Next Please

February 25, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

pepsi

(This post is part of “Product Talk by Nuffnang”. Views are my own.)

For many, Saturday’s a sleep in day, but when your bike is calling you need to get up early and hit the road. I don’t get as much chance to get out on my bike as I used to but I still love cycling whenever I can. Saturday is still one day that I can generally catch up with cycling friends and remind myself why I love turning the pedals.

Last Saturday was a warm one. We may be most of the way through summer but there are still some hot days on the way. I headed out early and caught up with a few others. We cycled to South Perth for coffee and some good conversation before heading back home. I was happy to have stretched my legs and clocked up just over 60 kilometres. By the time I pulled in to my driveway the mercury had started to soar.

When I got home I opened the fridge looking for something cold that wasn’t going to undo all the work I’d just put in on the bike. I didn’t want to guzzle a can of sugar and I certainly didn’t want to overload on chemical sweeteners. Thankfully the kind people at Pepsi had sent me some cans of Pepsi Next. It has naturally less sugar than regular colas and is sweetened naturally using Stevia. So while drinking too much of any carbonated drink isn’t good for you, it’s great to have an alternative that’s relatively better for you.

I don’t drink a lot of soft drink but I know that having a naturally better alternative means that on those occasions that I need to quench a thirst with something that tastes great my choice will be Pepsi Next … naturally.

I was interested to see that Pepsi thinks that Pepsi Next tastes so good that they’ve been inviting people from around Australia to take part in a blind taste test of Pepsi Next and full sugar Coca Cola to see which taste they prefer. Their confidence seems to be paying off with more people choosing the taste of Pepsi Next.

What is the difference between Pepsi Next and Pepsi Max?

Pepsi Next is a lower kilojoule/calorie cola drink sweetened naturally with stevia to deliver 30% less sugar. Pepsi Max contains no sugar and is sweetened with high intensity sweeteners – Aspartame and Acesulfame Potassium

Does this mean 30% less kilojoules/calories?

Yes. Pepsi Next contains 30% less sugar than regular Pepsi.

As an ingredient in food and beverages, stevia adds no kilojoules/calories. It helps reduce energy in food and beverages by replacing caloric sweet ingredients such as sugar.

How many kilojoules/calories is 30% less sugar?

Regular Pepsi has an energy content of 175kJ (42 calories) per 100ml. Pepsi Next has an energy content of 119kJ (28 calories) per 100ml. Nutritional information is clearly labelled on all our products.



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Oh Mother!

March 5, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
3 Comments

Mother_can_image.jpgYou’ve got to hand it to Coca-Cola. It takes guts to advertise the fact that you’ve created an awful product that no one likes.

By all accounts the original Mother Energy Drink tasted pretty disgusting. I can’t really comment as I never had any interest in buying energy drinks. However, an increasing number of people do buy energy drinks and not many of them were buying the original Mother, which is why the product was completely revamped.

The new Mother is now selling well in Australia and other energy drink makers are copying Mother in providing consumers with 500 ml cans, twice the size of their normal product.

I found an email in my inbox some weeks ago asking for my opinion on their recent advertising. You can check out the TV ads at the Mother Blog. The email also asked if I’d like to try some of the new product.

While I’ve never really had an interest in energy drinks I’ve always had an interest in free stuff, so I said ‘Yes please’.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been making my way through a couple of dozens cans of Mother. My supply is now running out and I’m really going to miss having my morning kick.

I’d describe the taste to you but I really can’t pick it. It’s the kind of taste that grows on you. You need to down a few cans, though not one after another, before you get hooked …. er …. I mean start enjoying the full bodied flavour of this remarakble energy drink.

Yes, their ploy worked. I’m quite likely to buy the occasional can from this point on.

I love what it says on the side of the can.

If you need a MOTHER of an energy hit, you need MOTHER. It delivers twice the kick, in a big black can. So now when a mate turns up with a wussy-sized can, you can raise your MOTHER up and proudly say, ‘did yours come with a man-bag?’.

It’s not only an energy drink, it’s an energy drink with a sense of humour.

I’m wondering if you’ve tried Mother. Do you like it? Do you feel the energy kick after drinking it? Are you able to describe the flavour?



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Limca

February 4, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
3 Comments

Limca_logo.jpgThere it was … taunting me … tempting me. An ice cold bottle of Limca was in our fridge. I had no idea how it got there but I knew exactly where it was going.

Limca is a lemon lime drink from India. I drank plenty of it both in 2003 and 2005 when I visited India and I’ve always wished that it was available here in Australia.

A while after getting home today I opened the fridge to see the object of my desire staring back at me. There it was, 300 ml of pure taste sensation. I could only guess that Pauline had found it somewhere in her travels.

Once Pauline arrived home I quizzed her on how she found Limca here in Perth. Apparently there’s an Indian food shop not far from the new school the kids are attending. That means it’s not far from where we’ll eventually move when we sell our house and buy another.

The bottle cost $2.50 but it was worth every cent. I gave Pauline, Emily and James a small taste before downing the rest of the bottle.

I don’t think I can afford to drink Limca every day but you can be sure that I’ll be visiting that shop somewhat regularly when we finally move house.



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