After a little discussion in the Jimmy John's vs. Jersey Mike's thread, I thought it was time to give this discussion it's own space.
When I was making regular visits to Columbia, MO to visit my mom when she lived there, going out to eat and getting what I wanted to drink became a challenge. Here is an excerpt from my discussion with the waiter/waitress when I was seated:
SERVER: Hi, welcome to (Eating Joint X), my name is no-one special. May I get your drink order?
ME: Sweet tea, please.
SERVER: I'm sorry sir, we only make unsweet tea, and we have sweetener packs on the table.
ME: Ok, I'll take a Coke instead.
SERVER: We sell Pepsi products here.
ME: Water please. :verymad:
As far as sweet tea is concerned, I cannot stand super-sweet tea. If found, I will half-n-half it with unsweet tea (no lemon for me please). The best way to make it is 2 family-size bags of Lipton Tea, steeped in 4 cups of boiling water. Add 1 level or scant cup of sugar, then fill up a 1 gallon pitcher with water.
McDonalds tea borders on sweet/super-sweet depending on the individual store. Red Diamond sweet tea is diabetes in a jug. :ded: Capt. D's is real good.
What is your tea preference?
Coke I figure is just regional vs Pepsi. Where does it change over from coke to Pepsi?
Unsweetened, except for whatever sugar is in a lemon slice.
Most places in the Seattle area don't serve sweet tea. The only places you'll find them are at eateries that specialize in southern food.
As far as Coke vs Pepsi, no place more often than the other. But I may not be paying much attention since I don't order either very often (I'm more of a DP guy).
I don't think Coke vs. Pepsi is geographical. It's financial. Whichever soda company offers the restaurant the better deal gets their product served. This probably applies to vending machines also.
Oh, and as far as how far from the South Coke reaches?
Japan?
Seriously, it's Coke. It's worldwide.
Quote from: cjk374 on April 15, 2015, 09:49:56 PM
Coke I figure is just regional vs Pepsi. Where does it change over from coke to Pepsi?
Usually on the other side of the street. Or parking lot. Or store divider. Or cold case.
I've gotten a Coke in Canada, it isn't regional at all.
Coke is officially sold in all but two countries in the world (North Korea and Cuba, surely soon to be just one).
Hell, Coke is apparently sold in a restaurant in Pyongyang so it may have even penetrated THAT zone.
Rest assured: there's nothing regional about it.
As much as some Southerners call any and all carbonated beverages "coke" , regardless of brand or flavor, and despite the company's global headquarters being in Atlanta, the vast majority of people worldwide do not associate Coca-Cola with the South or vice versa. Pepsi was founded in North Carolina, by the way.
Most chain restaurants have a company-wide association with either the Coca-Cola Company or PepsiCo, and the choice has nothing to do with regional preferences or tastes. With a few exceptions, nearly all Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC locations serve Pepsi products because PepsiCo owned those chains until they were spun off into the ironically named Yum! Brands. When I worked at a hotel during college, I checked in a PepsiCo employee who was visiting a small, regional fast food company that had signed a contract with Pepsi. She referred to them as a "Pepsi Pourer" –apparently they very actively campaign for new restaurant business.
As for "sweet tea" –called as by that name served in a sit down restaurant–yes, it is most definitely a Southern institution. But you'll also find ready-made sweetened and flavored teas sold in packages nationwide, and you'll often find some sweetened tea flavors in many soda fountains, but most non-Southerners would never refer to it as "sweet tea" .
Quote from: cjk374 on April 15, 2015, 09:49:56 PMThe best way to make it is 2 family-size bags of Lipton Tea, steeped in 4 cups of boiling water. Add 1 level or scant cup of sugar, then fill up a 1 gallon pitcher with water.
Lipton - the British tea company whose tea you cannot buy in Britain (as it doesn't sell in actual tea drinking countries, which ought to tell you something) other than in 500ml bottles of ready-made flavoured ice tea.
Also, how crappy are family size bags that only make 2 cups worth of tea? Not only does it think a family only needs 2 cups worth, but you might as well use 2 x 1-cup bags (which is what we increasingly do here - I've not seen 2-cup bags much in recent years, though they were a thing).
Other than Tetley not being great tea (though better than Lipton!), you want some of these catering tea bags, if making tea by the gallon! A US gallon is about 6 UK pints, so plenty of room for dilution. ;)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americansweets.co.uk%2Fekmps%2Fshops%2Fstatesidecandy%2Fimages%2Fbritish-tetley-4-pint-bags-82-teabags-1.5kg-31508-p.jpg&hash=049ec48f23434d8b84119715807c0962b1b1a446)
NB: while seemingly great, grabbing a handful of 1-cup tea bags works better as the tea isn't all in one place that doesn't move well through the water (though the bags are Tetley's best, being a more typical rectangle, rather than the brand's unique circle, and allowing the tea more room to move around).
