Coca-Cola out of Mexico is changing its recipe. The Latin Times reports that Mexican Coke, which is sweetened with cane sugar, will start using high fructose corn syrup.
US-based soda gourmands note that the cane sugar recipe has a better mouthfeel than the corn syrup version, making it a popular offering at high-end bars and coffee shops. Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Portland, Seattle, New York City, and Los Angeles carry the product. Spro Coffee in Hampdon, Maryland carries the product – but not for long.
“With the demise of Mexican Coca-Cola’s use of sucrose (sugar) instead of the American standard HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) there remains little (read: no) reason to keep stocking and offering Mexican Coke to Spro’s guests,” Spro owner Jay Caragay writes via Facebook, “Once the switch reaches America and our current stock is depleted, we will remove Mexican Coke from our menu.”
The news has prompted Arca Continental, the bottler responsible for exporting the product to the US, to issue a statement. The Associated Press reports:
The company’s CEO said last week that the bottler could consider using more fructose, but that was only for drinks distributed in Mexico.
Notably, Arca already uses both sugar and high-fructose corn syrup to sweeten its drinks in Mexico. The ratio varies depending on the commodity prices, the company said in an email.
Arca isn’t the only Coke bottler in Mexico. But a representative for Coca-Cola in Atlanta said the U.S. business imports only Coca-Cola sweetened with cane sugar from Mexico.
In the U.S., Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. switched to the corn syrup in the 1980s.
How does this news make you feel? Is it time to stock up our bug bunkers with cane sugar Coca Cola? Sound off in the comments below!
Top image: Seattle Local Flavor
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mildred Damian
2 March
I have been drinking coke for over 60 years. The past year or so I feel that the company must have done something to change the taste as it is not the same refreshing satisfying drink it was. Has anyone else noticed this difference?
Scotty
7 November
Well, Coca-Cola is a god-awful corporation anyway, so if this makes more enemies of their’s (which it won’t, really), and they sell less product, then I think this is great news.
And also, what Aaron stated above makes total sense. Support a smaller company, and/or one doing something a bit more unique.
Gabe
7 November
Coca-Cola will still be selling Coke with sugar and not HFCS to the U.S. Check out this update on Gizmodo.
http://gizmodo.com/mexican-coke-is-ditching-cane-sugar-for-high-fructose-c-1459437477
Aaron
6 November
Mexican Coke, while a lot better than HFCS Coke, still doesn’t really belong in third wave coffee bars and cafes. If shops want to offer soda on their menu, why not source local sodas from small companies? The profit margins would be less, but they’d be serving a specialty product. Why not treat every product your shops sells as highly as coffee?
Justaphil
6 November
Sure this news makes me a lil saddies but…
Maybe specialty coffee shops shouldn’t be stocking products from sinister international corporations in the first place.
But what do I know? I’m justaphil.