Soda

I began wondering if soft drinks vary from country to country. And I'm not just talking about brands, but about the taste.

Does a coke in the U.S. taste the same as a coke in Germany?

Well, if you ask me, the answer is no.

I looked around on the internet and found that the variables in the equation are water and sweetener. So a soft drink can even taste differently in different regions, not just countries.

I found this interesting article about how people are smuggling cokes back from Mexico because they contain cane sugar instead of corn syrup like in the U.S.

Apparently the Coke in the U.S. used to also contain cane sugar, but they switched to corn syrup because of the costs. Now they are concerned that people are buying the product from Mexico, and that people are demanding a more expensive ingredient but are probably unwilling to pay the difference in cost.

Sorry, I was a business major, so I find case studies like this very interesting. Coke is now trying to tell people that there is no perceivable difference in taste.

But I don't agree. I have trouble telling the difference between Coke and Pepsi sometimes, but I can definitely tell there is something different about the coke in Germany. It is too sweet and not carbonated enough for my tastes. They also rarely have them in cans here, but that's probably because Germany is more environmentally conscious. I'm looking forward to a coke when I get back home, one that fizzes in my nose and burns my throat when it goes down. Sounds appealing, no?

Oh and by the way, I was using the term coke very generally (unless capitalized) . I am a Pepsi drinker.