Cathy2 wrote:HI Ramon,

Appreciate your efforts to learn what their Cola tastes like. Outside of Pepsi or Coke, I have never found an off brand Cola I have liked. Either I have been conditioned or they just don't quite hit the mark.

Regards,

Cathy,

Have you tried Boylan's Cane Sugar Cola? I've encountered it a few times over the last month or so and have been pleasantly surprised. The cinnamon that I remember from the Coke of my youth is present and the carbonation level is high enough to have a bit of a sting. I'd be interested in your (or others') review of it.

Bob,

Please share where you encountered this.

-ramon

Ramon wrote:Bob,

Please share where you encountered this.

-ramon

Whoops -- sorry, Ramon, this slipped past me somehow. I've seen Boylan's Cane Sugar Cola at a food stall in the Nordstrom's food court (I think, but can't guarantee, that it was Potbelly) and at M. Henry in Andersonville. I also understand that Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Fox & Obel carry Boylan's, but can't vouch first-hand on any of 'em. It is pricey. But it's on my short list of drinkable sodas, including Stewart's Key Lime and a guilty pleasure or two we'll just ignore for the moment...

Oh, and the reason I stumbled across this was to share an interesting behind-the-scenes look at transporting kosher foods that Slashfood linked a couple of weeks ago.

A friend offered me a Coca-Cola Blak recently, and I'm not impressed. It kind of tastes like a bottled frappucino mixed with a Coke, with an undertones of vanilla and artificial sweetener. This thing has high fructose corn syrup, plus two artificial sweeteners (I don't remember which two), but the artificial sweetener bitter/metallic notes really ruin it.

I think their goal was to keep it sweet without a big calorie/carb load, but I think they'd have been much more successful with a full-sugar version, and a "Diet Blak" to come out later. Truth be told, I can't say I'll go for another one.

Taking one for the team,
JoelF

i tried a sample that they were handing out downtown last week.

not good. too syrupy sweet, not enough coffee flavor. but you certainly can taste both the coke and the coffee flavors distinctly, as well as vanilla, as someone else mentioned.

i didn't like it, but i'm a fan of strong, strong coffee.

i think it will do well with people who opt for diet coke in the morning instead of coffee. it fits into a certain niche.

i won't say it was vile, but the sample i got was a half-size bottle and i was thirsty, and it was icy cold, and i didn't even drink half of it.

I tried the free sample as well and I will say it's vile. I buried my reaction in the middle of another post but I guess it belongs in this thread:

"...has anyone tried those free samples of Coke Blak (sic) they're passing out? Anti-Coke activists have no greater weapon than this revolting "carbonated fusion beverage" as I believe the label calls it. I like cola OK, and I love coffe and mocha flavored things, but I can only describe this as tasting like someone had grabbed a filter full of old coffee grounds the day after a party, and it had some cigarette butts put out in it, and then they filtered coke through it and bottled the sludge. It was as if some alien, non-carbon based life form had tried to reproduce root beer based on substitute ingredients from their own planet. Yeechh.

I tried this stuff today. It says it's made from kola nuts, cane sugar and green tea. Really odd flavor. Maybe even worse than Coca-Cola Blak (which I still don't know how to pronounce).

LAZ wrote:I'm curious about the bar over the A. Are you supposed to pronounce it "Coca-cola blake"?

The wife (a schoolteacher) confirmed it is pronounced "Blake". I think "Black" would be better.

elakin wrote:... as well as vanilla, as someone else mentioned.

Stop putting vanilla in my beverages please!

I just got back from a week working in South Beach. You can't spit on the sidewalk without hitting a team of young hipsters giving sample bottles of Coca-Cola Blak away. They are really saturating the Miami market with this stuff.

Panther in the Den wrote:

elakin wrote:... as well as vanilla, as someone else mentioned.

Stop putting vanilla in my beverages please!

Then you'll have to stop drinking cola. The basic "cola" flavor is a mixture of vanilla, citrus (orange and/or lemon oil) and cinnamon, in a sugary syrup. Some formulas emphasize a bit more of the lemon (coke, for example), and others the cinnamon and sugar (pepsi and RC). But basically, it all boils down to those three flavors, plus sweetener.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:

Panther in the Den wrote:

elakin wrote:... as well as vanilla, as someone else mentioned.

Stop putting vanilla in my beverages please!