Quote from: Pete from Boston on April 15, 2015, 10:28:59 PMJapan?
Ain't that far north! Barely makes beyond halfway up from the equator!
I was going to say it was entirely south of Boston, but Boston was about 3 degrees south of where I thought it was. Japan's northern point is about level with Portland, OR.
I've brought Coke in the one shop in a remote (well remote in our terms - I mean it had road access, so was rather well connected) village on Borneo. I'm not saying that as a 'north' thing (given that it was southern hemisphere), but I can't imagine that remote Arctic communities wouldn't sell it, so whatever is the most northern town.
Pepsi is slightly different, though also has a global reach via restaurants (and not just the western brands) - it's not reached the world's rural population, but cities will have it anywhere but North Korea and Cuba...
As other's mentioned, Coca-Cola is global. Very global. Moreso than Pepsi in my Navy experience (though Pepsi is quite international in its own right).
As for sweet tea, it should be noted that, even in northern New England, McDonalds offers sweet tea.
Here's one for ya. Pepsi of Pennsauken NJ (does the philly/south jersey market) and Coke of Philly have control over what products they have. For a while we were without Pepsi Throwback, and if you like tab...a 6 pack is all you get and it costs nearly 4 bucks, the same price as a 12 pack.
If you ever feel like getting beat up and mugged, and you're not around the inner city late at night, just find a PepsiCo employee and say Coke instead of Pepsi, Sprite instead of Slice, etc.
I used to room with a Coca Cola employee. I'm a Pepsi guy but I had to switch to Coke because he didn't want Pepsi around the apartment at all.
Quote from: english si on April 16, 2015, 04:22:25 AM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on April 15, 2015, 10:28:59 PMJapan?
Ain't that far north! Barely makes beyond halfway up from the equator!
I was going to say it was entirely south of Boston, but Boston was about 3 degrees south of where I thought it was. Japan's northern point is about level with Portland, OR.
Don't confuse the south with the South. San Diego is further south than Atlanta but is not the South. Nor is Havana.
The OP's capitalization aside, the gist of it is distance from the South. This is not equal to "most north." FWIW, the most distant major city from Atlanta is Perth, Western Australia. Coke is available there.
Talking about soft drinks and regions, once upon a time it was proclaimed as gospel around here that Pike County, Ky. had the highest per-capita consumption rate of Pepsi products of anywhere in the country. I'm not sure if it was actually Pepsi that the people were drinking, or if it's Mountain Dew, which is very popular in this area. Since I prefer Diet Coke to Diet Pepsi, I always feel like a bit of a heretic anytime I'm in Pikeville and I buy a Diet Coke.
Quote from: The Nature Boy on April 16, 2015, 08:29:12 AM
I used to room with a Coca Cola employee. I'm a Pepsi guy but I had to switch to Coke because he didn't want Pepsi around the apartment at all.
He'd hate me then. I'd have Vernor's and Faygo around. :bigass:
Yes folks, there are other things than Coca-Cola and Pepsi out there.
As for tea...Yuck.
Quote from: cjk374 on April 15, 2015, 09:49:56 PM
Coke I figure is just regional vs Pepsi. Where does it change over from coke to Pepsi?
Depends upon how agressive the regional salesman for either company is. Even the restaurant in SNL's 'Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger' sketches changed from Pepsi to Coke at one point thanks to an aggressive Coke salesman (played by Walter Matthau). And, of course, the last lines of that particular sketch were "I'll have a cheeseburger and a Pepsi. Sorry, no Pepsi. - Coke."
What would people guess is the percentage of Americans that have a strong preference for the taste of either Coke or Pepsi over the other? 20%? 25%?
Quote from: Pete from Boston on April 16, 2015, 12:37:31 PM
What would people guess is the percentage of Americans that have a strong preference for the taste of either Coke or Pepsi over the other? 20%? 25%?
Maybe far less. What's the difference, Coke versus Pepsi? They're very similar, IMHO.
I strongly prefer Coke to Pepsi. However, I prefer that Mexican Coke to the American version. Coke Life is also good.
Mountain Dew is #1 by a long shot in the Columbus market, followed by Pepsi.
Everytime I read the the topic I "hear" it in a deep South (female) voice: "Swee-tee or Co-cola?"
I've read that travelers around the world to "off the beaten track" locales have been advised to contact Coca-Cola to find out how they get their products delivered to said remote locations when they are creating travel plans. Mostly to get an idea of current local conditions.
