The Pause That Refreshes

[estatesale_gary]

Last Friday, a friend and I drove to Winona, MN to one of the few Coca Cola bottlers in the country that still fills the 6 1/2 ounce bottles. They also sell the 10 and 12 ounce bottles for Coke and Diet Coke as well as the bottled favorites from my childhood like grape, strawberry, creme soda.

Is it just me or does soda just taste better from a bottle?

http://www.glassbottlesoda.org/bottlers/cokewinona.shtml

 

[j2400]

I haven't done comparisons. But I've heard this sort of comment before.

One issue worth thinking of--glass shouldn't have a problem with chemicals leaking out into the bottle/can contents. I think this can even be an issue with plain bottled water. And who knows what those chemicals might do to a person.

 

[whirlcool]

If they use sugar in the concoction it will definitely taste better than the HFC version.

 

[sudsman]

I have NO idea why

But the bottles DO taste better and the small bottles taste stronger. Lets have one now!

 

[j2400]

I've heard the sugar, HFC line before. (On this very site,too, I think.) I was wondering what version the bottler uses. From what I've heard, sugar is used in Mexico, and maybe Canada. But one can always hope.

They have an article at this bottler's site talking a bit about glass vs. plastic and aluminum:

http://www.glassbottlesoda.org/about.shtml

 

[autowasherfreak]

I always thought Pepsi and Coke in glass bottles taste better than cans or plastic bottles.

 

[alr2903]

Hey Dahlin .... Sling me a coke

The little "booowty-pawllor" cokes rock, STRONG & Crisp, just right for refreshment under a hot dryer. While ice tea is the house wine of the south, a beauty parlor coke has therapeutic value in making you Pretty or Handsome This thread reminded me of the first stop in the Grocery in years past at the bottle turn in, then at the check out "I had my empties" I can't remember the $value of the empties.. 2 or 3 cents? alr2903

 

[jamiel]

Small world...we went to the Excel Bottling Company in Breese, IL right after Christmas...bit of a field trip. Bought a case of diet "Ski"...a lot like Mountain Dew, but with a little more bitterness...not quite like a bitter lemon, but quite delicious.

 

[gyrafoam]

My parents always bought 'Co-Cola in the small bottles, and I still do. Legend was, that the little bottle kept that exact quantity of the beverage good and cold----just long enough to be consumed. In Atlanta, back in the day, that was all there was---10 cents a bottle. When "King-Size" Coke was introduced, at the (then) astronomical price of 15 cents to a bottle, half of Atlanta became blabber-mouths or insomniacs from the caffeine overload!

Today's "Classic" Coke is a lie! The "Real Thing" was made with sugar! IMO it has never tasted the same since the damned corn syrup was substituted, and that goes for all the other old sodas as well. IMO an ice-cold RC was an excellent soda when it was made with sugar. So "suthun".

 

[petek]

This just reminded me it was a scant 6-8 weeks ago that our local Sally Ann had one of those 50's Vendo machines on auction, the one that dispenses the little 6 oz bottles. And I forgot all about it till now. Prolly went for a song too.

I agree the glass bottle is way better but we never see them here anymore except at Christmas time for a limited time.

 

[ronhic]

Glass....

....all the way.

We can still buy the 'tall thin' buddy style coca here in glass but they do charge more for it...

 

[whirlcool]

Today's "Classic" Coke is a lie! The "Real Thing" was made with sugar!

Exactly. Since we began buying Mexican Coke, the "Classic" is just unbearable. So heavy and syrupy. Not refreshing. Nothing at all like "The Real Thing".

 

[polkanut]

Is it just me, or do the rest of you feel as I do that returnable bottles is recycling in its purest form? When I worked for Pepsi here in Wausau, 10oz. bottle deposit was 5 cents per bottle, and 16oz. bottle deposit was 10 cents per bottle. When Pepsi here discontinued bottling in glass in 1993, all the bottles were broken and sold to the recycler. We did regular & diet Pepsi, caffeine-free regular & diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Squirt, regular & diet 7-UP, and regular & diet A&W root beer. I have fond memories of sorting bottles, feeding the washer, inspecting washed bottles for defects and foreign objects in them, and sorting and replacing worn out 8-pack cartons. When we did 10oz., all the wooden cases were inspected for loose boards and/or metal banding. Setting up the case packer required a diiferent frame for the different sizes. Stacking the filled cases was hard but fun work. At the end of the day you knew you had done an honest days work. In 1991 I got a promotion. The guy who ran the bottle filler was killed in a car accident, and I was the only person who signed for the job. I became leadperson, and I was put in charge of sanitation, setting up the proportioner, running the bottle filler and capper. Carrying a 40lb. box of bottle caps up a ladder on your shoulder isn't easy, but I did it, and loved it. I also had to make sure that the correct syrup was being pumped to the bottling room, and I also had to test the soda in the first bottle to make sure that the syrup, water, and carbonation ratios were correct. It was my 1st full-time job and I still have many fond memories. Yes the work was hard, but when I would walk through the warehouse and looked at all the filled cases of product, I had a sense of accomplishment.

 

[mattl]

It's an odd memory, but I recall drinking for a glass bottle was a much different experience than drinking out of the plastic bottles of today. There was resistance where today the bottle just collapses.

Bring back glass bottles!

 

[frigilux]

I tend to agree that the best Coke experience is Mexican and in a glass bottle.

Perhaps the real test of bottle vs. can would be to pour both types into glass glasses; then see if you can taste a difference. Maybe there's some taste/olfactory/tactile difference attributable to putting that aluminum can up to your mouth.