Yeah, but I'd certainly know which brand I was drinking after a sip, and likely before, hence the confusion. That doesn't seem "blind", aside from in the most literal sense. How can there be a big reveal of "you chose Pepsi!" and the surprised reaction when they'd (I thought—this thread is making me reconsider) have to be entirely unfamiliar with mainstream sodas or have suffered some kind of nerve/brain damage not to be able to tell which they were drinking from taste and smell alone. I don't find the differences between the two to be subtle, but maybe it's just me after all.
There are two important things here. One is that until you do a blind test, I wouldn't bet on your abilities. People think they can tell things and effects apart if they have a lot of experience. But it takes a proper experiment and they find out they just relied on their biases.
The second thing is that "proper experiment" I mentioned. It's one thing to tell someone they're getting Coke and Pepsi. It's another to tell them they get two new products (but actually Coke and Pepsi). Yet another to tell them they're getting Coke and Pepsi and give them generic-cola-1 and -2. All of those may tell you something interesting.
Check the paper "Blind Taste Test of Soft-drinks – A Comparison Study on Coke and Pepsi" - people actually can't identify the brand properly.
Interesting that respondents seem to be using "sweetness" as a stand-in for "how much I like it". I'd class Coke as a fair bit drier than Pepsi—still quite sweet, but noticeably less so than Pepsi. The "open" version of responses, though, rate Coke as much sweeter.
I don't get measuring the "caffeine" perception, but maybe I'm just unusual in not knowing what caffeine _per se_ tastes like? Possibly something's being lost in translation (so to speak) here.
I wonder what percentage identified _both_ drinks correctly. Perhaps it turns out that ~half+ of all people are really bad at differentiating flavors in colas.
Interesting that "can't identify" went up with Coca Cola. I definitely find both its nose and flavor to be milder than Pepsi, so I guess that makes sense.
(for the record, I go for Coke over Pepsi, which you'd have to pay me to drink, though even Coke wears out its welcome with me after a half-dozen ounces or so)
> I wonder what percentage identified _both_ drinks correctly. Perhaps it turns out that ~half+ of all people are really bad at differentiating flavors in colas.
If you serve it cold enough most people can't tell the difference between coke and 7up.
In blind tests, people generally preferred the sweeter Pepsi. In unblinded tests, people preferred the incredibly brand-dominant Coke.
This whole thing is a case study on brand perception, not sensory perception.