# Coca cola with cane sugar - different taste than with corn syrup? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [March 5, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356 "2010-03-05T00:13:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/1 "2010-03-05T00:13:42Z")
My local store just started stocking this, in the glass bottles, and I grabbed one on a whim. I’m not a regular soda drinker, but it tasted exactly like regular coke to me. Poll coming. ---
**Author:** ![nani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nani)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/2 "2010-03-05T00:22:03Z")
To me, Coke made with cane sugar tastes more crisp, and not so, well, syrupy. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/3 "2010-03-05T00:40:05Z")
Can’t speak for the Coke. The Mountain Dew made with real sugar, however, is exquisite. Much better than HFCS. Noticed less of a difference with the Dr. Pepper. These are called “Throwbacks” and have a slightly different label. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/4 "2010-03-05T01:20:28Z")
I see Coke is taking a cue from Pepsi Co. Must mean these “throwbacks” are a hit. I didn’t know Coke was out with their own sugar cane version, I’ll have to give it a shot. I really noticed a difference (to its favor) with Pepsi Throwbacks. It was subtle, but I’m a huge Pepsi drinker which increased the contrast for me. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/5 "2010-03-05T01:20:39Z")
> [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](#): > > Can’t speak for the Coke. > > The Mountain Dew made with real sugar, however, is exquisite. Much better than HFCS. Seconded. When the sugar-Pepsi came out, I did a side-by-side comparison and preferred the sugar version. I don’t know that I could tell them apart if they weren’t side-by-side, though. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/6 "2010-03-05T01:54:24Z")
[Smart Ass] …If you are cutting your coke with sugar you’re doing it wrong. …If you are cutting your coke with HFCS you’re REALLY doing it wrong, sweet sticky-nose! [/Smart Ass] I must give credit to the OP for using the term ‘Coca-Cola’ instead of ‘Coke’–possibly in an attempt to preemptively avoid the sort of lame post that I just made. :rolleyes:(for myself!) Now, on topic: I believe I can taste the difference, and I prefer the Mexican Coke (Coca-Cola made with cane sugar). But what a wacky world we live in where big corporations switch to an inferior sweetener because it is much cheaper (partly because corn farmers enjoy juicier subsidies that cane farmers, I believe). Then _later_, they re-introduce their original, superior product\*–re-branded as a niche, specialty item–while still offering their inferior, less-expensively produced product… at the same price!!!\*\* I’m not saying they’re “evil” for doing so, I’m not really saying much of anything (as usual) except that it strikes me as a bit Bizarro World. \*A matter of opinion, of course–thus this poll. \*\*I don’t actually know if they are the same price… I am just supposing they are. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/7 "2010-03-05T01:58:48Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > I see Coke is taking a cue from Pepsi Co. Must mean these “throwbacks” are a hit. > > I didn’t know Coke was out with their own sugar cane version, I’ll have to give it a shot. I really noticed a difference (to its favor) with Pepsi Throwbacks. It was subtle, but I’m a huge Pepsi drinker which increased the contrast for me. Coke does it every year before Passover, which is less than a month from now. (Corn-derived products aren’t kosher for Passover for Ashkenazi Jews, ie 95% of the American Jewish community.) You had to look for the different-colored cap, so it was subtle, but there. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/8 "2010-03-05T02:20:43Z")
One advantage of living in an area with a large number of Hispanics - all the small markets carry Mexican Coke. There is a definite difference in taste. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/9 "2010-03-05T02:37:17Z")
> [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](#): > > Can’t speak for the Coke. > > The Mountain Dew made with real sugar, however, is exquisite. Much better than HFCS. Noticed less of a difference with the Dr. Pepper. These are called “Throwbacks” and have a slightly different label. Oh, I absolutely agree–even my daughter could tell the difference! She never cared much for Mountain Dew, but when I bought the “throwback” version, she wanted to try it, and she just loved it! Even though I do like the HFCS version of MD, I noticed that the sugar-sweetened variety was much fresher tasting, and left none of the usual somewhat cloying aftertaste. So much better! I really want to try the Coca-Cola with real sugar, too! ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/10 "2010-03-05T03:17:17Z")
When I could still drink cokes, I really preferred the glass bottle Coca-Colas from Mexico. Sugar Cokes definitely have more of a bite. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/11 "2010-03-05T03:31:22Z")
I have done **extensive** testing and informal polling on this. The topic has fascinated me for years for some weird reason. My conclusions, thus far, are basically: There is a very slight difference. In the greater context of taste, it’s so small that it’s not even worth mentioning. In the context of soda sweeteners, it’s still very small. The taste difference between a glass bottle, a plastic bottle, and a can is greater. To younger palettes, born shortly before or anytime after the switch, the HFCS version actually tastes very slightly better in people who can detect a differene (this is universal in the blind taste tests I’ve done, but in informal polls people always say they prefer the cane sugar variety.) For some reason, it’s very very trendy to say you prefer the cane sugar type. There are some people, tending to be born before ~1965, who seem to be able to taste the difference slightly more readily. IME they are those who drank soda as children, and then stayed away from it for decades, and now can “remember” the taste of sugar sodas better when they try both. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/12 "2010-03-05T03:41:08Z")
