# Coke with pure cane sugar will soon be available! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [July 22, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205 "2025-07-22T23:38:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/142 "2025-07-25T23:57:03Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Pepsi is sweeter. It’s obvious to me. Yes, it contains a little bit more sugar-like-substance. BUT some people think Coke tastes sweeter as it has more spice note and Pepsi has more citrus notes. Also Coke seems to be a bit more foamy. > [@wolfpup](#): > > my absolutely favourite type of Coke packaging is the smaller 300 ml plastic bottle that is sold in shrink-wrapped 8-packs. I used to like them also as once fit nicely into either a vest or cargo pocket. But now i dont use plastic bottles much. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/143 "2025-07-26T00:20:05Z")
The soda and beer companies talked about introducing aluminum bottles but they don’t seem widely available. Perhaps the Trump tariffs killed the economics? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/144 "2025-07-26T00:27:57Z")
So the consensus is: some like coke, some like pepsi\*. Others like something completely different and there are those who don’t do soda/coke/pop at all. Then there are can lovers and only glass will do folks. Plastic is roundly dismissed as bad juju. And maybe this is all Trump and his oddball-ness that is making us talk about it. The conclusion I’ve come to is: drink what you like. And maybe this ain’t political at all. \*yet, no love for Poppi 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/145 "2025-07-26T00:34:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Many people claim that the glass bottles taste better. They have a point. Certainly beer drinkers used to believe that. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OeqEIKjSCiM/hqdefault.jpg "Owens-Illinois Glass Beer Bottles ad with Chris Schenkel - 1980") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeqEIKjSCiM) ---
**Author:** ![TheBryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@TheBryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBryan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/146 "2025-07-26T02:14:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The soda and beer companies talked about introducing aluminum bottles but they don’t seem widely available. Perhaps the Trump tariffs killed the economics? I remember being able to get aluminum bottles of Bud Light and Busch Light at the ballpark some time before 2012. I think they are a niche thing. They work well in places where glass doesn’t work well. Otherwise, I think they’re kind of dumb. They take the worst properties of a can and the worst properties of a bottle and mixed them together. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/147 "2025-07-26T02:19:11Z")
> [@TheBryan](#): > > I think they are a niche thing. They work well in places where glass doesn’t work well. Otherwise, I think they’re kind of dumb. They take the worst properties of a can and the worst properties of a bottle and mixed them together. I think that this is exactly the issue. A lot of craft breweries switched from bottles to aluminum cans over the past few years; it’ll be interesting to see if increased cost of aluminum makes them consider switching back. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/148 "2025-07-26T02:54:44Z")
It made sense once upon a time. You used to taste the can. Not great for a beverage. There’s been a for long time now an effective, tasteless thin protective coating to prevent that and to protect the can itself from any acidic contents. But the stigma remained for a long time after. Still does to some extent. For soft drinks, it just made sense once the taste issue was resolved. Cans are much lighter and smaller to contain the same volume. And for beer, less light = lasts longer. It’ll be interesting (in an academic, not a personal financial sense) to see where the crossover point is between heavier glass bottles and increased cost of aluminum. For Coke, plastic bottles remain a viable option. That would be a tough sell for beer. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/149 "2025-07-26T03:48:20Z")
I can tell between coke and pepsi. Pepsi is syrupy sort of thickish. And the sweetness is just off. If we go to a restaurant that only haa pepsi products I’ll order rootbeer or a lemon lime option. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/150 "2025-07-26T05:30:41Z")
I’m of the belief the whole challenge was just a publicity stunt. I further believe the old coke/new coke fiasco may have been one as well. They’re up there to coax you to buy their product and theirs alone. And continue to be loyal. If you happened to take the challenge and changed your mind, good for them. If you tested and picked your favorite you never were gonna change, good for them if you like Pepsi better. If you did a home test, you’ll always say it was fluke and keep buying what you were buying. But, buy you did. They win everytime. It went as viral as something could go back then. They win. And, maybe you win, a bit. You got what you liked all along. You spent the bucks. They win. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/151 "2025-07-26T05:35:22Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’m of the belief the whole challenge was just a publicity stunt. Of course it was. The “Pepsi Challenge” was created for an ad campaign, which was revived repeatedly for years. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I further believe the old coke/new coke fiasco may have been one as well. Speaking as a marketing guy, who was in college, studying marketing, when New Coke occurred…no, it really wasn’t a stunt. When they brought out New Coke, Coca-Cola was absolutely shellacked in the press, lambasted by their loyal customers, and had many of their own bottlers furious with them, before they reversed course and re-introduced the original formula three months later. The management decisions and research which led to the introduction of New Coke, and the discontinuation of the old formula, are all very well documented in various business cases and marketing textbooks, as a classic example of using research and strategy to arrive at the decision you had already decided to make. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/152 "2025-07-26T05:44:37Z")
