Diet Dr. Pepper Vs. Regular Dr. Pepper: Does Diet Come Close to Regular Dr. Pepper Taste?

In general, I do not like diet sodas. If all I had in the house to drink was diet soda, I would rather go thirsty. But when heard that Diet Dr. Pepper was being marketed as tasting more like regular Dr. Pepper, I decided to put it to the test. I drink soda almost exclusively and have gained some weight in recent months. Making the switch diet soda could help me shed some weight, but I wasn't willing to compromise on taste. In general, I shun diet soda because of the after taste. It just doesn't taste the same as the regular to me, and often I find the taste to be unpalatable. If I could still enjoy my favorite Dr. Pepper flavor in a diet soda, I would switch. The prospect of cutting calories definitely appealed to me. When I compared the calorie content per serving in Diet Dr. Pepper vs. Regular Dr. Pepper, I found that switching to Diet Dr. Pepper will save 100 calories per serving. While that may not seem like an extraordinary amount of calories, it really is when you multiply 100 calories by a factor of 2.5, the amount of servings in a typical bottle of soda that you might buy out of a vending machine or at a convenience store. Considering my two bottle a day habit, it was clear to me that I was drinking at least 500 calories in just soda per day.

I tried to perform this taste test scientifically. I purchased both Diet and Regular Dr. Pepper in a two liter bottle, chilled them and did the taste test with both of them freshly opened. I labeled two identical glasses and poured in equal amounts of soda. I switched the glasses around about 20 or so times until I didn't know which glass held which soda. Would I be able to determine which soda was which? Would the Diet Dr. Pepper really taste close to the taste of Regular Dr. Pepper?