# Coca Cola? For breakfast?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 8, 2004, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618 "2004-11-08T11:57:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/41 "2004-11-08T19:26:23Z")
I have tamed my Diet Coke addiction somewhat, but still even I find my caffeine intake disturbing. I do indeed require a DC at breakfast. My caffeine schedule is almost unwavering on workdays, on weekends I have just as much, just on a different schedule. 8:00 am - Breakfast time. One can of DC and a cup of coffee. 10:00 am - Post breakfast time. Cup of coffee (optional) and another DC. 12:30 pm - Lunch time. 32oz DC. 3:30 - Afternoon pick me up. Replinish the depleted 32 oz with a 12 oz can or 20 oz bottle of DC. 5:30 - Pre dinner - Can of DC. 6:30 - Dinnertime. - Can of DC. 7-12 - Maybe another four cans. In total about 14 caffeine units per day. If you can imagine I went through a period of buying the 7/11 extreme gulp (92 oz). My consumption was only slightly higher as some of the midday Coke was taken care of by my enormous tub of soda. I swear they put crack in that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/42 "2004-11-08T19:43:28Z")
I used to drink coffee at breakfast. Lately, though, I’ve been under a lot of stress, and one of the manifestations of stress for me is gastrointestinal upset. Coffee makes it worse, and tea takes too long to make (and can get really strong, which also upsets my stomach, if I forget about it and leave it too long). I could put milk in them, yes, but I don’t really like coffee or tea with milk. I still need some caffeine in the morning, so I go with Diet Coke. When life gets more back-to-normal, I will probably go back to drinking coffee with breakfast. I grew up in Maryland, and never considered myself Southern (for example, we only heard of grits when we would take trips further south). ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/43 "2004-11-08T19:54:59Z")
My normal weekday breakfast is a bowl of cereal or sometimes oatmeal; with that, I drink a glass of orange juice or, if we’re out, water. However, on weekends if I have an omlette or breakfast burrito (at home or out), Diet Coke is my beverage of choice. It’s a habit I formed in college, although it was regular Coke back then. I really like the way they complement one another, for some reason. College was in Texas, although I’ve moved west since… ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/44 "2004-11-08T20:29:29Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > And, yes **betenoir** , a traditional British or Irish cooked breakfast often includes baked beans as an option along with the rashers (never, never crispy), sausages (not “sausage”), eggs (fried or scrambled), mushrooms, fried tomato and, gawd help us, “hash browns”. Maybe that is as odd to you wherever you are as the geezer drinking Coca Cola was to me. Yeah, I know seosamh. Up until recently I was having quite a few “proper” breakfasts, some of which inluded not only baked beans but :eek: blood sausages (not sausage 😃 ). (In fact if you look up my recent posts…but don’t because I’m very boring…you’ll see I work in England as often as I can as it’s where I’d rather be…baked beans and all.) I just brought it up because yeah, it’s an odd thing to have for breakfast from our point of veiw. (BTW, speaking of crispy rashers, if you’re eating breakfast in America any time soon ask for “Canadian” bacon and you’ll get something closer to what you’re used to.) _bete goes off to drink a lousy American coke, lie back, and think of England_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/45 "2004-11-08T20:56:26Z")
I grew up in Southern California, moved to Northern California after college. I’ve been drinking coke (or whatever brown caffeinated bubbly beverage is on sale that week) every morning for the past 20 years. I’ve never had a waitress/food server in the US blink at my order. Trying to get an early-morning coke in Italy/England/France, however, is a culturally-exchanging experience I’d rather not have again. I go off caffeinated beverages before I travel abroad these days. It’s easier. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/46 "2004-11-08T22:27:34Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > :eek: blood sausages Blood sausages? Can’t say I have ever heard anyone over hear call them that. The traditional offal euphemism is **Black Pudding**. Usually fried/grilled but in the north-west of England they sometimes boil them. There used to be a hugely popular comedian in the 1950s & 60s called Al Read (catchphrase: “You’ll Be Lucky!”) who, when not appearing on stage or on the wireless, was a pork butcher in Salford renowned for the quality of his black puddings. There are also **White** and **Red** Puddings which are, to me at least, much nicer. Thanks for the tip about Candian bacon. I’ll try that out when I’m in NYC next year. BTW, if you say “rasher” to most English people, you’ll be met with stony silence. You have to add “… of bacon” before they know what you’re talking about. But what other breakfast food comes in units of rasher??? ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/47 "2004-11-08T22:32:13Z")
