[syntheticnature]

When I was younger and drank more soda, I discovered I could grab a can of coke, pour it into a 24oz cup I had, then fill the can with water and pour that in and it tasted the same to me. If I focused on the flavor it was very subtly different, in a way that felt more refreshing -- but most of the time I was just drinking it without full focus and couldn't tell the difference.

Back then I was also packing lunches for my wife, and she wanted a bottle of commercial fruit juice to have with lunch. We'd buy a large bottle to save money and pour some into a smaller bottle for transport. I mentioned my experiment and she said "I'd like it if you had me try it with the juice" -- so I started doing it. A few days later she brought it up again, "Can we start diluting my juice I'm taking in?" and I told her she'd already been having diluted juice.

These days I fall into "water is the real adult beverage" but I always keep in mind just how sweet things are commonly made.

[bityard]

To my taste buds, North American candy, soda, and other sugary snacks have gotten twice to three times sweeter since I was a kid. To the point that in most cases, all you can actually taste is the sugar and nothing else. It would be interesting if someone were able to dig up a 30-year-old can of Coke or whatever and compare its carbohydrate content to modern Coke. (You can't just use the Nutrition Facts label, because that is not only a recent invention, but also companies free use it to lie about their products.)

We have a 1st-gen Coke freestyle machine in my workplace. On the rare occasion I go for it, I pick a zero-sugar variant, and I dilute it with 50% sparkling water otherwise every single flavor is way, WAY too sweet for me.

[jowdones]

That's exactly what I wanted to say. Both Cola and Pepsi are too damn sweet. On the rare occasion at the right temperature and amount of thirst on my side I can drink a 330ml bottle and actually enjoy the taste. But most of the times it feels like too sugary so either I drink just a small glass and lots of water afterwards or just mix it with carbonated water directly. Bottom line: usually feels too sweet for me.

Like coffee: I like a hint of sweet in my espresso, but Cola is like dumping 4-5 spoons in a small cup of coffee. Becomes sugar syrup and that's all one can taste anymore.

[naremu]

I know it should be a warning sign to just not drink coke, but I've instead taken it as a "this is literally for filling a glass already prefilled to the brim with ice like in the ads" kind of thing.

Because undiluted coca cola is just honestly not very good, and extremely uh, I'm not sure how to put it, practically pungent

[crazygringo]

> have gotten twice to three times sweeter since I was a kid.

They definitely have not. You just like sugary things better as a kid.

It's kind of like, the summer camp I went to as a kid, and recently revisited as an adult -- they shrunk all the buildings and fields in size by half! Or so it certainly seemed, I could have sworn...

I can't eat the candy I ate as a kid either. Now, 85% dark chocolate on the other hand...

[jbverschoor]

There’s a YouTuber who did that, but it was disgusting after all that time

[earthling8118]

Interesting experience, but I tend to notice even a small amount of water mixed in. Different senses I guess.