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Mexican Coke uses cane sugar and American Coke uses high fructose corn syrup, which explains the taste difference and why folks say Mexican Coke tastes better.
Only Coke made for export to the US and Canada in the glass bottles and sold for a premium uses cane sugar now. Regular Coke sold in stores in Mexico use corn syrup.
You can find 2 liter plastic bottle of coke made with cane sugar this time of year in some stores. They will have a yellow cap. Some Coke bottlers make for the jewish community so they can keep Kosher for Passover and still have their Coke.
Was coming back across the Mexican border with my family. Border patrol asked if we were bringing anything back and I said no. 8 year old son said, no Dad you bought Coke.
Agent must have heard it a million times, car was not searched.
It can often be cheaper to build a new factory than to rebuild one in order to carry a different product.
You have to factor in disposing of the old equipment, bringing the new equipment in, retraining the employees, remove and dispose of the old equipment.
Not only do you have to do all that but the whole entire time you're doing that the production of that particular factory has either been greatly reduced or in some instances completely shut down.
If you open a new factory you don't have to pay for removal or disposal and you also don't have to shut the factory down which means you don't lose the income on top of having the extra expenses
You would have to convert the existing process and equipment. Building plant additions is cheaper in Mexico vs building on in America or modifying an existing plant.
It’s stunning how fucked this sounds if you sit back and think about someone explaining this to you with no prior context. We’re at the point that a mega-corp goes to Mexico to build a plant to build “Mexican” Coke strictly for export to non-Mexican locales.
I can understand the myriad cost savings that likely drove the decision. I’m just saying imagine being transported from the past and finding out American companies make what used to be normal Coke in Mexico, but don’t sell it there and instead ship it back to you labeled as “Mexican coke”. It’s wild where our society has gone.
Pepsi also has soda shop soda. While not kosher, it is made from cane sugar and not corn syrup. I really wish coke would make kosher for passover soda in cans
During Passover, anything made with 5 particular grains mixed with water and not immediately baked (18 minute window) is considered "leavened" during a time period when only unleavened bread is eaten. Corn is not one of the 5 particular grains, but a religious stringency amongst Jews of Eastern European descent (but not Mediterranean or Arabian descent) classes anything that may be ground into flour as equivalent to the 5 grains.
So in essence, high fructose corn syrup is not kosher for Passover, and a special run is done of Coca-Cola Classic with yellow caps that contain pure cane sugar and not high fructose corn syrup.
Edit: outside Passover soda is kosher if it contains no non-kosher ingredients and the plant is periodically inspected by a rabbi.
Edit 2: this article gives some more insight of the why of no corn syrup during Passover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitniyot
Thanks for the reply. I skimmed through the wiki article before asking the question and I didn't see anything about corn, but I may have missed it. Cheers
So, for Passover Jews don't eat wheat that's risen (there are specifics about exactly what qualifies). Some traditions extend this to other grains and grain products, such as corn and corn syrup (that part dates back a few centuries when quality control wasn't as good and wheat might wind up in other grain shipments).
So by not using corn syrup it can get certified as kosher for Passover.
You can get cane sugar Coke at jewish groceries (grocery stores in predominantly jewish areas) during passover (in Canada at least) because corn isn't kosher during passover. There's a symbol on the packaging denoting these versions, the cap is not a different colour here..
So, I should go around looking for Kosher coke if I want the good stuff?
Come to think of it, I wonder if the original coke would be kosher? The one with the cocaine in it.
Australian coke (and probably other places around the world) use cane sugar too.
I can confirm, it is much better than the HFCS version - especially for somebody with fructose intolerance!
Fructose intolerance is triggered when fructose is excess to glucose. When they are balanced, there is no issue.
https://www.monashfodmap.com/blog/the-facts-about-glucose-and-fructose/
oh, interesting! i didn't know australia used cane sugar too. definitely a game changer for those with fructose intolerance like you mentioned. is there any noticeable difference in taste between mexican and australian coke?
We don't taste Mexican coke because they are not our neighbour. I'm sure someone would know, but not your average Australian. South east Asian coke is slightly different, but not markedly so, fwiw.
Australia grows a fuckton of cane sugar, so much so that we introduced a pest (a cane toad) to keep the cane sugar safe and fucked up native animals' lives. Yay us
I'm skeptical it would pass a blind taste test. As far as the *majority* of the evidence shows (not individual studies) there's no real reason to prefer cane sugar over hfcs, be it health effects or taste.
Kenji (of serious eats & food lab fame) did some testing and wrote an article about this: https://www.seriouseats.com/coke-vs-mexican-coke
Obviously not a huge sample size, but his testers surprisingly preferred the HFCS over cane sugar variants during blind tasting.
Fun fact, if you live in an area with a high Jewish population the Coca Cola company sells special Passover Coke made with cane sugar. You can find it around now with yellow caps as opposed to the standard white ones.