As has been already mentioned, coca cola isn't a regional product. Grocery stores virtually everywhere carry both coke and pepsi, and as far as restaurants go, it is fairly evenly divided (at least outside of the south; having not been to the south, I can't say for sure, but given that area's regional loyalty to coke, I would imagine that few restaurants serve pepsi).
That having been said, I have interestingly noticed in my time living in western New York for college that most non-chain restaurants here carry pepsi products, not coke. In fact, I don't think I've been to a single (non-national-chain) restaurant in the greater Rochester area that serves coca-cola. So I suppose this area has a strong regional loyalty to pepsi (yuck).
All grocery stores in western New York, though, carry both.
Quote from: yanksfan6129 on April 16, 2015, 04:49:50 PM
That having been said, I have interestingly noticed in my time living in western New York for college that most non-chain restaurants here carry pepsi products, not coke. In fact, I don't think I've been to a single (non-national-chain) restaurant in the greater Rochester area that serves coca-cola. So I suppose this area has a strong regional loyalty to pepsi (yuck).
Pepsi is headquartered in Westchester County, although it was invented in North Carolina.
In the antebellum capital of Georgia, 100 miles southeast of Atlanta, this is definitely Coke country, preferably with peanuts.
My original post apparently needs to be explained a lil better. I was referring to Coke & Pepsi being sold in restaurants. I know Coke is sold world wide, but here in the US, I was noticing a pattern that the further north I went, Pepsi seemed to be in more restaurants instead of Coke products. I was wondering if I was right about that train of thought.
QuoteI was noticing a pattern that the further north I went, Pepsi seemed to be in more restaurants instead of Coke products. I was wondering if I was right about that train of thought.
We don't eat out a whole lot, but here in northeastern Vermont it seems to be about 50/50. And on rare occasions, you find a place that offers both.
The Pittsburgh area seems to be mostly Coca-Cola. About only Arby's has Pepsi here that I can recall.
Quote from: 6a on April 16, 2015, 05:27:44 PM
Quote from: yanksfan6129 on April 16, 2015, 04:49:50 PM
That having been said, I have interestingly noticed in my time living in western New York for college that most non-chain restaurants here carry pepsi products, not coke. In fact, I don't think I've been to a single (non-national-chain) restaurant in the greater Rochester area that serves coca-cola. So I suppose this area has a strong regional loyalty to pepsi (yuck).
Pepsi is headquartered in Westchester County, although it was invented in North Carolina.
Maybe so, but if headquarters proximity was the main determinant, it would seem that restaurants in the greater New York area would all tend toward pepsi, which is not the case at all...in my experience it is only western New York that this is true (my restaurant experience in other parts of upstate New York is, however, quite limited). Nonetheless, in Westchester County itself there are plenty of non-chain coke restaurants, ditto New York City. And North Jersey.
As I mentioned in another thread, I think that Pepsi contracts are generally cheaper than Coke contracts; it would explain a lot of things. Such as why casinos, who give away all the free soda you can ask for, tend to dispense Pepsi, why you find it in small independents like Chinese places, etc.
I would guess the restaurants you do see Coke in either are large enough to negotiate better contracts with Coca-Cola, or else the owner thinks that having Coke on tap will help business enough to offset the cost.
Quote from: The Nature Boy on April 16, 2015, 08:29:12 AM
I used to room with a Coca Cola employee. I'm a Pepsi guy but I had to switch to Coke because he didn't want Pepsi around the apartment at all.
I can't understand someone being that fanatically wedded to their employer. I probably would have told him where he could stick his Coke.
McDonalds in the UK is Coke, but most other chain fast food are Pepsi.
Pubs are about 80-20 in favour of Pepsi in terms of fountain sodas. Lower-end sit-down restaurants similar.
Bottled sodas ordered in restaurants, however, are always Coke.
Something I've been wondering about for a while that was hinted at a few posts above:
Have any of you been in a Mexican or Chinese restaurant that DIDN'T serve Pepsi? I would almost swear that there's some secret "protection racket" going on to force these restaurants to all use Pepsi. I have no objection to Pepsi products, but to me it's quite different than having all McDonalds or Firehouse restaurants using Coke. Those are franchises vs. a large number of individual restaurants.
Quote from: Scott5114 on April 17, 2015, 05:09:09 AM
Quote from: The Nature Boy on April 16, 2015, 08:29:12 AM
I used to room with a Coca Cola employee. I'm a Pepsi guy but I had to switch to Coke because he didn't want Pepsi around the apartment at all.
I can't understand someone being that fanatically wedded to their employer. I probably would have told him where he could stick his Coke.
