... Without a doubt, the most well-known and authentic carbonated cola drink belongs to the ludicrously rich Coca-Cola Corporation, which has ensured through endless and unstoppable advertising to ingrain the idea into the minds of everyone that their product is the best. But is it true? Well, ... Read review
A review by Frankingsteins on Coca-Cola March 14th, 2008
Author's product rating:
Advantages:
Deservedly the leading brand of carbonated cola drinks .
Disadvantages:
Ultimate symbol of despicable capitalism, and it leaves your mouth sticky .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I've spoken before of my unfortunate and debilitating coke addiction, which lasted from early childhood to a time not too long ago. Don't worry, I meant that kind of Coke! Oh, you already knew. There's a picture. I see. Well now that the fun's out of the way, on with the review. Without a doubt, the most well-known and authentic carbonated cola drink belongs to the ludicrously rich Coca-Cola Corporation, which has ensured through endless and unstoppable advertising to ingrain the idea into the minds of everyone that their product is the best. But is it true? Well, probably.
Even in my worst excesses of cola binge drinking, this expensive product would usually be substituted for a cheaper supermarket equivalent or occasionally the arch rival Pepsi, which is forced to resort to numerous special offers and irritating sponsorship deals to maintain its market share. I came to regard Coca-Cola as the rich man's Asda Just Cola, at the opposite end of the scale to undrinkable, leafy 21p bargain brands (which can also be detected by the presence of 'American-style,' 'star' or 'pop' in the title). It doesn't deserve such special recognition for essentially including the same ingredients in a slightly nicer tasting composition - and apparently based somewhere down the line on lemons as opposed to Pepsi's orange, at least that's what I've heard - but my linear mind has always inevitably placed it at number one in the cola list.
The ingredients list on a bottle of regular Coke is understandably vague and generalised by necessity, otherwise we'd all be brewing the formula in our bathtubs. Fortunately, the company is required to display the nutritional information, based on the quantity of a 250ml glass. There are 105kcal, which evidently makes up 5% of the body's daily intake according to their guideline of a 2000kcal diet, but more debilitating is the large 26.5g of sugar, equalling 29% of the same daily allowance in a single glass. This sugar amount is slightly worse than that of Dr. Pepper, but better than Cherry Coke, and the obvious cause for alarm for dieters who are nowadays thankfully spoiled for choice with sugar-free brands that still allow them to be coked up to the eyeballs without doing their bodies any harm. Alright, there may be a few health concerns in a diet consisting entirely of fizzy cola drinks, particularly for the teeth and liver, but look on the bright side: you could turn out like me.
As usual, I'll skip the information on Coke's illustrious and scandalous history in favour of evaluating it as a fizzy drink - all that information can be found on Wikipedia, but only here will you receive my unique and clearly wrong insight. Coke certainly has a distinct flavour and smell, especially compared to its medium quality supermarket equivalents, but a large part of this comes in the anticipation before the drink actually enters my mouth. The fizzy burp released on opening a fresh bottle or tearing open a can is a pleasant and familiar one, hinting at the caramel-like taste that I am about to enjoy and not going overboard on the froth as some other brands tend to. You don't get this sensation from a supermarket cola, in which the fizz merely acts as a gassy irritation rather than a pleasant precursor to taste, but a major disadvantage common to all colas is the prevalence and persistence of bubbles that can make it difficult to drink for many, and often invite a wave of burping (I've been spared this, as I can't actually burp). The taste passing onto the tongue is initially pleasant, aided by the aroma, but all too soon takes on a slightly too sticky and almost metallic tinge that leaves me a little unsatisfied. The oddest thing of all comes in the after-effects left behind in the mouth, which will still be slightly fizzing and coated by the sugar, particularly the teeth. I don't want to get too unpleasant, but the thick and sticky saliva is quite unpleasant, and an unconscious interior cleaning by the tongue will usually follow.
