Life's simple pleasures

[sudsmaster]

Last month on a whim I bought a case of Coke. But it wasn't just any ordinary Coke. This Coca-Cola came in real hourglass shaped glass bottles, with caps that require a bottle opener. Inside, it has that great old vintage Coke taste. Forget about New Coke or Coke Classic. This stuff is the real thing - made not with that sickly sweet high fructose corn syrup, but with real cane sugar. Yum.

And guess where it's made? That's right, Mexico. I guess it's one good thing to come out of Nafta (the PT Cruiser is another).

Oh, don't worry, I don't drink a lot of this stuff. It's a treat, like a dessert, not for thirst. For thirst I drink water. But that great Coke taste does bring back memories of the 50's, when as a child any soda pop tasted great.

 

[tolivac]

There used to be an older Coke machine out here at the transmitter site where I work that sold those older style glass Cokes.there was an opener in the front of the machine-and a rack on the side to hold empty bottles.Yes-the route operator had to fill it often-people would "load up" on those older cokes to use at home as well as at work.they would even bring the empty bottles back and put them in the rack on the machine.but many years ago the machine was taken away and replaced with one that sells the Coke in cans.SAD.Those older style Cokes were the REAL coke.Due to diet restrictions I have to use the ones without Suger type sweetners.

 

[twinniefan]

A nice hot coffee and cake

One of the simple things in life I really enjoy is a nice hot coffee with a slice of cake while reading the Sunday papers.
I so much enjoy this routine on a Sunday morning and really look forward to it each and every Sunday,pretty boring huh?

 

[polkanut]

I worked for Pepsi here in Wausau in the early 90's in the bottling dept. I ran the proportioner, bottle washer, filler, and capper. We did 10 & 16oz. glass bottles, 20oz. plastic bottles, and 2 liters. We bottled reg. & diet Pepsi, caffeine-free reg. and diet Pepsi, reg. Mt. Dew, Squirt, A&W Root Beer, and reg. & diet 7-UP. We had our own water well, and let me tell you, nothing beats an ice cold soda right off the line that is between 35 and 38 degrees Fahrenheit in a glass bottle. They stopped bottling in-house in '93 and now have everything shipped in from a regional bottler for distribution. A simple case of economics (no pun intended).

 

[whirlcool]

It seems that sodas made with real cane sugar are much "lighter" on the palate than ones made with high fruitcose corn syrup. I find those to be more "sticky" and not as refreshing.
But you have to admit, didn't Coca-Cola pull a fast one on the American public with the switch over? Everyone remembers the "New Coke" fiasco. Then when Classic Coke came out shortly thereafter it had the HFCS in it! I think the whole scandal was pre-engineered by Coke and worked exactly as they wanted it to.
BTW, when did they stop making "New Coke" alltogether?

 

[sudsmaster]

I was not a soda/coke drinker when the "New Coke" stuff came out. But I remember buying both and I much prefered the New Coke. The coke classic tasted, well, heavy and dull. Probably that corn syrup. Yes, the real sugar Mexican Coca Cola has a lighter, more refreshing taste than regualr HFCS coke.

Funny thing this morning. Woke with a start at 7:17 am. What? No alarm? Oh, crap. Hurridly got out of bed, checked a digital weather clock. Yep, it's 7:17 AM, not PM. Damn. I'll be at least an hour late for work. Or...? Yep, as consciousness slowly returned, I realized it was Saturday and I didn't have to work today. Whew.

An hour later, two eggs over easy on top of a bed of brown rice and salsa beans, plus a cup of very fresh coffee with real sugar in it. Yum.

But part of me wants to go back to bed.

 

[frigilux]

After a decades of being a Coke-only guy, I acquired a taste for Pepsi last summer. It tastes more purely of cola and seemed a little lighter than Coke. Unfortunately, Pepsi loses its carbonation within a very brief space of time. Now when I have a Coke, I can really taste the lime and cinnamony-allspice flavorings, something I had taken for granted. And I still maintain that Coke from a glass bottle tastes a bit different (better, perhaps) than canned Coke.

And Rich, what could be more luxurious than having a nice breakfast, then going back to bed for a couple of hours. I say go for it!

 

[sudsmaster]

After the New Coke thing, I switched to Pepsi when I did drink soda (or some other non cola). I like the slight citrus taste better. For a while I dabbled in the sugarless stuff - when aspartame came out tried then, and then sucralose. But after a while I figured it's not fair to try to trick one's bodyiinto thinking it's getting calories it's not getting because it might backfire, so when I do buy soda, which is rare, it's the sugared stuff.

