Anyone else taste the difference in bottled soda and fountain soda?

[Sonikku]

I swear whenever I drink coke from a fountain in a restaurant or fast food joint that it just isn't 100% the same as the coke I buy at the store and keep in the fridge. Has anyone else ever experienced this?

 

[waggy]

you are right. it's usually "off" on the taste. best place i have found is hyvee. it's the best fountain soda i have had.

 

[shortylickens]

Yes. And since I moved to Manassas I swear every restaurant is slowly getting worse. Several places should probably take the day off and flush their lines. Maybe check the mix ratio.

 

[Jeeebus]

They are very different. Worst is when a waiter brings you a flat soda - basically syrup water. Ughh.

 

[mikeford]

Fountains can mess up the mix, but I wouldn't trust any kind of sensory test like tasting unless it was double blind.

 

[TwiceOver]

Yes. And since I moved to Manassas I swear every restaurant is slowly getting worse. Several places should probably take the day off and flush their lines. Maybe check the mix ratio.

That whole system is (AFAIK) maintained by Coke. I worked for the big two McD and BK and coke always sent their local guy to come in and calibrate the setup. This wasn't done that often.

One thing to note is that water varies from location to location so in example since the water in Waco Texas tastes just fucking horrible, so does the fountain soda. Or as the wackadoo people there would call it "fountain coke" even when they were drinking Sprite.

There's also a clear difference in flavor from Can->Bottle->Fountain. There's something about the Can that is just irresistible.

 

[lxskllr]

I prefer fountain; usually... Sometimes it tastes like the lines have bacteria in them, but that's rare. Fountain is usually less carbonated, and a little less rich.

 

[waffleironhead]

It varies in taste based on the water supply.
That being said, I cant drink fountain soda because 90% of the time it causes me almost immediate diarrhea. Havnt tried a fountain soda drink in years.

 

[Mixolydian]

99/100 times fountain soda is way better than bottled/canned

 

[zCypher]

Uhhh... they don't taste anything alike, not the same stuff. Something is wrong with you if you can't taste the difference lol. That said, it's all total shit.

 

[Imp]

Absolutely... I LOVE fountain soda everywhere except one place where they were probably cheaping out on the carbon dioxide injector. Everything came out of that thing almost flat.

 

[mmntech]

Yeah, fountain soda never does taste quite right. It's weaker than the stuff that comes from the factory. Restaurants probably doing some of their own "tweaking" after the Coca-Cola guy leaves. It's not as carbonated nor as strong. Probably a lot of places don't clean the machines regularly either.

 

[Pulsar]

In addition, from time to time I'll get a 6 or 8 pack of Mountain Dew (only in the plastic containers) that taste wierd. I've NEVER had bad pop from Mountain Dew can. I kind of wonder what the difference is.

 

[NutBucket]

Fountain usually sucks. Glass bottles and real sugar are best.

 

[Sonikku]

So at least I'm not going crazy then. Other people have noticed too. But still, it's frustrating that it's all called Pepsi or Coke when it really is so different. Almost might as well be a different drink. Maybe they should start to call store bought soda Coca cola Premium?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Fountain pop at fast food places is usually slightly watered down so they can sell more for the same price, so it tends to not be as "strong" as a can or bottle. But yeah I do find there is a difference, fast food pop is more "watery" and less fizzy. Oddly if I'm really thirsty I actually do prefer the fast food pop for some reason.

 

[OverVolt]

Fountain pop at fast food places is usually slightly watered down so they can sell more for the same price, so it tends to not be as "strong" as a can or bottle. But yeah I do find there is a difference, fast food pop is more "watery" and less fizzy. Oddly if I'm really thirsty I actually do prefer the fast food pop for some reason.

Wat. It costs something like 30cents for a 20oz worth of syrup. Drinks are pretty much the profit margin at most fast food restaurants. Hence why most of the meal deals cut you a deal on the fries if you order with a drink.

If you want to get the most bang for your buck you skip the drink and order a la carte without sides, depending how much certain places markup for that.

 

[Markbnj]

Of course. In the local bottling plant thousands of drinks are made every day to the exact same specifications (within tolerance). Every fountain seems to be set up slightly differently in terms of the mix, amount of carbonation, etc.

 

[OverVolt]

Of course. In the local bottling plant thousands of drinks are made every day to the exact same specifications (within tolerance). Every fountain seems to be set up slightly differently in terms of the mix, amount of carbonation, etc.

The best IMO is to pour a bottle into a glass and let it air out a bit. I don't know why I think it makes a difference but it does. Less carbonation I guess. Straight from the bottle is actually too carbonated.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Yeah. I prefer fountain soda most of the time. Of course that can probably vary a lot based on the quantities mixed and the machine they're mixed in. I've had fountain drinks that seemed to be very short on the syrup and high on the soda water. That shit be nasty. You get more consistency with bottles or cans.

 

[smackababy]

If they are off from the fountain, it could be a number of things. Bad syrup, off mixture of CO2, never cleaned taps, etc.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

My wife claims that the quality of a restaurant's fountain drinks is generally indicative of their overall quality. So far I have few reasons to doubt that claim.

 

[smackababy]

My wife claims that the quality of a restaurant's fountain drinks is generally indicative of their overall quality. So far I have few reasons to doubt that claim.

That is likely true, at least, about the quality of their staff and their cleaning habits. Especially the self service fountains, they get so little cleaning attention.

And, soda is a huge money maker for restaurants. The bags of syrup cost about $45 and you can get the fountain for free. They make 30 gallons of soda. Charing $2 a pop, you're making out like a bandit.

 

[shortylickens]

That whole system is (AFAIK) maintained by Coke. I worked for the big two McD and BK and coke always sent their local guy to come in and calibrate the setup. This wasn't done that often.

One thing to note is that water varies from location to location so in example since the water in Waco Texas tastes just fucking horrible, so does the fountain soda. Or as the wackadoo people there would call it "fountain coke" even when they were drinking Sprite.

There's also a clear difference in flavor from Can->Bottle->Fountain. There's something about the Can that is just irresistible.

Now that you mention it, seems to me that Coke fountain drinks are generally better than Pepsi fountain drinks.

I think Pepsi works harder to get contracts and Coke works harder to keep them.

Just my opinion.

 

[John Connor]

I don't understand the comparison between coke and coffee. If you said bottled water v. tap water I could see the correlation.