As anyone else noticed that the number of store brand sodas has greatly declined the past two or so years? I was at Meijer a few days ago and saw that they no longer carry of their store brand soda. It’s all name brand soda there now. I did hear a rumor that American Bottling stopped producing a few store brands to focus on their own brands like Dr Pepper and 7Up.

Jim-Bob wrote: As anyone else noticed that the number of store brand sodas has greatly declined the past two or so years? I was at Meijer a few days ago and saw that they no longer carry of their store brand soda. It’s all name brand soda there now. I did hear a rumor that American Bottling stopped producing a few store brands to focus on their own brands like Dr Pepper and 7Up.

The last sentence may well be accurate as pertaining to American Bottling. Recall that both Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola bottlers months ago were limiting their packaging of Dr. Pepper in order to put more resources behind their name brands. However, there are still a number of contract packagers in existence. Where do you think Green River and Dad's Root Beer are packaged?
But I suggest the major reason store brands are disappearing is because of store shelf pricing. Why occupy valuable store shelf space for concoctions that do not sell anywhere near as much as the national brands? Instead, sell that space to a national brand.

I alluded to this in my Weekly Flyer post of 11 Jan. 2023.
Here is what soda remains in the cellar. There is one 12-pack of each.

• Minute Maid Lemonade
• Fanta Orange
• Coca-Cola Cherry
• Coca-Cola Vanilla
• Coca-Cola Cherry Vanilla
• Coca-Cola Caffeine Free
• Sierra Mist
• Pepsi Wild Cherry
• Schweppes Ginger Ale
• Crush Strawberry
• Crush Watermelon
• Sunkist Strawberry Lemonade
• Dr. Pepper Cherry
• Big Red

The last two 12-packs brought up from the cellar were Coca-Cola Cherry Vanilla and Simple 7-Up.

"Cellaring" soda may have its limitations. Yesterday I found a can of Cherry Pepsi that had corroded its way through the bottom of the can. Probably about a year old.

tjr wrote:"Cellaring" soda may have its limitations. Yesterday I found a can of Cherry Pepsi that had corroded its way through the bottom of the can. Probably about a year old.

Modern cans are impossibly thin to save on materials/shipping costs. They're coated on the interior to prevent corrosion but it's more a matter of delaying corrosion than preventing it absolutely. Absent the coating the paper-thin metal wouldn't last long.

I recall after Christina Onassis died, she left a safe full of Coke. I think it is Diet Coke, but it may have been during the NEW Coke period when the Classic seemed to disappear.

Maybe this was really needed or it was someone soaking up more money from the estate: these Cokes were removed by people in hazmat suits.

It left me with the impression it was not a great idea to keep a lingering stock of soda.

Regards,
Cathy2

tjr wrote: "Cellaring" soda may have its limitations. Yesterday I found a can of Cherry Pepsi that had corroded its way through the bottom of the can. Probably about a year old.

It is not my intention to cellar soda cans, but I do not go through drinking a lot of it.
Cans in the cellar have leaked. I did have to hastily wash, empty, and recycle them after they shed their content. I could not identify where they leaked | oozed. They were all from Dr. Pepper | 7-Up. I thought the problem might have been the amount of stacking and the span of time they had experienced.

Cathy2 wrote:I recall after Christina Onassis died, she left a safe full of Coke. I think it is Diet Coke, but it may have been during the NEW Coke period when the Classic seemed to disappear.

Maybe this was really needed or it was someone soaking up more money from the estate: these Cokes were removed by people in hazmat suits.

It left me with the impression it was not a great idea to keep a lingering stock of soda.

Regards,
Cathy2

We have multiple friends who are involved in the black-market trade of Tab products. When Tab was discontinued in 2020 fans couldn't readily adapt to other diet colas. People were actively seeking out remaining stock and it was changing hands for a ridiculous amount of money. Supplies are dwindling and its getting harder to find any (just checked ebay and there's a 12-pack for $120). Don't think the 2020 remnants could survive for too much longer even if you could find some.

HI,

I remember my first experience with Tab. I was 10-years-old visiting a new friend's home. Tab was her favored drink. It was awful, it was like drinking chemicals. I finished to be polite and never asked for another.

I later read this Tab was likely from the post cyclamate era, which was dreadful. Earlier, I might have had a chance to like it more.

Regards,
Cathy2

One of my brothers loved Tab and took particular delight in a review that described its "bizarre petrochemical aftertaste." Although officially discontinued in 2020, it continued to be sold in some places in the US and other countries as late as mid 2021. I do clearly recall seeing it, just once, in a store somewhere in the Chicago area sometime since the beginning of the pandemic. There is a fan-based push, as of July 2022, billboards and all, to persuade Coca-Cola executives to bring it back.