I voted “other” because I haven’t had a _non-diet_ soft drink in many years. My hubby switched to diet sodas about 15 years ago (long after I did) in an effort to drop a few pounds, and readily lost 20lbs. I’ve been _tempted_ to buy him some Pepsi Throwback, because that’s what he was raised on (his parents put Pepsi in their kids’ baby bottles, for pete’s sake!), but am too afraid he’d like it too much, and revert to his sugar-consuming ways. For someone who drinks as much soda as he does (five to six cans a day) and is battling his weight, that could be _significant_. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/13 "2010-03-05T04:03:58Z")
I don’t ordinarily like Coke at all, but I do barely like the Mexican stuff. It seems to have more flavors going on in it. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/14 "2010-03-05T05:01:58Z")
I wouldn’t say taste so much as texture. The cane Coke has a lighter mouth feel to me than corn Coke and I do like it better. It is subtle though and as **Cisco** said, there’s a bigger difference between canned and bottled than cane and corn. I think I’d take HFC in a bottle over cane in a can, but there’s none of the latter around here for a test. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/15 "2010-03-05T05:15:38Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > One advantage of living in an area with a large number of Hispanics - all the small markets carry Mexican Coke. There is a definite difference in taste. Yeah, here by the border there are plenty of places that stock Mexican Coke. i’m not a big soda drinker, but i’ll often have a coke when we eat at a Mexican restaurant. I really do think that the sugar version tastes better than the HFCS version. As others have noted, though, the fact that Mexican coke always comes in a glass bottle gives it a big advantage, as i much prefer a glass bottle over a can or a plastic bottle. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/16 "2010-03-05T05:55:50Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > I’ve been _tempted_ to buy him some Pepsi Throwback, because that’s what he was raised on (his parents put Pepsi in their kids’ baby bottles, for pete’s sake!), but am too afraid he’d like it too much, and revert to his sugar-consuming ways. For someone who drinks as much soda as he does **(five to six cans a day)** and is battling his weight, that could be _significant_. Duh. Cut down on the number of sodas per day. I drink about one per month. Substitute green tea or something. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/17 "2010-03-05T12:47:22Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] There is a very slight difference… For some reason, it’s very very trendy to say you prefer the cane sugar type. There are some people, tending to be born before ~1965, who seem to be able to taste the difference slightly more readily. .. [/QUOTE] You’re absolutely right about the trendy aspect. I’ve done food and beverage service at events where both standard canned Coke and bottled Mexi-Coke are freely available, and people snarf up the Mexi-Coke like mad. Outside of a couple of people I know that avoid corn products for various reasons like actual allergies or socio-political things like “HCFS is teh government evil!” it’s an image for most people. It’s easy to see how devoted people are to their precious sugar-sweetened Coke - their love for it tends to evaporate when we’re running a hot dog or sandwich bar, and canned Coke is included with lunch, or bottled sells for a buck. I was born in 1968. For me, I can tell there’s a difference, but I don’t have a preference. It’s on a par with saying I can tell a difference between two different stores’ house brands, but I won’t go out of my way for a Safeway Cola and I won’t mope if all that’s available is Bi-Lo Cola. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/18 "2010-03-05T13:21:09Z")
They recently stopped selling Pepsi Throwbacks here. They will be missed. Luckily I have several cases, as they did say it’d be sold for a limited time. I think I’ll sell the last 12 pack on eBay in a few years. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/19 "2010-03-05T13:28:08Z")
Since nobody’s cited any “peer reviewed” studies, I’ll report on Robb Walsh’s findings, from [his article](http://www.houstonpress.com/2008-06-05/news/boot-legging-dr-pepper/1) on Houstonians “bootlegging” Dr Pepper made with cane syrup in Dublin, Texas. > [@](#): > > On a recent Tuesday, just before lunchtime, I stood in the hall of my newspaper’s office handing out Styrofoam cups of Dr Pepper. Each passerby who agreed to participate in my taste test took a cup marked “A” and one marked “B.” One was filled with a sample of regular Dr Pepper with HFCS and the other was filled with Dublin Dr Pepper. I asked each taster which one they preferred and why. And then I asked their age. > > Out of 13 tasters, four liked regular Dr Pepper with HFCS better, seven liked the Dublin Dr Pepper and two couldn’t tell any difference. Three of the seven tasters who liked Dublin Dr Pepper were over 40 — old enough to remember the flavor of cane sugar-sweetened soda from their childhood… > > For tasters under 30, who grew up with HFCS in their soft drinks, cane sugar didn’t evoke any memories, or have any special appeal. On the contrary, they thought that HFCS tasted normal. Due to his age, he preferred the sugar; so do I–in my Dr Peppers & Cokes. I won’t presume to tell anybody else what they should prefer. And I can’t stand diet soda; unsweetened iced tea & coffee are my summertime drinks. Cane sugar is hardly health food; these sodas are rare treats for me. But–you can buy cane sugar at the grocery store. And plain old corn syrup–necessary for pecan pies. But where does the consumer buy HFCS? (Warning: Some Mexican Coke is made with HFCS. Always check the label!) ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356/20 "2010-03-05T18:14:54Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Since nobody’s cited any “peer reviewed” studies, I’ll report on Robb Walsh’s findings, from [his article](http://www.houstonpress.com/2008-06-05/news/boot-legging-dr-pepper/1) on Houstonians “bootlegging” Dr Pepper made with cane syrup in Dublin, Texas. > > Due to his age, he preferred the sugar; so do I–in my Dr Peppers & Cokes. I won’t presume to tell anybody else what they should prefer. And I can’t stand diet soda; unsweetened iced tea & coffee are my summertime drinks. > > Cane sugar is hardly health food; these sodas are rare treats for me. But–you can buy cane sugar at the grocery store. And plain old corn syrup–necessary for pecan pies. But where does the consumer buy HFCS? > > (Warning: Some Mexican Coke is made with HFCS. Always check the label!) Hey, pretty damn close to my findings. I feel so smart. S-M-R-T! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-with-cane-sugar-different-taste-than-with-corn-syrup/531356.md?page=2)