Review: Mexican Coke
Aug 21st, 2007 by Steve
Often I'm asked, "so what's the big deal about high fructose corn syrup? It tastes fine to me." My reply tends to recommend drinking something sweetened with sugar right next to its HCFS version. We were able to do that in the past when we reviewed Kosher for Passover Coke and Kosher for Passover Caffeine Free Pepsi.
Unfortunately, not everyone has access to these types of drinks, especially since they are highly seasonal. One great alternative to experience the way the flagship colas were meant to taste is to head to a local Mexican supermarket or eatery. More often than not, they'll probably have what we in the States casually refer to as "Mexican Coke".
Mexican Coke is nothing more than imported Coca-Cola from Mexico, often bottled in glass. The defining factor of the beverage, however, is that it's sweetened with sugar. The popularity of the drink has grown over the years, as folks have realized the improved taste profile it offers vs. the muck we're stuck with normally.
An article from the Santa Cruz Sentinel in March 2006 discussed this trend:
It's popping up just about everywhere in Latino communities across the United States: Mexican-made Coca-Cola in those old glass bottles, somewhat of an anomaly in the age of the plastic liter and twist-off cap.Slightly worn and a bit gritty from all the coming and going, the 12-ounce bottles, which sell for roughly $1.25 a pop, are being bought up and sucked dry at record clips in cities across the country with large Latino populations.
And Mexicans and Mexican-Americans aren't the only ones swigging down the soda bottled south of the border, claiming it tastes different from its American-made counterpart, that its fizz seems to last longer because it's in a glass bottle.
If running diaries on the Web in the form of blogs are any indication, just about everybody who likes the heft of a good old-fashioned soda bottle is looking for the Mexican-made pop in the thousands of ma and pa convenience stores that cater to Latinos.
It hasn't escaped notice by Coca-Cola. In fact, they tend to frown on the importing of the Mexican version of the drink. They consider it bootlegging.
It totally isn't. There's nothing illegal about it. They are just trying to protect their antiquated bottler system which defines regions as having the exclusive rights to certain beverages. It makes about as much sense as Region Codes on DVDs.
But beyond the ethical nature, what makes me laugh is how Coke attempts to write off the trend:
"We believe that the appeal of Mexican Coke is as much about nostalgia as it is about anything," says Martin. "It's like getting a piece of home in a bottle. You can't deny the fact that it's in a tall glass bottle, something you just can't find in most parts of the United States."But it's the "same exact product," and Mexican bottlers are buying the ingredients straight from the company, says Martin.
"It's not like they're stirring it up in some backyard," he adds. "Coke is Coke is Coke."
Sure, it's the same product… except for that small little detail regarding sweeteners! It has nothing to do with the packaging or if it's cold, etc. It has everything to do with the use of sugar cane vs. high fructose corn syrup. Obviously, Coke doesn't want to admit that the existing product in the United States is inferior… but it is.
That said, my wife Amy picked up a bottle of Mexican Coke recently while she was in an Hispanic neighborhood here in the city. The bottle definitely looked like it had seen better days. But it was glass! How cool is that? The capacity was listed as 355 ml, which translates to 11.83 oz, just a little less than a typical aluminum can. A copyright date of 1996 showed below the Coke logo along with the welcome phrase, "Hecho en Mexico" (Made in Mexico).
Of interest was an added label which you often find on imported soft drinks. (I had seen this on Polish imports Fanta Pomarańczowa and Fanta Lemonic). This label provides the ingredients and nutritional facts in English. (Interestingly, they rounded up the 11.83 oz to 12 oz on the label). What was interesting about the ingredient list is that it was a little wishy-washy about what kind of sweetener was used. The exact phrasing was "High Fructose, Corn Syrup and/Or Sugar." Who are you kidding? It was without a doubt sugar!
As far as the taste? Very much the same flavor and aftertaste profile as I had found previously with Kosher for Passover Coke. In general, it's the Coke you know and love, but with a much "cleaner" feel. Like I said, if you have a regular bottle of Coke side-by-side, you can completely tell the difference. I actually think my individual situation featured a bottle that was somewhat flat. This may be due to the age of the drink or some other factors, so that was a bit puzzling.
Nevertheless, if you have a chance to both find a drink like this as well as experience it, you'll quickly become a believer in the "non-HFCS is better" club!
