Sodas with Real Sugar!

Mentioned this on another thread...
My biggest complaint today is most soda brands sweeten with Corn Syrup(Imagine sweetening your drinks with Karo Syrup!!!) Most are too cheep to use Cane Sugar like the old days...or unwilling to add the cost on to the consumer. Jolt advertized years back by saying it was made with REAL cane sugar. I wonder if a major cola advertized a new brand that way, it would sell? And would you by? I agree with poster twinwillow,Coke has never tasted the same since mad with Corn Syrup!!
leethebard

I am almost positive the Coke bottler in Baton Rouge, LA uses cane sugar. They grow a lot of sugar cane down there. Their Coke tastes a lot better than in most of the US.

Jones sodas here in the great Northwest use real cane sugar. It does make a difference.

David_nyc,
I'm told southern bottlers put more syrup in their Coke. I wonder if that would account for the better taste?

Yes, I remember Jolt.
Twice the sugar and twice the caffeine. I would buy it again.

Foxon Park sodas in Southern Connecticut.
I stock up when I can.

Jarritos, a Mexican made soda, uses real sugar.I have seen it here at Walmart.Also, during passover, if you can find Kosher Coke, that is made with real sugar.

Bushie brought me Dr. Pepper a few years ago made from real sugar mfg in Texas. I am sure it is still available somewhere in that region.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Mexican coke is made with real sugar and I think coke in a real bottle is made with sugar....Russ

Link to Dublin Dr Pepper:

http://www.dublindrpepper.com/

Natty Boh

Just picking hairs, but if I recall the slogan for Jolt was, "All the sugar, twice the caffeine."

The cafe at my workplace at the time would lay in a big supply during the periods when some of us were doing 80-100 hour weeks. When coffee just wasn't cutting it anymore, you needed a Jolt.

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

David_nyc,
I'm told southern bottlers put more syrup in their Coke. I wonder if that would account for the better taste?

I don't think extra syrup helps. Sometimes around here a soda fountain needing adjustment will add extra syrup. However, that does not improve the taste since the syrup is still made with corn syrup. I noticed that the Coke sold in New Orleans is not as good as that sold in Baton Rouge.

Dearfolk,
There are a number of small, independent Coca-Cola bottlers out there that use only 100% cane sugar. There is an entire network of Coke freaks who eschew any other sweetening and have websites dedicated to the preservation of their beverage. You can Google around a bit and turn this information (and gallons more) up.
One such independent bottler that operates on a large scale is in the Missouri/Kansas/Oklahoma/Arkansas area: Ozarks Coca-Cola, with headquarters in Springfield, Missouri. This sizeable company may or may not use only cane sugar, but an e-mail to them might turn you up one of the remaining 75 other independent bottlers in one's home turf that still do so.
The last time I knew, Double Cola in Chattanooga only used cane sugar; a large portion of their output is now sold overseas. If you want Double-Cola around here, you have to go to places like Cleveland, Tennessee or Dalton, Georgia to find it... many stores in Chattanooga have stopped carrying it, for some inexplicable reason. Double Cola is also a strong seller in both Huntsville, Alabama and Evansville, Indiana.
Hope this is of at least some help.
Carbonated And Carbondated, Ort. Carlton in Fizzy, Effervescent Athens, Georgia.
P. S. Since I am hypoglycaemic, I can only drink the diet versions... and I can attest that Diet Double Cola is mighty good.

I have found Hank's Black Cherry and Root Beer are made with real sugar and are very good. He has other flavors but these are my favorites.

With regards to the mention of "extra syrup", I'm old enough to remember when most soda fountains in both, drug stores, and candy stores (NY & Chicago) actually made the Cokes (and other drinks) right in front of you at the soda fountain counter. A "short" 7 ounce Coke was .5 cents and was made by squirting a few good shots of (pure sugar only) Coca-Cola syrup in a nice glass with a little crushed ice and then the plain soda was added. Boy, do I remember how refreshing and thirst quenching that drink was on a hot summer day.
I can assure you all that there was more Coke syrup in that little 7 ounce glass than in a large bottle of today's Coke.

Costco has been carrying Coke made with sugar, not HFCS, for several months now. It is in glass bottles, too. Pero, esta hecho en Mexico.

