US or Mexican Coke

This. A thousand percent. Weirdest thing, but is consistent through any Mcd's I've visited. I do get a cold Mexican Coke when I dine at Chipotle though.
Well supposedly McDonald’s calibrates their soda dispenser every day rather than just “periodically”. At least that’s the story.
 
The USA put a sugar embargo on many countries meaning the end of cheap sugar. So in went high fructose corn syrup to ruin it. From a shipper that I chatted with said the hfcs weighs less so you can get more on a truck. The Mexican coke is sweetened with real cane sugar which is a huge difference.

It wasn't necessarily an embargo but an import quota with tariffs.

https://fas.usda.gov/programs/sugar-import-program

I occasionally drive by the old California and Hawaiian sugar refinery in Crockett, California. They used to process sugar cane grown at C&H's sugar plantations in Hawaii, but there hasn't been commercial sugar grown in Hawaii in a while. They get their cane from Australia, Asia, and Central America. I suppose there's still sugar cane grown in Louisiana and Florida, but that's likely processed closer to the fields.

Most Coke in Mexico is sweetened with HFCS. Those glass bottles are really something that was more for sale to tourists and Americans asked for them where there were previously gray market imports but now official imports. I've occasionally tried the cane sugar sweetened Coke imported from Mexico and I don't particularly like it better than what I can find in the US. It's different, but it doesn't taste an better to me.

Here's a PETE bottle of Coke from Mexico.

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Not sure what happened to it, but there was a US version of Coke that used sucrose, although it wasn't specified as cane or beet sugar. It was sold around Passover and labelled as Kosher for Passover and has a yellow cap on the PETE bottles. Regular HFCS Coke is Kosher and has Orthodox Union approval, but apparently grains are to be avoided around Passover according to some Jewish authorities. It seems the label can change from year to year where some just indicate sucrose while others specify cane sugar.

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This. A thousand percent. Weirdest thing, but is consistent through any Mcd's I've visited. I do get a cold Mexican Coke when I dine at Chipotle though.

I haven't seen one at a McDonald's in several years (i.e. post-COVID) but many used to have Coke Freestyle machines for self-service. Those used the same cartridges that any other restaurant employed. These days very few have self-service but I've seen a few that do and use standard multi-position fountains.
 
I haven't seen one at a McDonald's in several years (i.e. post-COVID) but many used to have Coke Freestyle machines for self-service. Those used the same cartridges that any other restaurant employed. These days very few have self-service but I've seen a few that do and use standard multi-position fountains.
McDonald's has said that they use a higher concentration of syrup leading to its strong flavor.
 
Mexican Coke is OK.. The best Coke comes from the McDonalds fountain. IMO YMMV
Most fountains use the bag, but in the past- McDonald’s used stainless steel canisters to disperse the syrup.
Which is much better !
 
Most fountains use the bag, but in the past- McDonald’s used stainless steel canisters to disperse the syrup.
Which is much better !

I remember those. A relative owned a restaurant and I was there a few times when the bottler came to hook up a new canister. It also took specialty training to hook those things up since they were under high pressure. I heard that once the installer ended up spraying syrup over part of the kitchen and ticked off my relative.

They came in different sizes. This one looks half beer keg size. I remember some that looked more like those big oxygen canisters found in hospitals.

images


The newer ones are more like box wine (heck - maybe even like boxed motor oil) and I don't believe need to be pressurized. The bag/hose/fittings should be airtight and the bag should just shrink down as the syrup is sucked out.

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Don't know if it's still available for sale the way I got it years ago, but Dr. Pepper from the Plano TX facility could be ordered by case lots. It is all cane sugar and tastes way better than pedestrian HFCS DP.

We have a soda shop in nearby Greenville that has mostly real sugar/cane sugar based sodas. Love the Dr. Brown's Black Cherry thats cane based.
 
WET BLANKET WARNING IN EFFECT.
Gambling? In person vs online? No diff...it's bad
Sodas? Cane vs HFCS vs artificial sweetening? No diff....they're bad
Recreational Drugs? Street vs legalized? No diff...they're all bad

The closer a product can be linked to needless consumerism/absence of art or utility/addictiveness , the worse it is....for everybody

Flame suit on.
 
Mexican. I does have a different taste. Pepsi Throwback was good too. Also like root beer and cream soda with cane sugar. I don’t always drink soda/pop but when I do, I prefer cane sugar. Yes, I saw the earlier post. I limit my consumption to when I go out to Mexican restaurants. I’m going to Costco this week.
 
Don't know if it's still available for sale the way I got it years ago, but Dr. Pepper from the Plano TX facility could be ordered by case lots. It is all cane sugar and tastes way better than pedestrian HFCS DP.

We have a soda shop in nearby Greenville that has mostly real sugar/cane sugar based sodas. Love the Dr. Brown's Black Cherry thats cane based.
I worked at a Dr Pepper plant here in KY.
They made a lot of other drinks there.
Actually the majority of regular Dr Pepper is made there in Texas.
A very popular drink we made here , was from Texas- called Big Red.
People in the tri-state area love it
 
Don't know if it's still available for sale the way I got it years ago, but Dr. Pepper from the Plano TX facility could be ordered by case lots. It is all cane sugar and tastes way better than pedestrian HFCS DP.

We have a soda shop in nearby Greenville that has mostly real sugar/cane sugar based sodas. Love the Dr. Brown's Black Cherry thats cane based.
K cuppers now
 
I’m not a pop drinker but when I want one it either has to be Mexican Coke for the real sugar or Mountain Dew Throwback.
 
WET BLANKET WARNING IN EFFECT.
Gambling? In person vs online? No diff...it's bad
Sodas? Cane vs HFCS vs artificial sweetening? No diff....they're bad
Recreational Drugs? Street vs legalized? No diff...they're all bad

The closer a product can be linked to needless consumerism/absence of art or utility/addictiveness , the worse it is....for everybody

Flame suit on.
Do you own a car that's bad. Do you heat your home that's bad. Do you use A/C That's bad.

Where do you draw the line?
 
Do you own a car that's bad. Do you heat your home that's bad. Do you use A/C That's bad.

Where do you draw the line?
When we are happy with our decisions without being influenced. When we no longer care about what others think of us.
 
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