You mean it only lasted 3 months. Wow, what I’ve read about it, I thought it was years. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/153 "2025-07-26T05:48:12Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > You mean it only lasted 3 months. Yup. They introduced New Coke (and the discontinuation of the old formula) in April of 1985; they announced the re-introduction of the original Coke formula (as “Coca-Cola Classic”), alongside the new formula, in July. “New Coke” lasted on the shelves, at least in some markets, for years, but was eventually discontinued. I was taking a marketing class in summer school that year, and in pretty much every class session, we were dissecting what Coca-Cola was doing, in real time. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/154 "2025-07-26T06:02:46Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > A lot of craft breweries switched from bottles to aluminum cans over the past few years; it’ll be interesting to see if increased cost of aluminum makes them consider switching back. If this is in reference to Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, no, they’re not likely to switch back, because the switch to different containers entails very major investments in the manufacturing plant and is not something that you can just change overnight. What will happen is that if aluminum is more expensive, then the beer in aluminum cans will be more expensive. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/155 "2025-07-26T08:19:12Z")
I was not taking a marketing class, i wasn’t even a major cola consumer. But there was a ton of news about it. And coke did very badly over that decision. But my favorite article was one in the WSJ, which said, basically, “the formula for coca cola is a secret, but we now know that it contained natural vanilla. The bottom fell out of the world vanilla market when they switched.” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/156 "2025-07-26T08:20:55Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > You mean it only lasted 3 months. Wow, what I’ve read about it, I thought it was years. > > Thanks. Yeah, people were literally stockpiling old coke, and there was still discussion in the media of the shelf life of those stockpiles when Coke classic came out. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/157 "2025-07-26T12:44:54Z")
I still haven’t confirmed if Mexican Coke is bottled locally. It seems very unlikely they Truck it in. It’s become very popular and probably out sells coke actually sold in Mexico. I learned [IBC Root beer](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBC_Root_Beer) switched from HFCS in 2016. . ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/158 "2025-07-26T15:03:39Z")
Trust me it felt like years. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/159 "2025-07-26T15:40:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I still haven’t confirmed if Mexican Coke is bottled locally. > > It seems very unlikely they Truck it in. It’s become very popular and probably out sells coke actually sold in Mexico. Every time I’ve seen one of those glass bottles of Mexican Coke, it’s had a sticker applied to it that adds the required standard US nutritional information. That suggests to me that it was bottled in Mexico ---
**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:** [July 26, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/160 "2025-07-26T17:03:17Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I was taking a marketing class in summer school that year, and in pretty much every class session, we were dissecting what Coca-Cola was doing, in real time. I read an article some years ago where a Coca Cola executive had been interviewed and the reporter touched upon both the ‘how could you not realize’ and the publicity stunt aspects. The executive replied, “We’re not that stupid and not that smart.” Coke had been losing ground to Pepsi for years and the only reason it had not slipped to the number two most popular soft drink in the US were the ‘captive markets’ – contracts with companies like McDonalds where they were offered price breaks in order to be exclusively offered. This was not acceptable so they started a [crash program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke#Development). In blind taste tests people did prefer Pepsi over the original formula Coke, commenting on the former being sweeter. IIRC they used the basic recipe for Diet Coke and replaced the artificial sweeteners with HFCS, tweaked it a bit, and came up with a drink the blind taste testers liked better than either original Coke or Pepsi. What they hadn’t counted on was generations of advertising creating brand loyalty. As mentioned in this thread, most people couldn’t taste the difference, and those who could liked Coke’s original flavor better. Those who couldn’t would look at the red can vs. the blue and and demand the old red back. The rest is history. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yeah, people were literally stockpiling old coke, and there was still discussion in the media of the shelf life of those stockpiles when Coke classic came out. Yeah, after about six months in the can there is a shift in the flavor. When I was on Okinawa in the '70s we would get canned soda shipped over from the US – the Japanese were not big on the stuff back then. It not being a high-priority good they were literally brought by ship instead of air and either age or abuse – sitting on a hot dock I’d guess – you’d get one where the “cola” flavor was diminished and the sharp taste remained. I guess phosphoric acid is a sturdier molecule. I remember thinking at the time the stockpilers were going to be disappointed after a while. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205/161 "2025-07-26T17:16:53Z")
_I always drink Coke with cane sugar to sweeten up the brew We love syrup with cane sugar Tell me, how’s your appetite for fatty liver_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coke-with-pure-cane-sugar-will-soon-be-available/1021205.md?page=9)