink changed numerous times over the ensuing decades, including switching from saccharin to Nutrasweet in 1984. In 2015, in light of health concerns, the company dropped aspartame from the formula, and having a drop in sales, brought it right back.

Diet Pepsi comes in a pretty standard, yet boring silver can just like rival Diet Coke. I have to confess — I am a lifelong Diet Coke-head, and have long passed on Diet Pepsi when that's the fountain option offered up at a restaurant or movie theater.

I went into this taste test trying to leave my previous opinions and bias behind. A reexamination of Diet Pepsi netted better taste results, but in compassion with other Pepsi products, not versus Coke ones. The drink had a good, full flavor, and balanced well between its artificial sweetness and the carbonation. It certainly doesn't taste like Pepsi, but then again, Diet Coke doesn't taste like Coke and succeeds just being itself. While not a top finisher, I would say one of the bigger surprises in this taste test was that I am perhaps a-OK with Diet Pepsi in this world. Shhh, don't tell Diet Coke I cheated on her.

Everyone loves the idea of a soda made in its original formula and purest form. Pepsi started utilizing corn syrup as a sugar replacement by 1983. The corn syrup version remains the one sold today, but the consumer's love of real sugar has necessitated the rise of a Pepsi variant with it back in the formula. Pepsi first introduced Pepsi-Cola Throwback in 2009, which had an encore in 2011. When it came back in 2014, it was redubbed Pepsi Made With Real Sugar, and got its current "Soda Pop" name sometime after.

All Pepsi cans these days come decked out with its longstanding circular, yin and yang-like Pepsi logo. The Soda Shop model delivers that sense of nostalgia right off the bat, complete with classical cursive font of the brand's name. I am a fan of old school sugar throwbacks of drinks, and was looking forward to trying Pepsi-Cola Soda Shop Made with Real Sugar for the first time. What I was immediately surprised by was that I didn't fall in love with it.

It's certainly a really good all-around cola, rich in the promised sugary sweetness, but it didn't have the same Pepsi taste that we're used to in this day and age. It was Pepsi in name, but it was a cola that seemed very different from any of the others on the brand's roster. It's an outlier that kind of lies slightly away from the rest, and in a way, that keeps it from being one of the best.

Like its Diet buddy, Caffeine Free Pepsi came into this world in 1982, was originally named Pepsi Free, and earned its current name within six years. Today's version has the same exact ingredients as regular Pepsi, sans caffeine of course, and truly stands out from the pack with its glorious light golden can.

The similarities don't end with the ingredients. It had that same familiar smell that regular Pepsi has, and went down super easy. The level of sweetness was perfect, and it also had a bit of bite to its finish. 

In a one-to-one test versus caffeine-full Pepsi, the differences started to reveal themselves to the taste buds. The edge of the Caffeine Free version was a bit more snappy compared to regular Pepsi's more smooth delivery. This was a great all-around drink, especially if you want to skip the caffeine but enjoy the taste of Pepsi.

The word "diet" in sodas started to have a certain negative stigma attached to it by younger generations in the 21st century. Coca-Cola looked to change the game by introducing a new no-calorie drink in 2005 called Coke Zero, which had a taste more akin to its signature regular flavor. Pepsi actually already had a similar project on the market with Pepsi Max, which launched overseas in 1993, and was introduced stateside as Diet Pepsi Max in 2007. In 2016, Pepsi finally succumbed to the zero-mania and renamed Pepsi Max to Pepsi Zero Sugar.

In comparison to Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar's ingredients were basically the same, although Zero Sugar contained Sodium citrate, and put more emphasis on using the artificial sweetener Acesulfame potassium. It also had 5 milligrams of sodium more per serving. What it also had over its diet counterpart is a much more palatable taste. 

Diet Pepsi doesn't taste like Pepsi, and Pepsi Zero Sugar does. That alone makes it worth the price of admission. In general, these days I now actually prefer Pepsi Zero Sugar over Coke Zero, as it has a more pleasant, balanced sweetened taste, with less of an odd aftertaste than its rival's brew. It's a perfect Zero, I mean a perfect 10.

In 1988, Cherry Pepsi got a new splash, being rebranded as Wild Cherry Pepsi, and finally earning a low-calorie counterpart simply named Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi. The original can placed the emphasis on it being Diet Pepsi more so than a cherry drink, but by the mid-1990s, the company changed that emphasis by rearranging the name to be Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi. A shift occurred again by 2008, and today it continues to be known as Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry. Confused yet? Well, it now has to also compete with Pepsi Zero Sugar Wild Cherry.

