Soda

[El Barto]

I grew up (here in the PNW) thinking of sugared carbonated beverages in the general sense as "pop."

That's the premise of the question I asked.  What happens when you say, "I'd like a Coke, please"?

You mean at a restaurant or other establishment? Here, the staff would assume you meant a Coca-Cola, and would thus give you that, or if they did not carry Coke products, they would inform you as such and ask if Pepsi (or other cola product) would suffice.

But you're in a "pop" area, not a "coke" area.  I'm curious what happens in an area that uses "coke" generically.

While coke was/is the generic term, you ask for what you want specifically. We're not that backwards. 

Hey, you want a coke while I'm in there?
Sure, get me a Dr. Pepper.

Tried Sprite from mexico in the glass bottle today. Supposedly its made with "real" sugar. Whatever that means, lol.  Tasted great though. Real smooth

Real sugar means real sugar. Because of corn subsidies almost all soft drinks are made with high fructose corn syrup now.

Down here there was a Dr.Pepper bottling plant in Dublin, Texas, which was a big sugar town. They had a licensing agreement with Dr.Pepper to bottle theirs with real sugar rather than HFCS, and made a killing off of it, as they were the only bottling plant with such an arrangement. Dublin Dr. Pepper became a much sought after thing for many years. Mexican cokes are the same way. I can't taste any difference, myself, but plenty sure claim to. What I can tell is that my teeth don't feel nasty for the rest of the day, which is the case with a HFCS soda.

[pg1067]

Tried Sprite from mexico in the glass bottle today. Supposedly its made with "real" sugar. Whatever that means, lol.  Tasted great though. Real smooth

I've never had Mexican Sprite, but Mexican Coke is good (albeit massively overpriced).

I have a sort of maxim with food/drink:  there's very little in nature that is edible that is THAT color.  I'm a big Pepsi fan, but that looks like a bag of chemicals to me.   

When I was a kid, I was carpooling somewhere with a handful of other kids (probably a group of kids from my baseball team).  Someone asked the driver what they were having for dinner, and I swear the answer was "something blue."  We then tried to figure out what blue foods exist, and the only thing we could come up with were blueberries (which kinda aren't really blue).

But anyway, all soda has basically the same ingredients:  carbonated water, sugar or some other sweetener, phosphoric and citric acid (flavor enhancement and tartness), sodium benzoate (preservative), flavoring, coloring and (sometimes) caffeine.  As I tell my wife when she goes off on "chemicals" in things, EVERYTHING is chemicals (even her herbal tea and fake meat).

While coke was/is the generic term, you ask for what you want specifically. We're not that backwards. 

Hey, you want a coke while I'm in there?
Sure, get me a Dr. Pepper.

That's sort of the reverse of what I was asking.  What happens if you ask for "a coke" at a restaurant?  Are you getting a Coca-Cola?  Or is the waiter/waitress going to respond, "what kind?"

[Kotowboy]

I love an ice cold Coca Cola - from a 500 ml plastic bottle. Not from a can as it affects the taste too much.

Will also accept Glass Bottle.

Weirdly I don't really enjoy any other 'soda' or soft drink as much as Coca Cola. It just has that taste.

I'm also not fussed If I have Pepsi instead. It definitely does taste different.

[El Barto]

While coke was/is the generic term, you ask for what you want specifically. We're not that backwards. 

Hey, you want a coke while I'm in there?
Sure, get me a Dr. Pepper.

That's sort of the reverse of what I was asking.  What happens if you ask for "a coke" at a restaurant?  Are you getting a Coca-Cola?  Or is the waiter/waitress going to respond, "what kind?"

As I said, you ask for what you want specifically. You [PG] wouldn't ask your waitress for a soda or a pop (depending on your region). Why would we ask for a coke in the same generic sense? If you ask a waitress for a coke you're asking her for a coca cola and either getting that or a "how 'bout Pepsi?"

[Kotowboy]

Well at work we only do Coca Cola on draught. Anything else is in the glass bottles.

[Stadler]

I love an ice cold Coca Cola - from a 500 ml plastic bottle. Not from a can as it affects the taste too much.

Will also accept Glass Bottle.

Weirdly I don't really enjoy any other 'soda' or soft drink as much as Coca Cola. It just has that taste.

I'm also not fussed If I have Pepsi instead. It definitely does taste different.

This is also to Bart:    I fully concede that it may all be in my head, so take that into consideration, but, I feel I can DEFINITELY taste the difference between the HFCS and the sugar (though it may be mouth feel, as I agree with Bart's teeth thing). 

I feel I can DEFINITELY taste the difference between glass and plastic/can.  I MUCH prefer glass for my drinks, and at home I ONLY use glass, unless I'm in a hurry or drinking in the garage while working.   I have a "fleet" of mason jars I used for my drinks (except wine, I have a couple stemless wine glasses for that).  I HATE in restaurants getting water in plastic glasses.

