You don't even have to find a Mexican grocery store. Non-chain convenience stores generally have them, as do most regular grocery stores. At least that's how it is in the south. It's only 99 cents a bottle and better tasting.

L'Chaim!

Now if they would only make this Passover Coke in a glass bottle. Anything that comes in a glass bottle (whether it's beer or pop) tastes better than out of a can or plastic bottle.

There's a mexican lunch joint near my office in downtown Chicago that sells sugar coke in a glass bottle. Heaven!

I keep hearing things, here and there, that the switch from sugar to high fructose corn syrup is one of the things being eyed with suspicion as causing the weight gain in Americans.

You know, you'd think Coke would actually try to make money and sell a more expensive sugar based product. Or are they to afraid it'll eat into the sales of their existing products?

@mopar_man: All Mexico Coke I've came across comes in glass bottles, increasing the awesomeness that much more.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is also what they do in Europe, right? I'm not normally a huge regular coke drinker, but when I was on vacation in Europe it tasted wonderful.

If so, mazal tov to ME!

Yes, European Coke is always made with sugar.

Yeah, the Coke made with real sugar tastes much better! I don't keep kosher, but my friends who do are happy they can drink Coke during Pesach :)

Last time I came across the glass bottle Pepsi and Coke in a Mexican Grocery store it had the HFCS in it instead of sugar, are there different kinds of them sold?

So are there political reasons for using HFCS in the U.S.? Considering that Coke (apparently) uses sugar in Europe, price apparently isn't a HUGE issue.

You can also always get Dr. Pepper w/ normal sugar. It just costs more:

http://www.dublindrpepper.com/

a warning, the mexican coke is going to be switching to corn syrup soon!

i think the switch to corn syrup has something to do with subsidizing the corn industry....

one of the best things about living in london was getting coke with real sugar. i think it made my addiction worse than when i lived in the U.S.

@BillyShears: Yes, there are price controls and import quotas on cane sugar in the U.S. Influential lobbyists have kept them in place for centuries.

http://www.answers.com/topic/cane-sugar-except-refining

@BillyShears: It's US protectionism that makes sugar expensive here, largely due to lobbying by ADM.

If you prefer sodas with sugar instead of HFCS, skip the "organics" section of the grocery store, and check out the "ethnic," or "Mexican" sections. Not only do sodas bottled in Mexico have sugar, but they're a whole lot cheaper than "organic" American soda - sometimes they're half the cost.

K

Strangely enough, I just saw that show Modern Marvels on the History channel yesterday and it was about sugar. They specifically mentioned high fructose corn syrup and sodas. The show said the US is the highest consumer of HFCS and if you want to taste soda with sugar, head for Mexico.

I'm in England and just had a coke with sugar. Great stuff and better for you! There is one funny thing though ... the label says "carbonated soft drink with vegetable extracts". Not the most appealing label :)

http://www.kilgoreskitchen.blogspot.com

@Charles Duffy: Don't forget the huge subsidies for corn growers. ADM grows lots of corn; I wonder if there's a connection.

Not all "Mexican" coke has sugar in it -- check the label before you buy. I've seen some that's labelled "sugar or high fructose corn syrup," for example.

Most Mexican (bottled) Coke that I've come across in the US is made with corn syrup rather than cane sugar. I still remember the time I found a place with the real thing, though. Look on the label: if the ingredient list says "sugar" or "sucre" (I think - my Spanish, it is not so good) you're in luck.

Confirmed here in Dublin, Ireland that Coke only contains sugar, NO corn syrup. My wife brought a 2 litre home last night. Yum.

The reason Coca-Cola uses HFCS is the same reason that every company (unfortunately) uses it... it's CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP. There are still archaic corn subsidies in place, left over from the US government's attempt to bolster small farmers' corn production after WWII. Despite the fact that most farms in America are giant factory farms and not small family owned operations, the subsidies are still in place, and huge giant corporations are the ones profiting. This is depressingly sad considering the plight of family farms today, and if I ever get into office it's the first thing I want to tackle.

There is, in fact, concrete proof linking the consumption of HFCS with increased obesity rate. The main problem is that HFCS is obscenely sweet- much more so than sugar- and it delivers an atomic sucrose jolt to the system. What's worse, since HFCS is now dumped in everything from soda to ketchup to bread, the American child's palate is hardwired to want that sweet, sweet taste. Sugar doesn't taste so sweet when your tastebuds are used to the addictive, crack cocaine-esque taste of corn syrup.

Wasn't it on this blog that there was a recent discussion of New Coke, and the speculation that it was introduced as a way for Coca-Cola to shanghai HFCS into the original Coke formula?

Finally, another issue with HFCS vs. sugar use in Coca-Cola has to do with the US embargo on Cuban sugar. From what I recall from my study abroad time in the UK, people always told me the reason why Cadbury and other British chocolate tasted so good was because they used Cuban sugar, whereas US companies could not.

@graymalkn:

"Azucar" is the Spanish word for sugar.

@graymalkn:

"Sucre" means "sugar" in French, not Spanish. So, you were sort of close, in a Romance-languages way.

@NoctisEqui

Chocolate in england doesn't contain wax either which must be better for the taste!

Incidentally, while Coke in england has real sugar, a lot of other sodas are adding aspartame and ruining the flavor. I can no longer drink Tango or Lilt, it's been ruined by the sweetener shite.

@NoctisEqui: You hit it right on the head.

And I dont think its just HFCS thats the cause. I stopped drinking ALL soda (never drank regular but drank a lot of diet) and lost almost 5 pounds JUST from stopping without exercising. A number of scientists believe its our body doesnt know how to proses these "fake" sugars and supplements that causes them to be turned into fat by our systems.