As far as I know no Coca Cola bottlers in the U.S. use real sugar. Around Passover some Coke bottlers put out Coke with sugar. Mexican Coke made with real sugar can be found in places with a large Hispanic population. The Dr Pepper bottler in West Jefferson, NC puts out RC, Dr Pepper, Nehi, Mtn Dew, Sunkist Orange, 7-UP, A&W Root Beer and other sodas made with real cane sugar and sold in 12oz longneck bottles. Except for the Dr Pepper and Mtn Dew most should be easy to find in stores in the Carolinas and several miles into bordering states.

Ort and drpep, that's good info. I'll look into all your recs.

I can buy the Dublin Dr. Pepper here, and root beers like Virgil's, Abita Springs, and a local one called Maine Root are readily available. Since Whole Foods and Central Market are both based in Austin, it's pretty easy to find real stuff here.

I avoid HFCS and aspartame like the plague, and I only rarely treat myself to sodas (called pop in my hometown of Springfield, MO) due to health issues. I stick with healthier drinks like Makers Mark.

The one thing I would love to find is Coke made with real sugar. I've never been able to find the kosher Coke in Austin, although there is a prominent Jewish community. The Mexican Coke is available everywhere here, but the label says, "sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup", so I can't be sure it's made with sugar. Mexican Coke probably has high levels of eColi, anyway...

quote:

Originally posted by Bushie

Ort and drpep, that's good info. I'll look into all your recs.

I can buy the Dublin Dr. Pepper here, and root beers like Virgil's, Abita Springs, and a local one called Maine Root are readily available. Since Whole Foods and Central Market are both based in Austin, it's pretty easy to find real stuff here.

I avoid HFCS and aspartame like the plague, and I only rarely treat myself to sodas (called pop in my hometown of Springfield, MO) due to health issues. I stick with healthier drinks like Makers Mark.

The one thing I would love to find is Coke made with real sugar. I've never been able to find the kosher Coke in Austin, although there is a prominent Jewish community. The Mexican Coke is available everywhere here, but the label says, "sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup", so I can't be sure it's made with sugar. Mexican Coke probably has high levels of eColi, anyway...

Try looking for both Kosher Coke and Kosher Pepsi around Passover. I found it in New Hampshire last year during Passover and there is not that large of a Jewish population here. Boy did it taste great!

you can find Kosher Coke on the northwest side of in Baltimore.

I also think the 365 brand of cola at Whole Foods is made with sugar.

quote:

Originally posted by Bushie

The Mexican Coke is available everywhere here, but the label says, "sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup", so I can't be sure it's made with sugar.

Mexico used to have a 20% tax on sodas made with HFCS, in order to protect their sugar producers. Back in 2005 the US challenged this tax, claiming it discriminatory under NAFTA. The WTO sided with the US, meaning the tax had to go. This has removed a major incentive for Mexican bottlers to use cane sugar, so there's no guarantee any more (U.S. HFCS has historically been cheaper than Mexican cane sugar, even in Mexico.)

Virgil's Root Beer - yummmmm! Costco had small kegs of Virgil's just before my son's 16th birthday. He got a big kick out of telling all his friends his parents got him a keg for his b-day.

Jones soda uses cane sugar, as someone else mentioned, and boy does it make a difference! Dr. Enuf (a soda bottled and distributed here in the Tri-Cities, but ships anywhere) also uses only cane sugar in their regular sodas (sucralose in the diet varieties.)

quote:

Originally posted by wheregreggeats.com

Foxon Park sodas in Southern Connecticut.
I stock up when I can.

Gregg, have you tried Hosmer Mountain? They use brown sugar in their premium root beer, and it's a lot closer to you than East Haven, especially if you visit the Manchester, CT store. Their main store is in Willimantic. This thread nudges me to actually finish my review of the place... Chris

Red Rock Ginger Ale still is 100% cane sugar - I'm bringing it as a door prize to the BBQ Meet-up in Mobile next week.

There's a variety of sodas made with cane sugar available at World Market. However, for me, it's but a treat. I have to watch my sugar closely, so, I'm stuck with diet sodas. But as an occasional treat, I love it! My favorite is still Coke.

quote:

Originally posted by Robearjr

you can find Kosher Coke on the northwest side of in Baltimore.

I also think the 365 brand of cola at Whole Foods is made with sugar.

All of the house-brand soda flavors at Whole Foods are made with pure cane sugar. That is just one of the many reasons why I shop there.

