The Soda Thread: Coke not Classic; Throwback Pepsi

[Bruce Wayne]

Mountain Dew came out with a new product in glass bottles this year called Dewshine. It is supposed to be more citrusy. They have also released Baja Blast in cans & plastic bottles.

 

[EmergencyIan]

I don't drink much in the way of soft drinks or drink them often, typically. I've become a water-guy. However, I discovered Mexican made Coca-Cola (made with cane sugar) in glass bottles, a few years back. I would always pick them up when I visited Indiana as I really didn't see them here in NYC, oddly enough. Now, they are sold at all of the drug stores, Target, some grocery stores, bodegas and in many Mexican restaurants. It tastes and looks (product and the bottle) just like you recall it prior to the early to mid 1980s when Coca-Cola, here in the U.S., began using corn syrup to sweeten the drink instead of cane sugar. Now, for better or worse, I tend to drink one daily with either lunch or dinner. I really enjoy it. You may think that there couldn't be much difference between Coke made with sugar versus corn syrup, but there is!

- Ian

 

[Bruce Wayne]

If I recall correctly, the Feds put a Tariff on sugar importation so that is why most major soda makers use corn syrup.

 

[EmergencyIan]

^ I think that was the case, as well.


- Ian

 

[Bruce Wayne]

 

[vitanola]

If I recall correctly, the Feds put a Tariff on sugar importation so that is why most major soda makers use corn syrup.

Yes. 200 years ago. We have been protecting sugar since we were trying to insure the loyalties of the sugar planters in the Louisiana territory after the Purchase. These days the tariffs, which keep our sugar prices at three times those of world markets, benefit a few well connected (and politically active) families. 96%'of the benefit of these tariffs goes to just 0.02% of sugar producers, the large plantations in Florida and LA, high are largely controlled by one family

 

[LizzieMaine]

The other side of the coin is the enormous subsidy given to Big Corn due to the political influence of the corn-producing states.

 

[Stearmen]

I don't drink much in the way of soft drinks or drink them often, typically. I've become a water-guy. However, I discovered Mexican made Coca-Cola (made with cane sugar) in glass bottles, a few years back. I would always pick them up when I visited Indiana as I really didn't see them here in NYC, oddly enough. Now, they are sold at all of the drug stores, Target, some grocery stores, bodegas and in many Mexican restaurants. It tastes and looks (product and the bottle) just like you recall it prior to the early to mid 1980s when Coca-Cola, here in the U.S., began using corn syrup to sweeten the drink instead of cane sugar. Now, for better or worse, I tend to drink one daily with either lunch or dinner. I really enjoy it. You may think that there couldn't be much difference between Coke made with sugar versus corn syrup, but there is!

- Ian

I bet It is better for you then the corn syrup and other additives. I noticed, since I have gone back to real butter, sugar and salt, I have lost weight!

 

[EmergencyIan]

I bet It is better for you then the corn syrup and other additives. I noticed, since I have gone back to real butter, sugar and salt, I have lost weight!

As cliché as it is, at this point, I think moderation what's important. Overdoing, almost, anything isn't good. Have your sugar, salt and dairy. Just don't lose your good sense. I'd much rather consume those ingredients than some such as saccharine, traditional margarine, etc. But, whatever gets you through the night...

- Ian

 

[EmergencyIan]

When I was in Indiana (Evansville), this summer, available for purchase was U.S. produced traditional Pepsi and Mt. Dew in glass bottles made with "Real Sugar." I'm not sure if they were "available for a limited time" or not.

- Ian

 

[Fading Fast]

As cliché as it is, at this point, I think moderation what's important. Overdoing, almost, anything isn't good. Have your sugar, salt and dairy. Just don't lose your good sense. I'd much rather consume those ingredients than some such as saccharine, traditional margarine, etc. But, whatever gets you through the night...

- Ian

+1. I don't sweat most of that stuff as I eat moderate portions, don't overdo anything, but enjoy most foods, even the "bad" ones, since I don't eat them all the time or in large quantities. I started moving toward this type of eating well over a decade ago and have felt so much better ever since. That said - oddly - I enjoy the taste of diet coke over regular coke - I know heresy - but there it is. And I'm with you - I'm just reporting what works for me - not preaching to anyone else that they should do it.