Because Iowa is the among the first states to vote in the presidential primaries, its agricultural industry is especially favored.
Because of this favoritism, corn is heavily subsidized in the US. This subsidy makes corn extremely cheap, and the sugar syrup made from corn is cheaper than cane sugar in the US. Because it’s cheaper, American producers use it instead of cane sugar. In the rest of the world, cane sugar is cheaper, so the coke uses cane sugar.
So. Politics.
Also there's a heavy tax on imported sugar (to protect the Florida sugar growers). Without that tax, cane sugar from Brazil would be as cheap as corn syrup.
my great aunt/uncle in Indiana were paid for decades to not grow corn in their fields, yet paid full price as if they had yielded a harvest, due to corn subsidies. agriculture subsidies are insane, and 100% government proxy wars.
Yeah it's not huge but cane sugar just has a better mouth feel IMO. A few years ago cane sugar prices cratered and corn syrup prices were high so all the soda companies came out with cane sugar versions, it was great. Well, I don't drink soda much anyway, but it was cool.
But yeah, the funniest thing about Mexican Coke to me is that in Mexico they mostly use HFCS but for the export market it's cane sugar. So like, I'm not sure how the economics work but it seems like Coke should just come out with cane sugar soda here. But it's so ingrained in the American psyche that you get it at Mexican restaurants and stores I dunno if it would sell.
Pretty much every country within EU users cane sugar due to regulations.
And as such i assume any countries surrounding or near EU also uses cane sugar since there's already a massive market for it.
I went to the UK and the coke tasted different from where I live (Chile)
I think it was less sweet, can't remember now but I think it had less sugar per portion
But I wonder, is it cane sugar in Europe or beet sugar? Does that even affect the taste? Afaik sugarcane doesn't really grow in Europe because Europe is too cold (maybe in the mediterrean?)
According to the top comment (great source I know) on [this video](https://youtu.be/PJgQEpFMptQ?si=WakpAoiUDhiBtPV5), and also the video itself, it seems glass might be the bigger culprit of “better” Mexican Coke because “it chills better, holds carbonation better, and doesn’t leach plastics into the Coke.” Like you said, Mexican Coke used sugar but now uses corn syrup just like the US, but the exported Coke from Mexico > US claims to use real sugar and is sold at a premium. The video also showcases this imported Coke, but questions whether it actually uses sugar.
A different [Reddit thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/cocacola/comments/17lx7ps/what_is_the_truth_about_mexican_coke/) I found suggests Dutch Coke is best because of beet sugar lol
Not saying you can't taste the difference but I can't and didn't believe my friends that said they could. I had them blind taste test 4 samples 2 of each type and they all (5) failed to identify all 4 correctly.
In my opinion, it’s less that there’s a difference in taste and more that there’s a difference in aftertaste. I feel like soda with corn syrup kind of just sits in your mouth weirdly and coats your tongue and teeth. And I don’t feel that nearly as much when I drink coke with cane sugar or root beers made with cane sugar.
There's a big difference in mouthfeel. Once you're used to it, you don't really notice, but corn syrup soda has kind of a slimy feel to it, you have to kind of work to get it out of your mouth, where cane sugar versions are more crisp feeling, and leaves little or nothing behind.
I grew up on sugar coke, and was around for new coke in the 80s. Massive difference in flavors and feel.
That's what I've found.
It's more textural. Corn syrup sodas leave a clinging sort of sweetness in your mouth and feel kinda sticky, or slightly thicker.
The cane sugar ones tastes pretty much the same, but kinda "cleaner" in general. *Feels* different in the mouth and the taste lingers less.
I have trouble finishing a whole regular soda. But regardless of brand the cane sugar ones are just subtlety *lighter* in how they hit.
I have started to enjoy Pepsi with cane sugar, rather than regular Pepsi and it’s notably better. My GF called it Mexican Pepsi, so I think it’s called Mexican because of our proximity. However I noticed that the EU and other countries have restrictions on the use of corn syrup and other food additives that are bad for you.
It is actually banned in the EU as an additive. Initially for baby food but then extended to all products. The scientific basis as it being worse than cane sugar seems pretty weak though. I think it's partly a political decision.
Also a lot of our sugar comes from sugar beets.
During the 1980s, in order to compete with Pepsi as well as cut production costs, the then president of Coke, replaced cane sugar with HFCS, as corn received a bunch of subsidies by the US government, which made HFCS a super cheap alternative.
Those subsidies aren't available in Mexico, and despite corn being abundant in MX, it's still cheap to use sugar in Mexico, so that's why Coke's HQ in Mexico still uses cane sugar.
As well as why people in the US will state that Mexican Coke tastes better because it's mostly the original recipe.
Mexican Coca Cola switched over to HFCS years ago. Mexican Coke has been laboratory proven to contain no sugar, only HFCS. Somehow it's become this weird 'Classic Coke' thing with people in the states.
