The good folks at Coca-Cola insist their product taste the same no matter if it is consumed from a soda fountain, can, plastic or glass bottle. That’s a saccharine claim, according to my palette. I’m not alone in my preference for the glass-bottled variety, a Popular Science study has concluded it the “most inert” of all the bottling types, producing a slightly more “pure, unaltered” taste. I am pretty sure Coca-Cola knows this, because their recent ads during the Super Bowl and the Olympics show off just one type of container: the elegantly elongated glass bottle.
For the absolute best Coke I recommend Mexican Coca-Cola. If you have ever had one you know why: they are crisp, and seem a bit less gummy. How could this be? In Mexico, the Coca-Cola formula uses real cane sugar (imagine that!), whereas in the States high-fructose corn syrup is used as the sweetener. (FYI: Some conspiracy theorists assert that the infamous “New” Coke campaigned rolled out in the 1980s was really just a diversion to mask the adulteration of the “Classic” Coke recipe, from real sugar to syrup.)
And I’m not alone in this. Mexican Coke has a Facebook page with more than 18,000 fans, causing the New York Times to fashion the Mexican Coke a “Cult Classic.” If it is a cult, it’s one I’m happy to be a part of.
In case you are interested, Mexican-bottled Coke can be found at a variety of grocery and convenience stores, including most Latino grocery stores. It is starting to be stocked at Costco and Kroger, but not yet at Wal-Mart :(
Author’s Note: My appreciation for Mexican Coke is owed to a very thoughtful gift, from someone very special.
