I used to be able to get the bottles of Dr. Pepper still made with real cane sugar....
Posted on 11/05/2004 11:11:37 PM PST by woofie
Coca-Cola. It may be the real thing, but not all Coke is created equal.
In parts of Albuquerque's South Valley, where Spanish is a primary language and many residents are transplants from Mexico, Coke is the drink of choice. But not the stuff that comes from bottling plants in the United States.
Those consumers prefer Coke from Mexico, and they swear there is a marked difference between the two. Putting their money where their taste buds are, they gladly pay between $1.09 and $1.39 for a half-liter bottle of Coke imported from south of the border. For the same price, shoppers at the larger grocery chains can buy plastic 2-liter bottles of American Coke.
A spokesman for Atlanta, Ga.-based Coca-Cola Co., however, says there is no appreciable difference in taste because the Coke formula is the same from bottling plant to bottling plant and country to country.
Mexican Coke aficionados don't agree.
"It's just sweeter. It tastes better," says Jesus Castro, owner of El Harradero Carniceria on Isleta Boulevard. "Most of the people who come into this store, about 98 percent of them, are from Mexico, and this is what they like," he says, pointing to a cooler with half-liter bottles of Coca-Cola imported from Mexico.
Customers at El Harradero buy about five cases of Mexican Coke daily, each case containing 24 bottles.
One customer, Carla McBride, tried a Mexican Coke for the first time. "It's smoother," she says. "It's more like a drink from an old-fashioned soda fountain."
Over at Familia Mexicana Carniceria on Bridge Boulevard, owner Ron Baca says his customers tell him they prefer the Mexican Coke because "it reminds them of the old Cokes we used to buy when we were kids."
Mart Martin, spokesman for Coca-Cola in Atlanta, has heard the comparisons before but can't explain them easily.
"The only difference is that the sweetener used in Mexico is cane sugar, and the sweetener used in the U.S. is high-fructose corn syrup. Both sugars deliver the same sweetness, the same sweet taste. The formula, which has been a secret for more than 100 years, is the same."
High-fructose corn syrup, by the way, delivers more calories in the same amount of sweetness.
Baca says Mexican Coca-Cola outsells all other soft drinks combined about 10 to 1 at his store. He goes through about 10 cases a day.
"It just has a better flavor," says customer Lucila Saenz, who is from Ciudad Juárez. "American Coke just doesn't taste the same."
The Carniceria Chihuahua on West Central Avenue does not keep track of how much Mexican Coke it sells, but a cashier says the store orders eight to 10 cases for every two to three cases of American Coke. In fact, she says, Mexican Coke sells better than all other sodas combined.
Customer Andrea Marrufo's opinion is typical: "Mexican Coke is thicker and sweeter. I've bought all kinds of Coca-Cola, but the Mexican Coke just tastes better."
Taste is a very complex sense, says Martin, the Coke spokesman. Some of the taste differences in the two Cokes, whether imaginary or real, may be affected by such factors as the food consumed with the drink, the size of the glass, the amount of ice in the glass and the temperature of the beverage when it is served.
"We work very hard to deliver a consistent product, and around the world a Coke is a Coke is a Coke," Martin says.
He thinks the preference some have for Mexican Coke is more about nostalgia than anything else.
But he will never convince the Coca-Cola connoisseurs in the South Valley.
Corn syrup is mostly fast-digesting fructose and is a major cause of obesity.
In Mexico and other countries, there is no such ridiculous interference in the free market, and Coke is made with sucrose (cane sugar) as God intended. Sucrose is a more complex molecule, breaks down more slowly, and tastes way better.
We need to slap the sugar and corn barons down, and demand cheap cane sugar at world-market prices.
-ccm
Creepy factoid of the day: diet Mountain Dew has the same alkalinity, gravity, density and salinity as URINE.
Drink up!
It is the cane sugar making the difference. We have the same thing going on here locally with SKI soda. There is a bottling plant about 5 min. away from here where they sell it in those old time wooden cases filled with bottles - they use sugar instead of corn syrup sweetener - people swear by it.
however you can still get the original DP with cane sugar from the bottling plant in Waco, TX.
Any creepy news about Moutain Dew Code Red?
The soft drink bottlers switched because the price of sugar in the United States is over twice as high as in the rest of the world, thanks to federal price supports for Florida cane growers and Minnesota beet growers. That's why Life Savers are now made in Canada, incidentally - the company literally moved the plant a few dozen miles from Michigan, because across the border the main ingredient was vastly cheaper.
So our modern, nasty, excessive-calorie-laden corn syrup Coke is the result of government agriculture subsidies. Quite a shame.
But: if you want real sugar cola, check out Real Soda where they sell Real Soda in Real Bottles. Anything you want, in actual glass bottles - imported Mexican Coca-Cola, real sugar Dr Pepper, Cheerwine, Nehi, you name it. I've grown to love Moxie. (No, I don't work for Real Soda - I just love their products).
It's actually called Boylan's Sugar Cane Cola, and, yes, it is magnificent. It can also be found at Trader Joe's stores.
Yes. That beverage was the reason that the eEye Digital Security crew named a Microsoft IIS computer worm "Code Red." (They had to drink it to stay awake while writing the incident report and analyses.)
As for the red food coloring...hey, don't worry. They're sure the cancer only affects lab rabbits anyway.
(okay, okay...don't panic...just kidding on the last part)
I really DOES make a difference. I also think it may be a little heavier on the syrup. I know some people who definitely like it much better than the American Version.
I used to be able to get the bottles of Dr. Pepper still made with real cane sugar; now THAT'S a treat!
Ping
Just checked the label and you're absolutely right. Thanks for the correction.
and, yes, it is magnificent.
I make it a point to get it when I have poker games. That and Virgil's micro-brew root beer. Yum. Very good stuff.
It can also be found at Trader Joe's stores.
Weird. I can find Virgil's root beer at TJs, but not Boyland Cane Cola. Strange days...
I love how they say "it's the exact same formula" and then admit that they are not exactly the same formulas. Maybe John Kerry can get a job as their spokesperson.
drpepperstore.com sells it with real sugar
I think its at drpepperstore.com or something like that
BUMP- DUMP PRICE SUPPORTS
You still can
I used to be able to get the bottles of Dr. Pepper still made with real cane sugar....
DARN... there is a place online somewhere to buy the old fashion stuff.... but I cannot seem to find it
wow... it feels good to see a serious discussion about the taste of coke instead of the BS John Kerry liberal stuff
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