 

[EmergencyIan]

+1. I don't sweat most of that stuff as I eat moderate portions, don't overdo anything, but enjoy most foods, even the "bad" ones, since I don't eat them all the time or in large quantities. I started moving toward this type of eating well over a decade ago and have felt so much better ever since. That said - oddly - I enjoy the taste of diet coke over regular coke - I know heresy - but there it is. And I'm with you - I'm just reporting what works for me - not preaching to anyone else that they should do it.

...it's alright, alright.

- Ian

 

[LizzieMaine]

The flavor concentrate in Diet Coke is actually very similar to, if not the same as, the flavor concentrate used in "New Coke" in 1985 -- it was the preparation of this recipe for Diet Coke that led to the New Coke experiment. The balance of essential oils is different, and most significantly, neither Diet Coke nor New Coke contain "Merchandise No. 5," the blend of kola nut extract and decocainized coca leaf extract that gives the drink its name. It was widely speculated at the time that New Coke, in addition to tasting much more like Pepsi than Coke, was intended as an end run around the issues the Coca-Cola Company was having in actually getting the necessary coca leaf waste to prepare the extract.

 

[Fading Fast]

The flavor concentrate in Diet Coke is actually very similar to, if not the same as, the flavor concentrate used in "New Coke" in 1985 -- it was the preparation of this recipe for Diet Coke that led to the New Coke experiment. The balance of essential oils is different, and most significantly, neither Diet Coke nor New Coke contain "Merchandise No. 5," the blend of kola nut extract and decocainized coca leaf extract that gives the drink its name. It was widely speculated at the time that New Coke, in addition to tasting much more like Pepsi than Coke, was intended as an end run around the issues the Coca-Cola Company was having in actually getting the necessary coca leaf waste to prepare the extract.

That all makes sense - and is consistent with things I have read on the great Coke / New Coke debacle. It's funny how each generation changes its morning drink a bit. While coffee is still king - a meaningful subset of my generation drinks soda in the morning. The millennials are, overall, anti-soda, but some not-insignificant number of them drink Red Bull and other highly caffeinated drinks. And orange juice, a breakfast table staple of my parents' generation is dying a quick death with the millennials. For me, since diet soda was all that was in our house, that's what soda tasted like to me and non-diet sodas always taste funny.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I used to drink a Coke every morning -- as in 3AM -- in my radio days. I can't stand coffee, and we didn't have a tea kettle at work, so I made do with a Coke.

The only diet soda I ever really had any experience with was Tab, which was one of the selections in our vending machine at the gas station when I was a kid. I'd have one if we were sold out of Coke, and thought it had a weird metallic flavor that I didn't either like or dislike so much as I just thought it was weird. And I never could figure out why it was called "Tab."

Nowadays my breakfast drink is a very stiff cup of Red Rose tea -- no milk, no sugar, and steeped in the cup for the fifteen minutes it takes to cook my sausage and egg.

 

[Fading Fast]

I used to drink a Coke every morning -- as in 3AM -- in my radio days. I can't stand coffee, and we didn't have a tea kettle at work, so I made do with a Coke.

The only diet soda I ever really had any experience with was Tab, which was one of the selections in our vending machine at the gas station when I was a kid. I'd have one if we were sold out of Coke, and thought it had a weird metallic flavor that I didn't either like or dislike so much as I just thought it was weird. And I never could figure out why it was called "Tab."

Nowadays my breakfast drink is a very stiff cup of Red Rose tea -- no milk, no sugar, and steeped in the cup for the fifteen minutes it takes to cook my sausage and egg.

Tab was disgusting. Diet Coke is everything Tab isn't. I have soda or, when I want something warm, hot chocolate (the Swiss Miss Light - decent flavor and low calorie count but not diet).

 

[LizzieMaine]

Hot chocolate is a sign that there's a God who loves us and wants us to be happy.

And speaking of chocolate, I could go for an ice-cold Yoo-Hoo right now.

 

[Fading Fast]

Hot chocolate is a sign that there's a God who loves us and wants us to be happy....

:eusa_clap

 

[Fading Fast]

And for indulgence, Lake Champlain Spicy Aztec Hot Chocolate is insane.

 

[PABLOCRAVIOTO]

Mexican coca cola smell and taste like chlorine pool
//2 LITER MEXICAN COKE 1.5 DLLS !!