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Mexican Coca-Cola is all the rage in Brooklyn, DNAinfo New York reports.

Sold in classic-looking, curvy glass bottles, Mexican Coke is sweetened with cane sugar rather than the high-fructose corn syrup pumped into the American stuff. Fans describe the taste of Mexican Coke as having a spicy and herbal note, with a flavor ?hint[ing] at root beer or old-fashioned sarsaparilla candies.?

The soda?s popularity has been on the rise for years now: the New York Times published a trend piece on the soft drink back in 2009. But this once-cult offering has now become de rigueur at countless restaurants, grocery stories, and bodegas throughout New York City and elsewhere across the country.

Greta Dana, owner of Williamsburg?s Taco Chulo, has been serving Mexican Coke since her restaurant opened eight years ago and recently noticed an uptick in the drink?s popularity.

?The Mexican Coke craze has been sort of recent,? Dana told DNAinfo. ?But it?s definitely become more of a thing that people ask for. It?s more of a trendy item, if you could say that about a Coke.?

The popular soft drink from south of the border has been flying off the shelf just a mile way at East Williamsburg?s La Gringa.

?Our customers actually love Mexican Coke,? owner Adalis Velez said. ?At first I thought it was just the hype or the nostalgia of the glass bottle, but after drinking it I realized there was something to all the madness. For me, it?s smoother, sweeter and colder. Mexican Coke is banging.?

In a blind taste test conducted by Consumer Reports, participants found that Coke from Mexico has ?a fuller, slightly more complex flavor? than its American counterpart. Still, others claim that Mexican Coke is just a fad for Americans, a case of clever packaging and psychological manipulation.

While Coca-Cola Co. would not provide any data on the increase of Mexican Coke imports, spokeswoman Kerry Tressler told DNAinfo that the company had been officially importing it since 2005.

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Coke in Canada also uses cane sugar and not HFCS

 

 

No, Canadian Coke uses beet sugar as well. BTW, when watching for HFCS in Canada, the labels say glucose-fructose instead of HFCS (see http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/industry-markets-and-trade/statistics-and-market-information/by-product-sector/processed-food-and-beverages/the-canadian-soft-drink-industry/?id=1172167862291#s2).

 

I always bring back a case of Mexican Coke whenever I'm at an American Costco because it just tastes better. I don't think the Mexican Coke popularity is really a recent thing, they've had it available for as long as I've been shopping across the border.

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No, Canadian Coke uses beet sugar as well. BTW, when watching for HFCS in Canada, the labels say glucose-fructose instead of HFCS (see http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/industry-markets-and-trade/statistics-and-market-information/by-product-sector/processed-food-and-beverages/the-canadian-soft-drink-industry/?id=1172167862291#s2).

 

I always bring back a case of Mexican Coke whenever I'm at an American Costco because it just tastes better. I don't think the Mexican Coke popularity is really a recent thing, they've had it available for as long as I've been shopping across the border.

 

+1 yes they say Glucose-Fructose = Discrete name for HFCS.

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You can also find "Passover Coke" in 2-liter bottles during that time of year.  Just have to look for the right caps and confirm it on the label.

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At my last job we did a Coke Challenge! So instead of Coke vs Pepsi, we compared different varieties of Coke. We had the same three people rate small cups of Coke in blind tests once a day for five days. We had:

Mexican bottle,

USA Glass bottle,

USA Can,

USA Plastic bottle,

McDonalds USA fountain,

McDonalds Canada fountain (we work in Detroit, across the "street" is Canada :P) - only used on day 1, didn't seem to be different and was annoying crossing the border for it

 

Mexican Coke won by a landslide!

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No, Canadian Coke uses beet sugar as well. BTW, when watching for HFCS in Canada, the labels say glucose-fructose instead of HFCS (see http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/industry-markets-and-trade/statistics-and-market-information/by-product-sector/processed-food-and-beverages/the-canadian-soft-drink-industry/?id=1172167862291#s2).

 

I always bring back a case of Mexican Coke whenever I'm at an American Costco because it just tastes better. I don't think the Mexican Coke popularity is really a recent thing, they've had it available for as long as I've been shopping across the border.

 

so that makes it 3 different types of sugars. that explains the difference in taste that I notice in different provinces. In Ontario for example, coke and pepsi taste way different than in BC and Alberta. I feel it tastes the best out west.  

 

 

McDonalds Canada fountain (we work in Detroit, across the "street" is Canada :p) - only used on day 1, didn't seem to be different and was annoying crossing the border for it

 

:laugh: you guys are nuts

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other healthy issues aside,

how to explains why Cane Sugar are preferred taste compared to HFCS ?

HFCS has a heavy, cloying, bitter, and slightly chemically taste. At least when you aren't used to it. Most younger soda-drinking Americans I know don't taste it, or they are used to it and just think that's the way it's supposed to taste. But I really can't stand it >.< If I drink a fizzy drink, it's just an occasional thing, and I find something sweetened with real sugar.

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Walmart not only sells Mexican Coke but it sells Mexican Sprite. We always grab 8 of each for when guest come over and prefer a soda. Everyone loves them!

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I've never heard of Mexican Coke or seen it in any stores. I'm going to keep my eyes open for it now, I'm curious. Even so, i probably won't drink much of it due to the fact that my family and I prefer not to consume GMO products and cane sugar is almost always genetically modified unless expressly labeled as organic.

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^ If the store has a Mex/latino section, look for it there.

 

We have one local grocery store that sells individual bottles of the Mexico Coke -- is a bit pricey tho.

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They sell that stuff on store shelves down there?

 

I guess the cartels have won. All of you shouldn't be talking so freely about how much you bring back :)

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Does anyone know how Mexican Coke compares to British / European Coke? I know that they don't use HFCS over here but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the same as Mexican Coke.

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Its crap like this that gets me. They (the us bottlers) scream about the price of sugar, but EVERY WHERE ELSE they use it. Its all about greed in this country, and its getting old.

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Does anyone know how Mexican Coke compares to British / European Coke? I know that they don't use HFCS over here but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the same as Mexican Coke.

 

As far as I know they're pretty much identical.  UK soft drinks use cane sugar rather than HFCS.  Is the US coke really all that different in taste? I've never had it.

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As far as I know they're pretty much identical.  UK soft drinks use cane sugar rather than HFCS.  Is the US coke really all that different in taste? I've never had it.

 

Does imitation vanilla taste the same as real vanilla?  Sadly I remember the whole Coke,New Coke, Classic Coke debacle.  Soda has never been the same.  Pepsi will release cane sugar Mt Dew and Pepsi in certain times of the year and EVERYONE agrees its way better.

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