A Warning

New Tab Energy drink:

1. Is pink.
2. Contains ginseng.
3. Bears no resemblance at all to my memories of the drink formerly known as Tab.

Under no circumstances should anybody drink it. None.

That is all.

Comments

[Jonathan Lundell]

"Under no circumstances should anybody drink it. None."

And therein lies the key similarity between new and old Tab....

[Linkmeister]

Oh, man. Jonathan, you got that right. How that "cola" could have been so uncola-like in taste always puzzled me.

When I saw the ad for the new stuff during the Super Bowl I thought "They think this will IMPROVE it?"

[modus potus]

"3. Bears no resemblance at all to my memories of the drink formerly known as Tab."

Sounds like they've already improved it.

[jf]

Do you know which sweetener is used?

[me]

Here is another outfit that sent a ton of jobs to India and decimated the corporate culture. Then they come up with Coke with lemon and it tastes like dishwater. Then they come up with Coke with lime and it tastes like dishwater. Then they come up with Cherry Vanilla flavored Coke and it tastes like dishwater.

Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper is awesome (diet version too) and packs a flavored punch.

And on top of everything they are delivering some beverages direct to Wal-Mart, pissing off the bottlers and putting themselves at the mercy of Wal-Mart.

You gotta wonder what Warren is thinking. He has helped run this outfit into the ground.

[John Costello]

TAB energy drink tastes like lettuce. Mmmmm, lettuce.

Does anyone remember Tab Clear? That was a good soft drink -- vaguely cinnamony.

[bncthor]

What's the tab for a 6 pack?

[christofay]

vodka, ice, and a sunny day will improve this science fiction based drink. I haven't tried it but ran it through a simulation. I don't think you'll be able to pick up that six pack at Whole Foods

[Faisal N. Jawdat]

The conclusion is heartily seconded. I needed something to drink 5 minutes before giving a speech. It was the only beverage available. Had I known then what I know now, I'd have risked dying of dehydration mid-speech rather than opening that can.

[Dirk]

I bought a four-pack a few weeks ago. Haven't had an old-style Tab is probably 20 years. The new Tab looks like Coke's attempt to revitalize the brand and ride the energy-drink wave. (They sell other energy drinks, too.)

Anyway, it was very sweet. Maybe they dropped the saccharin, which was bad, but which I associate with Tab. The new Tab wasn't so bad, really.

[jerry]

Add more cinnamon.

[Matt]

If you're looking for a soda with a 'vegetative' flavor, there's always Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray.

[Ginger Yellow]

"They sell a pretty good bottled water, though: DaSani. Tastes better than most. They "enhance" it with minerals (magnesium sulfate)."

It's tap water. Quite literally. And, in the UK at least, the "purification process" added so many carcinogens they had to pull it from the market.

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,3604,1174127,00.html

[Palolo lolo]

Tab was undrinkable before. The after-taste lasted for days!

[Stuart]

Rum & Tab was Dad's favorite drink.

I always did wonder if I was adopted...

[greensmile]

Older folks like myself, who remember its association with the cyclamate scare, have no trouble passing up the wierd little can that has now appeared in the coolers at the convenience stores.

[sampo]

Taste is only part of the equation. I, for one, am willing to put aside my refined sense of taste if the energy drink in question delivers the punch of liquid cocaine.

Taste is so passe to kids these days.

[JRoth]

The Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority offers PGH2O, which is our excellent tap water in a bottle. But I think it's only used promotionally, at community events and such.

Oh, and Cel-Ray bows down before Kraut Juice.

[Brian G]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Brad.

Not just for vindicating my love for the old Tab (still available in certain supermarkets in New Mexico, unclear whether its been on the shelf since 1986), but also for preventing me from making an unnecessary trip to the non-whole-foods supermarket to try this chemical combination of ... whatever.

Plus whenever I wind up at the non-whole-foods supermarket, I usually wind up with things like fat-free sugar-free jello pudding, requires no milk! My chromosones thank you.

[J.Goodwin]

I happen to think that Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper is atrocious.

As far as Tab energy drink goes, you can apply very similar language as that in the original post to Moxie Energy Drink, substituting "green" for "pink."

[Maynard Handley]

Unfortunately, Brad, you lost your drink-recommending cred when you dissed diet Lemon-tea Snapple.
I am now curious to try this new Tab, though it is quite possible that a look at the list of ingredients will change my mind.

[heatherette]

I have an old Tab glass-it's shaped like an hourglass-for the ladies...

[jf]

I got a kick out of this from wikipedia:

"It is packed in 10.5 ounce slim cans (with a shape similar to the can used for Red Bull). The New Yorker notes than the original Tab has thirty-one milligrams of caffeine and less than 1 calorie per serving, while Tab Energy has ninety-five milligrams of caffeine and five calories. (It also contains 785 mg Taurine, 116 mg Ginseng extract, 19 mg Carnitine, and 0.90 mg Guarana extract, according to the can.)"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_Energy

[Bre]

from wikipedia: (A recent taster describes it as "a cross between watermelon Jolly Rancher and Red Bull.")

Just reading that make me want to rinse out my mouth

[J Taylor]

I remember the OLD TAB and the NEW TAB is nothing like it. As for ingredients, why would you mix aspartame with saccharin?
a little aspartame is ALL poison, saccharin you can not possible consume enough of to cause bladder cancer and it does not remain in your system for YEARS as aspartame does.
Now even good old RC is using SPLENDA another poison.
I think I will stick with sugar for now. Has anyone seen Sugar Twin lately, cyclamates and able to cook with it?