Why Doesn't Diet Coke Taste as Good as Regular Coke?

This is one of the first questions my sister asked me in her suggestion of writing this blog, so it gets to be the first one answered.

The taste difference between the two arises from the fact that regular Coke is sweetened with sugar, your basic everyday C12H22O11 table sugar. And not just a little, but a lot of sugar. Which is where the calories come from. Diet Coke, on the other hand, is sweetened with an artificial sweetener: aspartame. Aspartame is a modified amino acid that is relatively sweet, but is not absorbed by the body, therefore cannot be used for energy, and thus reduces the number of calories in the pop. Now, while aspartame is sweet, being a different molecule and having a different shape than sugar it does not fit into the same into the taste receptors on your tongue and thus tastes different. Now some people, if you can believe it, actually like the taste of aspartame therefore they think that the Diet Coke actually tastes better. But like my sister, I am partial to sugar so I prefer the full calorie regular Coke.