Live Blog: Snapple Taste Test

Remember I mentioned that Snapple would be redesigning its' packaging and replacing corn syrup with real sugar as a sweetener? The new bottles (and new beverages) have now appeared.

I thought it might be interesting to compare the new with the old, before the old disappears completely from store shelves. (It just about has — I had to use a large, 32 oz. plastic bottle of old Snapple, as that was all I could find.) This won't be the first time I've tried the new Snapple, though (sorry, I haven't been able to resist it), so this might not be a completely scientific comparison. But ever in pursuit of truth, we begin.

9:49 AM — The two glasses of Snapple have been prepared, one old, one new. I've marked the glasses, so I know which is which, but the details are hidden from view. It looks as though I'm going to have to do this as a real blind test, after all — the older tea is just slightly, but obviously darker.

9:53 AM — So here we go. I'm going to close my eyes, rearrange the glasses a few times, and cover them.

9:55 AM — The first sample tastes, well, like Snapple Iced tea.

9:56 AM — The second sample is noticeably different. I'm having trouble defining why, but in comparison, it definitely seems sweeter.

9:57 AM — I definitely prefer the first sample. It seems more subtle. I think I only really notice it in comparison, but the sweetness quickly becomes overwhelming in sample two.

9:58 AM — There's something in the second sample that smells different, as well. I'm not sure what it is — a fruit scent? Or a tea scent?

9:59 AM — The reveal: Sample One is the new, with sugar. Sample Two is the old, with high fructose corn syrup. Other than that, the ingredients seem to be the same (though with a description like "Natural Flavors," there's no way to know).

I still wonder if there's a difference between the tea bottled in glass or in plastic, or in the larger container — that darker color leads me to wonder if it wasn't a more concentrated infusion, somehow. (I'll have to see if I can find a bottle of old Snapple, hidden away in the corner of a refrigerator case and forgotten.) But I did prefer the tea sweetened with sugar. That sort of confirms what I've read about corn syrup through the years, that it tastes sweeter than sugar. I've just never noticed it.