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From: corbin@encore.UUCP (Steve Corbin)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Coke, classic coke and new coke
Message-ID: <332@encore.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 15-Aug-86 17:24:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: encore.332
Posted: Fri Aug 15 17:24:36 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Aug-86 08:39:11 EDT
Organization: Encore Computer, Marlboro MA
Lines: 53



Well, not to start up a big heated discussion or anything, but I have
bad news for those of you in netland who think that Coca-cola is still
producing coke.  There not.  They make classic and new coke.  Not coke.

I think that everyone agrees (except the Pepsi drinkers) that new coke is
terrible so I won't talk about new coke any more.
However, there is a clear difference in taste between coke and classic coke.
When Coca-cola announced they were changing the formula, I stocked up on
cases of the real stuff.  I still had coke for a couple of months after
classic came out.  When my supply of coke was running out, I bought some
classic.  When I popped the top off the classic coke I immediately noticed
a citrus scent - a scent that coke never had.
After I poured the classic into a glass, the head died quickly.  Not like
coke where the head fizzled down slowly.  Coke seemed to have a thicker
and denser colored foam when poured.
The taste test is what brought the disappointment.  The 'bite' that coke
has(had) was readily missing in the classic.  Classic was also a little
sweeter and citrusy (sp?).  I found the carbonation to be roughly the same
though coke had a slight more than classic.
Checking the ingredients for classic coke showed one difference from coke:
"high fructose corn syrup and/or sucrose" was substituted for sugar.
It may well be that the classic 'formula' is the same as coke but the
ingredients are clearly different and result in a different taste.

A friend of mine has an interesting theory why Coca-cola changed the formula.
We all know that cocaine was used in the original formula and was taken out
around the turn of the century (I don't know the accurate date).  Coca-cola
may have added some other ingredient to retain the 'bite', flavor or
pick-me-up qualities that the cocaine provided.  Since Coca-cola will not
reveal their 'secret' recipe it is hard to tell.  But what if this were so
and Coca-cola recently discovered some negative, bad or harmful aspects of
this ingredient and was forced or compelled to change the formula.  The best
way to do this would be come up with a horrible formula and stop producing
the good stuff.  Then wait long enough so that the real coke is off all
the supermarket shelves and the reserve many people will have built up is
depleted.  Then back down under public pressure and come out with classic.
This way most people will not notice the difference from coke and classic
since the comparison will be from new coke (most recent drinking experiences)
and classic.

I had a few people (my mother, my wife and a friend) also taste real coke
and classic coke and all said the same thing - the 'bite' was gone and
classic was sweeter and citrusier (sp?).

These are my opinions of course (and my friends) and I am truly disappointed
that I can no longer but the best soda (soft drink, tonic) that ever was.


Sincerely,
Stephen Serrenho Corbin
Usenet {ihnp4, allegra, linus} ! encore ! corbin