There is a battle brewing, my friends. One between soft drinks made with corn syrup and ones made with cane sugar. The war goes back (and please don't quote me on any of this) to agriculture, with the United States being a prime climate for corn, not sugar. Corn syrup is made through processing corn starch and is widely used to sweeten products, including but not limited to, soda. Cane sugar on the other hand comes from tropical climates, like Brazil, is more heavily taxed as an import, and is a more natural way to sweeten foods as the cane sugar juice is heated to produce a syrup, where as corn starch requires additional processing (the addition of enzymes) to produce corn syrup. With both being sugars, and neither being a great source of anything but empty calories and deliciousness, the case for either remains strong.
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| Mexican Coke (left) vs American Coke (right) |
With sodas, many organic flavors and imported sodas use cane sugar and many of the American mainstay beverages use corn syrup. Since Coke in my town is available in both American and Mexican styles, I am able to provide some insight into a taste comparison between the two.
First impression is the bottle. The Mexican Coke bottle is larger, 12oz (355ml) and bears a better resemblance to the classic Coke bottle shape. American Coke, the bottles I tested, were smaller, albeit cuter, but only contained 8oz (237ml). The Mexican bottle size is preferable, offering that additional 4oz that I'm particularly used to in one container as opposed to opening two separate American bottles to get a similar amount.
Moving to the first sip. They are distinctively different. The Mexican Coke fizzes as it hits your tongue and bites. The taste is less powerful than its American counterpart but very smooth, enveloping the entire mouth. American Coke, on the other hand, sits on your tongue an extra split second, coating it, lubricating your mouth as it spreads all the way down the back of the throat. Even the bubbles feel bigger; while the Mexican Coke fizzes the American bubbles. The tastes are very different as well, subtle enough to make both Classic Coke but overt enough so that anyone can tell the difference.
From a health perspective, the Mexican bottle came in at 150 calories compared to 100 calories for the American - meaning that equal volumes would contain equal calories. And really when it comes down to the other components outside of cane sugar or corn syrup, the two sodas are alike (carbonated water, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors and caffeine). So is there really a clear leader? Yes, Mexican cane sugar is less processed, but isn't supporting corn farmers part of the American way?
Anyway, my roommate tried them both and could tell there was a difference and claimed to like the American a little better...which was the same conclusion I came to as well. So for me, it'll be American Coke, the taste that maybe because I grew up with it, is a little more what I envision a Coke to be.
Being up early in my town affords a few perks, one of them being access to a delicious deli/market that is open until noon on Sundays. Stopping in there last week to grab some of the best chicken tenders ever, I peered into the cooler to spot glass bottles of Pepsi. Mexican Pepsi. There was no mistaking the thin bottles, wrapped in a more classic label on a field of white, containing my favorite soda of all time in its foreign version. My excitement was so high I almost paid for items that were not even mine at the checkout.