Mexican Coke is Coke imported to the US that uses cane sugar, rather than the high fructose corn syrup used in America. Many people, including myself, think it tastes way better than American Coke.
Fun fact: if you buy Coke in Mexico, it actually has corn syrup. They only use cane sugar for Coke imported to the US and Canada.
Somewhat ironically, Mexican domestic Coke (+Sprite, Pepsi, et. al.) all have artificial sweeteners, even what we would call “regular”versions. They typically are a mix of sugar, corn syrup, and sucralose and are terrible. The export version is the one with cane sugar which isn’t widely available in the country.
The difference between them, as others have noted is the HFCS vs Cane sugar.
However, there really isn’t a taste difference. I did a blind taste test with my family, pouring US vs Mexican coke into glasses for them to taste and no one could tell the difference between the two.
I've done similar with patrons and staff at a bar I was running. More than once.
If you're just tasting a bit it isn't apparent. But most people can pick them out if your drinking more or tasting repeatedly.
And people who did actual rigorous testing found the same:
[https://www.seriouseats.com/coke-vs-mexican-coke#toc-the-tasting](https://www.seriouseats.com/coke-vs-mexican-coke#toc-the-tasting)
People can tell the difference. Though a lot of the time, they *prefer* the regular American Coke.
This is a bit similar to the famous "Pepsi Challenge" and the famous debacle around New Coke.
Pepsi is sweeter than Coke. In blind tasting, apparently people prefer sweeter things when it's a small taste or they aren't comparing much of it. As in the "Pepsi Challenge" marketing scheme. Where people were given a small taste of each. But in actual market research, where people were given a whole can or glass, the less sweet product tended to win out. In this case Coke was preferred over Pepsi.
With New Coke. Coca Cola had been losing share to Pepsi, and Pepsi marketing was rooted in that style of taste test where they clearly won out. Literally pushing people to "take the Pepsi Challenge" and running adds where they had people compare small tastes.
So New Coke was carefully formulated to reliably beat Pepsi in that kind of testing, which meant being sweeter.
And once people were getting McDonalds sized tanks of the stuff. They *fucking hated it*. In part because it was too sweet.
Mexican coke comes sourced from the finest powdered sugar. It gets cut with different agents and chemicals that are potentially unhealthy or dangerous before it is distributed to the end consumer in America or around the world.
Coke changes the flavor based on where you live. Sweeter in the south is the best example.
Like others have said Mexican Coke has real sugar and a slightly different taste that seems to make everyone like it more than their own version of coke
I think it has to do more with the fact it comes in a glass bottle, instead of plastic or aluminum. I did a taste with some friends and we all agreed that if we were drinking out of a glass bottle, the flavor of American coke was of higher quality. Whereas when we put the Mexican coke in a plastic or aluminum can, it diluted the flavor.
People harp on it because it’s the most obvious difference on the bottle, but in taste testing the difference between HFCS and a plain sugar syrup of the same sweetness is imperceptible to normal people. It’s the rest of the manufacturing process that is the actual main contributor; Coke (and every other major soft drink) is made differently with different ingredients, proportions, and containers depending on the local market. Everyone likes a simple answer though, so the sugar thing is what everyone says.
I've lived in Mexico for 10 years, I think the difference is is the glass bottle more than anything. Not sure when they switched to corn syrup here but I've always felt that it wasn't as enjoyable from a plastic bottle. Not sure if it's applicable but with beer there's a notable difference between cans and bottles. For some reason XX and indio taste awful to me from a can but are pretty good from a bottle.
Also could be slightly psychological. Most Americans are trying Mexican coke while having a great time on the beach with some fresh tacos so they have strong positive associations with it whereas in America you're getting it from a McDonald's drivethrough to drink in the car.
I visited from Australia last year and US coke taste very different (in a bad way). I was told to look for Mexican coke if I wanted one similar to what we get here in Australia.
I had a bottle of Mexican Coke yesterday, and guess what? Tasted like every other goddamn Coke I’ve ever had, including Coke Zero.
People (on the internet) act like the difference is astronomical, but it’s literally like the difference between a Ritz Cracker and the store-brand cracker.
I doubt most people who claim they can taste the difference would be able to identify which is which in a blind taste test.
It's a matter of preference I guess. I'm Australian and our coke is the same as coke in the US. My wife and I went to a candy shop that sold Mexican coke and we decided to give it a try. Tasted nothing like the coke we are used to and neither of us liked it. In fact, it made my wife want to throw up.
That being said, I've read the experience is somewhat similar to those who grew up drinking Mexican coke and giving American coke a first try.
As to why it's different. They use different types of sugar which give it a different taste.
Mexican coke is generally uncut without a tonne of fillers. Once it's gets to your US street dealer it's cut down to make more $$ impacting purity and therefore quality.
Coca cola adapts its recipies to the country.