In my experience, Coca-Cola isn't particularly addictive in the short term in the way something like Dr. Pepper tends to be, as one glass can easily be enough in one sitting, the maximum under normal circumstances being two. Still, the slightly improved taste over what I consider the 'base' own-brands of supermarkets lends the drink a false sense of luxury, and I will be more likely to over-indulge for pleasure rather than mere thirst (bearing in mind that the only drinks I would ever drink would be cola drinks). This means that a bottle would have a fairly short lifespan, usually no more than a day, which can be a problem if relying solely on this famous brand as it tends to be the most expensive. I think my local Sainsburys is currently offering 2 bottles for £2, in a rare triumph over the price of Pepsi, but even when bought in bulk the price will usually be quite in excess of £1 per bottle, often along the lines of 2 for £2.30. Bought in smaller local shops without a discount, the bottles currently bear a price label of £1.59 each, which would seem to rise only by a few pence every few years, so there's nothing to worry about in this regard.
Coke has been the leading brand in its field for well over a hundred years, and will clearly dominate for however long American capitalism reigns until its collapse and the accompanying destruction of the planet. In the short time we have left, let's enjoy our favourite drinks and disregard the obvious ill effects and sheer prices and indulge our vices as best we can, something the Coca-Cola Company is encouraging by bringing out ever more ludicrous spin-offs of its core product. I rarely drink Coke now, even when I fancy a cola drink, but its powerful legacy has clearly been enough to cripple my life. On second thought, I can't blame all my problems on a fizzy drink.
Advantages: You can be part of a worldwide success story Disadvantages: You might lose your intestines
Advertisements for Coca-Cola go back two centuries, to 1893. Coke was first made as a health drink, as the early slogans showed.
The first claims would have been hard to prove, if there had been advertising standards in those days – “The ideal brain tonic” (1893), “Coca-cola revives and sustains” (1905 – an early Viagra?!), “Ice cold sunshine” (1932), “The best friend thirst ever had” (1938), ... ...They did a range of Coca-Cola beanies a couple of years ago. There was a beanie from each country that produced Coca-Cola, each with a tiny Coke bottle. The Chinese one was a panda, for instance. The year 2000 saw the launch of a simple slogan, “Coca-Cola. Enjoy”, and the ‘magic’ adverts, which featured people from all over the world having fun while enjoying Coke. The newest ad campaign, launched in April 2001, gets personal, ...
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Advantages: thirst quencher of all time! Disadvantages: very addictive
It’s amazing the things that you do without realising you’re doing them sometimes. Watching TV for hours on end but not taking in what you’re watching. Staring into space when there’s nothing else to do.
AND THE AMOUNT OF COCA COLA I DRINK IN A DAY !!!
It has just suddenly struck me that I must go through about 4-5 cans of this fizzy drink a day, even more so when I’m in possession of my favourite tipples Jack Daniels ... ...these two spirits. So why is my “coke addiction” so bad that I do not even realise it is overtaking my entire existence?
Lets start with a little bit of history on “The Real Thing”.
*** HISTORY ***
We have to go back all the way to 1886 for the “birth” of Coca Cola. Take one pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia USA called John Pemberton. Searching for a elixir to cure headaches he stumbles across a concoction made ...
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Advantages: Refreshing and tasty Disadvantages: Potentially harmful
...and the ‘hipness’ of coca-cola. Coca-cola realized the power of TV and from the outset used this media to promote its product using powerful stars such as Roy Orbison, Max Headroom and The New Seekers (with their memorable hit ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing’
‘It’s the real thing’ has been around nearly 30 years, perhaps becoming the most famous slogan that Coca-Cola had. Throughout the 90s and ... ...level trying to give Coca-Cola a family appeal.
However we look at it, the advertising is working as Coca-Cola is one of the most popular sodas throughout the world.
<The drink>
Coca-cola is a carbonated drink that adds elements of Vanilla, Caffeine, Cocoa, Lime Juice, Orange, Cinnamon, Caramel etc to produce a pleasant tasting drink. Coca Cola is perhaps one of the fizziest colas in existence; this gives cola a distinctive texture and feel, and ...
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Advantages: An icon of modern America, has a great, sleek image, tastes nice Disadvantages: Loads of sugar, very bad for your teeth and stomach. And yet another gigantic coporation.
...everywhere. We've all heard how Coca-Cola can dissolve a tooth if its left in a glass of Coke for several days but Coke's sales still remain sky high and it remains an icon and symbol of modern America.
