Coke not Pepsi

The first soda pop I’ve drank was probably Cosmos Sarsaparilla (-- now known as Sarsi). Ideal was the only other choice (--which also came in watered down Orange flavor). These were the only soft drink brands that I knew then. In kindergarten, I drank Canada Dry but it wasn’t to my liking; a dislike that I probably shared with a lot of people because Canada Dry disappeared from stores after a while; it dried up I suppose. Later, I discovered Choco Vim and drank it, whenever I have money to buy one, until I was in high school (-- it disappeared, too; there was a Magnolia Choco-Lait but it was too expensive). I usually take Choco Vim with egg pies, but never with siopao. Siopao went better with Coca Cola. Marie biscuits, on the other hand, go well with Sarsi; but not Hi-ro, it was better washed down with Coke. But, before long I became exclusively a Coke drinker. Some people prefer one cola or the other but are probably unsure when asked for the reason why they prefer one from the other. I think Pepsi is sweeter than Coke and is characterized by a citrusy flavor burst while Coke has a raisiny-vanilla taste (Coke, in the late ‘90s, came out with a Vanilla-flavored Coke. It seems to be the same formula but with the vanilla component overwhelming the raisin component-- a Coke chemist probably fluked and management decided not to throw away the batch and so the Vanilla-flavored Coke was born) But that burst of flavor tends to dissipate over the course of an entire bottle (and in the 90’s, in cans)-- the flavor bursts apparently rides on the carbonation of the colas and most of it fizzles out with the bubbles. And after a while what is left is the sweetness or lack of it. And here lies, I think, the dividing line between Pepsi and Coke drinkers. I think Coke’s carbonation holds longer than Pepsi’s. It seems with Coke, one gets more bursts per drink than Pepsi while the sweetness in Pepsi sustains it without the fizzles. I think Coke drinkers are those who find the sweetness of Pepsi as cloying. And, that is the reason I prefer Coke, it isn’t too sweet and it packs more wallop on the fizzle side. Now, I only drink Coke Lite-- with lots of clean ice… in a clean glass.

When both cola makers came out with “Family Size” bottles, I think the issue of the stability of carbonation was emphasized. With bigger bottles, the time for consuming the colas was stretched out beyond the capability of the colas to fizzle. I never did understood the logic of opening a bottle of cola and not being able to finish it off then stashing it so you could drink it later without the fizzles (Of course, only families or groups get the Family size bottle, but somehow there’s always some left on the bottle because we as a people avoid getting the last piece of food or last drop of drink when in a group). Colas without fizzles, I think, are nothing more than sugared water. It’s the same punishment you endure when you go to parties and get served with colas in glasses that have been poured out an hour before. Or in restaurants where you are given stale colas in glasses that are devoid of fizzles and suspiciously tastes like its leftover of someone else’s drink; you could almost hear the waiters snickering in the kitchen. And then came the Vendo-- automated vending machines, and still later the dispensers, that dishes out colas in cups.

Now, that is stupid indeed.