The cola wars

[cjk374]

I went to Washington, DC in 1991 for a school-related trip.  Talk about country-done-come-to-town!     There were 360 other students coming to this program.  I knew I would talk & be different than everyone else (I was asked what "fixin to" meant & I had to think of a way to explain it!!    ), but the biggest difference I discovered was what everyone called these carbonated drinks....I called any carbonated drink a "coke" (confusing my new-found friends when I would ask them what kind of coke they wanted to drink.)  Others called them "sodas"....and others called them "pops".  This was further explained on the show "You Don't Know Dixie" (hosted by Charlie Daniels on the History Channel...highly recommended viewing if you want an education about us in the South).  So to add to the cola wars, what do you call carbonated beverages?   

[Brandon]

I went to Washington, DC in 1991 for a school-related trip.  Talk about country-done-come-to-town!     There were 360 other students coming to this program.  I knew I would talk & be different than everyone else (I was asked what "fixin to" meant & I had to think of a way to explain it!!    ), but the biggest difference I discovered was what everyone called these carbonated drinks....I called any carbonated drink a "coke" (confusing my new-found friends when I would ask them what kind of coke they wanted to drink.)  Others called them "sodas"....and others called them "pops".  This was further explained on the show "You Don't Know Dixie" (hosted by Charlie Daniels on the History Channel...highly recommended viewing if you want an education about us in the South).  So to add to the cola wars, what do you call carbonated beverages?   

"Pop".  "Soda" is a caustic substance, and "Coke" is a brand name of a type of pop.

[Takumi]

I call it soda. My dad calls it soda pop.

[corco]

Soda. Pop is something my car does when something breaks and Coke is a brand name.

[triplemultiplex]

It's soda and though I'm pretty much off the fizzy sugar water these days, it's Pepsi all the way.  I hitched my horse to that wagon as a kid and I've stuck with it ever since.  To the point where I'd claim I "hated" Coke.  That's ridiculous, of course.  The same way I pantomime vomiting at the suggestion of drinking Budweiser, then turn around and drink 10 High Life's.  It's just stupid, arbitrary brand loyalty.

The thing I think I hated about Coke was you couldn't eat at a fast food joint without that as your only option.  Coke had locked in a monopoly with all the scarf n' barf's around me when I was young and it pissed me off.  I was being denied options as a consumer!
I don't partake in either very much anymore.

[hbelkins]

It's pop.

"Soda" is short for baking soda, which is mixed with water and consumed as an antacid by many older folks in this area.

"Coke" is a brand of pop.

Not sure if this is still true, but at one point Pike County, Ky. boasted the nation's largest per-capital consumption rate for Pepsi and Pepsi products. I always feel like I'm committing sacrilege if I buy a Coke product when I'm in Pikeville. 

[Ian]

I'm currently cutting back more on soda to try and get healthier, but in terms of the Coke vs. Pepsi war, I prefer Coke. That being said, I really don't mind the taste of Pepsi at all. At a restaurant, I'm usually perfectly fine with getting a Pepsi vs. a Coke.

[rickmastfan67]

Personally, I'm a Dr. Pepper addict. lol.  I still have 2 unopened 12-packs of Dr. Pepper Sugar from the 125th Anniversary (2010) run that I've been slowly drinking. (yes, it's still good even now!)

It's hit and miss, but I've seen Heritage Dr Pepper which is the sugar formula. If you're ever in southern Texas, there's Dublin Dr Pepper (though it's not called that anymore).

I know the "Heritage Dr Pepper" was mostly made by Pepsi distributors.  My "Dr Pepper made with real sugar" was done by my local Coca-Cola distributor.  As for the Dublin Dr Pepper, I wish I could have gotten some of that before they were bought out by Dr Pepper HQ.

[kphoger]

I grew up calling it "pop", but I've been converted to the "soda" religion by my wife.  Now that we live back in "pop" country, that word occasionally comes out of my mouth by mistake, but at least she doesn't glare at me and argue anymore.  Seriously, it doesn't strike me as odd to hear either "pop" or "soda", but I usually say "soda" simply because Carrie is from the Ozarks.  I used to have a boss who called it "seltzer".  Crazy Bostonite.

You can leave a penny in a glass of Coke and it will dissolve. But the body is naturally acidic (your stomach contains hydrochloric acid), so Coke is probably a bigger hazard to your teeth than anything else.

