Listener Richard Kirke emailed in to offer us some explanation of how decisions are made around sweeteners and sugar in soft drinks, and how companies balance them out – especially post-sugar tax. Why Richard? Well, as well as being a composer, Richard glories in the job of beverage technician – he is one of the people who designs drinks and recalibrates them when they need to change but keeping their taste. It's a fascinating discussion and taught us a lot about taste, different sweeteners and – Helen's new favourite term – bricks.

Episode notes

What we drank at Kat's book launch (0:00)

Insomnia, cheese, and book writing. (2:57)

Froot Shoots, air up, and the nostalgia of squash (7:08)

What are we drinking? Wednesday's Domaine (10:38)

Richard Kirke interview (19:54)

Launching new drinks and reducing sugar content. (23:12)

Sugar alternatives in the food industry... (28:33)

... and their limitations. (31:57)

Artificial sweeteners and their potential health risks. (37:36)

Food industry trends and sugar reduction. (41:30)

Favourite soft drinks and exotic juices. (46:22)

The mailbag! (47:22)

Food and drink options for non-drinkers and vegetarians. (52:19)

Episode transcript

If you’ve got cool knowledge about soft drinks that you'd like to share with us, or any other non-booze-related gossip, then email us at popculturedrinkspodcast@gmail.com. You can see what and where we've been drinking lately on Instagram @popculturedrinkspodcast, and join our mailbag! DM us a voice note or your thoughts on all things drinks – we love to hear from you, and we might share it on a future show.

Pop Culture is on Bookshop.org! Read books by us, our guests, and others we like, while helping to support the show. Thank you for listening and, until Helen comes up with another catchphrase, keeeeeep drinking!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.