Does The Balsamic Vinegar Soda Trend Actually Taste Like Coke? TikTok Has Answers

There’s no doubt life is full of surprises, and shocking TikTok hacks are proof of it — whether teaching us how to make 2-ingredient bagels in the air fryer (genius) or using tape to make the perfect cat-eye liner.

The latest hack we can’t stop thinking about? The balsamic vinegar Coke trend that we’re, at this point, losing sleep about. 

What is the balsamic vinegar Coke trend you may ask?

Well, apparently, if you mix just a bit of balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze with any flavor of soda water (even just sparkling water), you get a perfect, healthy version of a Coca-Cola. As you can expect, countless TikTokers jumped on the trend, and let’s just say they’re not holding back about what you can really expect from the head-scratching recipe.

So does mixing balsamic vinegar and soda really taste like Coke? We’ve gotten to the bottom of it so you don’t have to!

Ahead, find 13 TikToks that taste-test the trend and give us all the answers.

1. The one that started it all — @mandyvjones said her Pilates instructor taught her to mix balsamic vinegar and “any flavor” soda water to make a “healthy Coke” that’s “so good.” Immediately, TikTok said: challenge accepted.

2. While @mandyvjones video definitely piqued our interest, not all of TikTok is convinced. TikToker @oniixya tried it out for herself, and not even her cute wine glass could save this combo. She said: “it’s giving me salty and sour… it’s not really delicious or anywhere close to average… it’s a pass.”

3. So, there are actually lots of people who don’t like this trend at all. That said, one user is actually okay with this combo — she just doesn’t think it tastes like Coke. Mixing her balsamic with a raspberry-cranberry flavored La Croix, she explains, “I don’t taste the vinegar… it doesn’t taste like Coke, but it doesn’t taste bad.”

4. On the other side of the spectrum, there are some TikTokers that are absolutely obsessed with this finding and are very on-board with the “healthy Coke” idea. This user tried just about every soda under the sun with her balsamic vinegar, including coconut, lime, and mango La Croix flavors, and it’s all “honestly good.”

5. What’s extremely confusing to us? While some users think it tastes just like Coke, others don’t understand the resemblance at all. TikToker @samanthaangel51 says “it looks like Coke, smells like nothing” but almost gags as she says it “tastes like balsamic.” According to her? “Just [because] it looks like Coke, does not mean it tastes like Coke.”

6. @samantha_garrido says it tastes like a “sour” Coke that she probably wouldn’t “ever” drink.

7. TikToker @justin_agustin hopped aboard the viral trend, blending just a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar with Perrier. The result? The user says the recipe “doesn’t taste bad at all” and that while it “didn’t taste like Coke at first,” the more you drink it “the more it does.” As he puts it, this is very “trippy.”

8. Balsamic vinegar is yet again mixed with a fizzy soda here, all in the name of science. User @s0ylinda can’t stop laughing while making the drink, and while she seems to actually enjoy it, her friend says “it’s bad but I can see why people think it tastes like Coke.” It gets 3 out of 5 stars!

9. It seems that many people hate this combination at first, but it might sneakily grow on you. TikToker @thejonnycakes mixes balsamic with some La Croix, and first says, “it’s weird… it tastes like a sh*tty balsamic soda that I wouldn’t drink.” But his update? He drank the whole thing so it can’t be that bad.

10. This dietician had to try this trend for herself, and said: “you can have regular Coke, you don’t need to have this in order to be healthy… regular Coke can fit into any lifestyle.” That being said, once she tried the trend, her take is that “this is not Coke” and tastes “nothing” like it. “Would I drink this again? Absolutely not.”

11. Even the TODAY show had to try this TikTok trend, and neither Hoda or Jenna understand it at all. While it seems like both stars poured a lot of balsamic into their cups, one thing is for sure — they’re not having this. Both are just about to gag, and say “this is not a Coke.”

12. So this trend must be all a lie, right? Well, not quite. TikToker @healthylittlepeach tried mixing balsamic with some berry La Croix, and she can hardly believe how amazing it is (yup, we’re confused, too). She mixes it up, and her shocked face says it all: “Ya’ll, that’s delicious… that’s my new drink.”

13. So maybe there’s something to this trend? However, according to our very own mitú staff member, it’s going to be a no for us: “I doesn’t taste like Coke, not a bit. I think they just want to believe that it does, but it doesn’t.”