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Over the years I've heard of the soft drink TAB but never saw them in stores until about a week ago when I visited my fiancee. I saw it in Super Kmart and decided to buy a pack of 24 cans. When I came back home in Ottawa I opened up the pack and took a can. After one drink I nearly spat it out. It tasted as if Pepsi or Coke made a cola with club soda or mineral water instead of using regular water.

I talked to my sister and she said that she had one before and it didn't taste awful but agreed that the one she tried from my pack did taste awful.

So I ask you, does TAB taste like shit or did I buy a bad case?

I think the only thing its suppose to taste like is red dye.

TAB tastes like a really cheap Dr. Pepper. Its not that great to begin with. If I were you, I'd try to get a refund.

Anarchist Bunny wrote:I think the only thing its suppose to taste like is red dye.

That's funny, because TaB isn't red. TaB Energy, however, is (pink, technically), but it doesn't taste anything at all like regular TaB.

As I've mentioned on the board previously, I bought my first 12-case of TaB last Friday, and most recently had a can this morning.

Keep in mind that TaB is a diet cola, so it's going to have that basic "diet cola" taste profile. To me, TaB basically tastes like a slightly sweeter mix of Coca-Cola Classic and Diet Coke, or to use a singular example, like a slightly sweeter Coca-Cola Zero.

Personally, I enjoy it. I'd say your problem was that you bought it at Kmart, for God's sake...

Kinda spooey.

TAB is a diet cola, an old school diet cola...saccharine ahoy!

Diet Rite and TAB used to be just about your only diet sody-pop choices, I was there, I remember.

Yeah, Diet Rite was the first diet soda, introduced in 1958. TaB was second, in 1963, while Diet Pepsi was third, in 1964. Diet Coke didn't come around until 1982.

I think I had a Tab once. I think it was so terrible that I expunged it from my memory, so I can't be sure...

Personally, I think TAB tastes like shit. Shit mixed with petroleum byproducts.

My Other Half, however, sucks it down by the case. I sometimes think he's the main reason they still sell it.

Worse yet, since it has a reputation as a "girl's soda" the ladies at the checkout always think it's for ME. AAAAAAGH! The horror

More seriously, TAB tastes like off-Dr Pepper with a dash of vinegar and too much lemon juice, with an initial sweet taste followed by sacchrine's off-key bitter note. BLECCCHHHHHH!

It tastes like burning.

Frankly, if you don't like diet sodas in the first place, you're not going to like TaB, anyway.

If it is supposed to taste like a diet cola then it failed miserably. The TAB I had tasted like tainted club soda. It wasn't sweet at all.

I don't mind diet sodas but this one does not taste anything like it. And comparing it to a lite version of Dr. Pepper is an insult to Dr.Pepper.

Enigma wrote:If it is supposed to taste like a diet cola then it failed miserably. The TAB I had tasted like tainted club soda. It wasn't sweet at all.

At one time, it was about as good as diet cola got.

Not that it was ever considered good, please bear in mind...

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Yeah, Diet Rite was the first diet soda, introduced in 1958.

Interestingly enough, the concession stand I worked at at the Women's US Open had RC Cola and Diet Rite. I had no idea those two were still made. I thought RC had gone the way of the dodo and Diet Rite had long since been replaced by other diet colas.

Enigma wrote:If it is supposed to taste like a diet cola then it failed miserably. The TAB I had tasted like tainted club soda. It wasn't sweet at all.

I still blame it on the fact that you bought food from Kmart...

I've had TaB, I don't see what all the fuss is about. I never liked diet drinks anyway.

Now, Moxie....that shit puts hair on your chest. Ugh.

Enigma wrote:I saw it in Super Kmart and decided to buy a pack of 24 cans.

Buh. I hope you made sure to wash all the grime off first!

TaB is horrible. It is one of those drinks that most young folks will have never tried and for that you must be thankful. You didn't get a bad case, thats what it tastes like. I have not had one for more than 20 years and I still know not to drink it.

Is there any sort of expiration any date printed on the case packaging or the cans themselves? I think the fact that your sister says that yours' tasted irregular says something.

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:

Enigma wrote:If it is supposed to taste like a diet cola then it failed miserably. The TAB I had tasted like tainted club soda. It wasn't sweet at all.

I still blame it on the fact that you bought food from Kmart...

What is wrong with Kmart?

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Is there any sort of expiration any date printed on the case packaging or the cans themselves? I think the fact that your sister says that yours' tasted irregular says something.

The expiration date is September 11 2006.

TAB cola has always tasted like shit.

That stuff is VILE. Until recently, I thought that brand was extinct as it had been years since I'd seen it on the shelves. I can only wonder at the evil that has kept TAB from disappearing into oblivion.

Frank Hipper wrote:TAB is a diet cola, an old school diet cola...saccharine ahoy!

Diet Rite and TAB used to be just about your only diet sody-pop choices, I was there, I remember.

TAB, Diet Rite and Fresca.

Fads of the 70's that still send shivers up my spine due to flashbacks of the taste nastiness.

I've been surprised in the past with Diet Rite and Fresca still existing.

I'm even a little amazed that RC Cola is still around with the way the big boys market themselves and supermarkets only seem to carry certain brands.

A few years ago I was in a truck stop in Kansas and not only did they still carry Jolt they were multiple flavors of the stuff.

In a way it's kind of refreshing that there is still some room for things to be a little different around the country. No need for the same few items/brands to be the only thing available in every store in the land.

On that note, anyone live where they still sell Mello Yello?