Coke addiction

[greatbear]

Here is an image that will bring a smile to furr_a_bruin's face. No, it's not an orgy of big, hairy bikers, Star Trek movies created anew and following the original series' canon, or LED lighting and .ogg files everywhere. No, it's Coca-Cola with special, yellow caps.



These signify Coke made with sugar instead of the dreaded high fructose corn syrup. These show up in select markets and stores around Passover. The little Bloom grocery store has a spotty record of carrying these. Jeff and I were shopping today and I found him smiling. He had found the one remaining yellow-capped Kosha-Kola on the rack. While a nice find, I had hoped for more. Since the store usually has more drinks available in other locations, we kept our eyes open. Lo and behold, there was an entire skid fulla the sugary delight. We bought eight bottles. I might go back for a few more another day. I don't like keeping too much soda on hand, because it can often go flat when kept in storage for too long. But given a cool basement and a dark shelf to rack 'em up on, they tend to last a bit longer. I can also pile some into the garage fridge.

These drinks taste like Coke used to taste, before the New Coke debacle and the inclusion of HFCS when Coke Classic was introduced. The pop has a smoother taste and finish, without the odd aftertaste the HFCS leaves you with. Plus, there's the nice little sugar buzz that HFCS does not give you, the 'buzz' actually raising the body metabolism a bit and negating some of the mostly empty calories. HFCS just lays there, raising blood sugar levels and turning into fat without any boost. Evil stuff.

Comments

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

I've discovered that keeping the bottles on their sides - so the cap is "sealed" with liquid - helps a LOT, as does keeping the bottles as cool as possible. (So use up the ones you don't store in a fridge first, and keep them ALL lying on their sides.)

As much as I love the stuff - what with the diabetes thing I didn't buy any this year. I'm just glad I was able to get the word out to people who can still appreciate the stuff and have the proof of their own taste buds that the claim that sodas with High Fructose Corn Slop taste just like those with Sucrose is a blatant lie.

[danlmarmot.livejournal.com]

Our local Costcos carry regular Coke with cane sugar all the time... in the 12oz glass bottles no less. I guess they just get regular deliveries from the Coca-Cola distributor in Tijuana, because it's palletized and everything.

It's more a treat, though: it costs $17 for a 24 bottle pack.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I've actually 'lost' bottles of different carbonated drinks in the basement for various lengths of time, sometimes for a year or more. In most cases, the drink was not as flat as I expected or completely unchanged from fresh bottles. There were clinkers as well, where the drink was just about completely flat. I've tried to consolidate the food storage and make attempts at using stuff up that's been hanging around.

There was that completely ignored and opened box of Corn Flakes a little while back, however. The one with the sell-by date nearly 13 years prior. It was scary, opening the folded-over bag and taking a whiff, expecting some musty odor at best but instead smelling like a newly opened bag of fresh cereal. I had to taste the flakes, being sure that they'd be mushy and stale, but, no, they were crunchy and the taste was not much different. Shit's got a half-life like cobalt-60!

[sfmini.livejournal.com]

There's a liquor store down the block from my office that has the old fashioned bottles of Coke with sugar. I imagine it's imported, but as little as I drink coke a case of six lasts me a long time, but boy is it good.

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

Be sure to check the label - if it's imported from Mexico, be aware that the purveyors of HFCS are putting pressure on Mexico's soda bottlers to switch to their slop from real sugar. I understand they're fighting back - but when tangling with a monster like ADM, well....

For some reason, I don't hear stories about people importing The Really Real Thing from Canada, where it's made with real sugar period. Canada has one of the lowest prices for real sugar in the industrialized world, and HFCS just can't compete there. That's also why you may notice candy here in the USA that's "Made in Canada."

[danlmarmot.livejournal.com]

Sugar's one of the most protected agricultural products in the US, which has absurdly high tariffs on to protect Florida sugarcane growers and sugar beet farmers in Idaho and the upper Midwest. That makes HFCS economical here.

It's so protected that when the US - Australia free trade agreement went through a few years ago, sugar was specifically exempted. (Aussies said "gee, we sent our troops on your Yank misadventure in Iraq, and you won't even let us sell you our sugar? Thanks."

Canada doesn't have the tariffs, and in the past few decades US food manufacturers have located north of the border. But for mass-marketed beverages, it doesn't make sense to transport heavy liquids... so they're all reconsituted locally, and those that need sugar will use HCFS.

I don't believe either that Mexicans would ever drink HCFS sweetened sugar. HCFS is too expensive compared with Mexican grown cane sugar... and it really would be tampering with the national drink.

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

And of course, the sugar tariffs are backed by both the sugar industry and the HFCS purveyors - because if we had Canada's sugar prices, the HFCS market would be tiny in comparison to what it is now.

Frankly - if it's seen as somehow important to maintain a domestic sugar industry, I'd rather subsidize them and get rid of the tariffs.