[Cool Chris]

I confess if I was a single man, with no interest in a long healthy life or regular encounters with the fairer sex, I would rink soda all day, every day. Since that isn't the case, I have one a weekend, maybe two, as a treat. And I always pour my can into a glass. With ice. Sometimes with a shot of bourbon. Or if I am feeling particularly adventurous, a splash of grenadine. But that's for a different thread.

What the hell was that blue stuff? I have never seen that before.

Kroger has a soda with real sugar. I like it, though cannot honestly say I could pick it out in a blind taste test.

[Kotowboy]

I dunno what the diff is - but sometimes I buy a Coca Cola and it tastes completely wrong. Maybe it's the diff sweetener.

[Phoenix87x]

What the hell was that blue stuff? I have never seen that before.

Pepsi Blue.

It originally came out in 2002 and was gone in about a year and a half. It was berry flavored and they brought it back a few months ago for a limited run.

[Kotowboy]

Its my all time favourite film - but I never realised til recently that in Back To The Future - when he asks for a "Pepsi Free" that he meant caffeine free Pepsi not that he wasn't intending to pay.

Obviously i'd never heard of it.

[pg1067]

If you ask a waitress for a coke you're asking her for a coca cola and either getting that or a "how 'bout Pepsi?"

That's the answer I was looking for!

This is also to Bart:    I fully concede that it may all be in my head, so take that into consideration, but, I feel I can DEFINITELY taste the difference between the HFCS and the sugar (though it may be mouth feel, as I agree with Bart's teeth thing). 

I feel I can DEFINITELY taste the difference between glass and plastic/can.  I MUCH prefer glass for my drinks, and at home I ONLY use glass, unless I'm in a hurry or drinking in the garage while working.   I have a "fleet" of mason jars I used for my drinks (except wine, I have a couple stemless wine glasses for that).  I HATE in restaurants getting water in plastic glasses.

You can absolutely taste the difference between HFCS and sugar.  However, you typically know when you're drinking the sugar.  If someone said, "here try this," and then said, "is it HFCS or sugar," I'm not sure most folks would do better than 50/50.

Probably the same with glass and plastic.  You know what you're getting, but if someone gave you both in cups, and you had to say which one came from a bottle and which one came from a can, you'd probably do as well flipping a coin.


Here's the other question:  ice cubes or crushed ice?  Most places have cubes, but there's a Mexican restaurant chain around here (Super Mex) that serves its drinks in plastic cups with crushed ice, and it's damn good.

Its my all time favourite film - but I never realised til recently that in Back To The Future - when he asks for a "Pepsi Free" that he meant caffeine free Pepsi not that he wasn't intending to pay.

Obviously i'd never heard of it.

Did you understand the Tab reference?

[Kotowboy]

Not at the time. Just never really thought about it.

[pg1067]

After 30+ years, it seems kinda obvious, but it's really quite clever dialog.

[Kotowboy]

We never had Pepsi Free in the UK. We had Tab Clear briefly but not any more.

[Phoenix87x]

Just tried the new Nitrogen infused Draft pepsi



Pretty damn good. Now i have to try the vanilla

[pg1067]

Nitrogen infused?

Huh?

Why?

[XJDenton]

Adding nitrogen to the mix causes the bubbles formed when you open the can to be smaller in size, which means the head of the beer/drink has a creamier texture.

[dparrott]

Well I was recently diagnosed with erosions in my stomach, gotta cut down on the soda.    Somehow I'm making it through workdays without caffeine, I didn't think I could. 

[crazy climber dude]

Love it, even though it's bad for ya.  I usually only drink diet though, coke and pepsi are too sweet for me.  My faves are diet cherry pepsi, cherry coke zero, and manzanita sol (apple soda).  My wife's been encouraging me to drink more natural soda like hansens or zevia.  But when I need caffeine, those don't cut it.

The Zevia Cola, Cherry Cola, Dr. Zevia, and Mountain Zevia all have decent amounts of caffeine (from coffee beans). The regular Cola esp....is very tasty (Cherry not as good). My favorite is the Ginger Ale...it is AMAZING, but has no caffeine.

[chknptpie]

Love it, even though it's bad for ya.  I usually only drink diet though, coke and pepsi are too sweet for me.  My faves are diet cherry pepsi, cherry coke zero, and manzanita sol (apple soda).  My wife's been encouraging me to drink more natural soda like hansens or zevia.  But when I need caffeine, those don't cut it.

The Zevia Cola, Cherry Cola, Dr. Zevia, and Mountain Zevia all have decent amounts of caffeine (from coffee beans). The regular Cola esp....is very tasty (Cherry not as good). My favorite is the Ginger Ale...it is AMAZING, but has no caffeine.

I'm a big fan of the cream soda zevia, no caffeine.

[dparrott]

My favorites Zevias are Dr., Black Cherry and Orange.