I've heard it said that if a soft drink delivery person, who usually wears a uniform with the employer's logo on it, is seen consuming a competitor's product, it's considered a fireable offense. The Coke truck driver better not be caught drinking a Pepsi. It's possible that the Coke employee was fearful for his job if someone saw a Pepsi product at his residence.
Quote from: BamaZeus on April 17, 2015, 11:35:50 AM
Something I've been wondering about for a while that was hinted at a few posts above:
Have any of you been in a Mexican or Chinese restaurant that DIDN'T serve Pepsi? I would almost swear that there's some secret "protection racket" going on to force these restaurants to all use Pepsi. I have no objection to Pepsi products, but to me it's quite different than having all McDonalds or Firehouse restaurants using Coke. Those are franchises vs. a large number of individual restaurants.
Los Betos, a local/regional Mexican fast food place in the Boise area serves Coke.
Quote from: hbelkins on April 17, 2015, 12:41:47 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on April 17, 2015, 05:09:09 AM
Quote from: The Nature Boy on April 16, 2015, 08:29:12 AM
I used to room with a Coca Cola employee. I'm a Pepsi guy but I had to switch to Coke because he didn't want Pepsi around the apartment at all.
I can't understand someone being that fanatically wedded to their employer. I probably would have told him where he could stick his Coke.
I've heard it said that if a soft drink delivery person, who usually wears a uniform with the employer's logo on it, is seen consuming a competitor's product, it's considered a fireable offense. The Coke truck driver better not be caught drinking a Pepsi. It's possible that the Coke employee was fearful for his job if someone saw a Pepsi product at his residence.
Why would you have someone you couldn't trust not to try to get you in trouble at work in your residence in the first place? If anyone saw a Pepsi at his house, they would be able to see that he obviously lives with a roommate, and so it should be simple to say "Yeah, roommate likes it, can't do anything about it."
But then again I couldn't stomach an employer
telling me what to do when I am not actively drawing money from them, anyway, so I would be a shitty Coke employee. So be it. You have 9 hours of my day to tell me what to do; for the rest, you can pound sand.
The guy also had a ton of Coca Cola decorations up. Either he was really paranoid about being fired or he was actually a big fan of Coke.
Ah, the cola wars....
Getting back to tea, I consume quite a bit of the stuff. I'm in a vehicle for work all the time and I like to have something to sip on throughout the day. Water is way too bland of course. And chugging sugary sodas all day is a fast way to diabetes. "Diet" beverages all taste like ass to me. The sweetness hits the tongue wrong and ruins the flavor. They make those 'sparkling waters' but the effervescence and the flavor without the sweetness is off-putting for me. Everything else is loaded with sugar. Way too much for something I want to consume a lot of.
Then I found I liked drinking unsweetened ice tea. And the best one for me is the Lipton stuff in the square bottles. I think it's because they put citric acid in it and that tarts it up just a little. So I go through lots and lots of it and get bummed out when I pit stop at a gas station that doesn't stock it.
I'd make my own, but that's just not convenient for me when I'm living out of hotels. So Lipton it is.
Someone said Lipton is British? Maybe at one point, but that's been a Pepsico brand for a long time now.
Coke is easy enough to find here in Nebraska in grocery stores and some restaurants(like McDonalds). But it seems that most regional or local restaurants serve Pepsi. I don't drink tea, so I can't speak to the availability of sweet tea from personal experience, but I don't think it's served around here already sweetened. I do remember a story from my older brother when he was in Mississippi one time and ordered team in a restaurant. Having already been warned that tea in the South was sweet tea, he made sure to ask the waitress if he could have unsweetened tea. She kind of paused and gave a confused look and said that she guessed he could, but they would have to make a special batch just for him.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on April 19, 2015, 01:42:07 PMSomeone said Lipton is British? Maybe at one point, but that's been a Pepsico brand for a long time now.
It's a Unilever* brand, with the ready-to-drink stuff being a joint 50-50 venture with PepsiCo.
The dry tea, which was the topic at hand "family-sized bags" is entirely Unilever.
*HQs in Rotterdam and London, so I guess it is Dutch-British, rather than just British.
Oh, the tangled webs our corporations weave...
Thanks to my doc, I cannot have over-sugary drinks anymore. I miss sweet tea.
Coke is ubiquitous.
Sweet tea is available at any McDonald's, which is ubiquitous.
I have gotten to the point where Coke vs. Pepsi depends on very specific factors:
- If both are carried in glass bottles, I prefer Coca-Cola.