Here's hoping you're right and that the Mexican market is intolerant of HFCS. It's too bad the outrage here over "New Coke" didn't spill over to the replacement of sucrose when they reintroduced "Coke Classic."

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

That was the Big Lie that accompanied Coke Classic, as it really did not conform to the 'original formula' as they state on the containers. It definitely tasted different.

Coca-Cola is going to be removing the "Classic" from the labels of 'regular' Coke in coming months. They are also going to be pushing a sugar-based version as will Pepsi, ostensibly selling the real sugar as a 'healthy' ingredient.

[detailbear.livejournal.com]

Yup. Up here it's listed as "glucose-fructose". Our ingredients list for Coke starts "Carbonated water, sugar/glucose-fructose" and there is usually more sugar then HFCS in our mix.

http://www.cocacola.ca/productinfo/your_health_products.htm

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Maybe I should count my blessings. But much like equal marriage, soft drinks made with sugar are much more mundane than you'd might imagine when you have them every day.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

It's "you dont know what you got till it's gone".

[budmassey.livejournal.com]

OMFG! I didn't know about the yellow caps. I must find some. I rarely drink Coke these days, but to taste REAL coke again... that would be worth the calories.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

You'd likely find it in areas with a prominent Jewish community. More in cities and bigger suburban areas rather than in the sticks.

The taste difference is subtle at first, but is more noticeable after a few swigs. The aftertaste is much smoother, and the trademark 'bitter' Coke taste (that which was removed in New Coke and the reason why people tended towards Coke in the first place) stands out more distinctly from the sweet.

I bet you have no problem turning those calories into muscles. ;)

[nyrimmer.livejournal.com]

It's still poison no matter how they try to dress it.It and all the other garbage corporate amerika pushes on us does more harm to the people of this country than any terrorist can ever imagine doing. Can anyone say Obesity and Diabetes?

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Despite stocking up on the stuff, I do drink it in moderation. I can deal with sugar, but I believe that HFCS is just plain evil. It's yet another 'cheap ingredient' meant to maximize profits at the expense of taste and health. The obesity epidemic, as it were, seems to have started around the time that HFCS started making it's way into everyday foods. It's everywhere, and in places you'd not think, like breads, baked goods, cured meats, sauces, etc. Anyplace there's sugar, there could be HFCS instead.

Luckily, it seems that people are starting to take note of the phenomenon and companies are starting to move back to sugar in many products. I hope that momentum continues.

HFCS

[dougoros.livejournal.com]

....is the sweetener from hell apparently.One thing we always notice on our jaunts south of the border is the funny taste to EVERYTHING sweetened...ketchup being the worst.The corn lobby in the US is a powerful tool.One of our friends from Denver always stocks up on ketchup when he visits Toronto.

Re: HFCS

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I am sure the folks from ADM are monitoring this post. LOL

[slothel.livejournal.com]

Hooray for Passover Coke!

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

It tastes too good to pass over!

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Yep, and Coke will be countering with their own. It's called "Natural", selling sugar as a 'healthy' ingredient. Compared to HFCS, it is, but still needs to be used in moderation.

[rockybear02.livejournal.com]

How did I not know about this?

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I discovered this several years ago out of curiosity. The store had two different bottles side by side, the yellow caps standing out. I noticed the kosher symbols on the yellow lid and wondered what would make Coke 'kosher', since it's enjoyed by Jewish folk all the time. Apparently, it's only necessary during Passover when eating of leavened foods is prohibited, and this includes grains, which includes corn. In actuality, cane sugar is not permissible, but beet sugar is. I am assuming that the sugar used in the Passover Coke is beet sugar (labeled "sucrose" on the bottle) in order to be kosher.

[frostybluelayer.livejournal.com]

I was recently in Chicago and I saw something on the store shelves that shocked me. I'm a Coca Cola man, but I always try variations on all soda brands, because..why not? Anyway, I saw that the Midwest has "Pepsi Throwback". It's a new line of Pepsi formulated with sugar. I of course bought some and found that the taste is so much better than Pepsi w/ High Fructose Corn Syrup. It's milder and does not seem as thick. Anyway, if you want to read about it, visit the link below. I'll also include the link to the other Pepsi product they released called Pepsi Natural, made with Raw Sugar Cane and Kola Root Extract. I tried this as well. The flavor is interesting. It's nothing like regular Pepsi. Less sweet and a little earthy.

If Pepsi can do it, I'm sure Coca Cola will be right behind them....hopefully.

Pepsi Throwback
http://www.bevreview.com/2009/02/09/pepsi-throwback-mountain-dew-throwback/

Pepsi Natural
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0533164220090305

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I read a story recently (I forgot where) that Coke will be trying out their own sugar-based counter to Pepsi Natural, which should be pretty easy. There's a lot of backlash against HFCS these days. I hope these versions wil stick around for some time. I think the 'Throwback' stuff is limited edition?