Glad you're alive and well

Thanks, Axel insists on it

hope you've been laying off the coke.

I am. It's heroin these days... No, it's Pepsi Max now. Coke's formula has changed somehow, it's practically tasteless now. You know it has when hardcore folk are afraid of looking crazy for suggesting it!

The sugar tax won't have helped it's cause either!

I thought Coke had specifically not changed the amount of sugar in normal/original coke but said they would just have to charge more for it because they didn't want to tamper with the recipe (because that's gone soo well for them in the past).
The ones that did reduce sugar content were Irn Bru... to much wailing a gnashing of teeth (or at least the stumps where the teeth used to be). People were stockpiling the 'full' sugar version and everything.

I liked Coke Zero when it came out. They've changed the formula recently so it's not as nice IMO. But not had full fat coke for a while.

Tried Zero again today, funnily enough (wanted it as a mixer). I've had nicer cola locally!

Coke have changed the formula across the range, or at least changed production. I noticed it long before the tax came in. I tried Diet around a year ago and it was just synthetic, there was barely any taste whatsoever.