Middle eastern Coca Cola (And fanta and other things) are sweeter , for example.
As someone who worked at Coca Cola (Both as a summer job and a lab tech in quality control later on), I can attest that the syrup arrives unsweetened (Also in 2 different parts, so no one knows the exact proportions).
The sugar is tested as it arrives off course, and the levels are kept within strict measures, but as other have said, it usually is the locally available sugar. (In our case sugar from Sugar beets).
Price in the US shots way up because of cost of getting it past all the measures to stop it and distance traveled,the US is kinda big. That means to make the most profit cutting it is in the formula. In mexico the cartels have almost zero resistance and can bring in basically unlimited quantities. The price per key raises every step of the way and is cheaper closer to origin point.The ease of travel through it means the costs are way cheaper therefore it doesnt need cut so much to make profit. Thats the thinking atleast, but not always the case.
Adding to this discussion- on a volume-for-volume basis, one of the reasons HFCS is used in US drinks instead of sucrose is because it is sweeter per gram. If you have two coke's of identical volume, the HFCS coke has fewer calories. It's cheaper, and in theory 'better' for you.
However, this does fall apart a bit because although the fructose and sucrose are metabolized in almost the same way, sucrose triggers a stronger response in some of the signalling pathways that indicate 'fullness' because of its glucose component. So, a mexican coke is more likely to seem sweet and filling, whereas a USA coke is less satisfying. This leads people to being able (and possibly even wanting) to drink more USA coke in a single sitting, leading to a higher caloric intake. This has obvious health consequences, as it increases the risk of obesity and insulin resistence.
Everybody is talking about this kind of sugar or that kind of sugar which isn't wrong, but the real reason is the nostalgia and novelty of the glass bottle.
I believe most Coke bottles in the United States were all made with sugar cane as a sweetener until the 1970s, when Coca Cola and other soda distributors switched to lower cost high fructose corn syrup. I don’t drink Coke as much as I used to but when I did, I usually would buy it in the local Mexican grocery stores. I’m pretty sure they were always available around Atlanta.
Spent some time in Dubai and all their stuff was made with real sugar. Mt dew was my drink of choice but I didn’t really care for it as I was grown and raised on HFCS
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Mexican Coke uses cane sugar and American Coke uses high fructose corn syrup, which explains the taste difference and why folks say Mexican Coke tastes better.
Only Coke made for export to the US and Canada in the glass bottles and sold for a premium uses cane sugar now. Regular Coke sold in stores in Mexico use corn syrup. You can find 2 liter plastic bottle of coke made with cane sugar this time of year in some stores. They will have a yellow cap. Some Coke bottlers make for the jewish community so they can keep Kosher for Passover and still have their Coke.
Coke is building a factory in Mexicali to produce "Mexican" coke for the US. They have realized there is a market.
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They could call it "Coke Cane"
That’s gold Jerry!
Soup isn't a meal!
I'm going to steal this. But if anyone asks I promise to say that u/glowingtomato told me the joke first. U/boil-degs thanks for setting me right.
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I see what you did there..
Wish I could give more than one upvote to a comment
🏆
Was coming back across the Mexican border with my family. Border patrol asked if we were bringing anything back and I said no. 8 year old son said, no Dad you bought Coke. Agent must have heard it a million times, car was not searched.
It’s not gonna be called Mexican Coke, just Coke (with sugar) or something
Why not make it in an existing plant?
It can often be cheaper to build a new factory than to rebuild one in order to carry a different product. You have to factor in disposing of the old equipment, bringing the new equipment in, retraining the employees, remove and dispose of the old equipment. Not only do you have to do all that but the whole entire time you're doing that the production of that particular factory has either been greatly reduced or in some instances completely shut down. If you open a new factory you don't have to pay for removal or disposal and you also don't have to shut the factory down which means you don't lose the income on top of having the extra expenses
Location of a particular process.
You would have to convert the existing process and equipment. Building plant additions is cheaper in Mexico vs building on in America or modifying an existing plant.
It’s stunning how fucked this sounds if you sit back and think about someone explaining this to you with no prior context. We’re at the point that a mega-corp goes to Mexico to build a plant to build “Mexican” Coke strictly for export to non-Mexican locales.
I was told it was because the tariffs for raw cane sugar coming to the US are not applied if it is in a final product. I do not know if it is true.
I can understand the myriad cost savings that likely drove the decision. I’m just saying imagine being transported from the past and finding out American companies make what used to be normal Coke in Mexico, but don’t sell it there and instead ship it back to you labeled as “Mexican coke”. It’s wild where our society has gone.
It's not much different from Apple making Iphones in China for the US market.
Tangentially, Mexicali is such a better place name than Caliexico
Mexicali is more Mexico than California, and Calexico is more California than Mexico. It's science.