Katie wrote:One of my brothers loved Tab and took particular delight in a review that described its "bizarre petrochemical aftertaste." Although officially discontinued in 2020, it continued to be sold in some places in the US and other countries as late as mid 2021. I do clearly recall seeing it, just once, in a store somewhere in the Chicago area sometime since the beginning of the pandemic. There is a fan-based push, as of July 2022, billboards and all, to persuade Coca-Cola executives to bring it back.

I loved Tab -- but clearly I was not alone. I had a cartoon that I cut out of the New Yorker that showed a bank executive sitting at a large, impressive desk, with a fountain tap on the far side marked "Tab." Where I worked, we had kind of a network of Tab drinkers and would always tell each other when and where it was available.

My brother, on the other hand, called it dirty water.

Cathy, according to Wikipedia, Tab was originally sweetened with a combo of saccharine and cyclamate until 1969. I won't presume to guess your age, but I recall original Tab having a slightly bitter taste and, to an original Coca Cola drinker, a too light mouthfeel. Fresca was sweetened with only cyclamate (Wikipedia) and lacked that bitter taste.

In researching, I found an interesting article about true "old Coke" vs "Coke Classic": https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ ... 8cffe237c/ It turns out that what we suspected at the time is true, that Coke Classic was not really a return to the formula of my younger years. Another article explains why Coke has always contained some amount of glucose and fructose - it's acidic enough to invert sucrose, especially if aged for a while. https://www.acsh.org/news/2016/04/08/wh ... ctose-kind

My TAB experience was 1970 or 1971.

My most recent sighting of Tab: I noticed John Cazale and another character drinking it in a scene in Dog Day Afternoon.

That Sierra Mist is going to be a collector’s item soon. Pepsi is phasing it out for a new lemon lime soda called Starry.

Tried Starry today. It's very similar to Sierra Mist, possibly very slightly less sweet. Not exactly like Sprite.

tjr wrote:Cathy, according to Wikipedia, Tab was originally sweetened with a combo of saccharine and cyclamate until 1969. I won't presume to guess your age, but I recall original Tab having a slightly bitter taste and, to an original Coca Cola drinker, a too light mouthfeel. Fresca was sweetened with only cyclamate (Wikipedia) and lacked that bitter taste.

In researching, I found an interesting article about true "old Coke" vs "Coke Classic": https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ ... 8cffe237c/ It turns out that what we suspected at the time is true, that Coke Classic was not really a return to the formula of my younger years. Another article explains why Coke has always contained some amount of glucose and fructose - it's acidic enough to invert sucrose, especially if aged for a while. https://www.acsh.org/news/2016/04/08/wh ... ctose-kind

tjr,
How about “New Coke?”

The Mexican Coke article omits that only the stuff bottled in glass is sucrose, the stuff made for domestic consumption in Mexico is HFCS.

Hah, New Coke was great if you really wanted to drink Pepsi. A triumph of marketing hubris when they assumed that Coke lovers would have no alternative to drinking New Coke and that Pepsi drinkers would embrace the Pepsi-like sweeter, less sharp flavor of New Coke. We all know where hubris leads. And before Classic became available, some of us switched to Double Cola. Hard to find but it tasted a lot like Old Coke.

An interesting question for a survey: Of all the non-Coke colas out there, which taste the most like Coke?

tjr wrote:An interesting question for a survey: Of all the non-Coke colas out there, which taste the most like Coke?

I've always thought RC is pretty close.
A lot of fancy colas over emphasize spice, but Pepsi is too short of it. 7up Gold (from the same time period of New Coke) was pretty good too.

Finally tried my free bottle of Coke Move. Turns out the transformation in "transformation flavored" is akin to removing the cola flavor from Vanilla Coke, then doubling or tripling up on the vanilla. The vanilla flavor is similar to Mexican vanilla extract - makes sense as the ingredient list is "natural flavors." It's not terrible. Sweetness, carbonation and mouthfeel are similar to Coke. There's an odd grassy bouquet that seemed stronger when the bottle was first opened.

I doubt I would buy this in preference to cola. But, trying to think of a good use for it, I mixed a very short Maker's and Move which was pretty darn good. The vanilla soda and the vanilla-y whiskey complemented each other quite nicely.

Pepsi's Logo Finally Looks Normal Again

https://www.foodandwine.com/pepsi-new-l ... gn-7372635

As a Pepsi freak AND a Cubs fan, I was dismayed to read Coca-Cola has replaced Pepsi in Wrigley. My sister, may she Rest In Peace, is turning over with this monumental change.

