Yes, Coca-Cola has done it again. Another new version of Coke for Cruft Labs to investigate. Coca-Cola BlaK is "Coke Effervescence with Coffee Essence". You will note that I am spelling it correctly. It's not 'black' it's 'BlaK'.

I spied Coke BlaK on the internet a week or so ago and looked for it at 7-Eleven regularly. Last night, while picking up a pint of Oatmeal Cookie Chunk, I found that Coke Blak had arrived.

Loyal Cruft Readers know that I have much love for Coke and even more love for canned iced coffee. Could this be some sort of beverage nirvana?

Coke BlaK comes in a small 8 ounce glass bottle in the classic curved bottle. 12 ounces bottles would be better, but it's better than the plastic bottles.

Taking a look at the back of the bottle, the first thjng to notice is that Coke BlaK is a diet drink similar to C2. To sweeten it, Coke uses corn syrup, Aspartame (Nutrasweet), and Acesulfame potassium (Ace K), just like Coke C2. Coke BlaK has 12 grams of carbohydrates (think sugar) in 8 ounces, the exact same ratio of sugar in C2 (18 grams in 12 ounces.). While not promoting it, Coke is basically using the C2 base formula for Coke BlaK.

Enough looking, let's get to the drinking. It has a lower amount of carbonation than a typical Coke. No striking aroma either. I took a drink and could immediately taste the coffee flavor. I was hoping to like it, but it just doesn't taste that great. The coffee flavor doesn't taste quite right. It's so specifically coffee that it almost tastes synthetic. It didn't taste like Coke with some cold coffee mixed in, it tasted like coke with drops of Coffee Flavor #57 dropped in. I don't have a better way to describe it other than 'artificial'.

Michele gave it a taste and said, "My god, that's horrid. I mean truly terrible!" Zoe took a taste as well and commented, "That's yucky.". Sadly, I tend to agree.

On the bright side, I removed the label from the bottles and the kids want to use them as water bottle. The classic shape, screw top, and 8 ounce size make them perfect for little hands. Here is the bottle in use in today's afternoon picnic in the front yard.

Posted by michael at April 08, 2006 03:56 PM