This Ingredient Difference Between Coke And Pepsi Behind Why You Hate One And Love The Other

For some of us, the answer to "Coke or Pepsi" is simply "whatever you've got." Certainly we may prefer one to the other (this writer will reach for an ice-cold Coca-Cola before Pepsi, all things being equal), but if we order a Coke at a restaurant and the waitress asks if Pepsi is okay, we'll go right along with it. Others, however, are powerfully repulsed by one side of the Cola Wars or another — and there's a difference in the two sodas' ingredients that might explain why.

For one thing, Coca-Cola contains a bit more sodium than its blue counterpart, with 75 milligrams compared to Pepsi's 55 mg. For another thing, Pepsi includes a couple of ingredients that Coke doesn't. In addition to high fructose corn syrup (which may or may not be worse than sugar, but which both Coke and Pepsi use), Pepsi has extra sugar, as well as citric acid. The upshot is that Pepsi is sweeter and less complex in flavor than Coke, in a way that may strike some as unpleasantly cloying. There are also other factors that may affect the drinking experience, including caffeine (of which Pepsi has a slightly higher amount), but if you're hearing someone complain that Pepsi is too sweet, or that Coca-Cola is too acidic, those ingredient differences are a big reason why.

Maybe to some, this all sounds like post-hoc rationalization for what's essentially brand loyalty. Chances are if you grew up drinking one soda over the other, that's the one you'll prefer, whether it has 75 or 55 milligrams of sodium. But if you want proof that this division is at least partially based on taste (rather than whatever that "left Twix, right Twix" marketing campaign is), look no further than New Coke, the biggest mistake in soda history.

At the height of the so-called "cola wars" of the 1980s, Coca-Cola decided to change the way its signature drink tasted. After taste tests supposedly proved customers preferred a new formula of Coke that tasted more like Pepsi, so-called "New Coke" hit the market in 1985 — where, after some initial success, it got absolutely slated from all sides. Coke loyalists were appalled that their beloved elixir tasted like Pepsi, while Pepsi drinkers kept right on drinking their favorite soda without sparing New Coke a second glance. It was even seen as something of a continuation of the Civil War, with the Atlanta-born Coca-Cola being reformulated to taste like the New York-based Pepsi. After 17 years, New Coke (eventually renamed Coke II) was discontinued, and went down in history as a change to an original recipe that made everyone mad.