When you’re trying to die a little slower, soda is the first thing you should give up. Many years ago when I wanted to try and dial in my health a bit, I dropped regular soda drinking from meals all together, and while getting a big ass Dr. Pepper with my cheeseburger on a Saturday night used to be a lot of fun, I can’t remember the last time I did that. Nowadays if I divulge in a little brown bubbly I tend to lean towards the diet stuff, which is still not that great for you, but at least it isn’t 150 calories of drinking something that leaves you parched. The dehydrating-hydrators at Coca Cola really tempted my limited time tastebuds at the beginning of this year by rolling out 4 new Diet Coke’s in a newly styled tall skinny can, and goddammit I had to try them all!

Ginger Lime:

Both ginger and lime flavors are very mild, and it damn near tastes like regular Diet Coke. There’s a slight ginger tickle at the end, but compared to ginger ale or nearly any other ginger beverage I’ve had its very mellow. There’s also no bright acidic citrus pop coming through, and I get even less lime than I do ginger, which is odd considering I recall the normal Diet Coke Lime packing much more of a zing. The carbonation is moderate and finishes with a very sweet aspartame caramel note that’s fine but nothing new or special.

Rating: 7/10

Twisted Mango:

Diet Coke and Mango engaged in harmonious drink-emony, who knew? This combo really works, and the tropical presence of the mango somehow helps temper the normally aggressively sweet Diet Coke profile. It has a really pleasant and soft effervescence that smooths out into the perfect mixture of deep caramel notes and fruity mango sweetness. I tend to like most mango flavored desserts and Coke did a great job of marrying the two distinctly different tastes into a very drinkable soda. I will absolutely buy this one again when I want to have a lonely boy pizza party for one.

Rating: 9/10

Zesty Blood Orange:

Channeling the deep, funky, sharp bite of a blood orange is a bit of a stretch, but this soda definitely has a citrus-y orange edge that works pretty well. The orange flavor reminds me a bit of a Tootsie Pop and edges towards the artificial side but isn’t so strong that it’s undrinkable. Diet Coke is always a bit syrupy and overly sweet, and the zesty flavor here doesn’t do anything to push that over the edge or soften it in any way. If anything it’s a bit more subtle than I anticipated, and while it doesn’t hurt the integrity of the beverage it doesn’t really entice me to want to drink it again.

Rating: 7/10

Feisty Cherry:

This is a classic and you know exactly what it tastes like. Cherry and cola go about as hand in hand as salt and pepper, and any time I’m given the opportunity to have a Cherry Coke over a Coca Cola Classic I take it. While cherry flavoring can oftentimes come off as medicinal and offputting, the combination works really well with cola and this new “feisty” version is no exception. The only problem with this one is that it isn’t as good or authentic tasting as the already available Coke Zero Cherry, which drinks more like a “real” soda and is an all around better product.

Rating: 8/10

Found at: Target ($1.09/can)