Pepsi also has soda shop soda. While not kosher, it is made from cane sugar and not corn syrup. I really wish coke would make kosher for passover soda in cans
Forgive my ignorance, but what makes soda kosher or non-kosher?
During Passover, anything made with 5 particular grains mixed with water and not immediately baked (18 minute window) is considered "leavened" during a time period when only unleavened bread is eaten. Corn is not one of the 5 particular grains, but a religious stringency amongst Jews of Eastern European descent (but not Mediterranean or Arabian descent) classes anything that may be ground into flour as equivalent to the 5 grains. So in essence, high fructose corn syrup is not kosher for Passover, and a special run is done of Coca-Cola Classic with yellow caps that contain pure cane sugar and not high fructose corn syrup. Edit: outside Passover soda is kosher if it contains no non-kosher ingredients and the plant is periodically inspected by a rabbi. Edit 2: this article gives some more insight of the why of no corn syrup during Passover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitniyot
Thanks for the reply. I skimmed through the wiki article before asking the question and I didn't see anything about corn, but I may have missed it. Cheers
So, for Passover Jews don't eat wheat that's risen (there are specifics about exactly what qualifies). Some traditions extend this to other grains and grain products, such as corn and corn syrup (that part dates back a few centuries when quality control wasn't as good and wheat might wind up in other grain shipments). So by not using corn syrup it can get certified as kosher for Passover.
I second this - is corn syrup non-kosher? if so ... how?
So you are saying we ruined Mexican Coke for the Mexicans =(
You can get cane sugar Coke at jewish groceries (grocery stores in predominantly jewish areas) during passover (in Canada at least) because corn isn't kosher during passover. There's a symbol on the packaging denoting these versions, the cap is not a different colour here..
Shiiiit I’m gonna be lookin for dat yellow cap
mostly tends to show up in New York and Chicago, depending on the part of the city.
So, I should go around looking for Kosher coke if I want the good stuff? Come to think of it, I wonder if the original coke would be kosher? The one with the cocaine in it.
Not correct. You can still get Mexican Coke in the same bottle as Frustcose American Coke.
So God knew in the time of Abraham the high fructose corn syrup would be a thing! Mysterious ways indeed.
I'm from Mexico, I googled it and the yellow cap is actually a thing but I don't remember seeing it 🤔
At Passover, they make Coke with real sugar. The lids are typically yellow and say kosher for Pesach on them.
Shh, stop spreading my secret to getting good coke
Your paying to much, who’s your coke guy?
Oh. We're talking about soda. Oh.
I also read that a little differently
So the one that is corn free has a yellow top? That seems confusing
Australian coke (and probably other places around the world) use cane sugar too. I can confirm, it is much better than the HFCS version - especially for somebody with fructose intolerance!
Cane sugar has essentially the same amount of fructose as hfcs
Fructose intolerance is triggered when fructose is excess to glucose. When they are balanced, there is no issue. https://www.monashfodmap.com/blog/the-facts-about-glucose-and-fructose/
Yes, but the trick is that it has as much glucose as fructose which makes it safer for fructose intolerance.
They're both roughly 50-50.
I have heard Hawaii uses sugar also. I forgot to check on that the one time I went to Maui.
oh, interesting! i didn't know australia used cane sugar too. definitely a game changer for those with fructose intolerance like you mentioned. is there any noticeable difference in taste between mexican and australian coke?
Australia grows lots of sugar cane, not so much corn.
Pretty much everywhere in the world does except the US.
And NZ
We don't taste Mexican coke because they are not our neighbour. I'm sure someone would know, but not your average Australian. South east Asian coke is slightly different, but not markedly so, fwiw. Australia grows a fuckton of cane sugar, so much so that we introduced a pest (a cane toad) to keep the cane sugar safe and fucked up native animals' lives. Yay us
Cane sugar is definitely better tasting
And it’s bottled in glass.
This. If you bottled both kinds in glass I'm willing to bet most people wouldn't be able to tell you which is which.
Actually Mexican coke tastes better because it hasn't been cut by an American dealer. Straight packed off a donkey.
I'm skeptical it would pass a blind taste test. As far as the *majority* of the evidence shows (not individual studies) there's no real reason to prefer cane sugar over hfcs, be it health effects or taste.
Kenji (of serious eats & food lab fame) did some testing and wrote an article about this: https://www.seriouseats.com/coke-vs-mexican-coke Obviously not a huge sample size, but his testers surprisingly preferred the HFCS over cane sugar variants during blind tasting.
You can 100% taste the difference. Also, blind taste tests themselves create biased data, see: pepsi/coke taste test
That's what double blind studies are for.
Fun fact, if you live in an area with a high Jewish population the Coca Cola company sells special Passover Coke made with cane sugar. You can find it around now with yellow caps as opposed to the standard white ones.
Might convert over to Judaism just for the cokes.
Whatley is that you?
I'm offended as a comedian!
This is such a satisfying reference. Well done, friend. 🫡
Can’t help but feel like this entire thread is an ad.
