I’ve long felt that Aldi’s GT Cola is one of the best Pepsi knockoffs that I’ve ever tried.  It has a good cola flavor that blows most store/budget brands out of the water, and is incredibly affordable at an unbelievable 59 cents for a two-liter.  But how exactly does the taste stack up to one of the kings of cola?

Going into the test, it’s only common sense that Pepsi itself will out-Pepsi any competition.  So this is not necessarily a test to see which is “better”, per se, but rather to see if GT Cola really is as close as I thought it was throughout all these years.

I should note this test was pulled off using a freshly opened two-liter of Pepsi, and a two-liter of GT Cola that had been in the fridge for about four days.  Not that I think it causes too much of a difference to the overall test–the GT isn’t flat, and tastes exactly like I remember it tasting four days ago when I opened it–it’s just one of those minor things that should be noted in tests like this.

I’m no name brand connoisseur, so I do not have a preference one way or another in the neverending Pepsi vs. Coke war.  I like both, and drink both, depending on what’s readily available and/or what mood I happen to be in at the moment.  This is also one of those things that should be noted, because some people will either drink one or the other.  So, the Pepsi drinkers among you may not be as easy to satisfy as I am when it comes to a store brand attempting to rip off your beloved drink.

Now, on to the test.  The Pepsi has a very strong bite that I guess I’ve just never paid too much attention to.  It’s got a very vivid cola flavor, and also has a lot more fizz than I remember (I have always thought of Coke, and their products, to be the kings of carbonation).  By comparison, the GT Cola plays out like an ever-so-slightly watered down version of the soda giant:  The main foundation of the flavor is there, and when it first hits the tongue it feels like it’s going to achieve the same flavors, but it just falls a little bit short.  Now, the flavors aren’t so muted that it feels like a diet version of Pepsi–it’s very drinkable–but it just doesn’t hit quite as hard.

Overall, though, it’s hard to argue with a soda that tastes relatively close to the national brand, but can be had for a ridiculous 59 cents.  My only complaint:  GT Cola is not available in a 12-pack, as most of Aldi’s sodas are.  Instead, they also sell 24 packs of the stuff for about $4.75, which isn’t a bad deal, but is sometimes more than I want to pay for something that I shouldn’t drink so much of to begin with.

Overall: 8/10 for GT.  It has a very good cola flavor, but doesn’t quite hit the taste buds as hard as Pepsi.  But for 59 cents, what it lacks in taste, it certainly helps to make up for in price.

UPDATE: I just noticed that, at the time this review was posted, GT Cola was only available in 24-packs, as well as 2-liters.  Since then, they’ve gotten rid of the 24-packs, and replaced those with the 12-packs I was hoping for, which currently (as of 6/1/2016) retail for $2.25, surprisingly cheaper than the 24-packs from five years ago.  The 2-liters remain an option, but have since gone up in price, to $.79, still making them an excellent deal.  Please, take all pricing with a grain of salt (it can differ from region to region, and fluctuate at any time) as I don’t have time to denote every change, but thought it was worth it to mention that 12-packs are now available.

UPDATE #2 (6/9/2019): In retrospect, this is really not an even comparison, as GT Cola has a flavor profile more akin to RC Cola than Pepsi.