When it comes to diet soft drinks, teas and sugar free beverages there are a lot to choose from. Some of them have a heavy artificial flavoring or taste to them but there are some that will have you checking the bottle to make sure that it really is a diet product. There are some products like Turner Dairy Diet Iced Tea that are regional offerings that you won’t be able to get everywhere; likewise there are sodas that we can’t get here like Mr. Pibb or some of the nicer Fanta flavors. Those are West Coast drinks but they were massively popular when we lived in San Diego with Fanta being one of the top picks for ‘American’ soda in Mexico.
It’s important to read the package before you try something new; it might say that it is sugar free but it could contain honey or some type of other sweetener. You also have to see what the suggested serving is; when buying two liter bottles most of the time its eight ounces but when you get in to products that are in a large can the nutritional values printed on it might be for a half or third of the can. The calories might be reduced but you are still getting sodium so you need to be mindful of that; likewise the teas and darker colas can do a number on the enamel of your teeth so brushing a little more than twice a day is strongly suggested.
1. Diet Faygo Twist: I get a lot of flack from people when Faygo products go on sale at my local grocery store. If you can get a 12 pack of cans for two dollars it’s a steal but when they have six of the 12 packs for ten dollars it’s like taking candy from a baby. Faygo has a lot of interesting flavors in their product line but only a handful of them are available in a diet version; the only three that are sold in the diet version in my area are the Orange, Twist and regular cola flavor. All three are comparable to other similar sodas but the Faygo Diet Twist is something that I could drink all day long. Most of the time these sell out extremely fast and getting a rain check for them is almost impossible if it is an in-store special as they only give out rain checks for things that are in the weekly sale circular. If you like a lemon lime type of soda then the Diet Twist is more than worth checking out.
2. Lipton Diet Green Tea: Even though I like to brew my own green tea there is something about the Lipton Diet Green Tea that I absolutely love. Until about six months ago the only place that I could find this was at Wal-Mart and as soon as they got it in stock it sold out. It has a great taste to it and the 16.9 ounce bottles are now being sold individually at most stores. Even though the package says that this has a citrus flavor to it, do not assume that it is something that is overly fruity. It is a sugar free green tea drink that tastes great on its own but if you want to throw in a few slices of freshly peeled orange or peach you can. One thing that I love doing with the smaller bottles is putting them in the freezer for about thirty minutes until the sides of the bottle are almost frozen. Give it a good shake before you open it and you have a thirst quenching iced tea slushie!
3. Wyler’s Singles To Go: Wyler’s has a lot of packet drinks that are comparable to Kool-Aid. Their Singles-To-Go line are portable packets that you empty into a 16.9 ounce bottle of water, shake, serve and enjoy. The cost per box is only a dollar at most stores like Save-A-Lot but there are only eight sleeves per package whereas other companies have ten in their boxes. Even so, you can’t beat the price on them and if you are someone that likes to have a cold drink when you are out and about, cerrying a few of these around with you can save you some money. You do need to mix the packets well or you will end up with a grit at the bottom of the bottle. Some of the best flavors are Lemonade, Cherry, Diet Peach Iced Tea and Diet Pink Lemonade. I love the fact that these are individually sealed; that means no measuring and they are something that kids can take to school with them so they can avoid the soda machines.
4. Arizona Sugar Free Green Tea: Whether you buy the packets of the Arizona Diet Green Tea or get the ‘talls’ (23 ounce cans) you are getting one of the best diet green tea drinks that has ginseng. The beauty of this product is that it is calorie free, carbohydrate free and has one of the smoothest tastes. I prefer the cans of this over the bottles; most of my local stores sell these for .99 cents (the price printed on it) however there are some stores that won’t sell the diet versions. If you want to get a price break on the Arizona Diet Green Tea you can check stores like Smart & Final for flats of them. If you can find a 12 or 24 pack of this chances are you will end up saving at least half of the regular price on it. That means that a 23 ounce can of this will end up costing you less than what you would pay for a 12 ounce can of diet soda from a vending machine.
