# Coffee and Coke

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-coke/546239>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 10, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-coke/546239 "2010-07-10T19:32:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-coke/546239/1 "2010-07-10T19:32:14Z")

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No, not Coke Blak, the semi-drinkable coffee-flavoured Coke product they came out with a few years ago. But whenever I drink some Coke right after drinking some coffee, I get a fairly intense lemon flavour from the Coke. I know that citrus is one of the flavour profiles of Coke, but what would it be about this combination that would make it so prominent?

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**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-coke/546239/2 "2010-07-11T02:46:38Z")

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Coke is heavily sweetened, which is why you can’t taste the acidity. Coffee tends to have some bitterness (usually in a good, balanced way), which cuts down the sweet sensation of the cola, allowing you to taste the lemon.

Salty, sweet, bitter, and acidic flavors are the only flavors that your taste buds recognize. Foods and drinks often taste different when mixed together depending on the overall balance of flavors. (fats and alcohols also play indirect roles by changing the “mouth feel” of whatever you are eating/drinking).

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-coke/546239/3 "2010-07-11T03:00:04Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Salty, sweet, bitter, and acidic flavors are the only flavors that your taste buds recognize.

And savory (AKA umami, since the Japanese were quicker than Westerners to question the official textbooks in favor of what their tongues were actually telling them).