The taste ~~
Coca-Cola has a unique taste and to be completely honest I would describe it as unnatural. Most other soft drinks are made from a fruit, even though they contain hardly any of it. For example all the Tango drinks are made up of fruits, ... ...thirst. The truth is that Coca-Cola actually makes you thirstier, like most fizzy drinks. As you'll probably know the best thing to drink when really thirsty is water. And if not water a still orange squash should do the trick. A hot cuppa tea also apparently quenches thirst well.
The taste of Coca-Cola is nice though; it has a bitter but sweet taste. Coca-Cola comes in several varieties, Classic Coke, (the ordinary stuff) Diet Coke, Caffeine Free ...
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Advantages: If you drink to much you never need to sleep Disadvantages: If you drink too much you can't get to sleep
...Now, most people know what Coca-Cola (or "COKE" as it is often referred, not to be confused with cocaine, which is white and powdery, not brown and fizzy) tastes quite nice, a hard to define sugary, caramelly, well coca-colay taste. The liks of ROla COla and Panda COla never quite manage to emulate the same taste. Its a little too fizzy, but htis can be rectified by shaking the can or bottle really hard and then letting it spray all over, what little ... ...op.
Check out the Coca-Cola caffeine free op too, its a rare insight not to be missed.
I've written a poem about COke to cement your opinion of this op.
Coca Cola, its the real thing apparently,
real as in brown sticky syrupy sugary.
Use it to clean your jewellery or lavatory,
or bathe it in sometimes for extra depravity.
Thanks for listening. ...
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Advantages: Virtually calorie free Disadvantages: Not the same taste as the classic Coca-Cola
...Coke Zero is another foray into the world of low-cal drinks for the Coca-Cola Company. It is intended to be a calorie-free alternative to the world famous Coca-Cola. Quite why they need one seeing as they have diet coke I don't know.
This stuff is great for someone like me who is watching their weight. At only half a calorie per 100ml you can have a few glasses every day and burn it off simply by putting the bottle back in the fridge. Well, not quite, but it's so little it's not worth worrying about.
The taste is like the classic coke, but not entirely. If they made coke zero exactly like it nobody would buy the classic coke anymore! So it's lacking something, of course to make it virtually calorie free they have to take all the sweeteners and basically anything that tastes nice, so when you sip it it is sweet, but there is...
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...Seems odd reviewing this as there can not surely be a person alive in the Western world who has never heard of this product. We are constantly bombarded by their advertising campaigns and even if you have never drank the stuff then surely everyone has heard of it. Still I'm bored and I'm going to put a slightly different spin on its anyway so here goes.
We all know the history of CocaCola don't we? How it was original formulated as a laxative and actually contained cocaine until someone ruled that perhaps this wasn't such a good idea way back when? Yes I'm sure you do, if not, then it was but I'm not into giving history lesson so you'll have to look elsewhere for more on that subject if it interests you. What I will tell you is some of the more 'interesing' uses to which CocaCola can be put to...
Around a ,month ago I stumbled...
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Advantages: Diet, Low calories, Tasty Disadvantages: Not the best thing for teeth or health
...I thought I would write a little about diet CocaCola this evening as I have a 330ml can sitting right infront of me now.
Taste
-------
It tastes a little dry to me, and has quite a strong syrup/caramel taste to it.
It tastes better when really chilled, when hot it tastes very sticky and discusting, in my opinion of course.
I actually think CocaCola, weither it be diet or ordinary,tastes much much nicer whilst abroad.
In the Uk, I feel it tastes so much different, I think a lot of places store the product at the wrong temperatures....I think it is the climate abroad, and they store products at the perfect temperatures...I dont know, maybe its just me :)
If you compare diet CocaCola to normal CocaCola, I think the normal cola tastes much thicker :s and I think they both have very different tastes. I preffer...
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![Coke Coca-Cola Soft Drink Can 330ml Ref A00768 [Pack 24]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/76074593.jpg)
![Coca Cola Coke Soft Drink Can 330ml Ref A00768 [Pack 24]](http://images.ciao.com/ide/images/icons/no_pic_generic_S1.gif){kind=icon}
![Coca Cola Coke Soft Drink Can 330ml Ref A00768 [Pack 24]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/87479579.jpg)
![Coca Cola Coke Soft Drink Can 330ml Ref A00768 [Pack 24]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/101682157.jpg)
20.12.2008
27.10.2001
