The REAL story of the 'real thing'

[arbilab]

Veteran of the cola wars and Duck & Cover, I remember the whole shebang.  Only recently discovered what happened to 'real' coke, when, how, and why I drink Pepsi now.

 

Coke used to taste delightful.  I had flings with DrPepper and RC but always came back to Coke.  Until that fateful April in 1985 when, losing market share, the CoCoCo reformulated Coke with a couple teaspoons extra sugar to a rousing chorus of "YUCK!".  So they went back to CCClassic, which was supposed to be "original" and the public lowered its hackles.

 

But it wasn't and in the US it would never be again.  Why?  In a word, lawyers.  In a phrase, 'Balsam of Peru'.  The 'secret' flavorant that made Coke taste sweeter than it really was and smell like dessert instead of drain cleaner like it does now.

 

Ha!  "Secret."  Anybody working in the flavor/scent industry could have told you what it was, with one whiff.  Balsam of Peru mimics vanilla ice cream; Coke was a float with shelf life at room temperature.  Why would anyone mess with that?

 

Here come the lawyers.  Balsam of Peru [Myroxylon balsamum var. pereirae] also happens to mimic about 2 dozen allergens and as such, is in the elite position of a 'top five' allergic substance.  Europe [INCI] strongly suggested using only traces [<0.4%] of distillates, not crude BofP, as scent/flavorant.

 

Coke [US] didn't want to get sued for selling something highly allergic without disclosing what was in it, and at CCC you get fired-- if not shot-- for disclosing ANYthing.  So they took it out, replaced it with sugar*, and called it New Coke.

[* Not certain where in the timeline HFCS replaced sugar.  Could have been same time.]

 

Then duped the public into thinking Classic was 'original', which it was not but amid the confusion you weren't supposed to notice.  Then along came high fructose corn syrup which ruined the mouth feel and left the underlying bitterness exposed (drain cleaner... which it actually is).

 

For over 2 decades you could still buy BofP+sugar Coke, from Mexico where there aren't nearly as many lawyers running loose.  But lately, they ruined that too.  It ain't 'real' no more.  Pepsi sells a sugar version at the same price, and I drink 2 cans a day.

 

Why 'Balsam of Peru' when it actually comes from El Salvador?  'Balsam of El Salvador' lacks panachè.  Below is the BofP Wiki:

Balsam of Peru - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[kskenmore]

Very Interesting!

Thanks for sharing! That is fascinating! I have often heard my father talk about when Coca Cola was the good stuff! Before they ruined it and destroyed the "best pop in the world." By the time I can remember he had given up and typically bought store brand...

 

[sarahperdue]

Interesting, very

I was in high school when the New Coke/Coke Classic bait and switch happened. I didn't know about balsam of Peru, but knew it was something because Coke Classic was not Coke. I always thought it was the sugar to HFC bait and switch.

I went to Guatemala in 1988, and it was Coke heaven all over again--real sugar, returnable bottles. When you bought it in the streets, it was ice cold, and the vendors poured it from the bottle into a plastic bag and handed it to you with a straw.

I cannot remember when I discovered imported Coke from Mexico here in the states, but wow! I was delighted. You've just explained why "the thrill is gone."

Sigh

 

[iheartmaytag]

I was working in a convenience store when the fiasco happened.  People hated "New" Coke.  and many did taste the difference when Classic was re-introduced. 

 

I remember the taste tests that were set up by Pepsi, and I don't know nationally, but in our little sales are, Coke lost a large market share.

 

[sarahperdue]

Coke Narc

In the mid-80s we had a friend who got a job with Coke in Atlanta when he graduated from college. His job was traveling all over the US, ordering Cokes in restaurants and bars and sending the samples back to Coke to be tested. Cease and desist letters were sent to all establishments that served any other beverage when someone ordered a Coke, hence the response, "Is Pepsi alright?"

 

[DADoES]

 
I've never been much for Coca-Cola of any formulation, except maybe Cherry.

 

[arbilab]

Yes Sarah, I too mistakenly blamed 'it all' on HFCS.  But as a simple sweetener, it shouldn't change the impression on the nose and one could clearly identify Mex Coke by the nose without even drinking any.  I was buying MC, dollar a bottle, special weekly treat.  Suddenly it wasn't any more.  Blecch.  Sometime after 2013. 

 

In the Wiki on 'new coke', it is said that HFCS was optional with the bottler as early as 1980 and by NC time the switch had been thrown in many markets, though not all.  The question remained.  A pan of low-boil 1:2 sugar in water doesn't smell sweet, and coke is/was much lower proportion than that.

 

Somehow my research turned up Balsam of Peru and it all fell into place.  The only thing 'classic' about coke today is its corporate politics, outlined to some extent in the Wiki on 'new coke', below.

New Coke - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org