The other great products include ketchup that is made with sugar, rather than the cheap corn syrup that is used in Heinz, Hunt's, Del Monte, etc, and it is the absolute best ketchup that I have ever tasted. Their house-brand mayonnaise is made without any sweetener of any kind and it is truly superior. I also really like their organic German-style mustard. Yum!

I could go on and on, but...

Avery's Soda in Connecticut uses real cane sugar. They have all kinds of flavors including: Swamp Juice, Toxic Slime, Dog Drool, Bug Barf, Kitty Piddle and Monster Mucus. They do ship across the country too.

Wow...can you get past the labels????

quote:

Originally posted by Russ Jackson

Mexican coke is made with real sugar and I think coke in a real bottle is made with sugar....Russ

Ditto this post..look for a mexican mercado (market) They should have Jarritos Soda AND Coke in a GLASS bottle ( from Mexico ) with CANE Sugar.

Avery's also bottles their soda specifically for restaurants. The No Name Cafe in my town of Stafford Springs, CT has their own labeled soda line, and they also carry all the oddly-named varieties above. I still haven't found one as delicious as Avery's red cream soda found at Carminuccio's -- which they didn't have when I was last there! Chris

We enjoyed some of the Atlanta-MadeRED ROCK GINGER ALE and some PEACH NEHI at the Mobile Roadfood Meeting. Both were Sugar based...No Corn Syrup on either Label.

If you ever see the RED ROCK GINGER ALE buy it. It is one of the best soda's I have ever tasted.

I bought Coke from a Mexican restaurant and other sodas from a Mexican grocery store we have here, thinking it was made with cane sugar. The last time my kids got their bottle of orange soda or 7-up, it contained HFCS! The Coke bottle didn't have the list of ingredients on it.

Today I purchased an 8-pack each of the JONES SODA..Strawberry-Lime and Blueberry-Pomogrante. They claim that the JONES SODA is all cane sugar soda. The Strawberry-Lime is pretty mild but has a good strawberry flavor with a little Lime aftertaste. I will add some lime juice to it when I get into the second one.
The Blueberry-Pomogrante is very bland. I knew the Blueberry would be, but thought the Pomogrante would give it a 'kick'. It doesn't. I think I have a real-doorprize here !

I will continue my search for good soda! They also had "Sour Apple", but I don't think that would make my "A" List either!

Reading the business section in the paper today:soda makers may go back to using sugar instead of corn syrup because of the rising cost of corn.All I have to say is:Thank God!!

[url=www.psfk.com/2008/02/pepsi-raw-a-natural-cola.html]Pepsi Raw[/url] is being released in the UK

Amen to that!!!!!

If you can get your hands on it, Manhattan Special uses sugar in their coffee soda, Mmmmm...... They also have some other great sodas: sarsparilla, black cherry, gasossa (lemon lime), cream. The best!

They have a sugar free version of the coffee soda too, yuk.

Big Lots has gourmet soda in bottles made with sugar rught now..4 for $2.00.

As a previous poster mentioned, one great trick to to really stock up in the spring on sodas labelled "KOSHER FOR PASSOVER." As corn is a grain, it is not acceptable as part of a Kosher for Passover diet. Sugar cane is not a grain, so all Kosher for Passover sodas will be sweetened with Cane Sugar.

Please note that REGULAR kosher/kashrut law does not forbid corn syrup. It is only the Kosher for Passover items that will specifically avoid HFCS.

Peach Nehi, that would be good this week as were are supposed to break 100 this week. I can get Grape Crush down here now.


Dennis in Cary

jone's soda is made w/ corn syrup...not high fructose corn syrup

Just had a Berghoff root beer made with real cane sugar. It was deelish.

quote:

Originally posted by rumsongirl

jone's soda is made w/ corn syrup...not high fructose corn syrup

According to this page on their website, http://www.jonessoda.com/files/pure-cane-sugar.php, they have switched to cane sugar in their appropriately named "Pure Cane" line.

On a recent trip to Cincinnati I bought a bottle of Mexican CocaCola at Jungle Jim's.The label said it was made with sugar, but when I compared it side by side with regular Coke I didn't notice much difference in taste.I guess I just got used to inferior products.By the way,it was my first time at Jungle Jim's and I was very impressed.I would like to stop back when I have more time to browse.

quote:

Originally posted by Robearjr

you can find Kosher Coke on the northwest side of in Baltimore.