[...] you inspired me! I just posted a little overview and review on Mexican Coke. I first got to taste what the "real" real thing tasted last a few years ago when I got [...]
Review: Mexican Coke…
Mexicans want our cigarettes and we want their Coke. "Sir, why are you bringing back 12 cases of Coke?"
……
Lately I have been avoiding anything with HFCS. Now I can't wait for Passover and I am not even Jewish.
[...] find here in the United States. For example, not much can compete with the tastiness in a bottle of Mexican Coke. Other great drinks come from our neighbors to the south, including Sidral Mundet, an apple soda [...]
[...] the only way to get soda from the "big guys" with real sugar is to import it (i.e., Mexican Coke) or wait till Passover (Kosher Coke, Kosher [...]
[...] Typically, the only way to get soda from the "big guys" with real sugar is to import it (i.e., Mexican Coke) or wait till Passover (Kosher Coke, Kosher [...]
[...] Mexican Coke [...]
[...] for Passover Pepsi. For example, one thing I noticed when I reviewed products like Kosher Coke and Mexican Coke against there HFCS incarnations is that the bubbles formed when poured are of different shapes. I [...]
Why don't the coke executives get it? Their customers insist this is a better product and they keep denying it. I fell in love with the Mexican version while living in Guatemala. I buy it every chance I get and I rarely buy the American version.
i buy mexican coke at my local supermarket (krogers) but its expensive, 1.99 for a 355ml bottle its a little steep but its so worth it.
[...] curious about actual taste, and having experienced drinks like Kosher Pepsi, Kosher Coke, and even Mexican Coke, there's just something about the use of sugar in a soft drink that really makes it that much [...]
ha! I love it, I find it at my local ace hardware store of all places, and you can tell it's sugar because the ingredients list is on the bottle cap (in spanish) and it says sugar.
[...] Review of Mexican Coke (quotes a 3 year old article where Coca-Cola insists that sugar and HFCS taste exactly the same) [...]
I always thought that persons – who were at least 10 when Coke switched to HFCS from sucrose, (white sugar), knew and remembered from their own taste that sucrose-sweetened Coke tasted better than the iimposter made with HFCS. Coke switched to HFCS because it is cheaper than sucrose and I'm sure the corn lobby made Coke a "sweet" offer to switch to HFCS, just like the corn lobbyists manipulated the government into forcing ethanol on us – causing populations worldwide to rebel as their food staple, (corn), became prohibitively expensive. Mexico's main diet is corn – you connect the dots. The health problems caused by HFCS consumption, (chiefly obesity), are well concealed, too. I loved a cold Coke in the glass bottle, but now I get headaches when I drink a soda sweetened with HFCS so I don't drink them now. Maybe I can find some sucrose-sweetened Coke and savor a delicious drink again!
Very old reply… but 355 ml = 12.0039781 US fluid ounces.
If you're in the Emaaus PA area pick up Coke there…I don't know who the bottler is but on periodic visits to family there
Coke cans always list "sugar" as the sweetener, which is confimed by a taste test…Any local residents out there to elaborate?
I'm amazed there aren't more comments here!
Must be all the Pepsi lovers, I guess
Mexican Coke is worse than Crack! I buy 4 cases at a time at my local Costco (Burbank, California) for around $20 +/- (so it's less than a Dollar a bottle – at one point it was only $17.99 so about $0.75 cents). I go through them at a 2-a-day clip. I am totally addicted ("Hello, my name is Riot and I'm an addict … ").
The Coca-Cola and Pepsi people are on drugs thinking this stuff tastes anything like their HFCS crap. God intended soda to be drank out of a glass bottle, with pure cane sugar! Plastic bottles (helloooo, Pepsi 'Throwback') and aluminum cans leave crappy aftertastes!
I have drank Coke all over the world. EVERY other country/bottler uses pure cane sugar … EXCEPT in the US. It is all part of the big global conspiracy to ram HFCS down our throats just because in this particular country it's cheaper than sugar – much as plastic must be cheaper than glass. If Coca-Cola and Pepsi want to claim it's cheaper to use plastic and HFCS then why is it that in much poorer countries, they use glass and cane sugar???
For me, nothing beats a Thai Coke – it is insanely good. But Mexican Coke is a close second. Sometimes I get duff batches that are a bit more acidic (this also depends on where it's bottled; I noticed a Monterrey-bottled Coke I got in Boulder Colorado tasted worse than the ones I get here at home in Los Angeles from Costco).
