Benjamin Shaw, 8, eyed the two cups of brown, fizzy liquid with growing suspicion, Alexi Mostrous reports. “I don’t think he’ll drink it,” his mother said. “He likes healthy stuff like apple juice.”

The Times had asked him and his sister, Emily, to take part in a blind taste test, comparing an apparently healthy new cola with original, full fat, Pepsi.

Pepsi Raw is made from natural ingredients and contains no artificial preservatives, colours, flavourings or sweeteners, its makers claim.

It has been released to combat the growing trend among Britons, including Benjamin, to reject artificially flavoured products.

Both Benjamin and Emily preferred it to normal Pepsi. “It tastes more like apple juice,” he said. “I like it much better.” Emily just nodded her head to show which one she liked.

Wollysson Rodrigues, a 25-year-old tourist, thought differently.

“I love Pepsi. I drink it all my life. This is delicious,” he said, taking a sip from the cup containing the original cola. Switching his attention to the new version, he said: ”This other one is so different. The colour and the taste. It’s rubbish.”

This is the first time in more than 10 years that Pepsi has added a new drink to its range. Despite the completely new recipe, which includes 100 percent cane sugar, the calorie count for a 300ml bottle has only been reduced from 126 calories to 117 calories.

Pepsi said it was not marketing Pepsi Raw as a health drink. “We’re not saying it’s healthier,” a spokeswoman said. “It’s a premium drink for people who like natural products.”

The drink’s ingredients include apple extract, plain caramel colouring, gum arabic from acacia trees and sparkling water. Artificial colourings, phosphoric acid, caffeine, and flavourings are all out.

The Times’s own Pepsi challenge revealed an overall majority in favour of the new drink. Many said they preferred it to the original. Tasters compared it to root beer, and described it variously as “fizzy”, “fresh” and “better than the normal sickly version.”

Some doubts were expressed about the name, however.

“What’s it called, Raw?” Olivia Bennett, a journalist, said. “I don’t think that’s very nice. I think I prefer the normal version.”

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Drinks

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• Real Food Pioneer: Fergus Henderson
• Hunting mushrooms with Antonio Carluccio
• Yorkshire's grand new cookery school