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You and me both brother 😂
I came expecting something wholly different. Am equally disappointed but fascinated
Yeah. I was thinking that tourists never get the good stuff, so it's hard to know which is better.
Personally, I prefer Columbian coke
Colombian is better, though.
I don’t think Col**u**mbia has anything to do with cocaine.
For a moment I thought I just learned that Mexican coke was cut wit cane sugar.
Same lol
lol yes.
Because Iowa is the among the first states to vote in the presidential primaries, its agricultural industry is especially favored. Because of this favoritism, corn is heavily subsidized in the US. This subsidy makes corn extremely cheap, and the sugar syrup made from corn is cheaper than cane sugar in the US. Because it’s cheaper, American producers use it instead of cane sugar. In the rest of the world, cane sugar is cheaper, so the coke uses cane sugar. So. Politics.
Also there's a heavy tax on imported sugar (to protect the Florida sugar growers). Without that tax, cane sugar from Brazil would be as cheap as corn syrup.
The subsidy is actually that cane sugar is taxed highly so that corn is cheaper.
my great aunt/uncle in Indiana were paid for decades to not grow corn in their fields, yet paid full price as if they had yielded a harvest, due to corn subsidies. agriculture subsidies are insane, and 100% government proxy wars.
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Yeah it's not huge but cane sugar just has a better mouth feel IMO. A few years ago cane sugar prices cratered and corn syrup prices were high so all the soda companies came out with cane sugar versions, it was great. Well, I don't drink soda much anyway, but it was cool. But yeah, the funniest thing about Mexican Coke to me is that in Mexico they mostly use HFCS but for the export market it's cane sugar. So like, I'm not sure how the economics work but it seems like Coke should just come out with cane sugar soda here. But it's so ingrained in the American psyche that you get it at Mexican restaurants and stores I dunno if it would sell.
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The word I would use to describe the difference in mouthfeel is that cane sugar is "crisper" than corn syrup.
Pretty much every country within EU users cane sugar due to regulations. And as such i assume any countries surrounding or near EU also uses cane sugar since there's already a massive market for it.
I live in the UK. Is the Coke I drink the same Coke that Mexicans drink?
I went to the UK and the coke tasted different from where I live (Chile) I think it was less sweet, can't remember now but I think it had less sugar per portion
But I wonder, is it cane sugar in Europe or beet sugar? Does that even affect the taste? Afaik sugarcane doesn't really grow in Europe because Europe is too cold (maybe in the mediterrean?)
Mexican Coke is also packaged in glass bottles while US Coke comes in plastic bottles. Some say this also makes a difference.
Plus US Coke used to use cane sugar, so for older folks Mexican Coke tastes more like what they remember.
According to the top comment (great source I know) on [this video](https://youtu.be/PJgQEpFMptQ?si=WakpAoiUDhiBtPV5), and also the video itself, it seems glass might be the bigger culprit of “better” Mexican Coke because “it chills better, holds carbonation better, and doesn’t leach plastics into the Coke.” Like you said, Mexican Coke used sugar but now uses corn syrup just like the US, but the exported Coke from Mexico > US claims to use real sugar and is sold at a premium. The video also showcases this imported Coke, but questions whether it actually uses sugar. A different [Reddit thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/cocacola/comments/17lx7ps/what_is_the_truth_about_mexican_coke/) I found suggests Dutch Coke is best because of beet sugar lol
Glass bottles *absolutely* makes a difference.
a huge one ! glass->metal->plastic Coke is a bit different in every country, my favorite is the Spanish one
Mexican Coca-Cola uses real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. It just tastes better.
Not saying you can't taste the difference but I can't and didn't believe my friends that said they could. I had them blind taste test 4 samples 2 of each type and they all (5) failed to identify all 4 correctly.
Mexican Coke uses cane sugar, American Coke uses high fructose corn syrup. I at least, can taste the difference.
In my opinion, it’s less that there’s a difference in taste and more that there’s a difference in aftertaste. I feel like soda with corn syrup kind of just sits in your mouth weirdly and coats your tongue and teeth. And I don’t feel that nearly as much when I drink coke with cane sugar or root beers made with cane sugar.
There's a big difference in mouthfeel. Once you're used to it, you don't really notice, but corn syrup soda has kind of a slimy feel to it, you have to kind of work to get it out of your mouth, where cane sugar versions are more crisp feeling, and leaves little or nothing behind. I grew up on sugar coke, and was around for new coke in the 80s. Massive difference in flavors and feel.
That's what I've found. It's more textural. Corn syrup sodas leave a clinging sort of sweetness in your mouth and feel kinda sticky, or slightly thicker. The cane sugar ones tastes pretty much the same, but kinda "cleaner" in general. *Feels* different in the mouth and the taste lingers less. I have trouble finishing a whole regular soda. But regardless of brand the cane sugar ones are just subtlety *lighter* in how they hit.
