Cellar Scribblings

[serious crayons]

I have never cooked pumpkin, too much trouble.

Agreed, but squash and sweet potatoes are relatively easy and I believe have approximately the same nutrients! 

[serious crayons]

And I agree, of course there's generally more to it than retail, but when it comes to pushing American holidays here, retail has been playing a very big part.

Well, I still feel that although we are all influenced by culture, consumers have minds of their own and if everybody thought American holidays were stupid people just wouldn't buy the stuff and it would be a failed experiment by retail (of which there have been many).

I guess you and I just have different views of the power of stores alone to shape consumers' tastes and influence them to buy things they wouldn't normally want. Or maybe Europeans are different in that way, I guess. 

[serious crayons]

While it does have a sweet taste to it,  I don't think it tastes as sweet as regular Coke, and yes, it comes in green labeling.   For 6-packs, the cans are green and easily seen.   For the 12-packs, the green cans are inside a green box.

Most convenience stores  sell the single bottles, so you can try them that way.  I've seen them in coolers in 7/11 and Quick Chek.

Tonight I was at the grocery store and I saw an end cap with some cans of Coca-Cola and, next to them, some green cans. Eureka! I thought. But alas, it was Sprite. 

I have paid so little attention to soda aisles for years that it might not be as hard to find as I think. But before you mentioned it, I had never seen it, heard of it nor seen anybody drinking it.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Tonight I was at the grocery store and I saw an end cap with some cans of Coca-Cola and, next to them, some green cans. Eureka! I thought. But alas, it was Sprite. 

I have paid so little attention to soda aisles for years that it might not be as hard to find as I think. But before you mentioned it, I had never seen it, heard of it nor seen anybody drinking it.

Same here. I'll have to check when I go to the supermarket this week. I do have to look at the Coke section pretty closely to find the Caffeine Free Coke. I've never seen "green Coke," but it's also possible I just missed it because I wasn't looking for Coke in a green carton.

Are they advertising it on the Internet? I've never seen a TV commercial for it.

[southendmd]

I'm not much of a coke drinker, but I recall the green coke when it came out a couple years ago.

It seemed the claim to fame was it contained cane sugar, rather than the much-maligned high-fructose corn syrup. Guessing they included stevia to keep the calories down.

Thinking it might be nostalgic, I tried it once, and said, "Meh".  I haven't seen it since.

Does anyone know about the so-called "Mexican coke" that's made with cane sugar and exported to the US?

[Jeff Wrangler]

Does anyone know about the so-called "Mexican coke" that's made with cane sugar and exported to the US?

I've had some, and I seem to remember someone telling me Coke from Canada is the same way.

In any case, I was not impressed. However, it does occur to me to wonder if my reaction had something to do with being so accustomed to the taste of "U.S. Coke" that the Mexican "just didn't taste right."

[serious crayons]

Does anyone know about the so-called "Mexican coke" that's made with cane sugar and exported to the US?

Yes, my sons drink that. They buy it in single bottles, usually in special sections of the grocery store among products like kombucha and coconut water, rather than in the main section with mainstream Coke and Sprite and other forms of what we in the Midwest call "pop." The also have Mexican Squirt, which one of my sons prefers, and probably a couple of other big brands. At a casual glance, the bottles look like ordinary Coke, but I assume they say "Imported from Mexico" somewhere.

Since I don't drink pop, it has never even occurred to me to taste their Mexican Coke! Now I'm curious. There's none in the fridge now, but next time they drink one I'll get a sip and report back.

I gather it tastes better than the corn-syrup stuff. I suppose it comes from Mexico because of some U.S. government subsidy for corn growers that made corn syrup cheap -- something like that triggered the explosion of corn-syrup use a couple of decades ago but I don't remember the details.

Many Americans believe that cane sugar is "better for you" than corn syrup. Actually, scientists say no kind of sugar is any less bad for you than any other kind of sugar (including raw sugar and the fructose in fruit). But my sons sometimes believe those things, so that could be a motivator, too.

I'll have to do more sleuthing. I haven't looked closely for green Coke in either section of the store.

But what surprises me is less that I haven't seen it on the shelves than that I've never even heard of it, nor seen anyone else drinking it. And it's been out for three years! You'd think there'd be much more publicity! That it would be pretty popular, at least among health-conscious soda consumers (if that's not an oxymoron  )! When they came out with "New Coke" years ago, it was literally a front-page headline. This is like a stealth campaign.

On my next drive to Chicago, which is just about the only time I ever drink pop (Diet Coke) I'll see if I can grab some for the trip.

[Jeff Wrangler]

But what surprises me is less that I haven't seen it on the shelves than that I've never even heard of it, nor seen anyone else drinking it. And it's been out for three years! You'd think there'd be much more publicity! That it would be pretty popular, at least among health-conscious soda consumers (if that's not an oxymoron  )! When they came out with "New Coke" years ago, it was literally a front-page headline. This is like a stealth campaign.

Exactly.

And I seem to recall that "New Coke" was an unmitigated disaster.

[Jeff Wrangler]

OK, I should have thought of this before. I just did a Google search for "Coke Life."

I found this:

https://us.coca-cola.com/coke-life/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI36uw7qPz1wIVVoGzCh3Pnwh6EAAYASAAEgIKu_D_BwE

There were a lot more entries. I just chose one.

Another idea crosses my mind: Did distribution end up being regional, perhaps based on sales?

I thought of this because I remember that around here we used to be able to buy a soda called "Mr. Pibb." To me it sort of tasted like Cherry Coke. I haven't seen it here in Pennsylvania in literally decades, but on one of my trips to Wyoming between the Barbecue and now, I found it in a convenience store in Worland.

[Sason]

Well, I still feel that although we are all influenced by culture, consumers have minds of their own and if everybody thought American holidays were stupid people just wouldn't buy the stuff and it would be a failed experiment by retail (of which there have been many).

I guess you and I just have different views of the power of stores alone to shape consumers' tastes and influence them to buy things they wouldn't normally want. Or maybe Europeans are different in that way, I guess. 

I don't know if there's a transatlantic difference, but all things American do have a tendency to gain interest and popularity here.

I'm sure the same intensity in advertising, say, a Finnish or Polish holiday here, would NOT lead to the same result. Even though we have a LOT more people from Finland and Poland living here than Americans. Not to mention more distant countries.