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American Coke Cola

0098386

0098386

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Original poster
Jan 18, 2005
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A few days ago I bought a can of Coke from the off-licence but it had some mad art on the can. I think it was some baseball chap or someone.
Anyroad. I didn't think much of it but it had a really watery taste to it and was a bit more fizzy than the usual stuff. Checked the can and it was a US import! Thought it was a cheap "Roller Cola" knock off at first :D

Is there supposed to be a difference between UK and US Coke Cola?
 
raggedjimmi said:
Is there supposed to be a difference between UK and US Coke Cola?
Click to expand...

Yes. Coke all around the world is different.

I crave the Coke that I grew up with (bottled in a West African country). We also had 'imported' Coke from various European countries, and I could actually identify Coke from France, The Netherlands and Germany by taste - I recall preferring the Dutch variety of those three, but the local stuff was still better.

US (regular, non-diet) Coke is nasty, vile, undrinkable crap. It's sweetened with HFCS instead of regular sucrose (sugar). That ruins the taste, gives it a thick syrupy texture, and is WAY worse for you than sucrose.

How did this come to be? In the early 1980s, Coca-Cola announced they were changing the formula to 'New Coke', to compete with Pepsi. In reality, New Coke was like over-sweetened Pepsi, and people rebelled and demanded the real thing back. Coke appeared to give in, and brought 'Coke Classic' back to the market..... only not really. The 'Classic' variety that came back was the old formula BUT using HFCS instead of sucrose. People didn't notice the change so much since they were glad to be rid of 'New Coke'. I, like many others, believe that the whole 'New Coke' fiasco was in fact planned so they could do their little trick and switch out the sweetener with less notice.

I've completely cut HFCS out of my diet. That's not as easy as it sounds, but it's healthier and I feel better.
 
Baron58 said:
Yes. Coke all around the world is different.

I crave the Coke that I grew up with (bottled in a West African country). We also had 'imported' Coke from various European countries, and I could actually identify Coke from France, The Netherlands and Germany by taste - I recall preferring the Dutch variety of those three, but the local stuff was still better.

US (regular, non-diet) Coke is nasty, vile, undrinkable crap. It's sweetened with HFCS instead of regular sucrose (sugar). That ruins the taste, gives it a thick syrupy texture, and is WAY worse for you than sucrose.

How did this come to be? In the early 1980s, Coca-Cola announced they were changing the formula to 'New Coke', to compete with Pepsi. In reality, New Coke was like over-sweetened Pepsi, and people rebelled and demanded the real thing back. Coke appeared to give in, and brought 'Coke Classic' back to the market..... only not really. The 'Classic' variety that came back was the old formula BUT using HFCS instead of sucrose. People didn't notice the change so much since they were glad to be rid of 'New Coke'. I, like many others, believe that the whole 'New Coke' fiasco was in fact planned so they could do their little trick and switch out the sweetener with less notice.

I've completely cut HFCS out of my diet. That's not as easy as it sounds, but it's healthier and I feel better.
Click to expand...

Snopes proved that as a myth, coke switched to High Fructose Corn Syrup before New Coke.

Pepsi's better then all of them anyway. :p
 
American Coke Cola.....

is nasty.

HFCS totally killed both Coke and Pepsi (I prefer Pepsi over Coke).

I'm trying to kick the habit of drinking soda, it's redonkulously hard.
 
Airforce said:
I was trying to do the same thing a few years back. A month and a half in basic training kicked the habit pretty well. You might want to try it :p
Click to expand...

Haha! I could never willing volunteer for any of the armed forces.

I respect those that do though.

The problem with trying to kick the soda habit is that no matter where you go to eat they are serving you soda (yes, you can get nasty tap water). It doesn't help that bottled water is the same price if not even more expensive then a bottle of soda (20oz).

I did manage to kick it for a month, it sucked big time and I felt like crap (caffeine, sugar w/d) but then I felt great. Probably one of the smarter things I've done with myself.
 
Teh Don Ditty said:
The problem with trying to kick the soda habit is that no matter where you go to eat they are serving you soda (yes, you can get nasty tap water). It doesn't help that bottled water is the same price if not even more expensive then a bottle of soda (20oz).