I don’t like coffee. How else am I supposed to wake up in the morning if I don’t pop open a Diet Pepsi or something? Go to bed earlier, you say? SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/48 "2004-11-08T22:46:35Z")
> [@The Devil's Grandmother](#): > > I go off caffeinated beverages before I travel abroad these days. It’s easier. But… but… but… how do you deal with the jet lag? :eek: I’m normally pretty bad if I don’t get some caffeine, but when I travel to Europe, I’m hopeless to deal with the 8 or 9 hour time change without it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/49 "2004-11-08T23:31:55Z")
I was thinking that jet lag might be a factor, too. Another possible reason: given the ridiculous prices places often charge for a tiny glass of (often from concentrate) OJ, the cola was probably a more cost-effective and more predictable drink. Maybe the Merkins were accustomed to fresh-squeezed, abundant OJ at home and were tired of being disappointed with the qualities/quantities served up elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/50 "2004-11-08T23:36:48Z")
Occasionally. I usually drink water when I go eat because I don’t drink enough during the day, and I don’t like drinking it by itself. Coffee is hot, and I usually don’t drink it, unless I’m just in the mood for some. Cold coffee, like iced latte is good. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/51 "2004-11-09T00:32:07Z")
A Canadian signing in. I drink diet Coke every morning, and have for years. I like the caffeine (only way to get it since I can’t stand hot drinks like coffee and tea) and the happy bubbles. I am indifferent to the time; if I’m up for the day at 6 and have breakfat then, I’ll drink diet Coke at 6. But I can’t drink orange juice in the morning because the acid upsets my stomach. And yes, I know that’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/52 "2004-11-09T00:57:40Z")
> [@PastAllReason](#): > > But I can’t drink orange juice in the morning because the acid upsets my stomach. And yes, I know that’s weird. Makes some sense, actually. From a little Googling: pH of Diet Coke: 3.39 pH of fresh-squeezed orange juice: 3.0 So the orange juice actually is more acidic. ---
**Author:** ![Cleiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Cleiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleiko)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/53 "2004-11-09T01:37:20Z")
[/QUOTE] Blood sausages? Can’t say I have ever heard anyone over hear call them that. The traditional offal euphemism is **Black Pudding**. There are also **White** and **Red** Puddings which are, to me at least, much nicer. BTW, if you say “rasher” to most English people, you’ll be met with stony silence. You have to add “… of bacon” before they know what you’re talking about. But what other breakfast food comes in units of rasher??? [/QUOTE] First off, there have been many times when I’ll drink a diet pepsi in the morning with my toast if there’s no milk to be had in the house. I’ve also been known to eat very strange things for breakfast, but that’s a whole 'nuther thead. So anyways… Just a question or two: What are blood sausages? And how do they come in different colors? I’ve heard that you guys use the term pudding much differently than we do over here. (US) And one more thing. Is a rasher of bacon just one strip? I was making a dish one time and it required a rasher of bacon and I had to kinda guess at it… Sorry for the hijack! Cleiko ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/54 "2004-11-09T01:37:55Z")