- If I came by those portable Coke/Pepsi "hot dog stand" trailers (usually outside next to a store with some charity trying to raise money by selling hot dogs & pop), I prefer Pepsi (those port-a-stands use those pre-mixed huge canisters that pour a not-so carbonated product.
- If I had to choose a fast food restaurant for Coke or Pepsi alone, the "Coke Mix" used at McDonalds is the best tasting.
- I prefer Pepsi in the plastic bottles, and Coke in the cans.
Quote from: Crazy Volvo Guy on May 08, 2015, 11:10:07 PM
Coke is ubiquitous.
Sweet tea is available at any McDonald's, which is ubiquitous.
Yeah, but sweet tea at McDonald's is like a hamburger at McDonalds. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it's "meh". One could do so much better.
I preferred Pepsi over Coke even when I was a kid in the Midwest long before I moved here to New Bern, NC (which is the very birthplace of Pepsi Cola I might add) :bigass:
The tea question is a little more complicated. I always preferred my tea to be sweetened, but I grew up having to do it myself. Even McDonalds made you add the sugar yourself back then. I didn't get to try true sweet tea until the first time I visited New Bern as a teen in 1983.
My recollections of the 80's and early 90's was that we couldn't get tea that was sweetened by the batch as opposed to adding our own until we got to eastern sections of TN (or southern VA if coming down from visiting family in NY/NJ first). And when we continued on to FL from here, once we left SC into GA on I-95, sweet tea disappeared yet again. Now it seems like it's everywhere, I even had it in El Paso when I visited my son who was then stationed at Ft Bliss back in 2011.
Quote from: BigRedDog on May 09, 2015, 02:17:23 AM
Quote from: Crazy Volvo Guy on May 08, 2015, 11:10:07 PM
Coke is ubiquitous.
Sweet tea is available at any McDonald's, which is ubiquitous.
Yeah, but sweet tea at McDonald's is like a hamburger at McDonalds. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it's "meh". One could do so much better.
I've had much worse.
Quote from: BigRedDog on May 09, 2015, 02:17:23 AM
Quote from: Crazy Volvo Guy on May 08, 2015, 11:10:07 PM
Coke is ubiquitous.
Sweet tea is available at any McDonald's, which is ubiquitous.
Yeah, but sweet tea at McDonald's is like a hamburger at McDonalds. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it's "meh". One could do so much better.
What I don't understand is, isn't the unsweetened tea and sugar that McDonald's has enough to make your sweet tea just how you like it?
Starbucks, by comparison, has ok iced coffee, but if you take their default, a large is sweetened with
ten teaspoons of sugar! That much sugar in anything is disgusting, in my opinion. I sweeten my own, with three or four teaspoons, and to me that's just right.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on May 09, 2015, 09:43:07 AM
Quote from: BigRedDog on May 09, 2015, 02:17:23 AM
Quote from: Crazy Volvo Guy on May 08, 2015, 11:10:07 PM
Coke is ubiquitous.
Sweet tea is available at any McDonald's, which is ubiquitous.
Yeah, but sweet tea at McDonald's is like a hamburger at McDonalds. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it's "meh". One could do so much better.
What I don't understand is, isn't the unsweetened tea and sugar that McDonald's has enough to make your sweet tea just how you like it?
Starbucks, by comparison, has ok iced coffee, but if you take their default, a large is sweetened with ten teaspoons of sugar! That much sugar in anything is disgusting, in my opinion. I sweeten my own, with three or four teaspoons, and to me that's just right.
I agree. For some reason, it's in vogue down South to virtually dump a bucket of sugar into sweet tea and I've never understood it. If I wanted that much sugar, I'd take a cup of water and put sugar in it. Too much sugar completely dilutes the taste of the tea.
I do like my coffee sweetened though and the only place I've found that seems to understand how to get the proper amount of sugar in is Dunkin.
Quote from: The Nature Boy on May 09, 2015, 01:05:32 PM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on May 09, 2015, 09:43:07 AM
Quote from: BigRedDog on May 09, 2015, 02:17:23 AM
Quote from: Crazy Volvo Guy on May 08, 2015, 11:10:07 PM
Coke is ubiquitous.
Sweet tea is available at any McDonald's, which is ubiquitous.
Yeah, but sweet tea at McDonald's is like a hamburger at McDonalds. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it's "meh". One could do so much better.
What I don't understand is, isn't the unsweetened tea and sugar that McDonald's has enough to make your sweet tea just how you like it?
Starbucks, by comparison, has ok iced coffee, but if you take their default, a large is sweetened with ten teaspoons of sugar! That much sugar in anything is disgusting, in my opinion. I sweeten my own, with three or four teaspoons, and to me that's just right.
