Some people are coffee snobs. ("Only locally roasted whole bean organic coffee ground at home in a burr grinder and made in a stainless steel and handblown glass french press having just the right amount of grounds to water ratio") Not me. I just like black coffee. Some people are wine snobs ("I only drink reds from Austrailia. '98 is my favorite year."). Not me. I like Barefoot Pinot Grigio, $6. Some are beer snobs ("If it doesn't come in a bottle and come from some small brewery in Colorado that nobody's heard of, then I'm not drinking it"). Not me, my favorite beer in Milwaukee's Best in a can, and I am sure to drink it out of the can, in a kozy. But I am a snob about one thing. Coke. I love Coke. It is the only soda worth drinking, and the only one I will drink. I want it in a can, but poured in a glass (no plastic cup) with ice. Some fountain Coke is good, too. The Coke at the pretzel place in the mall is good. Chick-Fil-A also has good Coke. Mc Donald's does not. See, I've thought this through. And I am particular. I used to have a Coke a day, at lunch, and I always looked forward to it. Then, this summer, I started to notice something. After I drank that Coke, I would feel sluggish, achy, and a little sick. So much so, that by mid-August, I had stopped drinking Coke all together. This was especially hard when going out for things like Moe's or pizza. But it made me feel so bad when I drank it, it really wasn't that hard to resist it.
So, it had been almost two months.
Last week, my father-in-law was visiting, so naturally, we bought a case of Diet Coke. Now, Coke snob that I am, I turn my nose up at the mere mention of Diet Coke. It is not, after all, real Coke. I made fun of my husband immensely for liking it. Whenever anyone told me that he or she loved Diet Coke, I smiled and nodded, but inside I was thinking, "Pansy." Ok, that's a little harsh. But I probably thought they were a little lame for not being able to handle a real Coke. Oh, the shame. Well, we had all these gleaming silver Diet Coke's in the fridge, and I thought, "I'll just taste one. Maybe they are not so bad." I was missing Coke so bad, I made the ultimate sacrifice.
If you are a Coke lover, prepare to be reading in disbelief. If you are a Diet Coke lover, you will be nodding your head knowingly.
It was good. So good that I have had one every day for a week.
I don't know if it is because I had not had a Coke in so long or what, but it was the perfect amount of sweet, and I barely tasted the Aspartame. AND I did not feel sick afterward. The only conclusion I can come to is that Diet Coke has no High Fructose Corn Syrup, and that is the first ingredient in Coke, so that must be what was making me sick. Whatever, I don't know, but I am fully converted, and I couldn't be happier. Now I get to go around town testing the Diet Coke's.
12 comments:
Now, I feel about Diet Coke the way you feel about Coke. And when I worked at Buddha Belly, I always had to mix a little club soda with the Diet Coke, because it came out too syrupy/Regular Coke-Like for my tastes. Mmmm...I think I need one now.
Any thoughts on Coke Zero? I think that it tastes better than diet coke but not as good as real coke.
Paul gets nostalgic for his Mexican childhood sometimes. On such occasions, we drive to North Charleston for authentic Mexican street vendor food. The coke in Mexico is sweetened with cane sugar instead of corn syrup, and it tastes so much better. A lot of the not-for-whitey-so-hipsters-love-it Mexican joints import the cane sugar coke because the American stuff doesn't taste right. I think that La Tienda imports the real thing(oh, how I miss their salsa verde). The sticker will usually say "sugar or corn syrup," but you can tell by the taste. Definitely worth a try.
I will give La Tienda a shot. I will say, Coke's got one thing Diet Coke doesn't...calories. (Erica, I am thinking of/ remembering your mom's words of wisdom you told me about calories and drinks.)
Aly,
I can appreciate that you aren't a snob about all those things, I really can. I have to say, though, that Milwaukee's Best is nothing compared to real beer. I am glad you will let yourself enjoy even the most bland of beers, but please tell me you would rather have something with some flavor. I'm not trying to be a snob, by the way.
Better not tell Meredith.
E,
I can and do enjoy many, many beers, sometimes consecutively. And if given the choice between the Beast and, say, Blue Moon, I would certainly choose the Blue Moon. I was simply using that example to illustrate that I am not a snob. I will drink pretty much any beer that is handed to me. Except Miller Lite. I will always refuse a Miller Lite because I think it tastes like earwax. But on a hot summer evening, I really just want a watery Beast in a can in my kozy.
Hey Aly,
Coke Zero is worth a try. I was a die hard red Coke girl. Then I switched to Diet Coke with lemon. I really enjoy a Diet Coke with Lime. Then along came Coke Zero. It is really what Diet Coke should have been in the first place. Regular Coke Zero is good and so is the Cherry Zero.
After much urging, I will try Coke Zero. What is the difference in the ingredients? Probably a different kind of artificial sugar...
Oh, and Val, I told Meredith. She looked at me with that look I used to give people who told me they switched to diet.
I read this blog at 4 this morning craving a coke.. but we had none in the house. When I went to school this morning I couldn't wait to buy one out of the vending machine.. then i couldn't find any vending machines that had COKE! When I finally found one the first sip was so rewarding and delicious and I thought of you. :)
I like beer in a can too. Drinking from a brown glass bottle disgusts me.
All Beer is good! Wine- who cares? Coffee=caffeine so thumbs up to that! Cherry Coke Zero+Caffeine=A little piece of heaven.
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