I was at the point where instead of buying energy drinks (at 2 bucks a can!) I was crushing caffeine pills into gatorade.
I use energy drinks strictly as a caffeine delivery system, and vault zero does this the best as it tastes great and has no sugar. When you like as much caffeine as I do (and don't like coffee) drinking enough energy drinks to satisfy my needs would break the bank and break my pancreas.
Great drink... tastes great, lots of caffeine, and no sugar/calories. Good job Coke!
How can this be presented as an Energy drink when it has no stimulant, vitamin, or other energy related ingredients except for caffiene. Come on, this is no more an energy drink than diet coke is.
I was surprised to find that this diet Vault was actually a lot more palatable than Diet Mountain Dew, the drink I think they made it pretty clear they are desperately trying to one-up. But the decent taste for a diet citrus soda is all that makes it worthwhile; it isn't going to give you much of an energy boost unless you've never had caffeine before. Some false advertising but at $.98 for a 2 litter bottle when you're lucky to get 16 ounces of any other energy drink for that price you can't expect too much. I'll probably get it again next time I'm craving the Dew but don't want to ruin my teeth with all that sugar.
First off, I don't dislike Diet Mountain Dew, but to me Vault Zero tastes considerably better.
Being a diabetic I generally stick with the diet stuff for obvious reasons, so any new entry into the diet category is a big plus in my book. (I occasionally sneak in a regular soda but only very rarely and even then I really shouldn't do it).
I'll preface my review of the Vault Zero with my opinions on Diet Mountain Dew as a basis for comparison.
The best tasting Diet Mountain Dew (In my opinion which is of course subjective), Is available on fountain at QuikTrip convenience stores. There's no readily apparent reason why theirs tastes better, but other local convenience stores which have Diet Mtn Dew on fountain, there is a very different flavor and in particular after taste. Bottom line is the non-QT fountain places tend to have the same bitter aftertaste that the bottles and cans of Diet Mountain Dew have which is my major gripe with the stuff (minus that it would be pretty decent).
So with that out of the way, I feel that Vault Zero (henceforth VZ and Diet Mountan Dew will be abbreviated as DMD), is a refreshing change in diet citrus sodas. Despite having aspartame, VZ doesn't leave the aspartame aftertaste. DMD does somewhat to me, but the sitter/sour aftertaste tends to overpower the aspartame taste. I would almost go so far as to suggest that VZ approaches splenda like sweeterner taste despite not having any in it. (Probably the Ace-K at work). DMD Code Red tends to be a bit better in the bitter aftertaste department, but it's still there. If Pepsi were to reformulate DMD with Splenda, I think this would resolve the problem considerably. VZ does bear a bit more resemblence to the Diet version of MDX, but mostly it reminds me of good old Surge. (Never saw a diet version of that, but I seem to recall that there were originally plans for one). To me, VZ tastes a bit more like original Surge than regular Vault does. (Like I said, I do sneak a non-diet one in every now and again).
In any case, given the choice, I hands down will pick a VZ over DMD given the current formulations of both. The only gripe I currently have with VZ is the fact that in the Phoenix area, I've only seen it available in the 20oz bottles. The 1L bottles of it alongside regular Vault would be a big plus in my opinion, and at least in talking to a Coke guy at the grocery store, it should soon be available in cans and 2L bottles. I prefer to buy the 2L's primarily, so bring em out already Coca-Cola Enterprises. (Bottler in my area).
In closing, while the merits of Vault vs. Mountain Dew (sugared versions) are possibly more debatable, in the diet arena, Vault Zero is, in my opinion, a substantially better tasting beverage than Diet Mountain Dew). Hopefully Coke won't do what they've had a habit of doing the past several years and pull it off the market in a year or two after I've gotten in the habit of buying it over almost any other diet soda as they did with Diet Vanilla Coke. (Admittedly the Black Cherry Vanilla is a decent replacement for it so it wasn't a complete loss).
Why is it that Pepsi, despite being #2, is quite happy to hold on to slower moving beverages while Coke just kills off the slow movers? Case in point, Diet Coke with Splenda replacing the Diet Vanilla Coke on store shelves prior to the introduction of the Black Cherry Vanilla. I rarely see the Diet Coke w/ Splenda moving off the shelves, would it have killed them to keep a couple spots for the Diet Vanilla as well until the Diet Cherry Vanilla came out?
Ah well try Vault Zero in place of Diet Mountain Dew and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I love this drink. To me it is a better Diet Mountain Dew. I have always like the less carbonated drinks and this falls into that catagory. I hope they produce this. Still hard to find.