I agree. For some reason, it's in vogue down South to virtually dump a bucket of sugar into sweet tea and I've never understood it. If I wanted that much sugar, I'd take a cup of water and put sugar in it. Too much sugar completely dilutes the taste of the tea.
I do like my coffee sweetened though and the only place I've found that seems to understand how to get the proper amount of sugar in is Dunkin.
Now if Dunkin' could just add a little more coffee to their water...
Quote from: The Nature Boy on May 09, 2015, 01:05:32 PM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on May 09, 2015, 09:43:07 AM
Quote from: BigRedDog on May 09, 2015, 02:17:23 AM
Quote from: Crazy Volvo Guy on May 08, 2015, 11:10:07 PM
Coke is ubiquitous.
Sweet tea is available at any McDonald's, which is ubiquitous.
Yeah, but sweet tea at McDonald's is like a hamburger at McDonalds. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it's "meh". One could do so much better.
What I don't understand is, isn't the unsweetened tea and sugar that McDonald's has enough to make your sweet tea just how you like it?
Starbucks, by comparison, has ok iced coffee, but if you take their default, a large is sweetened with ten teaspoons of sugar! That much sugar in anything is disgusting, in my opinion. I sweeten my own, with three or four teaspoons, and to me that's just right.
I agree. For some reason, it's in vogue down South to virtually dump a bucket of sugar into sweet tea and I've never understood it. If I wanted that much sugar, I'd take a cup of water and put sugar in it. Too much sugar completely dilutes the taste of the tea.
I do like my coffee sweetened though and the only place I've found that seems to understand how to get the proper amount of sugar in is Dunkin.
I agree that alot of places down here put WAY too much sugar in their tea. When I make it at home, I put 1 scant cup of sugar in 1 gallon of tea. Anymore than that is too much sugar.
Even 7oz is a lot of sugar for 8 pints! I guess it's only a bit over 2.6 tsp per cup, but that's into 'brown sugar water' territory unless you brew the tea strong.
Quote from: english si on May 10, 2015, 10:30:45 AM
Even 7oz is a lot of sugar for 8 pints! I guess it's only a bit over 2.6 tsp per cup, but that's into 'brown sugar water' territory unless you brew the tea strong.
I use 3 family-sized bags of Lepton decaf tea.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on May 09, 2015, 03:25:41 PM
Quote from: The Nature Boy on May 09, 2015, 01:05:32 PM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on May 09, 2015, 09:43:07 AM
Quote from: BigRedDog on May 09, 2015, 02:17:23 AM
Quote from: Crazy Volvo Guy on May 08, 2015, 11:10:07 PM
Coke is ubiquitous.
Sweet tea is available at any McDonald's, which is ubiquitous.
Yeah, but sweet tea at McDonald's is like a hamburger at McDonalds. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it's "meh". One could do so much better.
What I don't understand is, isn't the unsweetened tea and sugar that McDonald's has enough to make your sweet tea just how you like it?
Starbucks, by comparison, has ok iced coffee, but if you take their default, a large is sweetened with ten teaspoons of sugar! That much sugar in anything is disgusting, in my opinion. I sweeten my own, with three or four teaspoons, and to me that's just right.
I agree. For some reason, it's in vogue down South to virtually dump a bucket of sugar into sweet tea and I've never understood it. If I wanted that much sugar, I'd take a cup of water and put sugar in it. Too much sugar completely dilutes the taste of the tea.
I do like my coffee sweetened though and the only place I've found that seems to understand how to get the proper amount of sugar in is Dunkin.
Now if Dunkin' could just add a little more coffee to their water...
Eh. Dunkin is better than Starbucks and Tim Horton's. For a chain, it's not terrible.
I still remember stopping for coffee on the New York Thruway and getting a Tim Horton's coffee. Worst cup of coffee I've ever had in my entire life.
Quote from: The Nature Boy on May 10, 2015, 04:50:00 PM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on May 09, 2015, 03:25:41 PM
Quote from: The Nature Boy on May 09, 2015, 01:05:32 PM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on May 09, 2015, 09:43:07 AM
Quote from: BigRedDog on May 09, 2015, 02:17:23 AM
Quote from: Crazy Volvo Guy on May 08, 2015, 11:10:07 PM
Coke is ubiquitous.
Sweet tea is available at any McDonald's, which is ubiquitous.
Yeah, but sweet tea at McDonald's is like a hamburger at McDonalds. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it's "meh". One could do so much better.
What I don't understand is, isn't the unsweetened tea and sugar that McDonald's has enough to make your sweet tea just how you like it?
Starbucks, by comparison, has ok iced coffee, but if you take their default, a large is sweetened with ten teaspoons of sugar! That much sugar in anything is disgusting, in my opinion. I sweeten my own, with three or four teaspoons, and to me that's just right.
