Coke is it!

For a long while I’ve wanted to do my own Cola comparison. I’m a sommelier for crying out loud I should be able to spout off about any type of beverage. You pick wine notes from anywhere: Decanter, Wine Spectator, Wine News, peruse through Michael Broadbent comments and you’ll see Bordeaux with a tang of cola. I love it.

Well, the truth is I was born and bred on the stuff. I remember going to family gatherings at my cousin Janine and Jackie’s and drinking cup from Styrofoam cups, shindigs at Uncle Gene’s where I practically inhaled the caffeinated jewel from the can. Okay, so with what you know so far does that make you want to think twice about my palate? Hey, Oz Clarke recalls with reckless ebullience the time he swigged Mouton Rothschild from a Dixie cup, in a parking lot no less. Now you’re talking.
It’s the antithesis of serious imbibing and that’s what makes it off-the-hook. I pledge this and my membership to the American Sommelier Association, my certification to Wine and Spirit Education Trust, and all the hours I’ve logged in consulting collectors— I’m the real deal when it comes to judging beverages.

Let me also say I have a tremendous penchant for Peru’s Golden Cola— Inca Cola— it’s surreal. The ne plus ultra cola experience. It’s made from Guarana fruit which comes from South America and has a particularly high level of caffeine-potency. It’s like pineapple, meets passion fruit to the ninth power. It got me over a cold recently. Banged out 75 pushups like water for chocolate.

But, if I can’t have my Inca Cola I usually gravitate toward Coke— the American version. Moroccan which I’ve had with my buddy Christian back when we were in Marrakesh is good, but will rot the teeth out of your moth if you drink the whole bottle. It’s that sweet. Mexican Coke isn’t bad, but it has this lingering peppery quality to it. I kid you not and reminds me a little bit like Royal Crown Cola which I used to be very fond of.

As a kid, I also liked CC and Cola the cheapie you got by the gross at Waldbaums. That stuff tasted like liquid fun dip. The Technicolor sugar dust from just about any candy store.

Now Pepsi always makes me the most thirsty after I drink it. Can really hardly do more than a twelve-ounce can and I usually don’t finish it.

Zero had me hooked for a bit, but it just doesn’t have the je ne sais quoi of Classic Coke. What can I say I’m a classic kind of guy.