Cherry flavoring is one of cola's best complimentary additives, and it works wonders in various Pepsi products. I had a actually been long acquainted with Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry, as it is one of my go-tos when buying a diet soda 12 pack from a grocery store ... when it's on sale. This drink had a crispness to it like a cola should, but an airiness to its flavoring. It had a nice bubbly nature, followed by a pleasant blend of cherry flavoring. The cola part wasn't overpowering, allowing the cherry to do its work. It's almost like a cherry seltzer in a way, and a super great product by Pepsi.

Pepsi is obviously no stranger to the talents of cherry flavoring, and to some degree, vanilla, too. It found time to combine the two into one cola, first with Jazz Diet Pepsi Black Cherry French Vanilla in 2006, and again in 2010 with Pepsi Next Cherry Vanilla. Those were limited run affairs, and in 2025 made a more permanent move with the introduction of Pepsi Wild Cherry & Cream.

Upon reviewing Pepsi Wild Cherry & Cream back then, I found the combo to be a true dynamic duo, and overall the drink to be "welcome new addition for those wanting to take a break from a regular Pepsi, or a Wild Cherry." Even though someone in our test group (and I won't be naming names) said "it tastes like butt," my positive opinion on the drink has only increased since we first met. 

Pepsi Wild Cherry & Cream was a quality drink with a lovely body and taste. The cherry flavoring wasn't overpowering here, and paired well with its creamy counterpart. It's a smoother sipper that somehow gives off warm vibes, even when served ice cold. It's a shame the Zero version can't even stack up with the same taste, but that's just a testament to how great this drink is.

Quick refresher — Pepsi first introduced a diet cherry drink back in 1988, and officially launched its "Zero" line in 2016. To capitalize on the truer Pepsi taste of Pepsi Zero, it added a Wild Cherry addition to the line-up, which had its modern reintroduction in 2020. Before we embark on what it tastes like, let's examine how it differs from Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry. 

The two diet cherry drinks have identical nutritional values, but while Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry was super fine drink, Pepsi Wild Cherry Zero Sugar immediately let it be known that it was the superior soda out of the two. It literally starts and ends with a much fuller cherry flavor, and a cola that almost doesn't even taste diet. While it had a bite, it wasn't as biting as Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry. I actually never used to know the difference between these two products, but thanks to this taste test I now know which is the clear winner.

Pepsi has been living its best life since 1898. Sure there have been tweaks to its formula over time, like ditching sugar for corn syrup in the '80s, but the taste has mainly remained the same. While the blind taste test that began with the Pepsi Challenge in 1975, and has continued on and off since, has leaned in the company's own favor, it's pretty safe to assume most consumers prefer to buy Coca-Cola over Pepsi. I for one share that assessment, but that doesn't mean that Pepsi doesn't hold a special place in my heart.

Pepsi's taste beats to the tune of its own drummer. It's not some Coke clone, but its own original cola, and a most excellent one at that. In fact, it's so wonderful, it topped 11 other sodas that borrow its name, and in some cases taste. Some are an imitation or add a limitation (like lack of sugar or caffeine), and yet none are able to capture that wonderfully sweet flavor that Pepsi always delivers. Hats off to you, Pepsi. Sorry that you always seem to finish in second place to Coke.

How I got to a number 1 Pepsi wasn't a process of elimination, but truly a battle of the fittest. It actually was a neck and neck competition between regular Pepsi and the final winner: Pepsi Wild Cherry. The end of this taste test literally consisted of me, alone, going back and forth, taking endless sips between the two cans, trying to find an edge. Both had that excellent sugary sweetness, winning bite, and polished aftertaste that practically begs for another sip.

Ultimately, I thought to myself: How could you improve upon Pepsi? The answer was a lovely splash of cherry, at its wildest. Cherry Coke was tested in 1982 and went wide as a product three years later. Pepsi brought its own cherry brew to the Canadian market in 1985 as well, and the United States rolled out Wild Cherry Pepsi in 1988 and never looked back. While regular Coke is superior to regular Pepsi, I actually think Pepsi Wild Cherry is on par with Cherry Coke. It's not only Pepsi's best product, it's one of the best sodas in existence. Cheers to you, Pepsi Wild Cherry!

I accepted the Pepsi challenge ... of trying and ranking as many permanent catalog flavors under the brand's name, which was 13 at the time of writing in early 2026. The fine folks at Pepsi provided some of these flavors for the taste test, while a majority were acquired myself at a local grocery store. The taste test took place over two sessions. The first involved using a crack team of soda drinkers, with an age range that spanned from six to 83 years. The second session was held another day, by my lonesome. I compiled notes from the taste testers, along with my own, to come up with a definitive ranking.

This ranking is a summation of my own personal tastes and opinions. It also takes into account my previous experiences with Pepsi products, but giving each flavor a fresh review in these taste tests. The ultimate criteria considered for this definitive ranking were flavor, carbonation, crispness, sweetness, artifice, aftertaste, familiarity, originality, uniqueness, can design and presentation, and just overall level of Pepsiocity.