Thinking About Thailand (III): Real Coke

This is the last of my pre-Thailand posts. Check back for posts from Asia. I hope to write at least every other day. After all, I have to be near computers to keep up on my fantasy baseball teams. After all, we all have our priorities.

One of the best things about traveling, and this is not just in Asia, is real Coke. As soon as you leave the US, at least for areas south, Coca-Cola tastes completely different. I first noticed this in Asia in the 1990s and I have confirmed this in my Latin American travels since. It is like a whole different drink.

The difference is real sugar versus corn syrup. I was discussing this very issue with a friend recently. Coke in the US used to have real sugar in it. Was it during the whole new Coke, classic Coke battle that this changed? We weren't sure. But at some point, the US formula switched to corn syrup because it is so much cheaper. We have all gotten used to it but in doing so, we have forgotten how gross it is.

This is actually becoming something of an international issue as Coke is freaking out about Mexicans bringing real Coke up from Mexico to feed the appetites of immigrants. They aren't going to drink this corn syrup shit--they want the real deal and people are making money providing it for them. But Coke doesn't want this secret getting out to Americans because they fear losing their cheap corn syrup formula.

At the first lunch I have in Thailand, I am ordering a nice Coke, out of a bottle. And it is going to taste damn good. If you all can find the real thing, and little Mexican restaurants both run and frequented by immigrants is probably the best chance you have, buy it. If you don't travel much and don't remember what the real thing tastes like, prepare to have your mind blown.