Ditching Diet Coke? We tasted five aspartame-free alternatives. Photo for The Washington Post by Scott Suchman

Last month, Diet Coke Nation took a blow. The World Health Organization’s cancer-research arm delivered an unwelcome message to the legions of people who enthusiastically rely on a boost from the zero-calorie soda, calling aspartame – the sweetener used in their favorite drink – a “possible carcinogen.”

The news out of the WHO was confusing, since another agency within the body said it was not changing guidance for how much aspartame can safely be consumed daily, saying the substance was not shown to absorb into the bloodstream. And the Food and Drug Administration said it disagreed with the international organization’s decision to label it a potential cancer-causing ingredient.

Many lovers of Diet Coke, which is known to inspire a certain cultlike devotion, declared themselves undeterred by any possible health risks their beloved elixir might pose.

But the warning might have prompted some to rethink their relationship to the soda. For the cola-curious looking to expand their horizons, we located a handful of possible alternatives, none of which contain aspartame. To figure out if there was a legitimate contender for the crown, we invited some of our colleagues who love Diet Coke to test them out.

Zevia Zero Calorie Soda (cola flavor)

This stevia-sweetened brand was a universal dud among tasters. For starters, it’s a clear liquid, without a trace of the caramel-brown that defines the genre (remember Crystal Pepsi?), and while that might not matter if you are slugging it directly from the can, it doesn’t give you the visual cue for the flavor its trying to impart. Even without that prompt, it similarly lacked flavor, with several people saying they wouldn’t have pegged it as a cola without the label. “Not a cola in taste or look,” said one. “Watered-down Sprite,” declared another.

Most found it overly sweet, and some detected unpleasant notes of bubble gum or mint. “Just sweet, almost candy-like.”

Olipop Vintage Cola

This one was a bit different in one immediately obvious way: It has 35 calories per can, which isn’t much unless you’re looking for something that you can down multiple cans of a day. The brand, which calls itself “a new kind of soda,” includes plant fiber and prebiotics, which are supposed to support digestive health, along with stevia and cassava root syrup for sweetness. The packaging is cute (something that mattered to some of our tasters – if you’re going to bring a can to work meetings or on errands, looks do matter), with millennial-perky graphics (“chic,” according to one).

According to our tasters, there’s also a lot going on inside this can. Unlike the clean, straightforward profile of their beloved Diet Coke, most tasters found this to be a murky mess. Several identified the cinnamon that’s listed as an ingredient. Others weren’t sure exactly what they were tasting. “Tasted like coffee or some kind of berry,” suggested another. “A different drink entirely, if root beer sat out for a few decades,” sniffed another. One taster agreed that this was decidedly not a cola flavor – but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing: “Not a DC replacement, but has a fun flavor that I could come back to.”

Virgil’s Zero Sugar Cola

Tasters agreed this can (which employs a mix of erythritol, a sugar alcohol, as well as stevia and monk fruit extract) was not an apples-to-apples substitute for Diet Coke, with almost all of them calling out intense vanilla notes in the mix. “That is simply Vanilla Coke,” one taster said. That was a turnoff for some, but the “Vanilla Coke dupe” was a hit with one taster, though, who said it was her favorite of the bunch. Some thought it lacked oomph; a couple said it wasn’t fizzy enough, and another complained that it needed more sweetness.

Diet Rite Pure Zero Cola

Three of our six-person panel picked this as their favorite of the bunch. Though it does contain sucralose, one taster liked that it was mercifully devoid of the “chemical” taste that often plagues artificially sweetened sodas. Still, it didn’t wow our devout Diet Coke acolytes. “It’s the one I’d reach for if I had no other choice,” said one, and praise included “sufficiently fizzy,” and “OK!”

Diet Rite, which is produced by the maker of Dr Pepper and Seven Up, did get dinged for its cheap-looking packaging, which I had to agree resembled one of those off-brands that’s posing as the real thing (Dr. Perky, anyone?). “Not a status can,” sniffed one.

Green Cola

Four of our tasters named this as the closest to Diet Coke of any of the brands they sampled, and if you turn to diet cola for a hit of caffeine, this might be the one for you (the Diet Rite and Virgil’s contain no caffeine). “Bright and fizzy,” praised one. “The nearest thing to my DC,” said another. But the way they rhapsodized about the genuine article, which we tasted alongside its would-be rivals, made it seem unlikely that this group was ready to immediately make the switch. “I don’t care if aspartame embalms me from the inside,” concluded one.

Green Cola’s black can is sleek with a green logo that looks … uh, inspired by the flowy script on iconic Coke packaging. Some liked it (“kinda cool”) but a couple others found it a little bro-ish. “I don’t want to walk around with that energy-drink-lookin bottle,” said one. “It’s not targeted toward Diet Coke girlies.”