For all my reportage on soda prices at metropolitan Chicago grocery store, it has been quite a long while since I actually bought some.
I am quite certain all my stock has now gone past its "best by" date.
But I have the belief this is more critical were I buying 'diet' drinks with artificial sweeteners.
My top choice per package size is the 12-pack of 12-oz. cans.
I brought up two 12-packs on Tuesday: Sunkist Strawberry Lemonade, and Coca-Cola Caffeine Free.
I am reduced to seven 12-packs in stock: [c.v.]

• Minute Maid Lemonade
• Cherry Pepsi
• Coca-Cola Cherry
• Coca-Cola Cherry Vanilla
• Crush Watermelon
• Big Red
• Sierra Mist*

* This has a solid possibility of making its 'farewell appearance' at the LTHF picnic.

So this is why for as how much I track its pricing in the Weekly Flyer, I really do not need to buy any of it currently.

Tried the free Coke Ultimate from Jewel today. Strange but not bad, it's brown Major Melon. Strongly carbonated and the wrong color.

On Sunday, 27 August 2023, I felt it was a good day to take out the 1987 Chevrolet Sprint and grocery shop.
I hit three stores, all on west North Ave. [IL-64] in Chicago suburbs.
My first stop was actually Michael's Beef House at North and Oak Park. Because it is a bad move to shop on an empty stomach. Although the precursor to that was shopping Binny's Beverage Mart online for the Elmwood Park store, and placing an order for beers to be picked-up in store. But this is a different post.

I should have held back another week. Food 4 Less loosened its restrictions on purchasing 12-packs of 12-oz. soda and dropped the price another 40¢.
At a moment, I had eight 12-packs in my cart. Then I re-read the restrictions. I could use this up to five times. I would have been charged 8.99 each for the three extraneous 12-packs.
To get the digital pricing for Food 4 Less | Mariano's, I have to tap the 'Alt ID' button on the touch pad and enter the code number. (It is typically a ten-digit telephone number, but it does not have to be.) I can now positively inform you that Kroger's software keeps tabs on you. If you schedule another trip for another day to Food 4 Less, you will not be offered the digital deal price. This does not seem to be enforced by Jewel-Osco or Tony's Fresh Market.
The other items bought at Food 4 Less were digital coupons for Eckrich franks 12-oz. for 99¢ (I would have bought five, but the store only had two.), and 75¢ off two bags of Chex Mix snacks.
Soda bought at Food 4 Less:

• Pepsi with real sugar
• Starry Lemon-lime
• Coca-Cola Vanilla
• Cherry 7-Up
• Sunkist Cherry Limeade

The third stop was to the Jewel-Osco in Melrose Park. All I bought there was four 12-packs,

• Coca-Cola caffeine free
• Fanta Pineapple
• Pepsi-Cola caffeine free
• Mountain Dew Code Red

Here are photographs of them; in the order they will likely be consumed.

There is a possibility I will make another jaunt to Food 4 Less {suburban} because a digital coupon which I did not redeem, and which remains valid, for a free 20-oz. bottle of Tropical 7-Up with the purchase of three Dr. Pepper brands 12-packs. I did not buy three Dr. Pepper brands on this trip, and I did not see a 20-oz bottle of Tropical 7-Up anywhere in the store (not even near a check-out lane). But I am more probably going to shop for Dr. Pepper brands at Family Dollar.
I should mention this now also. I have a new Visa credit card: The U. S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® card. This is a spectacular credit card for me, as it gives me four times the points on dining, takeout, and restaurant delivery (including bars and taprooms), and two times the points on grocery stores, grocery delivery, and gas stations, without an annual fee.

Hi,

My Dad bought Peeps flavored Pepsi a while back. I do not particularly like Peeps, so it was an odd choice and one not to be repeated.

Regards,
Cathy2

Wegman’s is the latest grocery store to get rid of their store brand soda. They claim it’s because I they contain artificial flavors and colors which doesn’t fit their “Our Food You Feel Good About” campaign. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s due to them having a hard time finding a bottler to make it for them. A lot of the independent bottlers got bought by 7Up/Dr Pepper and they dedicated their capacity for their own products.
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/centr ... brand-soda

Saw these at Mariano's: Pepsi & Starry Sodastream syrups. No Mountain Dew, though. Wonder if Coke will respond in kind.

tjr wrote:Saw these at Mariano's: Pepsi & Starry Sodastream syrups. No Mountain Dew, though. Wonder if Coke will respond in kind.

I've seen Coke syrup at GFS (although it's not listed on their website). I seem to recall some restrictions on purchase, though -- they may limit it to restaurants or something.