A heads-up to those who get their caffeine from soda: It's worth noting that for the next few weeks you may, depending on where you live, be able to get both Pepsi and Coke with real sugar as their exclusive sweetener; the Pepsi comes with a white cap, the Coke with a red one, and I've only seen them in the two liter size. ([Edit: Some] Jews may not eat, among other things, corn and its derivatives during the holiday of Passover, which begins on April 6th.)

I've been drinking Mt Dew Throwback for the last few months, though now it seems they have stopped selling it around here. probably just as well, as I love the stuff!! I might try the Coke with sugar just to see....

I don't keep kosher, so what's the deal with withholding corn and corn products during Pesach? I've never heard of that before, and I've attended my fair share of seders.

Last summer I drank a lot of Throwback Pepsi for as many months as it was available ( !!! ), but it's availability can't be banked on...maybe only when there's a break in the price of sugar?

I bought a bottle of Pepsi yesterday, and either my palate's not yet accustomed to the different sweetener, they've cheapened it, probably by increasing the beet to cane sugar ratio, or some combination of both. ( !!! )

Why migrate from Mt. Dew to Coke, rather than Pepsi? (By the way... The Coke caps may be yellow rather than red.)

I researched that about an hour ago and learned some stuff I've never known from Kitniyot; the practice is hardly carved in stone.

because I can't get the sugar Dew anymore, and the "regular" Dew just doesn't taste right!

I grew up on Coke, so maybe the sugar Coke will taste like I remember from my childhood....

> because I can't get the sugar Dew anymore, and the "regular" Dew just doesn't taste right!

That's precisely how I feel when Pepsi goes either from corn syrup to sugar or vise versa, but I always get accustomed to the "new" taste after a short while.

Sugar Coke may work for you if you can get it, but it's only around for 3-4 weeks, max.

actually I'll probably use this as an opportunity to wean myself from my mid-day caffeine...

By happenstance I spoke with a Coca Cola distributor north of the 49th earlier today who advised that, while they had 'experimented' with the 'kosher' Coke last year, it hadn't sold well and this year (and likely in future) they weren't going to carry it.
And so it goes.

Maybe that ties in with your not having been aware of the corn prohibition; if it's not "gospel" up north, "Kosher l'Pesach" as respects sugar is meaningless.

Not many soda drinkers around here, are there?

Looks like FSWIM (Flavored Sugar Water Indifference Movement) shows its strength...

I expected apathy, but not overwhelming apathy.

Oh, well... :shrug: It works for me and roger.

Flavored Sugar Water Is Magical!

I drink some soda - Pepsi, 7up, or Mountain Dew - but only in diet versions. So, although I've been following the thread with interest, I'm not able to discuss the merits of one version of the sugared variety over another.

You do like the sweet stuff, don't you?

I don't know? Is a diet drink sweeter tasting than one sweetened with sugar? It's at least thirty years since I changed over.

In any case it probably doesn't matter as my consumption is low. While I have three brands in the garage fridge to choose from, I drink less than a can a day.

I didn't mean "sweet" in that sense; I meant that your prefs are among the, if not the, sweetest sugary sodas out there (The energy drinks aren't really sodas.), so I assume that their sugar-free versions are similarly sweet.

Pepsi has quite a bit of sugar, and both 7 Up and Mt. Dew have more. (See this.)

Edit: For a few years I drank 24 cans of Pepsi/day, but after having drank 2 liters (c. 5 2/3 cans)/day for the last 30 or so years I'm now down to 3 or 4 cans/day.

Holy smokes! I guess you were one of the folks contributing to a statistic I once read that the soda pop industry in the U.S. makes enough pop for every man, woman and child in the country to consume 52 gallons per year. Did you ever get a thank-you note from the Pepsi shareholders?

However, I'm not one to laugh at others' beverage consumption. There was a time when I averaged 18-20 cups of coffee per day (now down to three...that I sip and enjoy).

If that's the regular, sugar (of whatever source) containing stuff, that'd be way more than I could handle. I vividly recall a college physiology lab course where we had to consume various amounts of sugar and test our blood glucose levels every hour for several hours. Sugar amounts varied from 5 to 500 (!) grams, usually more or less dissolved in water to ease ingestion. My sugar load was a lowly 50 grams (about 1 can of soda's worth), and I could barely manage that between gagging fits.

Suffice it to say that my soda consumption is only about a can or two per year, when away from home and the available water is overly chlorinated or otherwise disagreeable. I do like sweet, but try to go for the non-sugar varieties of it. But that's mostly because I'm lazy: what I don't take in I don't have to sweat away. Which leads me to the question: how did/do you handle that torrent of sodie calories?

I used to drink 24 cans of Mountain Dew a day, back when I worked the late shift in a prepress shop.

Actually got caffeine poisoning that way. Brought in a 24-pack of Mountain Dew and a pound of chocolate-covered espresso beans one evening. Buy, THAT was a miserable experience.

I recall when I was drinking the 18-20 cups of coffee per day (these were mugs, not the small actual measurement called a "cup") people would ask: "How do you get to sleep".

Well, it was never a problem. Looking back, I figure my body adapted and, as long as I poured in the caffeine, it was prepared to go pedal to the metal. I saw the effect when I was urged by my physician to cut back.

I figured I'd start by eliminating the full pot I always perked as soon as I got home from the office. The change was astounding. Without the continuing intake of caffeine, my body would shut down and I'd be out like a light by the end of the 6:00 news.

By the time I had reduced consumption to a few mugs per day, I found I didn't need to be "wired" to perform above specs. I think this all says something about how amazingly resilient the human body is.

Imagine going through all of that and just resetting to normal when it's over.

> I guess you were one of the folks contributing to a statistic I once read that the soda pop industry in the U.S. makes enough pop for every man, woman and child in the country to consume 52 gallons per year.

Thanks for inspiring me to do the math... 24 cans/day = 821.25 gallons/year. (Edit: And, by the way, 52 gallons/year is only 1.5 cans/day.)

Hell... I only cover for for about 15 non-soda drinkers; I wonder who's picking up my slack? (I once read that Hugh Hefner was a 24 can/day guy, and I've heard of others whose names I can't recall.)

But the other half of the math (which I did do long ago) is that I was ingesting just short of 800 pounds of sugar/year!

And that was without taking into consideration my endless intake of chocolate and other such junk food and candy.

Good question... Back in the day, "they" told me my teeth and stomach would rot and I'd get diabetes, but I've dodged the bullet.

My metabolism is quite high, I burn calories quickly and easily, and, in addition, I'm blessed with a body that laughs off carbs ([Edit: a six-pack of Pepsi plus a six-pack of beer/day is meaningless to me,] but if I eat 3 chocolate frosted Dunkin' Donuts in a week I feel the waistband of my pants beginning to get tight (Edit: from the fat).

I believe I'm quoting, at least paraphrasing, you when I say... Wow!!! Just... Wow!!!

For years, the very first thing down my throat every morning was a Vit. C tablet washed down with Pepsi, and the very last thing down my throat at night was Pepsi, and one morning I actually felt a caffeine buzz for the first and only time; for the entire rest of my caffeine abusing life I've never noticed any effect from the caffeine, not even when I've slowed down my intake.

The Chocolate Diet

Chocolate: it's not just for breakfast anymore.
Chocolate is the answer: The question is irrelevant.

Thanks for the link; it's an interesting study, and I'm certainly corroborating evidence.

"I want it all, but I'll settle for chocolate!"

If I had to choose between my wife and chocolate, I would miss her.

Thanks for the best laugh I've had in a while.