Pepsi 'real sugar' products

[jamiel]

Soft drink bottlers get/were awarded an exclusive franchise for a geographical territory to sell the brands which they have...the franchises are typically counties or regions; although Tarpon Springs Florida had it's own Coca-Cola bottler for a long time (IDK if it is still in existence). All bottlers don't have to package all sizes...they can buy specific package sizes from one another to fill out their lines. If a national chain (WalMart/...) deals with "corporate", corporate has to pay a toll (in essence) to the local bottler to keep everyone happy (of course, the local bottler supplies WalMart). Same thing happens with Mexican soft drinks...generally (for the chains) those are deals done at corporate, and a small toll gets passed to the local bottler. Dublin Dr. Pepper contended that their use of a sugar formula created a differentiation which didn't cause them to infringe on the other bottlers...Dr Pepper/Snapple disagreed and they ended up settling so that Dublin Dr Pepper couldn't sell outside their area.

 

[washer111]

Advertising:

I have no doubt advertising affects me, and try to avoid the products I think are advertised poorly (Hydrosmart)... That doesn't stop my irritation though!
So I block them wherever I can. I've had enough of their "in your face" marketing - especially on high traffic websites. If they loose income, too bad. Learn to make a nice ad, for goodness sake.

Google, in their wisdom, manage this nicely, as does Robert, our Webmaster. If I weren't a paying member, I would set an exception for AW.org.

Right, back on topic, will try these "fangled" new drinks, and see how much better or worse they are. I'm assuming the latter...
Why? Well I made buttermilk fried chicken today. Chicken itself was amazing. Skin? Less so - guess I'm too used to the likes of KFC and Rosie's and their artificial recipe. Perhaps sugar would help. Dunno.

 

[mikael3]

To me, there isn't just a flavor difference in the all-sugar Coke, there's also a difference in the mouth-feel.  It is somehow very luxurious on the tongue, and very rich.  I suppose that's to be expected, but it still surprised me the first time I tried it as an adult.  I guess that's what I was drinking as a child, but I can't really remember the details!!

 

I don't drink a lot of soft drinks, or really any sort of overly sweet drink, except with certain foods.  I've gotta have a Coke with a burger!  Otherwise, I just sometimes want a Coke, every once in a while, all by itself.  And I always go for the sugar.

 

[arbilab]

Yes, 'creamy' mouth feel was a characteristic of sugar root beers, conspicuously absent in HFCS. Very astute observation. 'Creaminess' is not typically ascribed to colas but it's there.... or it isn't.

A characteristic I wouldn't have expected is different too, bouquet. Told brother about sugar vs. HFCS coke, he insisted there is no difference. He bought bottles of Mex and US coke and poured them into glasses when I wasn't looking, challenged me to tell which was which. I could tell the sugar coke by the SMELL alone. I can't explain why sweetener alters smell but smell is a larger component of flavor than "taste" which only describes sweet/sour/bitter/salt.

Pepsi throwback has been repackaged with a new identity. The old 'script' logo and "real sugar" prominent on a blue label, the name 'throwback' gone. Pepsi's website includes real sugar cherry and vanilla flavors but Kroger's inventory doesn't yet. I'll buy when it does. They're described as "limited time" but so was 'throwback' until they found out how much they were selling.

So it's not just us few retrophiles who appreciate the difference.

 

[frigilux]

Rick--- Now I want to try a side-by-side comparison between HFCS and sugar (Mexican) Coke! I've had Mexican Coke a couple of times, but have never really been able to make direct comparisons between the two. Never considered that they would smell different as well as taste different, and as mikael3 pointed out, a different mouth-feel.

I think there's Mexican Coke in the HyVee I shop at. Will have to pick one up. I have canned Coke at home. That's another issue: I remember being convinced that Coke tasted different when we switched from bottles to cans in the mid-1970s.

Never enjoyed drinking anything from plastic glassware or those colored aluminum tumblers that were popular back in the day. Glass only, please!

 

[davey7]

So does Kosher for Passover coke taste the same as Mexican Coke?

 

[whirlcool]

Yes it does. We have a large Jewish community in Houston and if you go in a Jewish grocery store around Passover time you'll see the yellow topped Coke there. I'll usually buy a few liters.

What I find is that Coke with HFCS leaves a film in your mouth when you are done drinking it. Sugared Coke doesn't do that. I find sugar Coke to be light and refreshing while HFCS Coke heavy and syrupy.