Busted, but it can clean a penny.
2003 Season, Episode 5, 101 Uses for Cola

Cola is the most acidic soda in general, but it's not totally out of line with other things we consume with hardly a second thought–especially orange juice.

pH level of water:  7
pH level of Mug root beer:  4.038
pH level of orange juice:  approx. 3—3.5
pH level of Coca-Cola:  2.535
pH level of RC Cola:  2.387
pH level of vinegar:  approx. 2
pH level of lemon juice:  approx. 2

The amount of sugar in cola is also not totally out of line with other things we drink and consider "healthy".

Sugar in Welch's white grape juice:  4o g / 8 fl oz
Sugar in pomegranite juice:  33—38 g / 8 fl oz, depending on the brand
Sugar in Sunkist orange soda:  35 g / 8 fl oz
Sugar in Coca-cola:  27 g / 8 fl oz
Sugar in orange juice:  12—22 g / 8 fl oz, depending on the brand

[agentsteel53]

I used to have a boss who called it "seltzer".  Crazy Bostonite.

first I heard that one!  I grew up in Boston, and the local variant I remember was "tonic".  but, mostly we called it "soda".

[Scott5114]

The amount of sugar in cola is also not totally out of line with other things we drink and consider "healthy".

Sugar in Welch's white grape juice:  4o g / 8 fl oz
Sugar in pomegranite juice:  33—38 g / 8 fl oz, depending on the brand
Sugar in Sunkist orange soda:  35 g / 8 fl oz
Sugar in Coca-cola:  27 g / 8 fl oz
Sugar in orange juice:  12—22 g / 8 fl oz, depending on the brand

We consider fruit juice healthy, though it isn't particularly. The only benefit it has over soda is that it tends to include more vitamins and such, so the calories gained from fruit juice are not "empty calories" like those in soda.

I saw a health fair display of various beverages represented with the equivalent amount of granulated sugar on display in a glass of the serving size (e.g. for Coke it had a 8 oz glass with 27g of sugar in it). Rather eye-opening.

[Road Hog]

The unfortunate thing is, the sweetener used in almost all of these drinks (even the juices, check the label) is high fructose corn syrup, which is bad for you in myriad ways. Pure cane sugar isn't as bad. That is why I go for sweet tea when I make a drive-thru run, because I know they use real sugar.

[US71]

The unfortunate thing is, the sweetener used in almost all of these drinks (even the juices, check the label) is high fructose corn syrup, which is bad for you in myriad ways. Pure cane sugar isn't as bad. That is why I go for sweet tea when I make a drive-thru run, because I know they use real sugar.

That's one reason why I drink 100 percent juice and not "juice drinks".  Red Diamond tea has real sugar, but is watery. Pure Leaf uses real sugar, but is pricey. Snapple, Nestea and Arizona teas use HFCS.

[kphoger]

I'm not a huge fan of cold tea - unless it's peach or lemon, rather than just 'sweet'. Tea done properly, of course, is a culturally important and the ultimate non-alcoholic fortifier - the answer to all problems - so anything too close is sacrilege! Peach tea, or lemon tea is far enough away.

I like to imagine the English reaction to iced tea as a quasi-religious matter of national pride.  "And did those feet in ancient time . . . try some of England's finest tea" and all that.  I'm not exactly sure what to compare it to in America . . . even room-temp beer doesn't quite approach what I have in mind.

Maybe it's like Piss Christ:  you feel there's something somehow sacrilegious about (iced tea)(Piss Christ), but you can't quite put your finger on what it is.  The younger generation is more likely to appreciate (iced tea)(Piss Christ) than the older generation, and the latter feels it may be indicative of the downfall of (English)(American) society.

Yeah, now you've all taken a tour of what happens inside my head.  It doesn't always make sense, and sometimes I'm way off base.

The unfortunate thing is, the sweetener used in almost all of these drinks (even the juices, check the label) is high fructose corn syrup, which is bad for you in myriad ways. Pure cane sugar isn't as bad. That is why I go for sweet tea when I make a drive-thru run, because I know they use real sugar.

I don't buy the whole anti-HFCS hype.  I figure sugar is sugar, it gets broken down into the same  bits by your body anyway.  Of course, this will start a two-page discussion on types of sugar, but whatever.  As for taste, I prefer Pepsi throwback to regular Pepsi, but I prefer regular Mountain Dew to throwback Mountain Dew.