I recently got a peek at the Mexican Coca-Cola trend during a visit to Atlanta. While standing in line for a sandwich at Star Provisions, I overheard the guy ahead of me convincing his dining partner to try a bottle. Never one to let a culinary opportunity pass me by, I grabbed my own Mexican Coke out of the refrigerator case. The cashier congratulated me on my choice.
Fans of Mexican Coke claim that its use of sugar makes it superior to the U.S. version, which is sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup. I admit it was a delicious soda, but it also came in a glass bottle, which always seems to make beverages taste better, at least to me. I also don’t drink a lot of soda, so my taste buds may not be equipped to allow me to accurately proclaim the supremacy of one formula of Coke over another.
What I found odd, however, was sitting in Atlanta, the home of Coca-Cola, listening to folks waxing poetic on the superiority of Coke made in Mexico, a product that was originally imported into the United States to appeal to immigrants. It just seems weird, in light of the anti-immigration mood that has swept the country, for Americans to appropriate a product that exists here only because Coke was trying to appeal to immigrants. No immigrants = no Mexican Coke.
Entirely Adequate 