I agree. For some reason, it's in vogue down South to virtually dump a bucket of sugar into sweet tea and I've never understood it. If I wanted that much sugar, I'd take a cup of water and put sugar in it. Too much sugar completely dilutes the taste of the tea.
I do like my coffee sweetened though and the only place I've found that seems to understand how to get the proper amount of sugar in is Dunkin.
Now if Dunkin' could just add a little more coffee to their water...
Eh. Dunkin is better than Starbucks and Tim Horton's. For a chain, it's not terrible.
I still remember stopping for coffee on the New York Thruway and getting a Tim Horton's coffee. Worst cup of coffee I've ever had in my entire life.
I'm much less picky than some people about what my coffee tastes like, but Dunkin' Donuts's coffee is
weak, as in it does not contain enough actual coffee compared to even what I get at a random corner store, meaning a) I'm getting charged for extra water and less coffee, and b) I have to drink an unusually large amount of it to feel like I had a cup of coffee.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on May 09, 2015, 09:43:07 AM
What I don't understand is, isn't the unsweetened tea and sugar that McDonald's has enough to make your sweet tea just how you like it?
I'm not a sweet tea person, but as I understand it, the sugar doesn't mix correctly with the tea if the tea isn't hot when the sugar is added.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on April 19, 2015, 01:42:07 PM
Ah, the cola wars....
Getting back to tea, I consume quite a bit of the stuff. I'm in a vehicle for work all the time and I like to have something to sip on throughout the day. Water is way too bland of course. And chugging sugary sodas all day is a fast way to diabetes. "Diet" beverages all taste like ass to me. The sweetness hits the tongue wrong and ruins the flavor. They make those 'sparkling waters' but the effervescence and the flavor without the sweetness is off-putting for me. Everything else is loaded with sugar. Way too much for something I want to consume a lot of.
Then I found I liked drinking unsweetened ice tea. And the best one for me is the Lipton stuff in the square bottles. I think it's because they put citric acid in it and that tarts it up just a little. So I go through lots and lots of it and get bummed out when I pit stop at a gas station that doesn't stock it.
I'd make my own, but that's just not convenient for me when I'm living out of hotels. So Lipton it is.
Someone said Lipton is British? Maybe at one point, but that's been a Pepsico brand for a long time now.
Trust me, I ADORE sodas. I drink a lot of the stuff, but if they serve apple juice, chocolate milk, or energy drinks, I'll lean towards the healthier kind.
I remember back in the 70s, when Royal Crown Cola, or RC Cola, was the 3rd cola name in the cola wars. Yeah, they were never close to Pepsi & Coke to be a real threat to be #2, but there was a lot of radio and TV advertising for RC back in the days in the Midwest, a lot of corner stores had RC Cola signs above their entrances and I can still remember there were quite a few RC Cola-branded vending machines.
Nowadays, RC Cola is nothing but a vanity flavor that may have one slot in the darkened corner of your local beverage cooler, if at all. Same goes for it's sister flavor, Diet Rite Cola.
Up here, Coke and Pepsi have somewhere around maybe a 50-50 or 60-40 split. Somewhere in that ball park. Down in Costa Rica, everything was 90+% Coke. You could find Coke everywhere. Fanta was probably the second most common soda. Sprite, Fresca and Ginger Ale also weren't too hard to find. Pepsi was somewhat common in stores, though I don't think any restaurant I went to had it (though I did notice Burger King I believe had Pepsi, which was weird because they serve Coke in the US; I didn't actually go to BK though). 7 up also was fairly common in stores. I didn't see any Mountain Dew down there. I also don't remember if I saw any Dr. Pepper.
Quote from: thenetwork on May 29, 2015, 11:40:02 AM
I remember back in the 70s, when Royal Crown Cola, or RC Cola, was the 3rd cola name in the cola wars. Yeah, they were never close to Pepsi & Coke to be a real threat to be #2, but there was a lot of radio and TV advertising for RC back in the days in the Midwest, a lot of corner stores had RC Cola signs above their entrances and I can still remember there were quite a few RC Cola-branded vending machines.
Nowadays, RC Cola is nothing but a vanity flavor that may have one slot in the darkened corner of your local beverage cooler, if at all. Same goes for it's sister flavor, Diet Rite Cola.
Around here, Dr. Pepper products (including RC) get equal billing on grocery store shelves with Coke and Pepsi.
Dr Pepper is distributed by Pepsi in my area.
RC Cola used to be very popular in this region of Kentucky, because we had bottlers and distributors in this area. It's not quite as popular these days.