5. Diet Dr. Pepper: If I were stuck on an island and could only have one thing to drink for the rest of my life, it would be Diet Dr. Pepper. Not only does it have a great taste to it but it is something that doesn’t linger. The cans have a much crisper taste than the plastic two liter bottles but there are times when the bottles are on sale and the cans are not. The downside with the two liter bottles is that once you open them you are playing a game of “beat the clock” because it is going to lose its kick. I also use Diet Dr. Pepper when I make a ham in the oven. I use it as a baste and it always comes out with a great color and flavor to it. This is the only soda that I will buy regardless of whether it is on sale or not; I won’t say I am addicted to it but I will get extremely cranky if I run out of it or I see someone gulping down the last cold can.
6. Diet RockStar: If it’s energy you seek but don’t want to get loaded down with empty calories then Diet RockStar is worth a try. There are a lot of energy drinks on the market but most of them have a rank taste to them; Diet RockStar is a cut above the rest but I can’t guarantee that everyone is going to love the taste of it. I do prefer it to the regular version of RockStar and there is a true kick to it. The only downside to it is that you will have a crash from it when it starts to wear off. If you pound these on a daily basis you are going to build up a tolerance to it so I strongly suggest that you have a couple different diet energy drinks that you can rotate. The sixteen ounce cans are not cheap; most places sell them for two dollars or more. To get the best price consider buying a 12 or 24 pack but only after you give them a test drive to see if you like the flavor.
7. Diet Pepsi Mini Cans: Even though I rarely buy them, the mini “half size” cans of soda are extremely popular. Instead of a twelve ounce can you are getting an eight ounce size. Since it is a diet drink it doesn’t really make a huge difference whether you are drinking the smaller cans or the regular sized ones. Prices on these are more than the twelve ounce cans or the plastic bottles. The only perk to these mini versions is the ability to portion control a beverage. If you are someone that loves soda but you need to watch your sodium intake then these would be a wise purchase but since it is only four ounces short of a full can I can’t see spending more for less.
8. Kool-Aid Singles And Packets: Summer just isn’t summer without Kool-Aid. There are so many different flavors available that your head will spin when you see the display. I prefer to get the regular non-sweetened envelopes over the Singles-To-Go that are sugar free because of the price and I can add as much artificial sweetener as I like to it. The packets are cheap too; most of the time they are a quarter but when they go on sale for ten for a dollar I do stock up on the Black Cherry and Magic Twist flavors. These are great if you want to mix flavors too; you can buy some cheap plastic ice cube trays and make a couple batches of different flavors then add them to the Kool-Aid mixes. They won’t water down the taste of your drink like a regular ice cube and you can come up with some cool flavor combinations. For even more flavor, add some fresh or canned fruit to the ice cube trays before you put them in the freezer.
9. Sugar Free Swiss Miss: Swiss Miss has a lot of sugar free hot cocoa mixes; some of them are better than others. These are not marketed as calorie free drinks so you do need to read the package to see exactly what you are getting from it. Even though I don’t care for most of them because of the extremely sweet after taste that they have, they are a necessary evil if you are dieting. One of the reasons that these have a strong after taste to them is the artificial sweetener that they use. There is a difference between the “sugar free” formulation and the “no sugar added” versions; I wish that they sold a sampler pack of them so you could try them before you invest in a box of ten of them. When these are on sale for a dollar a box they are worth trying but at regular price I would skip them. You can use these to make a ‘fake chocolate milk’ but chances are unless you have been dieting for a while and haven’t had any chocolate it isn’t going to taste that great.
10. Decaf Iced Coffee: I got sick of paying upwards of four dollars for one at a local shop so I started working on my own at home. This is something that is nice in the evening after dinner when it starts to cool off a little outside. How do you make an iced coffee? I use a half pot of brewed decaffeinated coffee (you can use regular or a flavored coffee) that has cooled to room temperature. If you refrigerate it, it changes the taste a little and if it is still even a little warm it gets watered down when you add the ice. I use a cup of crushed ice (it has to be previously crushed) and the coffee with six ounces of whole milk. Put it in the blender and hit the pulse button a couple of times; you can add sweetener to the whole mix or individually. If you are serving it to people you might want to let them add it. You can also add a scoop of French vanilla ice cream in place of a little of the milk to thicken it a little. When you have it mixed, put the mix in the freezer in the blender cup. Let it sit for five to ten minutes then hit the pulse button a couple times and serve. Since you are making your own it is less expensive than buying them at a coffee shop and if you opt to use an artificial sweetener you are going to save yourself a lot of calories and carbohydrates.
