Have you noticed that Americans are obsessed with Mexican Coca-Cola? We wanted to know why and whether it actually tastes better than the State Side soda.

It turns out, there is a pretty huge difference between US-made Coca-Cola and the bottles you’ll find from Mexico and other South American countries. The secret lies in the sweetness. In 1980, US Coca-Cola manufacturers made the switch from cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup. 

Until this point, cane sugar was almost always used to manufacture Coca Cola in North America however the by-product of an industrialised food industry, particularly post WWII , meant that corn became a more viable crop. The vast majority of corn grown in the US is converted to feed for livestock, and the residual corn syrup has to go somewhere.

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When the country was dealing with a surplus of ammonium nitrate (used in bomb manufacturing) which happens to be a great fertiliser for corn, and when the cost of meat needed to remain constant, it didn’t take long to connect the dots. 

Mexico, with its more temperate climate and lesser munitions production had no need to change to the production of corn, and many swear that the flavour of cane sugar cola is a cleaner, more pure expression of the world’s most popular fizzy drink.

So why are we telling you how the watch was made, when you just want to know the time? Well, it’s because Mexico and Australia have a few things in common. Endless coastline, a love of a good backyard session, and plenty of cane sugar crops.

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For the most part, the recipe for Mexican Coca-Cola and Australian Coca-Cola are the same, most importantly, that we both use cane sugar. Queensland is one the top ten cane sugar producers in the world, hot on the heels of Mexico which takes out number seven. 

Incidentally, cane sugar is also the primary ingredient in molasses used for rum production. Though it may pain us to say it, we’re pretty sure that means that a rum and coke could be one of the most culturally significant cocktails in the world. Thanks, Queensland.

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