i am an avid pepsi drinker. so when i got an opportunity to take the pepsi challenge at the riverfest this sunday in central square (with the generous laurie rogers and her gang of cambridge friends), i knew i had to do it. this is what i thought would happen: i would easily be able to discern the difference between pepsi and coke, and in grand fashion i would proclaim which one i thought was pepsi and the blind taste test would reveal how right i was. this is how it actually happened: i'm given two soup crackers and two unidentifiable cups of cola. i eat a cracker (to cleanse my pallet -- oh it's so scientific!), drink one cup. i eat the second cracker, drink the other cup. right then and there i start to panic. oh my god i can't tell the difference! they both taste the same to me! so i'm trying to refresh my taste memory, and i pick the first cup as the one to be pepsi. the tester looks at me, pulls off the can coverings, and reveals that i had selected coke! i clench my fists and scream into the air! no! i have betrayed pepsi! regardless, i get a free pepsi keychain for taking part in the blind taste test challenge. i leave telling the guy, "don't worry, i'm still going to keep on drinking pepsi!" i think this test shows me that when you boil it down to the bare essence, coke and pepsi aren't that much different. i thought i could tell them apart, but apparently it hard to id through taste alone.