And yes, I did go back to bed. For more than a couple of hours ;-). Back to the land of the living now. I figured whatever grand plans I had for Saturday morning could wait.

 

[retrochad]

Dr Pepper made in Dublin, TX uses real cane sugar and not corn syrup. It is also available on tap like at the sandwich shop in Weatherford, TX. Just like the coke you observed the real cane sugar Dr Pepper tastes a lot better to me.

 

[classiccaprice]

I agree I tried it on my road trip though texas. Bought it at a convience store (in the glass bottle) then again in the Caboose Ice Cream Parlor in Ft. Davis, TX. It is actually a caboose! I loved Ft. Davis (and that roadtrip), I want to go back! So relaxing.

 

[brisnat81]

AU Softdrinks

Hi Guys,

All of our softdrink (Soda) here is made with Cane sugar, and it was quite surprising how different the taste was when we over in the US.

Corn Syrup is rarely used here and Karo is quite hard to find. Due to the huge cane industry we have, 99% of all natural sweetening is done with Cane sugar.

I was amazed that in the US, how different Coke tasted regionally, even if the version appeared to be the same.

 

[angus]

The cane sugar vs. corn syrup is what really makes the difference. I have not been a regular "sugared" soda drinker for years and now can't abide the stuff at all. But occasionally will get a real Dr Pepper craving.

This year, however, I was able to find some regular Coke that was Kosher for Passover and it was sweetened with sugar instead of corn syrup. And while it was in a plastic bottle, I drank some ice cold and it certainly did taste different. Way more refreshing and lighter than the corn syrup version.

I can actually occasionally find an old regional favorite - Manhattan Special Coffee Soda. That was very big in Brooklyn for many years. It was what you drank with pizza and was made with real brewed espresso. Delicious with a scoop of ice cream after dinner as well. Still in glass bottles, although the one litre size and not the individual 10 ounce six packs I recall and sweetened with sugar - what a treat!!!

 

[toggleswitch]

~It tastes more purely of cola.

My understandging is that a COLA by law has to be caffeinated.

Does caffeine alone have a taste?

Think about it; decaffeinted sodas/pops are callled COKE OR PESI w/out the word "COLA".

I'd love to find soda sweetened with suger. The HFCS makes me loopy. I tend to consume fruit juices (or concentrated fruit extracts) with seltzer instead.

 

[58limited]

Dr Pepper made in Dublin, TX is great. Wish the stores around here carried it. Maybe HEB can get it, I'll have to ask the manager.

 

[frigilux]

Togs: Well, whattaya know! You're absolutely right; There really is no 'cola' flavor on it's own. I thought the more 'basic/uncluttered' taste of Pepsi was due to the prominent placing of the kola nut as a flavoring. Wrong! Here's the explanation given by a widely-known, editable online encyclopedia:

Cola Flavoring:

Despite the name, the primary flavoring ingredients in a cola drink are sugar, vanilla, lime peel, cinnamon, and orange peel. Different manufacturers of cola drinks add other trace ingredients to the drink in addition to these flavorings in order to create distinctively different tastes for each brand.

Trace flavorings may include orange, nutmeg, and a wide variety of ingredients, but the base flavorings that most people identify with a cola taste remain vanilla and cinnamon.

Kola nuts, which have a bitter taste, contribute little or no flavor to most cola recipes. Acidity is often provided by phosphoric acid, sometimes accompanied by citric or other isolated acids.

Inexpensive colas may contain only vanilla and cinnamon as flavorings, which provide a simple cola taste.

 

[toggleswitch]

Interesting. So what about (Vanilla) Cream soda?

Same stuff, different proportions?

 

[drhardee]

Life's simple pleasures.... let me see..

It was awakening this morning to a hairy warm body spooned next to mine, that I could stroke and pet for as long as I wanted to. I am, of course, speaking of the dachshund. The husband was already up frying Jimmy Dean patty sausage to accompany the homemade waffles we had for breakfast. A shower for two (not the dachshund this time), and then we're ready for the rest of our Sunday..spent doing exactly what we want to do (including laundry for me!). Weekends are fairly sacrosanct in our household.

Those are life's simple pleasures....that and a damned good cup of french press, preferably enjoyed at Spike's coffee in SFO watching the world walk by.

 

[stainfighter]

life's simple pleasures...

totally agree with you about French press coffee - love the creme effect on the top of the cup - gets my day going in the right direction