Viva la Mexican Coke!
Luckily, Mexi-Coke can be had at most small convenience stores, 7-11s, and WalMarts (ethnic section) here in Coloardo. Usually costs between $1 and $1.75 (for the 1-liter glass bottle). Tastes clean and great.
There's been a lot of HFCS ads lately insisting corn syrup is just as good as sugar health and taste-wise. Pathetic.
I was recently in the Dominican Republic and drank a Coke at our resort. It was out of this world! It tasted like I remembered it as a kid. They told me it was made with sugar. It's all I drank the rest of the time there. It was hands down better than the domestic HFCS version I was used to drinking. So good that I went out and bought some glass bottled Mexican Coke when I returned home. Sure I pay more now, but I love the great nastalgic taste! Pepsi did it here… why can't Coke?
LOL !!! I'm can't fit inside my house amazed and indirectly flattered reading the rave(??) reviews our humble Coke has garnered!!
I'm a heavy (3 to 4 12oz bottles) Coke fan, recently also indulging on Pepsi Natl (1 600mL PET daily) and yes, I noticed a strange taste
on US Coke, but never occured to me that tho the sticker does mention HFCS, it is in fact sugar, now I know. Well, I'm so glad that out humble product appeals to certain palates, and to the lady from Boulder who tasted a bad Monterrey bottle, it sure was left in the sun, as a Monterrey resident, close to one of three bottling plants, I have witnessed many times how the truck guys leave the doors open and tasted those Cokes, ugly. But when cared for as God intends, both 355mL and 192mL (remember those?) taste as nectar from heaven!!
Cheers! Mexican Coke is it!!!!
Coke does taste better with cane sugar and in a glass bottle and why Coca-Cola does not recognize this fact is they think we dont care. Back in1985 they changed the secret formula to compete with Pepsi and almost killed the golden goose. If loyal Coke drinkers started a boycott of this imposter formula Coca-Cola would get their act together fast. Start a internet petition and demand that Coke take out corn syrup now or we stop buying it, eventually states will ban soda with corn syrup as a sweetner California will lead the way. And on Mexi Coke one thing comes to mind when you travel to Mexico dont drink the water i dont think they import our water for Mexi Coke.
Check the ingredients. At least as of late, the nutrition label has listed "HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP AND/OR SUCROSE CARAMEL"
Just Drank a Mexican Coke, Loved it, and it was right under my nose all along. Someone told me to go to a Mexican Supermarket, we have one about 2 miles away. After 5 years living here I went in. The first thing I seen was a Mountain of cases of Mexican Coke, $18 a case 12 oz. I read the white sticker, and it said SUGAR. Everyone loves it. I gave one to my 77 year old Mom, and she was shocked, it tasted like when she was a kid me too, I'm 47 so I had glass bottle sodas for 10 cents when a kid.
There's one in every crowd and I guess this time, it's me.
I have been drinking Coca-Cola since the 1960s, and (for the most part) loving it. But I've always had an issue with Coke's consistency. Periodically our family would experience the displeasure of a six-pack or carton of "bad Coke." The "matriarch" of the family would not hesitate to call the local bottler and complain, and sometimes they would send out a driver with a replacement case. TO THE POINT (i.e.) Mexican Coke: I have been having great luck with Coke for more than a year, but I am alway leery of running into aberrant Coke. I expressed this on a forum, and was advised to try "MexiCoke." So I bought three Mexican Cokes from different stores. I drank one over ice (Yukkk!) and chilled the others for later. What a huge disappointment!
Mexican Coke is just like the odd-tasting Coke I've been put of by for years! It's hard to describe a taste without using subjective terms, but I think I've come up with an olfactory image that closely illustrates "bad Coke/Mexican Coke." Have you ever run over a thick patch of dandelions with the lawnmower? The smell reminds me of "bad Coke's" taste. Now, the smell of violently rended dandelions is not an especially unpleasant assault to the senses, but it's not what I want to taste when I drink a Coke.
Please don't hate, MexiCoke fans. It's just my opinion and sense of taste. But I will take the standard "muck we're stuck with normally (and which I love!)" over Mexican Coke any day. (The author of this blog seems to want to upbraid the Coca-Cola Company. I'm with you, though for different reasons. I just want'em to make Coke after Coke after Coke. . . .after Coke taste the same and nip those occasional "toxic dandelion" batches in the bud.)