Then you'll have to stop drinking cola. The basic "cola" flavor is a mixture of vanilla, citrus (orange and/or lemon oil) and cinnamon, in a sugary syrup. Some formulas emphasize a bit more of the lemon (coke, for example), and others the cinnamon and sugar (pepsi and RC). But basically, it all boils down to those three flavors, plus sweetener.

That is interesting. I didn't know that. I guess I like a little vanilla.

Is there a cinnamon drink?

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Then you'll have to stop drinking cola. The basic "cola" flavor is a mixture of vanilla, citrus (orange and/or lemon oil) and cinnamon, in a sugary syrup. Some formulas emphasize a bit more of the lemon (coke, for example), and others the cinnamon and sugar (pepsi and RC). But basically, it all boils down to those three flavors, plus sweetener.

Really? I've always tasted Pepsi as more citrusy than Coke, part of the reason for my dislike. That same citrus is what makes, for me, the Diet Pepsis sweetened with aspartame better tasking than Diet Coke, as aspartame's flavor is complemented by citrus and other fruit flavors.

Coke's "je ne sais quoi" for me has always been spice and resin-y notes. I'm suspecting nutmeg, maybe cardamom, possibly allspice.

LAZ wrote:I'm curious about the bar over the A. Are you supposed to pronounce it "Coca-cola blake"?

Panther in the Den wrote:The wife (a schoolteacher) confirmed it is pronounced "Blake". I think "Black" would be better.

Yes, my teachers taught me that a vowel with a macron bar over it indicates a long vowel. But people in marketing types and package designers don't necessarily think so.

I just went to http://www.coca-colablak.com, which has audio, and they say "black," so the bar is meaningless, like the umlaut in Haagen-Dazs.

As one of the original founders of Zydekola in Kansas City I just wanted to say thanks for tasting our product. The whole idea of Zydekola was cooked up by a couple of ad guys (me, my dad and our buddy Ernie) in Kansas City around 1997. We used a recipe we purchased from a guy in New Orleans and started making soda out of the back of our office in Westport. It was a fun time but it's harder than anything to get distribution and shelf space when you're competing with giants like Coke and Pepsi. After getting the product in about 100 outlets around Kansas and Missouri, we eventually hung it up and told the Zydekola girls to go home. I believe I've still got a case or two out in the garage and I've still got some shirts. I'm just thrilled someone remembered us.

Dan Curtis

JoelF wrote:Coke's "je ne sais quoi" for me has always been spice and resin-y notes. I'm suspecting nutmeg, maybe cardamom, possibly allspice.

Some cola recipes I looked up recently included these types of extra ingredients, but I suspect they are added in relatively small quantities to provide a secondary flavor. Citrus, vanilla and cinnamon are the "big three," without which it's not really cola, as far as I can tell from my research on the matter. Other variations I've seen include adding lime to the citrus mix, which probably is a nice combination with the usual lemon and orange (e.g., think about the lime slice in your rum & coke). Plus, there are some "magical" (and possibly mythical) ingredients added in trace amounts, like actual kola nut and "fluid extract of coca" (whatever that means!) that are supposedly found in Coke and maybe some other cola recipes.

LAZ wrote:Just a warning for those who have trouble with this substance. This came as a surprise, because I hadn't seen anything marketing the product as a diet beverage.

For what it's worth, flavor chemists are starting to use aspartame (and other artificial sweeteners) simply to get a different flavor profile. I guess this is more common in Europe, where there isn't much demand for diet soft drinks anyway.

The things you learn when Beverage World puts you on their mailing list even though you have nothing to do with the industry...

Some members from my staff swear this stuff is like crack. I have not yet sampled it. It definitely improves performance, that I can assure you (if you want 50 hits of espresso in one beverage).

And...it's gone (at least from the U.S.)

Coke Blak goes dark

mokodan wrote:As one of the original founders of Zydekola in Kansas City I just wanted to say thanks for tasting our product. The whole idea of Zydekola was cooked up by a couple of ad guys (me, my dad and our buddy Ernie) in Kansas City around 1997. We used a recipe we purchased from a guy in New Orleans and started making soda out of the back of our office in Westport. It was a fun time but it's harder than anything to get distribution and shelf space when you're competing with giants like Coke and Pepsi. After getting the product in about 100 outlets around Kansas and Missouri, we eventually hung it up and told the Zydekola girls to go home. I believe I've still got a case or two out in the garage and I've still got some shirts. I'm just thrilled someone remembered us.

Dan Curtis

thanks!

coke blak.... i am amazed it lasted so long. possibly the nastiest drink i have ever tried.