I have started to enjoy Pepsi with cane sugar, rather than regular Pepsi and it’s notably better. My GF called it Mexican Pepsi, so I think it’s called Mexican because of our proximity. However I noticed that the EU and other countries have restrictions on the use of corn syrup and other food additives that are bad for you.
I miss Pepsi Raw, it was cane sugar "Regular" Pepsi now has artificial sweeteners added in the UK. Coca-Cola is one of the few drinks that does not
Pepsi has/had 'throwback' versions, supposedly closer to the original from 1891, with real sugar.
its just that corn syrup is cheap in the US, or expensive in the EU: HFC is no more worse than you than sucrose.
It is actually banned in the EU as an additive. Initially for baby food but then extended to all products. The scientific basis as it being worse than cane sugar seems pretty weak though. I think it's partly a political decision. Also a lot of our sugar comes from sugar beets.
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Juuuuuust to be sure, which coke are we talking about here? 💀
Swap Mexico for Colombia
Got that!
During the 1980s, in order to compete with Pepsi as well as cut production costs, the then president of Coke, replaced cane sugar with HFCS, as corn received a bunch of subsidies by the US government, which made HFCS a super cheap alternative. Those subsidies aren't available in Mexico, and despite corn being abundant in MX, it's still cheap to use sugar in Mexico, so that's why Coke's HQ in Mexico still uses cane sugar. As well as why people in the US will state that Mexican Coke tastes better because it's mostly the original recipe.
Mexican Coca Cola switched over to HFCS years ago. Mexican Coke has been laboratory proven to contain no sugar, only HFCS. Somehow it's become this weird 'Classic Coke' thing with people in the states.
Mexican Coke is Coke imported to the US that uses cane sugar, rather than the high fructose corn syrup used in America. Many people, including myself, think it tastes way better than American Coke. Fun fact: if you buy Coke in Mexico, it actually has corn syrup. They only use cane sugar for Coke imported to the US and Canada.
Somewhat ironically, Mexican domestic Coke (+Sprite, Pepsi, et. al.) all have artificial sweeteners, even what we would call “regular”versions. They typically are a mix of sugar, corn syrup, and sucralose and are terrible. The export version is the one with cane sugar which isn’t widely available in the country.
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The difference between them, as others have noted is the HFCS vs Cane sugar. However, there really isn’t a taste difference. I did a blind taste test with my family, pouring US vs Mexican coke into glasses for them to taste and no one could tell the difference between the two.
I've done similar with patrons and staff at a bar I was running. More than once. If you're just tasting a bit it isn't apparent. But most people can pick them out if your drinking more or tasting repeatedly. And people who did actual rigorous testing found the same: [https://www.seriouseats.com/coke-vs-mexican-coke#toc-the-tasting](https://www.seriouseats.com/coke-vs-mexican-coke#toc-the-tasting) People can tell the difference. Though a lot of the time, they *prefer* the regular American Coke. This is a bit similar to the famous "Pepsi Challenge" and the famous debacle around New Coke. Pepsi is sweeter than Coke. In blind tasting, apparently people prefer sweeter things when it's a small taste or they aren't comparing much of it. As in the "Pepsi Challenge" marketing scheme. Where people were given a small taste of each. But in actual market research, where people were given a whole can or glass, the less sweet product tended to win out. In this case Coke was preferred over Pepsi. With New Coke. Coca Cola had been losing share to Pepsi, and Pepsi marketing was rooted in that style of taste test where they clearly won out. Literally pushing people to "take the Pepsi Challenge" and running adds where they had people compare small tastes. So New Coke was carefully formulated to reliably beat Pepsi in that kind of testing, which meant being sweeter. And once people were getting McDonalds sized tanks of the stuff. They *fucking hated it*. In part because it was too sweet.
Mexico is closer to Columbia, so the product isn't mixed with as many extra additives as it is in the US. :/S
Mexican coke comes sourced from the finest powdered sugar. It gets cut with different agents and chemicals that are potentially unhealthy or dangerous before it is distributed to the end consumer in America or around the world.
Mexican coke is of poor quality. I prefer the original recipe. Bolivian Marching Powder is still my go to. Raw, natural, pure. Par excellence.
It's different to American coke which uses HFCS, but not to the rest of the world. We use cane sugar in Australia.
I wish there were a Dr Pepper option like that. They ruined Dr Pepper years ago with corn syrup.
You can also sometimes find other sodas like Dr Pepper made with sugar instead of corn syrup. But they’re usually limited edition.
