Hansen's Diet Soda with Stevia?

I received an email yesterday from the Consumer Relations Manager for the Hansen Beverage Company. It was in response to my question regarding the use of Splenda instead of Stevia in their diet sodas. My suspicions were right; Hansen's went with Splenda because of the prior FDA stance that Stevia be sold as only a dietary supplement.

With the recent FDA green light for rebaudioside A to be extracted from the Stevia herb and used as a sweetener, Hansen's product development team may have a new sweetener for their diet sodas. Only time will tell ...

Interested in what I think of Hansen's Diet Soda? Check these links out:
My review of Hansen's Diet Root Beer, Black Cherry, and Tangerine Lime
My review of Hansen's Diet Pomegranate Soda

Hansen's Diet Soda: Pomegranate Review

In an earlier post, I gave a diet soda review for three of Hansen’s flavors: Root Beer, Tangerine Lime, and Black Cherry. As you may recall, these diet sodas contain no caffeine, aspartame, or preservatives. Nutritionally speaking, their only downside is that they contain the artificial no-calorie sweetener sucralose (manufactured by Splenda).

Today I got my first taste of Hansen’s diet Pomegranate flavor. You remember that cherry-flavored cough syrup with the sharp aftertaste that was forced down your throat as a kid? Well, Hansen’s Diet Pomegranate Soda kind of reminds me of that medicine.

Does this mean Hansen’s Diet Pomegranate Soda is a total bust? This may come as a surprise, but … not necessarily. The reason why I say this is that some of you may like the taste of pomegranate and its rather intense sweet-tart flavor. I, on the other hand, have only a lackluster liking for the fruit in general. Sure, pomegranate juice makes its way into my fridge on occasion. But it doesn’t pass my lips without some sort of water dilution.

So, if you’re into eating pomegranates, this diet soda may be all the rage with your taste buds. But if the pomegranate fruit makes your lips pucker in a bad way, then proceed with caution.

Hansen’s Diet Soda is Worth Buying!

I’ve been a diet soda drinker since adolescence. Over the years, my favorite flavors and brands have changed, but there’s one soda that had me addicted: Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi. After five years of drinking 4 liters of the stuff almost every week, I knew this love-hate relationship had to end if I wanted to truly live a healthy lifestyle.

Three weeks ago I gave Hansen’s Diet Root Beer a try. This brand of soda contains no aspartame, preservatives, or artificial flavors and colors. The diet varieties do contain Splenda, though. I’ll have to email Hansen’s to find out why they don’t use natural Stevia instead. When I get a response, I’ll post it on this blog.

At $2.69 for a six-pack, Hansen’s is pricier than other sodas. The good news is that with the prices of many major soda brands rising, Hansen’s sodas aren’t that much pricier anymore. And I don’t know about you, but when I buy a product that is more costly I end up using less of it—that higher price really makes me think before engaging in mindless consumption!

So how does Hansen’s Diet Soda stack up to the usual brands? It’s actually pretty good! However, I did need to drink a six-pack of their diet root beer before completely taking a liking to the slightly different taste. (So if you plan on giving this diet soda a try, be prepared to give it a chance before dismissing it as cruddy.) Now, their diet root beer soda tastes no different to me than any other diet root beer soda I’ve drank before.

I also tried Hansen’s Diet Black Cherry. It doesn’t mimic my beloved Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi, but it’s not a dud either. I plan on buying more of this flavor, if that says anything. Another flavor I tried was Diet Tangerine Lime. It is really good right off the bat, with no aftertaste!

I plan on eventually trying all of Hansen’s diet soda flavors. (Pomegranate is next on my list.) I’ll let you all know how the other flavors taste soon in another post.