I also think the 365 brand of cola at Whole Foods is made with sugar.

All of the 365 brand sodas sold by Whole Foods are made with pure cane sugar, rather than with HFCS. There is a variety of flavors, including cola, ginger ale (made with REAL ginger, unlike most of the so-called ginger ales on the market), cherry vanilla, cream, root beer, and a few others that I don't recall presently. I consider the 365 sodas, like the other house-brand products at Whole Foods, to be very good.

All Mexican Coke is not created equal--the brand new "No Retornable" (as opposed to re-usable "Retornable") bottles from border towns like Tijuana and Mexicali (read the metal cap) available in Costco and elsewhere use at least a blend of HFCS and taste inferior vs the pure cane sugar Cokes bottled way down in Mexico in the old, thick bottles. Disregard the ingredient labels, they are generic translations. You will know the second it hits your tongue if it is "The Real Thing". Mexican Liquor Stores, Lunch Trucks, and a few mom & pop authentic Mexican Restaurants will carry the good stuff. Worth the effort to find it--be sure to stock up!

Believe it or not, I was in our local Walgreen's here in Northern Michigan, and i found WG's own "Deerfield" Brand soda..named after the city in Illinois where the company is located...and its a small line of selection--root beer, orange cream soda, ginger ale (i think) and like a black cherry soda...all made with real sugar! aside from the Cosco's (which we dont have up here) I would imagine Walgreens is the largest national chain store carrying real sugar soda...in GLASS bottle no less! Now if they only had a cola version...it's a start for us in smaller parts of the USA!

Thanks for the info...I've got to check out the local Walgreen's!

Was in the recently opened World Market the other night in Panama City - excellent selection of sodas
(although didn't get to check out what they had for ginger ale) with real cane sugar including Boylan's,
Bubble Up, Nehi Grape & Dad's, which I snagged a 4-pack of to take home!

Sun Drop! real sugar and 2x the caffeine

I found some Foxon Park Cream Soda in 1 liter bottles in a Big Y supermarket in Stratford, CT. The aroma and taste is exactly that of the cream soda that Hoffman Beverages made in Broooklyn in the 1950's. Boy did this bring me back in time.

Has anybody tried that new pepsi with sugar?  I disagree with a previous post on adding more coke syrup.  I find it makes a huge difference.

I found I got sick to my stomach drinking the natural cane sugar sodas...I could not take it.

bigcab

[id="quote"]quote: Originally posted by Russ Jackson

Mexican coke is made with real sugar and I think coke in a real bottle is made with sugar....Russ

[id="quote"]

Ditto this post..look for a mexican mercado (market) They should have Jarritos Soda AND Coke in a GLASS bottle ( from Mexico ) with CANE Sugar.

In Dallas, where we have a very large latino population, all the major markets sell Coke and other brands of soda that are made using cane sugar instead of corn syrup.

Recently,I was in Cascade Michigan and found Jones Pure Cane soda in a 12 pack 12 oz cans for under $6.00.  We're on our 3rd 12 pack.  I hope they keep it in stock.

Did you see the news from Reuters?  
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0533164220090305 
 
UPDATE 1-Pepsi introduces drinks with natural sugar
 
".....Pepsi Natural, a premium cola made with sugar, natural caramel and kola nut extract, will be sold in glass bottles in the premium or natural food aisles of stores in 10 markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle.  The Pepsi and Mountain Dew Throwback drinks will be sweetened with natural sugar and will feature retro-looking packaging reminiscent of the 1960's and 70s.  Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback will be available nationwide for two months, starting April 20."

We revceived email coupons from Pepsi this morning for the Pepsi Natural (sold in 4 packs) If we can find it in the store we will probably try some.

cementhead


On a recent trip to Cincinnati I bought a bottle of Mexican CocaCola at Jungle Jim's.The label said it was made with sugar, but when I compared it side by side with regular Coke I didn't notice much difference in taste.I guess I just got used to inferior products.By the way,it was my first time at Jungle Jim's and I was very impressed.I would like to stop back when I have more time to browse.

Jungle Jim's can be browsed for a whole day and customers have been known to go in there and have 2 items to buy and come out with a whole basket load and minus major bucks!!

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