Mexican Coke tastes better than American Coke

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Coca-Cola fans can be particular about what's inside their bottle. Even when the labels look the same, many Coke drinkers swear the quality of the beverage differs based on its country of origin. This is the case with Mexican Coke versus American Coke. The common consensus is that Mexico's version of the product is superior, and the reasons go beyond psychology. There are significant differences in Mexican Coke's formula and packaging that improve its taste.

According to Reader's Digest, there's one major ingredient distinguishing the two colas: the sweetener. While Mexican Coke is sweetened with cane sugar—a.k.a. regular table sugar—the soda sold in the States is made from high-fructose corn syrup. As the name suggests, high-fructose corn syrup is derived from corn, and it contains slightly more fructose sugars than glucose. Cane sugar consists of 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose.

The two sweeteners are processed in the body in basically the same way, but research suggests that they may differ in taste. According to a study from 2003, high-fructose corn syrup tastes about 1.5 times sweeter than table sugar. So when drinkers enjoy Mexican Coke, it may be the toned-down sweetness they prefer.

Coca-Cola from Mexico may also have its packaging to thank for its popularity. Anyone who's ever enjoyed the beverage knows it comes in a classic glass bottle. Plastic and metal containers—like the kind American Coke comes in—can potentially change the flavor of the soda they carry. That isn't a problem with glass, which may explain the so-called “cleaner” taste people attribute to Mexican Coke.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/best-fourth-of-july-sales

[randr]

1. Natural vs. processed ingredients

[Beakybird]

2. I eschew sugar beverages, but I definitely could detect the superiority of Mexican Coke.

This could be a reason why, last I heard, Mexico edged out America in obesity.

[mdelaguna]

3. Once upon a time cokes from different factories w/in MX used to taste different

From one another - all good. Or at least from Belize Coke. So we surmised, no proof tho. Sadly plastic bottles invaded so bottled Coke is rarer.

[MontanaMama]

4. Whenever I've traveled out of the US

I notice that many common food items taste differently than they do in our country…they taste better. Ketchup is a great example and the difference is high fructose corn syrup. I don’t know but I am guessing we subsidize that industry somehow which is why it is in literally everything we eat that isn’t a straight up fruit or vegetable. I have to scour the bread section at the store to even find bread or English muffins without that crap.

[chia]

5. Mexican Coke does taste better to me, but it also seems less fizzy. Flatter, like it's been sitting

out for awhile. But everything tastes better in glass.

[RockRaven]

6. I think the second paragraph is slightly misleading/in error. Cane sugar/table sugar is sucrose,

and while it is true that sucrose is a dimer of fructose and glucose (every molecule of sucrose is composed of a molecule of fructose attached to a molecule of glucose, like a very tiny train only two cars long), saying that cane sugar is 50% fructose and 50% glucose makes it sound like it is a mixture of unattached fructose and glucose molecules. And that false impression leads to the question: well, why don't they just tweak the ratio in high fructose corn syrup to make it 50-50? But that wouldn't fix it because a 50-50 mixture of fructose and glucose doesn't taste exactly the same as sucrose.

[hlthe2b]

7. I stopped drinking ALL soft drinks (as a young girl) when high fructose corn syrup replaced sugar

I went through a diet coke phase, yes, but even that ceased about 10 years ago.

Those small glass bottles of sugar-sweetened coke were the best though. The size was just perfect to maximize rapid chilling--even a little bit of icy goodness. But, the soft drink manufacturers who thought we couldn't tell the difference (and sadly most seemed not to) are feeling the backlash now-- finally.

[cojoel]

10. I quit drinking Coke when they quit making it in 1984

Somehow, there was this mistaken notion that a sweeter Coke would sell better, but it didn't pan out so well. Months later they attempted a partial backtrack by releasing CocaCola classic, but I never went back to drinking it. I had shifted from Coke to juices to water, and doing that was probably very beneficial to my overall health.

[Native]

8. Been a fan for almost 20 years.

I avoid HFC in everything.

[Backseat Driver]

9. I'm convinced Mexican Coca-cola tastes better, but I quit carbonated soda/pop

except as a mixer in a cocktail once in a while at home. Don't especially care for beer either, and haven't yet used a Soda Stream I was given. I make what tastes like Lipton's green tea w/lemon product at home once or twice a week in a sun tea jug and use the spout to fill about 8 recleaned glass bottles saved from commercial ice tea product bottling with screw-top metal lids. Unfortunately, it's getting harder as well to find those glass bottles for this purpose. I use organic ingredients including stainless steel pot-boiled and filtered water, cane sugar, real lemon juice or other organic tea flavored products or herbals, and Bigelow's organic green tea bags (160 ct) box, but have also used black and white (which isn't BTW) tea. Good for immune system and refreshing.

[Tomconroy]

11. I believe that the yellow cap coke, often marketed around the Jewish holidays,

avoids the high fructose corn syrup. It's supposed to be very close in taste to the original Coke.