While Letele and Daniels correctly identified the original, host Bridge did not, saying it was “quite hard” to spot the difference.
Similar reactions were observed from those attempting the hack, with some convinced the recipe had been cracked.
“This feels wrong, but the colour’s right,” said Tokyo-based New Zealander Xoe Hashi, who put the trend to the test after seeing it online.
“I feel a little lied to because we grew up thinking it was lemon and Paeroa, aka the spring water there.”
At Pak’nSave Wairau Rd, one worker urged Kiwis to try it for themselves after being won over by their own attempt.
“It actually does taste like L&P. Not even joking,” they said.
“That’s so crazy, it tastes the exact same.”
A spokesperson for L&P neither confirmed nor denied the hack’s veracity, saying the recipe “has always been a closely held secret” since its beginnings in Paeroa in the 1900s.
“What we can confirm is that it continues to be made to the same standards and delivers the same distinctive lemony fizz Kiwis know and love,” they said.
“Taste can be pretty subjective, especially in blind tests, but L&P remains a New Zealand lemon soft drink with its own unique, lemon-forward flavour.”
L&P recently ditched its iconic brown-bottled look for clear bottles, marking the first packaging change in the drink’s 119-year history.
At the time, Coca-Cola said it was implementing the change to improve the recyclability of L&P bottles, as brown plastic was harder to recycle and not as valuable.
But while the bottle now looks different, the spokesperson reiterated that “it’s still the same L&P on the inside”.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.