# Sugar sodas vs Syrup sodas **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [January 13, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358 "2008-01-13T04:01:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/21 "2008-01-14T00:14:38Z")
I know someone who is allergic to corn, and whenever someone she knows goes to Canada she has them pick up as much Coke as they’re willing to load in their car. I’ll have to ask her if she’s ever thought of checking out Mexican grocery stores. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/22 "2008-01-14T02:38:33Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] \ **Not A Tame Lion** no, sorry HFCS is here to stay. It’s much much cheaper, even if one gets imports from Cuba. \ Mexicon likely uses it for two reasons: they are still mostly using much older machines (set up for sugar not HFCS), and they get a nice bonus in sales from Americans looking for sugar-soda. However, I have seen Coke bottled in Mexico with HFCS, so read the label. [/QUOTE] Actually, the main reason that Mexico and the rest of the world uses sugar is more likely because they don’t have the governmentally-forced tariffs on sugar and support for corn growers that we have here in the US. The price of sugar world-wide is half that in the US. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/23 "2008-01-14T04:14:54Z")
[QUOTE=TheBigTripleD] I’m not sure what difference people might be tasting but I find it really hard to believe anybody is tasting a difference between cane sugar, aka sucrose, and HFCS. The reason I saw that is chemical. Basically alot of sodas are pretty acidic and the acid hydrolyzes sucrose into fructose and glucose. (IE if you were to check a coke sweetened with cane sugar you’d find it contained mostly fructose and glucose.) Actually another term for this is an invert sugar. (IE the acid in soda would turn sucrose into an invert sugar, IE fructose & glucose.) [/QUOTE] I can tell you there is definitely a different taste. Ordinairly I’d be willing to entertain that it is a formulation difference making the taste difference. But for the duration of my two visits to the US to date, I went through a long list of soft drinks, and found similiar flavour differences in each case. Funnily enough the drink I found where the overall taste drowned out the HCFS to a tolerable level was Sprite. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/24 "2008-01-15T02:08:24Z")
[QUOTE=MisterThyristor] Actually, the main reason that Mexico and the rest of the world uses sugar is more likely because they don’t have the governmentally-forced tariffs on sugar and support for corn growers that we have here in the US. The price of sugar world-wide is half that in the US. [/QUOTE] You don’t think some nations have price supports on cane? You have a cite to the effect that cane is more expensive than HCCS in the USA solely because of Gov’t interferance? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/25 "2008-01-15T03:52:53Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] You don’t think some nations have price supports on cane? You have a cite to the effect that cane is more expensive than HCCS in the USA solely because of Gov’t interferance? :dubious: [/QUOTE] It’s difficult to find sources of information that are not biased in one direction or the other, but this [article from Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hfcs) is actually fairly well balanced. I don’t know about **solely** , but there is no question that the world price of sugar is about half that of the US and that there are quotas limiting the amount of sugar imported into the US, as well as price supports to American farmers to keep the prices high, and tariffs on imports. All I can say is read the article and decide for yourself. There are conspiracy fanatics out there that put out a lot of articles blaming Archer Daniels Midland for everything, and there are the industry shills that claim that high sugar prices are the best thing for all of America, not just the corn farmers, but I think this article is fairly well balanced. ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/26 "2008-01-15T05:34:51Z")
As for Coke v. Pepsi, I took the “Pepsi Challenge” a few years ago in Vancouver. They had the little booth on the street and everything. It was pathetically easy to tell the difference between the two, and I sure as hell didn’t prefer Pepsi. And there is definitely a difference in taste between HFCS Coke and Sugar Coke. Mmm… sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/27 "2008-01-15T14:54:35Z")
If you want a sweet smooth taste that’s sweetened with neither corn syrup nor cane sugar try the [Sprechers](http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/soda.php) line of sodas. They’re all sweetened with honey and vanilla. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/28 "2008-01-15T15:02:54Z")
There are actually quite a few American sodas that are sweetened with cane sugar, but they’re small, local manufacturers. I’ve tried looking them up on the 'net, but can’t get them to come up, but I’m familiar with at least two local brands. By the way, hope honey-sweetened soda has come along in recent years. I had honey=sweetened root beer about 25 years ago in upstate New York, and it was _terrible_. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/29 "2008-01-15T15:09:24Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] If you want a sweet smooth taste that’s sweetened with neither corn syrup nor cane sugar try the [Sprechers](http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/soda.php) line of sodas. They’re all sweetened with honey and vanilla. [/QUOTE] Isn’t honey actually largely fructose? ---
**Author:** ![TheBigTripleD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@TheBigTripleD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBigTripleD)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/30 "2008-01-16T03:24:01Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Isn’t honey actually largely fructose? [/QUOTE] Nah, it’s a mix of fructose and glucose.(And other sugars) > **[Honey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey)** > > Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primarily floral nectar) or the secretions of other insects, like the honeydew of aphids. This refinement takes place both within individual bees, through regurgitation and enzymatic activity, and during storage in the hive, through water evaporation Hon... As I’ve said before, the coke you’re drinking doesn’t really contain much table sugar. (Mostly because the chemistry won’t allow it.) ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/31 "2008-01-16T03:33:56Z")
Blue Sky root beer is made with only real cane sugar, and it’s absolutely amazing. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/32 "2008-01-21T11:34:33Z")
In Ireland, for some reason we’ve got Coke from all over the world. I’ve had Canadian Coke, Irish Coke, Kuwaiti Coke, German Coke and others. They all taste slightly different. I love Coke from a glass bottle. They serve it here in pubs in a glass bottle but it’s very expensive and it’s rarely chilled. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358/33 "2008-01-21T12:02:44Z")
[QUOTE=installLSC] I bought some Boylan’s Orange Soda today at my local supermarket. Boylan’s, if you didn’t know, is one of the few American sodas still sweetened with cane sugar. (The overwhelming majority of American sodas use high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener.) I’ve heard so many people talk about sugar-sweetened sodas as far superior, but I was disappointed. It tasted barely different from Hi-C. Is this just a 32 year old like me not used to the taste? Or are the syrup sweetened sodas better then we give them credit? I’d love to hear all of you used to both sugar and syrup sodas tell me which is better. [/QUOTE] never had the orange soda, but their natural cola is to die for, the one that also uses the natural oils…[boylan naturals ‘cane cola’](http://www.boylanbottling.com/) Cane Cola is to die for. It tastes like what coke used to be when it still used natural oils. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-sodas-vs-syrup-sodas/433358.md?page=1)