(Minor derailment) > [@Caprese](#): > > “Let’s have some coffee,” she suggested at 9pm at night. > > We could never decide whether the girl grew up having coffee at a young age or just really wanted a slug of caffeine. Probably grew up with it. I was drinking coffee before I was out of nappies, and was drinking one or two cups a day by the time I hit primary school. (It’s a long story which says a lot about the medical advice at the time, but I’m not going to get into that now.) For what it’s worth, though, I can categorically state that it does _not_ stunt your growth, as I’m just fractionally shy of 6’. Funny thing is, when I’d visit other kid’s houses and be told by their parents that I couldn’t have coffee, I just assumed it was because the parents were weird. This was actually quite a reasonable assumption, because one of my good friends came from a very religious household and were \*very \* odd in a number of ways, and another had parents who fed the children different food to what they ate themselves - so the coffee thing just seemed to fit in to that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/55 "2004-11-09T02:16:32Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > Makes some sense, actually. From a little Googling: > > pH of Diet Coke: 3.39 > pH of fresh-squeezed orange juice: 3.0 > > So the orange juice actually is more acidic. Well **this** information I’ll be keeping in my hip pocket to toss out next time someone is bugging me about my morning beverage of choice! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/56 "2004-11-09T02:44:11Z")
WHAT??? Southerners drink Coke for Breakfast? News to me… My grandparents NEVER did this, and would be apalled. They came from a small town in the county and were probably the most southern you could ever imagine. My parents never really got much experience outside of the state either. I think my claims are pretty legit in saying that where I come from its pretty uncommon. Our typical breakfasts would normally consist of scrambled eggs, oatmeal, grits, coffee, bacon, toast, and OJ or coffee. My sister will drink coke for breakfast, be we think that it is weird ---
**Author:** ![smartini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@smartini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartini)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/57 "2004-11-09T07:34:33Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > a traditional British or Irish cooked breakfast often includes baked beans as an option along with the rashers **(never, never crispy)** sausages (not “sausage”), eggs (fried or scrambled), mushrooms, fried tomato and, gawd help us, “hash browns”. Maybe that is as odd to you wherever you are as the geezer drinking Coca Cola was to me. **~ my bolding** When we were in England we were frequently asked “Do you want your bacon burnt?” At first we answered, “No” until we realized the waitresses, noting we were American, meant crispy. I guess they were tired of taking in back to the kitchen _to finish cooking it. 🙂_ ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/58 "2004-11-09T08:59:23Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > Blood sausages? Can’t say I have ever heard anyone over hear call them that. The traditional offal euphemism is **Black Pudding**. :smack: You know, I was thinking “black pudding” but somehow manages to convince myself that was something different. Well I _am_ only an American after all… ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/59 "2004-11-09T10:04:02Z")
What are blood sausages? And how do they come in different colors? I’ve heard that you guys use the term pudding much differently than we do over here. (US) [/QUOTE] They are…well…sausages made with blood. Pig’s blood particularly (making them one of the least kosher things on Earth) mixed with suet and oatmeal…yum! I can’t say I know what white or red is…I’m guessing less blood, more suet. I convinced myself “black pudding” wasn’t the right term as it’s so different (sausage-like) from say Yorkshire pudding…which is more of a bread-y, custard-y thing, traditionally used to sop up beef juices. But apparetly it’s both: "Pud´ding n. 1. A species of food of a soft or moderately hard consistence, variously made, but often a compound of flour or meal, with milk and eggs, etc. And solid pudding against empty praise. - Pope. 1. Anything resembling, or of the softness and consistency of, pudding. 2. An intestine; especially, an intestine stuffed with meat, etc.; a sausage. 3. Any food or victuals. Eat your pudding, slave, and hold your tongue. " So a pudding is a “species of food”, I think that about covers it 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618/60 "2004-11-09T10:49:00Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > From what I can see, most of the affirmative replies are from people in the Midwest or South. Is Maryland ‘South’? I’m a native Californian, and I don’t recall ever seeing anyone have Coke or Pepsi with his breakfast. Of course, here in Washington, everyone drinks coffee. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood for a hot drink, and then I’ll drink a diet coke with breakfast. And as you can see, I’m from up north 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-for-breakfast/273618.md?page=4)