I doubt we will ever see a ban on HFCS, but until we get a politician in a seat of power strong enough to deal the death blow to these subsidies and to re-invest in sugar production (contrary to popular belief, we could very well produce real sugar without having to import through the growth of sugar beets which the southern US can support) its just easier to avoid anything that isnt made with real sugar.

HFCS is cheaper in the US mostly because of US Government subsidies and tariffs on *cane sugar* which keep the price artificially higher than the price elsewhere in the world. They're called 'price supports.'

This has also affected the candy industry -- Life Savers moved its production to Canada for this reason.

Due to sugar price supports in the US, the price of sugar is at least twice, and sometimes 4 times the price of sugar on the world market.

The US department of commerce estimates that artificially high sugar prices cost US consumers about $2 billion a year, and hurt exports in sugar-based products like candy.

Corn is an incredible industry here in the U.S. Read the first half of Michael Pollan's excellent book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" -- he explains how food sales only can grow by a fixed percentage each year as based on population growth, etc. The agricultural industry, in order to increase annual sales, promote increased food consumption. However, clearly people can only eat X amount of corn-on-the-cob per year, so how else can the industry promote increased consumption? The key is to process and condense the agricultural product, so large amounts are used but only seemingly small amounts are consumed. This allows increasingly massive amounts of the agricultural product to be consumed by the public, without the public being consciously aware of it. It takes large volumes of corn grain to reduce down to small volume of corn syrup -- so the more corn syrup the American public consumes, the more corn the agricultural industry can grow, and the more money they can make. It's all about the economics.

Speasking of corn, the price (commdity) has nearly doubled in the last year due to incresed ethanol production and is really beggining to affect many poor mexican's whose diet is still primarily corn tortillas. The Coke I can get at the Mexican farmer's market I go to in Houston is pure sugary awesomeness. They keep it in a big cooler with ice and is well worth the $1.25 a litre they charge for it.

@twistmeyer:

I don't keep track of this, but I would imagine that these price supports have increased since Katrina, since so much U.S. sugarcane is grown in South Louisiana.

I had a Mexican Coke just today, and the label said sugar. But I had one not too long ago that tasted "wrong" and noticed that it had sugar/and or HFCS on the label. So the Coke bottlers may be bouncing back and forth depending on cost.

While the sugar is important, I'm of the opinion that the glass bottles are at least as important. Why? Thermal mass - the glass gets cold and stays cold lots longer than plastic does, keeping the soda cold.

Jason

I recently discovered that Target's Archer Farms sodas are high fructose free and damned tasty. There's no cola flavor, but the Ginger Beer is amazing!

Or you can go north to Canada...same deal there...no corn syrup, only sugar. It tastes better, in my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

Take off, eh?

@dwayne_dibbly: You beat me to it. My Canadian husband is clamoring to mention that Northerners can get Canadian Coke with the real sugar. When he first got here he noticed right away that the Coke tasted "wrong" and I pointed out that here it's made with HFCS.

@SmoovyG: We recently noticed that too. But watch out because I think we noticed that not all of them are with sugar. Some of them have syrup instead.

That's true for Mexican Coke in the bottles. We make sure to check that it says sugar/azucar because some do say "sugar and/or corn syrup." We noticed bout a week ago, though that a local gas station (a Valero to boot!) not only had the small 12oz ones, but the liters too!

My girlfriend doesn't believe me (and makes fun of me) when I say that Aussie Coke tastes better than American Coke because it's made with real sugar here, rather than HFCS. I don't drink it often--a single 20oz will set you back $3!--but when I do, it's wonderful. If only these heathens had Dr. Pepper.

I stopped drinking pop for nearly a year now and have lost almost 15 pounds, I barely exercise. I am just curious, I drink a glass of OJ a couple of times a week, even though it contains less sugar than pop, is there HFCS in that also?

A donut shop close to work sells these glass-bottled Coca Colas from Mexico. Turns out my local Costco was selling them (might be regional and seasonal; not all warehouses might have them) and there were stacks full of them. Not cheap--about 75 cents per bottle plus CRV--but worth it IMHO.

There is a place in Texas that sells and ships Dr. Peppers made with sugar (instead of HFCS). Also, Sprites and Fantas in other countries (e.g., Argentina) actually contain real lemon and orange juices, respectively.

Jones soda in the US in now pure cane sugar as well. They basically had to cut their profit to do so but felt it fit their company goals better.

I usually don't drink non-diet soda, but I tried the real cream soda and it tasted like fresh made caramel... so so good...

@mopar_man: Amen, yes, 100% agree.

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING beats a Coca-Cola in the cold 8 oz bottle.

Sugared Coke? Who cares?

Bring back ORIGINAL PIBB....in glass bottles....please..

@mantari: Maybe they'll jump on the "Throwback" bandwagon.

(Throwback = Pepsi's alternative to HFCS)

@BillyShears: Corn subsidies.

@mopar_man: I agree whole heartedly. I grew up drinking "Real" Coke out of glass bottles. Now I prefer plastic over cans but when I can find a glass bottle I jump on it. Where I live there is a small convenience store that sells the Mexican12 oz. glass bottle cokes (with sugar) for $1.39. A couple of months ago I actually found at a Grocery Outlet store 6 packs of 16 oz glass botttle cokes. They were only $2.99/6-pack. I was in Coke heaven. Unforunately they only had a few left so I bought what I could. Recently the CEO of Coca-Cola was on Charlie Rose and talked about how the United States is one of the few countries that uses high Fuctose corn syrup instead of sugar. I wish they would go back to sugar.