NationStates Jolt Archive

So I'm at the Arab market a month ago, give or take, buying up dates and pita and the like. I figured I'd have a few clams left in the old pocket after I'd gotten the essentials, so I looked around for a few oddments I thought might offer some variety. I wound up with some strange candy, poppy-seed gum, a sort of taffy, and a can of imported cola.

So I get in line to pay for the cola - I'm a few carts back and warm, so I open it and give it a try. It's a thick, slightly over-sweet "black-courrant" (sort of like grape, but sweeter) mixture, tasty if a bit too thick to be refreshing. As I go to pay for my basket, the Arab remarks on my choice of soft drink, saying something like:

"Ah, you choose . That's my favorite when I live in UK, but it's not good here - [B]not the same."

This seems to be a universal phenomenon. Formulas get tinkered with for the foreign market, and end up tasting "not the same." :p I've noticed it when in Canada, Mexico, etc. But also within the country, when my neighborhood is part of a test market or a company simply decides to change a flavor.

So, what are your favorite/most despised product changes? :)

Most of us remember the great Coke/New Coke/Coke II/Coke Classic fiasco that divided the nation so many years ago. What are some others? It seems that our taste buds have memory, and help us recall memorable events - have you ever been upset by a formula change?

I wish I could travel as much as you.

I wish I could travel as much as you.

This was right down the block! :p It was an Arab market in my neighborhood.

Unless you mean that I've been to Canada and Mexico. You don't have to be named Carnegie to afford a vacation there. ;)

I'm not too picky. Though, I don't think the differences between Coke, Pepsi, and the house brand cola at the local supermarket taste different enough to make a fuss about.

In the US, Coke is made with corn syrup for sweetener. In Mexico, they use cane sugar. Differences in formulae are often related to what ingredients are produced where, and by whom.

I'm not too picky. Though, I don't think the differences between Coke, Pepsi, and the house brand cola at the local supermarket taste different enough to make a fuss about.

Me neither - I usually buy generic unless there's a sale. Some items, though, have a sort of cultural attachment. I almost never drink Coke, but I might be peeved if it were unavailable.

Another example is the pasta-in-a-pouch I cook occasionally. The company recently decided they would go "whole grain," or whatever it is, and isnow using noodles made of real grain, rather than whatever it was before. It takes maybe 30% longer to boil, but I enjoy the improved flavor. So sometimes we benefit from re-formulation. :)

I'm not too picky. Though, I don't think the differences between Coke, Pepsi, and the house brand cola at the local supermarket taste different enough to make a fuss about.

I've always greatly preferred Coke to Pepsi; what's really good is Coke made with cane sugar rather than with corn syrup. It's a much cleaner taste and overall a lot better (and even healthier...relatively speaking) than the corn syrup junk they use in the US.

Problem is, the only place I know of that has cane sugar Coke is Mexico, and it's damn hard to get Coke from there without actually going to the country and buying it.

In the US, Coke is made with corn syrup for sweetener. In Mexico, they use cane sugar. Differences in formulae are often related to what ingredients are produced where, and by whom.

I know - I never forget to bring a few liters back with me when I go down there. :)

Coke tastes much better in Switzerland than anywhere else I've ever been.

Coke tastes much better in Switzerland than anywhere else I've ever been.

Soda's a funny thing. I hear there's groups petitioning for the original formulas of certain drinks to be brought back, and one dedicated just to the old Mountain Dew knockoff "Surge." Funny stuff. :p

Coke here is great, cause they still sell it in the glass bottles. I never drunk coke at home because it tastes dreadful in can or plastic bottle (the only way they make it in NZ).

Guinness tastes different every country it's made in, so I'm told. I've tried in 3 countries thus far and can't really tell myself. But then if I'm ever drinking Guinness, it's usually so many pints that I could be given a cup of liquid vegemite with shaving foam on top by the end and not notice the difference.

They changed Dimetapp because a bunch of stupid pregnant women wouldn't read the label that said "DO NOT USE IF YOU ARE PREGNANT!!!!111!!!!1!!".

The new stuff doesn't work as well, or at all for me. Those women ruined it for me.

They changed Dimetapp because a bunch of stupid pregnant women wouldn't read the label that said "DO NOT USE IF YOU ARE PREGNANT!!!!111!!!!1!!".

The new stuff doesn't work as well, or at all for me. Those women ruined it for me.

Interesting (and thanks for deviating from the cola theme, which I didn't really intend to be the main topic ;) ).

A friend of mine drinks dimetapp like water when sick. I wonder whether it would still work. He claims that the new "Red Grape" stuff, doesn't work at all compared to old reliable purple. :p

I've always wanted to try real cheese.. :(

I've always wanted to try real cheese.. :(

They don't have grocery stores in your town? :p

They don't have grocery stores in your town? :p

Many stores (at least in the US) carry this stuff called "cheese food". No one knows what it is, but it sure ain't cheese.

They don't have grocery stores in your town? :p

*looks around*

My "town" consists of one main street, and three other streets. We have a bar, but I'm sure the owner wouldn't like me breaking into her kitchen and stealing a huge log of mozzarella.

Many stores (at least in the US) carry this stuff called "cheese food". No one knows what it is, but it sure ain't cheese.

If I could only smuggle some cheese in from France..

I dunno what kinda store you're going to...my grocery has real cheese.

A while back I vacationed in the US, and all of their soft drinks taste completely different from those in Canada. US coke tastes like Canadian Pepsi and US Pepsi tastes like Canadian coke.
Needless to say I was upset. I actually wrote a letter to the coke company about this, and they wrote me back saying that all coke everywhere is made the exact same way with the same ingredients blah blah blah etc. etc.
Lies I tell you! Lies!
There is no way that there can be that much variation in taste if the same recipe is followed everywhere.

I dunno what kinda store you're going to...my grocery has real cheese.

I was going to say the same thing. We have tons of cheese in the U.S., and probably produce more of it than anyone. :p It's not all Velveeta or Kraft imitation cheese - look for the stuff that's usually sold in wedges, bricks or tube-molded shapes. :)