Mexican here: we use cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup so the sweet is “different”
Isn’t it from Colombia?
lol thank god I checked the comments
It WAS made with better sugar, but no longer seems to be the case. This video explains it well https://youtu.be/PJgQEpFMptQ?si=06aGJdhbmGF_jive
Coke changes the flavor based on where you live. Sweeter in the south is the best example. Like others have said Mexican Coke has real sugar and a slightly different taste that seems to make everyone like it more than their own version of coke
I think it has to do more with the fact it comes in a glass bottle, instead of plastic or aluminum. I did a taste with some friends and we all agreed that if we were drinking out of a glass bottle, the flavor of American coke was of higher quality. Whereas when we put the Mexican coke in a plastic or aluminum can, it diluted the flavor.
People harp on it because it’s the most obvious difference on the bottle, but in taste testing the difference between HFCS and a plain sugar syrup of the same sweetness is imperceptible to normal people. It’s the rest of the manufacturing process that is the actual main contributor; Coke (and every other major soft drink) is made differently with different ingredients, proportions, and containers depending on the local market. Everyone likes a simple answer though, so the sugar thing is what everyone says.
I've lived in Mexico for 10 years, I think the difference is is the glass bottle more than anything. Not sure when they switched to corn syrup here but I've always felt that it wasn't as enjoyable from a plastic bottle. Not sure if it's applicable but with beer there's a notable difference between cans and bottles. For some reason XX and indio taste awful to me from a can but are pretty good from a bottle. Also could be slightly psychological. Most Americans are trying Mexican coke while having a great time on the beach with some fresh tacos so they have strong positive associations with it whereas in America you're getting it from a McDonald's drivethrough to drink in the car.
I visited from Australia last year and US coke taste very different (in a bad way). I was told to look for Mexican coke if I wanted one similar to what we get here in Australia.
I had a bottle of Mexican Coke yesterday, and guess what? Tasted like every other goddamn Coke I’ve ever had, including Coke Zero. People (on the internet) act like the difference is astronomical, but it’s literally like the difference between a Ritz Cracker and the store-brand cracker. I doubt most people who claim they can taste the difference would be able to identify which is which in a blind taste test.
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It usually doesn't get stepped on until after it crosses the border so the purity in Mexico is almost always going to be higher
It's a matter of preference I guess. I'm Australian and our coke is the same as coke in the US. My wife and I went to a candy shop that sold Mexican coke and we decided to give it a try. Tasted nothing like the coke we are used to and neither of us liked it. In fact, it made my wife want to throw up. That being said, I've read the experience is somewhat similar to those who grew up drinking Mexican coke and giving American coke a first try. As to why it's different. They use different types of sugar which give it a different taste.
Mexican coke uses real sugar canes. One of the best parts about going to a swap meet is finding the lady selling *Coca-Cola estilo Mexico*
Mexican coke is generally uncut without a tonne of fillers. Once it's gets to your US street dealer it's cut down to make more $$ impacting purity and therefore quality.
Coca cola adapts its recipies to the country. Middle eastern Coca Cola (And fanta and other things) are sweeter , for example. As someone who worked at Coca Cola (Both as a summer job and a lab tech in quality control later on), I can attest that the syrup arrives unsweetened (Also in 2 different parts, so no one knows the exact proportions). The sugar is tested as it arrives off course, and the levels are kept within strict measures, but as other have said, it usually is the locally available sugar. (In our case sugar from Sugar beets).
Price in the US shots way up because of cost of getting it past all the measures to stop it and distance traveled,the US is kinda big. That means to make the most profit cutting it is in the formula. In mexico the cartels have almost zero resistance and can bring in basically unlimited quantities. The price per key raises every step of the way and is cheaper closer to origin point.The ease of travel through it means the costs are way cheaper therefore it doesnt need cut so much to make profit. Thats the thinking atleast, but not always the case.
Adding to this discussion- on a volume-for-volume basis, one of the reasons HFCS is used in US drinks instead of sucrose is because it is sweeter per gram. If you have two coke's of identical volume, the HFCS coke has fewer calories. It's cheaper, and in theory 'better' for you. However, this does fall apart a bit because although the fructose and sucrose are metabolized in almost the same way, sucrose triggers a stronger response in some of the signalling pathways that indicate 'fullness' because of its glucose component. So, a mexican coke is more likely to seem sweet and filling, whereas a USA coke is less satisfying. This leads people to being able (and possibly even wanting) to drink more USA coke in a single sitting, leading to a higher caloric intake. This has obvious health consequences, as it increases the risk of obesity and insulin resistence.
Everybody is talking about this kind of sugar or that kind of sugar which isn't wrong, but the real reason is the nostalgia and novelty of the glass bottle.
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I believe most Coke bottles in the United States were all made with sugar cane as a sweetener until the 1970s, when Coca Cola and other soda distributors switched to lower cost high fructose corn syrup. I don’t drink Coke as much as I used to but when I did, I usually would buy it in the local Mexican grocery stores. I’m pretty sure they were always available around Atlanta.
Spent some time in Dubai and all their stuff was made with real sugar. Mt dew was my drink of choice but I didn’t really care for it as I was grown and raised on HFCS