This Review article is part of a Narcity Media series. The views expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
I love a good TikTok hack and have even adopted a few of them into my daily life. So, when I found out there was a viral video going around showing how to make "healthy coke" I knew it was something I needed to try.
I won't lie, the ingredients in this had me shook. Apparently, to achieve the Coca-Cola dupe, all you do is mix a splash of balsamic vinegar with soda water, give it a stir, add in some ice and you're good to go.
The first time I watched the video, I was like, "Wait, this woman wants me to drink cold bubbly vinegar water?"
I truly couldn't fathom how the combo of ingredients would taste like soda, but I gathered up my ingredients and gave it a go.
In the video, she uses a guava-flavoured La Croix but says you can use any sparkling water, so I opted for my Soda Stream. I also didn't have regular balsamic vinegar — but I received a fancy fig-flavour balsamic vinegar as a present a few months ago and decided to use that.
So, I grabbed a wine glass, loaded it up with ice, popped in a splash of my balsamic and filled the rest of it up with fizzy water.
Soda water in a Soda Stream, a wine glass with ice and balsamic vinegar. Sarah Rohoman | Narcity
Right away it looked identical to a coke in terms of colour and effervescence.
I braced myself for what I was about to do and hesitantly took a sip of the concoction.
It's good. Like, I'd-drink-this-everyday kind of good.
I thought the balsamic flavour would be overwhelming and make me shudder, but either the carbonation or just the dilution of the soda water makes it more of a pleasant addition rather than an aggressively forward note.
The "Coke" in a wine glass. Sarah Rohoman | Narcity
That being said, it doesn't taste like Coca-Cola. It does sort of taste like those natural colas you can get at fancy stores, but this costs a fraction of the price.
I can't attest to whether or not this is "healthier" than the popular canned drink, but regardless, it's something I'm going to add to my summer drink rotation!