And the food industry wants to change the name of HFCS to "Corn Sugar" in an attempt to mislead consumers. But the FDA won't let that fly.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...corn-syrup-cant-change-its-name-to-corn-sugar

 

[arbilab]

Eugene, if you have questions about the 'can flavor', compare bottle to bottle for a level field. For that matter, compare US coke from can and bottle. There well may be a difference.

Hello Corn Refiner's Association and Coke's 6-figure flavor scientists: If there is "no difference" between HFCS and cane sugar, howzcome an uneducated nicotine-stained palate like mine can not only taste it but SMELL it? What IS the difference? One makes me wince and the other doesn't. As above, one is reminiscent of drain cleaner, the other of dessert.

Note that through lobbyist meddling, US sugar costs TWICE the global price and corn is heavily subsidized. Subsidy means the more corn you grow the more the g'ment pays you. Distinct from the meddling with sugar price, which is simply we pay double the world price and importing it is illegal. The way these two regulations play into each other is by no means coincidental.

Subsidy also means the g'ment pays a premium for dedicating land to corn. Which means, if you're growing-- OR EATING-- anything other than corn you're at an economic disadvantage. Like tomatoes? Pay the corn-land-equivalent price for them. IOW, this specific meddling doesn't just make softdrinks taste like horsepiss, it makes EVERY grown commodity OTHER THAN CORN cost more than it would otherwise.

But here's some good news: HFCS consumption in the US peaked in 1999 and has gradually and consistently declined since then. Once again, it's not just a bunch of fringe agro-hippies that don't like the stuff. Note the number of supermarket items labeled "no HFCS". ArcherDanielsMidland has noted. Hence the 'renaming' application and the ad campaign that says "your body can't tell the difference".

Skuze me, but isn't my mouth part of my body?

[this post was last edited: 7/11/2014-05:44]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup

 

[davey7]

Does Pepsi make Kosher for Passover Pepsi (they should, Ms. Crawford gave a lot of money to Brandeis).

 

[frigilux]

Staycation Day 4: Coke vs. Coke!

 

I looked in the Hispanic foods aisle at the local grocery store and found Mexican Coke. There was Mexcian Pepsi as well, but I didn't purchase it. I poured two glasses of Coke; one made with high fructose corn syrup (canned; American) and one made with sugar (bottled; Mexican). They sat for a few minutes while I took a phone call. You'll notice the carbonation is still a bit more active in the Mexican Coke.

 

Smell: While Rick noticed eau de drain cleaner in Coke with high fructose corn syrup, I smelled...cleaning fluid; something like PineSol. At any rate, they do smell different. My sniffer is a bit jaded, but it was obvious even to me.

 

Taste: The Mexican Coke tasted lighter, slightly more watery in the mouth than regular Coke. The bubbles of carbonation seemed smaller and a bit fizzier. Regular Coke tasted slightly more...well, chemical.  I like to do a 'belch test' as well, by guzzling a few swallows.  The taste and scent of the belches were different, too.  Again, regular Coke tasted more chemical and burned a bit more.

 

Ingredients:  You'll notice Mexican Coke has almost twice the sodium of regular Coke and ten more calories.  Wonder if the 'natural flavors' are all the same and in the same quantities.

 

The Winner (to my taste buds):  Mexican Coke (at $1.19 per bottle, unfortunately)

 

MEXICAN COKE (12 ounces; bottled): Carbonated Water; Sugar; Caramel Color; Phosphoric Acid; Natural Flavors; Caffeine

Calories: 150

Sodium:  85 mg

Total Carbs:  39 grams (all from sugars)

 

AMERICAN COKE (12 ounces; canned):  Carbonated Water; High Fructose Corn Syrup; Caramel Color; Phosphoric Acid; Natural Flavors; Caffeine

Calories:  140

Sodium: 45 mg

Total Carbs:  39 grams (all from sugars)

[this post was last edited: 7/18/2014-18:37]

 

[frigilux]

One more thing:  I looked for real sugar Pepsi in the store and found it only in those 8-packs of 7.5-oz. cans that have popped up lately.  Didn't buy any.  Am hoping the sugar version will begin showing up in standard 12-packs.

 

[washman]

Frig I have to hand it to you

when it comes to comparisons, you take the cake. You are thorough and complete in how you do these things. Even with PODS!