I'm in two minds with this one! (Coca-Cola)

Member Name: HS28

Product:	Coca-Cola
Date:	26/04/09 (237 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can be refreshing to drink

Disadvantages: Extremely Addictive, Rots your Teeth, No Goodness in it

Coco Cola

**Background**

The current slogan for Coca Cola at the moment is ''taste a little happiness'' which for some reason reminds me of the song try a little tenderness! Well does coke make you happy? I suppose yes it does as it contains caffeine and sugar which give you energy and a sugar boost. But then when these wear off you get grumpy and irritable and tired so Coca Cola is lying a bit there and only mentioning the positives.

Some USA guy called Dr. John S. Pemberton created Coke in 1866 but you're probably thinking like me why did a Dr create a brand that rots your teeth away -dohhhh. Britain got the glorious addictive stuff in 1900 and it was sold from the 1920s. There have been lots of slogans for coke over the years and I always love the Christmas adverts and the humming song with Santa coming.

**What is Coke? **

Coke is a Carbonated Soft drink or a fizzy drink or POP. I suppose you are best drinking the stuff from the can as if you look at what is in it you will see a black carbonated liquid fizzing away and it might make you think twice about putting this into your stomach. Coca Cola is basically syrup and carbonated water. Now I must say we used to have a fizzy drinks maker back in the 80s when they were all the rage and you could make you own cola but it never turned out like Coca Cola. That isn't saying that I am totally loyal to Coke as if Pepsi the biggest rival has a better offer on I will switch brands as both taste as good as each other and offer my caffeine fix. However Rola Cola options as Peter Kay calls them don't live up to the superiority of Pepsi and Coca Cola sadly. Those supermarket brands of any other soft drink taste fine to me.

**The Main Ingredients**

Carbonated Water
Sugar
Colour (caramel E150d)
Phosphoric Acid
Natural Flavouring
Caffeine
100mls of coke is 42 calories which is 139 per 330ml can where as diet coke is 0 calories so I suppose if you drink too much of the stuff you are whopping up your calorie intake for the day. There is no fat, sodium, fibre or protein in coke but there it is high in carbohydrates (SUGAR).

**How to drink it/the taste**

Well coke is best served cold and is nice in a glass with ice too. It is particularly good on a hot summery day with lots of ice and a dash of lemon. You might drink it straight from the bottle or can but again best served cold as there is nothing worse than warm coke or coke that has gone flat. Although if you are ill flat coke can actually help for stomach upsets! For those who like alcohol I find coke is a good added to Bacardi or Vodka in particular.

Coke is fizzy and it is better to drink to slowly and it is quite a sweet drink perhaps too sweet for those who prefer the diet cokes. Like I said earlier I will only drink coke or Pepsi and find Pepsi sweeter than coke. A glass full of the stuff is refreshing and tasty though.


**Is it addictive - YES **

I suppose I better admit that I am a bit of a Caffeine addict and do drink this teeth rotting stuff to crave my addiction. I don't actually drink that much tea or coffee maybe a few in a week and instead will have 1 can of coke in the week days to help me stay energetic and revived. I have tried to wean myself off coke. As I said earlier the campaign is try a little happiness when the trouble is once you do you can get addicted to the is sugary drink and also the effects wear off and can leave you irritable and make you tired which isn't so good for you. Although in comparison to Red Bull and Lucozade and other energy drinks this isn't as caffeinated or sugary. Though I would recommend not letting children drink the stuff and instead offer the caffeine free diet cola. I honestly wish is never started drinking the stuff and do hope to move away from drinking it so may attempt to retry the diet versions which have 0 calories and is one step of the stuff.

** Varieties**

Coca Cola comes in many varieties from Regular to diet to caffeine free to Cherry Coke and other promotional flavours. I call the regular coke the full fat edition infamous in the red can or bottle. I am partial to a cherry coke every now and then and will try the limited edition flavours. Despite the sexy man advert for diet coke I have dabbled with diet coke but don't like the taste as it is tasteless to me so have not been swayed away from my full fat coke. I have even tried tab clear many moons ago, Coca Colas caffeine free coke and the recent coke zero but the original coke still reels me in each time.

**Would I recommend Coke? **

That's a difficult one considering I do drink the stuff and I really like it. I would say definitely not to children and with adults I would say yes in moderation as this stuff has no nutrition, it's addictive, and it rots your teeth. I suppose the better option would be the caffiene free versions or the sugar free versions. But then you may think why bother buying it in the first place. I guess all the soft drinks and alcoholic drinks out there aren't good for us but in moderation we can afford to have a few!

**Where to buy it**
Any shop or supermarket generally and it comes in sizes to drink on the go or big bottles to keep in the fridge. They also do mini cans and mini bottles to drink too. Coke ranges in prices from about 80pence to £1.50 for a 500ml bottle and 60pence to £1.00 for a can. The larger 2 litre bottles cost about £1.50 to £2.20. Best buying on offers i think Tesco is doing Buy 1 get 1 free of 6 pack 330ml cans at the moment.

Summary: The Original Cola - A Carbonated Soft Drink