"I can't give you a Tab unless you order something."
Posted on 12/18/2020 9:35:37 PM PST by thecodont
(CNN)-- RIP, Tab.
After nearly 60 years, Coca-Cola is discontinuing its first-ever diet soda, Tab, which acquired a huge fan base in the '70s and '80s and maintained a small but devoted following through the years.
"Tab had an amazing run," said Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition and a longtime Tab enthusiast. Bixby said messages of condolences have been pouring in. "As a business decision I can understand it, but it's a very sad day ... I do feel it's like losing a friend."
Tab is one of several "underperforming" products Coke has said it is eliminating from its brand lineup by the end of the year as the company seeks to streamline production and focus on bestsellers.
Coke isn't alone in culling its brand lineup. Many food and beverage companies are cutting back on their product offerings during the pandemic to make their operations more efficient and meet growing demand for their most popular items.
The company said its beverage overhaul was already under way before Covid-19, but the pandemic prompted the company to fast-track changes.
[...]
Bixby, who has remained loyal to Tab since the 1970s, said he had been preparing for the end. He said he's been auditioning replacement diet colas all summer — all too sweet.
The saccharine-sweetened, zero-calorie Tab was initially marketed to women. Some people familiar with the flavor have described it in terms including "bitter" and "like bad medicine," with a metallic and lingering aftertaste.
Though Bixby said he preferred it to other diet colas because it was less sweet. "It didn't compete with things, so you could enjoy it with a meal."
Tab's growth was more or less cannibalized when Diet Coke came on the scene in 1982. But Coke kept the brand alive for years for its devotees.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Terrible taste in the original saccharin version.
But my aunt couldn’t drink enough of it.
I love Fresca but it is hard to find where I live. I remember the hysteria days in the 70’s where all artificial sweeteners caused cancer......in rats.
It was gross.
Well now what are they gonna do with all the recycled battery acid?
If you really have a jones for the product and have throwaway funds, I have good news . . .
Sad to say Tab will now go by the
way as Billy beer. $200 bucks a
six pack.
I drank a TAB once in 1970. Never again.
Saccharine has an awful taste.
BUT, you can make perfect diet tea with saccharine.... I think maybe the tannin in tea removes the nasty taste of saccharine.
Here’s my famous diet ice tea recipe.
Get the cheap yellow box of Pecoe tea, the 1$ store brand.
In the microwave boil 2 cups of water in a pyrex measuring cup.
Take the hot water and put in 8 single bags of tea...mix around.
Put 22-24 pink bags of saccharine powder in the tea and stir to dissolve.
Cover the measuring cup with a piece of foil.
Leave the cup at room temp for 24hrs.
Mix the tea with 2 liters of water and serve on ice.
Best tea EVER....but you have to wait the 24hrs for the bitterness of the saccharine to disappear.
It’s CHEAP and GREAT!
I generally save 2 ltr soda bottles and keep them in the fridge full of cold water...don’t fill all the way to the top...leave 2 cups of space to pour the tea in...
Try it :-)
What am I gonna mix my tanqueray with now?
Oh, I get the huge, commercial boxes of pink sweetener at Sams Club...it’s way cheaper there in the bulk boxes.
BTW: Saccherine(benzoic sulfimide)is made from COAL...no wonder the damned stuff can be bitter.
In the early years there was a period of time when you could get TAB sweetened by cyclamates...it was wonderful!
Saccharine seems to increase in sweetening ability when left in tea for a few hours... I like my tea rather sweet but others might lower the amount of sweetener...
Just remember that you cannot add saccharine after the tea has aged overnight...if you add any at that point the tea will be bitter. You will have to adjust the sweetener amount next time.
"I can't give you a Tab unless you order something."
I realized long ago that ones favorite soft drink will always the one they get use to. In other words if you liked Dr. Pepper but moved to somewhere in the world where only Coke was available and you drank it for a period of time and returned to where Dr. Pepper was available you would most likely stick with Coke as your taste had changed.
Unless you were a rat.
Thank you dfwgator, I was about to look on YouTube for the scene myself...
I never liked its taste. I though it was discontinued years ago.
What other sodas are being discontinued? I try not to drink too much soda, but I do treat myself to a Diet Sundrop now and then. (That’s Dr. Pepper / 7-Up’s product. They also had a flavor - Diet Cherry-Lemonade that I rather liked, but have not seen recently.)
“Absolutely the worst soft drink I ever had.”
No way. The honor of worst soft drink ever is firmly held by Fresca. A whole nother level of terrible.
Double shot tab back sounds like computer talk.
I think around age 12, I got about four sips into a Tab drink and then threw it away. Requires a special appreciation.
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