I did manage to kick it for a month, it sucked big time and I felt like crap (caffeine, sugar w/d) but then I felt great. Probably one of the smarter things I've done with myself.
Click to expand...

Do you like tea? I kicked the habit of drinking soda my sophomore year of high school. Just drank tea and water (All water taste the same, at least around here).

As for different tasting Cokes, I went to the Coca Cola place in Las Vegas. Back then they let you try every kind of Coke from around the world. I remember an African kind being the best.
 
cycocelica said:
As for different tasting Cokes, I went to the Coca Cola place in Las Vegas. Back then they let you try every kind of Coke from around the world. I remember an African kind being the best.
Click to expand...


I did that in Atlanta. I don't remember the different kinds of coke, but I vividly recall some asian lychee soda burning my sinuses!
 
So this begs the question then, why are there so many different versions? I'll admit that I don't drink Coke or any other sort of soft drinks. Just water and juice for me. But I've tried Coke a few times and find it revolting. I can't understand how people purposely drink it. Pepsi isn't quite as bad but it's still bad. I just don't like that cola taste. Any ideas why they have different recipes for different countries?
 
Stampyhead said:
So this begs the question then, why are there so many different versions? I'll admit that I don't drink Coke or any other sort of soft drinks. Just water and juice for me. But I've tried Coke a few times and find it revolting. I can't understand how people purposely drink it. Pepsi isn't quite as bad but it's still bad. I just don't like that cola taste. Any ideas why they have different recipes for different countries?
Click to expand...

Its produced locally. Often times just different water sources will lead to different tasting products.
 
In Spain the regular coke is so sweet I couldn't drink it (compared to US regular coke). The "light" or diet, to me tastes about as sweet a the regular US coke. I'm pretty sure they use splenda or some other sort of manufactured sweetener here.
The best Coke I've ever had to this day is in Morrocco. The big 12 ounce bottles after being out in the desert all day are the greatest things to chug ever. It really tastes like the older coke recipes.
 
Stampyhead said:
So this begs the question then, why are there so many different versions? I'll admit that I don't drink Coke or any other sort of soft drinks. Just water and juice for me. But I've tried Coke a few times and find it revolting. I can't understand how people purposely drink it. Pepsi isn't quite as bad but it's still bad. I just don't like that cola taste. Any ideas why they have different recipes for different countries?
Click to expand...

The first time I went to the UK, I sat next to a Coke rep on the flight out of Atlanta. According to him, different countries get slightly different formulas in order to better cater to the local palettes.

I tried a UK Coke when I was there...it was horrid. Dr. Pepper, however, apparently doesn't deviate, and this was back when Coke still owned Dr. Pepper.
 
cycocelica said:
Do you like tea? I kicked the habit of drinking soda my sophomore year of high school. Just drank tea and water (All water taste the same, at least around here).

As for different tasting Cokes, I went to the Coca Cola place in Las Vegas. Back then they let you try every kind of Coke from around the world. I remember an African kind being the best.
Click to expand...

yeah, i don't drink any soda that much anymore. infact, i went like 3 years without one, mainly b/c that stuff is bad for my running. now i just drink it if there's nothing else to drink or whatever, but i drink a lot of sweet tea. without it, i would be on coke i guess. (and gatorade of course)
 
raggedjimmi said:
Is there supposed to be a difference between UK and US Coke Cola?
Click to expand...

The end of the tour at the "World of Coca Cola" here in Atlanta is a taste of the various coke recipes from around the world. They do differ--sometimes a bit, sometimes more--at least according to my friends (I don't drink the stuff).
 
CorvusCamenarum said:
The first time I went to the UK, I sat next to a Coke rep on the flight out of Atlanta. According to him, different countries get slightly different formulas in order to better cater to the local palettes.
Click to expand...

Interesting. From what people are saying on here it looks like the U.S. got the short end of the stick taste-wise, then.
 
I rarely drink Coke, as it doesn't get along well with my kidneys, but I noticed a slight improvement in the taste when they redesigned their packaging in 2002-2003.
 
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