Odd thing here is that Dr Pepper is available as a fountain drink whether it is from a Coke machine or a Pepsi machine.
Quote from: Big John on May 29, 2015, 02:58:19 PM
Odd thing here is that Dr Pepper is available as a fountain drink whether it is from a Coke machine or a Pepsi machine.
Same in Buffalo. Almost everywhere carries Dr Pepper. Some Coke restaurants (mostly Five Guys) carry Pibb and bottles are Pibb, but fountain soda is almost exclusively Dr Pepper.
As far as Coke/Pepsi goes, I, along with most of my friends, have a strong preference toward Coke. As far as personal consumption goes, Coke is probably bigger around here, partially because they make a big deal about every Coke product sold in the area being bottled in Buffalo and this area is really big on local products. The stuff carried by restaurants around here is quite interesting. Of the locally/regionally owned chains, Anderson's, Mighty Taco, and Duff's are Pepsi, but DiBella's and Ted's Hot Dogs are Coke.
Quote from: hbelkins on May 29, 2015, 02:31:12 PM
RC Cola used to be very popular in this region of Kentucky, because we had bottlers and distributors in this area. It's not quite as popular these days.
Even though The Coca-Cola Company is based in Atlanta, and both Coke and Pepsi are popular worldwide, doesn't RC have a special place in southern culture? "An RC and a Moon Pie" and all that...?
Growing up in PA, I knew people who quietly regarded RC as superior to Coke and Pepsi–sort of like the outsider watching a tooth-and-nail PC vs. Mac fight and strolls by, saying "Personally, I'm happy with my Amiga."
Pepsi has a slight edge in north-central PA because of the presence of a very large and aggressive Pepsi bottler in Williamsport, and there's a roadgeek connection to it. For years, that company was Confair Bottling, founded by Zehnder H. Confair, who later became a state senator and president of the Keystone Shortway Association–and for whom I-80 in Pennsylvania (the Z.H. Confair Memorial Highway) is named.
Personally I find Pepsi to be vile. I don't really care for cold tea either.
- In North America, Coke has had a slight lead over Pepsi for decades. It is like 55-45 and has been for a long time. However, internationally is a different story, Coke has a massive lead in most of the world. Some places close to 90-10. One exception is Arabia, due to market presence when Pepsi joined the Arab boycott and did business there, while Coke did business in Israel. Pepsi has kept the lead even though the boycott ended in the 90s.
- At the retail level, Dr Pepper (and generally 7 UP) rights belong randomly to Coke, Pepsi, or independent "third tier" bottlers across the country. I read somewhere that it is about one-third each across the country. In my area, you can travel 50 miles and be in places where all three situations exist.
- At the corporate level, Dr Pepper/7 UP is a separate company owning 7 UP in the USA only, and Dr Pepper in the USA and 20 other countries. In the rest of the world, Dr Pepper belongs to Coke and 7 UP to Pepsi. RC is similar, belonging to Dr Pepper/7 UP in the USA and a separate company elsewhere.
- RC is very popular in the Philippines and you see a lot of Philippine immigrants choose it here.
The Mexican CocaCola, available in some stores here, is less bitter than the domestic version.
I'll go down as one of those shocked as well then. Never even heard of it.
Quote from: english si on June 03, 2015, 08:05:15 AM
That said, if you've fallen for the misinformation campaign and think it is Darjeeling (even though it isn't), it's still seems like the guy who asks for ketchup in Gordon Ramsey's restaurant (look it up - its a good strong reaction befitting a reasonable response to such snobbery that they know better than everyone else when it comes to flavour, while not an ideal one) to make an effort to disguise the flavour of the tea.
This reminds me of the time I found some random, small steakhouse that I went to with my wife for Valentine's Day. We were seated in there, and I remember the owner was running around nervously waiting for the big rush to come in. After I got my steak, I asked for A-1 Sauce. The waiter more/less chewed me out for daring to upset the chef, but he got some sort of sauce for me anyway.
The whole time we sat there, no more than 3 tables were occupied. When I tried looking up the place later in the year, it had closed down. Maybe they should've been more concerned with getting people in the door than getting upset about a request for steak sauce.
Just saw this cross my FB page. For those of you who remember Crystal Pepsi...
http://www.businessinsider.com/pepsi-might-bring-back-crystal-pepsi-2015-6
Quote from: thenetwork on June 10, 2015, 03:51:22 PM
Just saw this cross my FB page. For those of you who remember Crystal Pepsi...
http://www.businessinsider.com/pepsi-might-bring-back-crystal-pepsi-2015-6
Just don't drink the old stuff (3:50 mark)