Last Tuesday my Stranger Things Coke order, which included 2 cans of the infamous 1985 “New Coke” formula, came in . This is something I’ve been wanting to try for much of my life, but especially over the past few years have been thinking Coke as a company should bring back in some capacity and, thanks to the show Stranger Things having its 3rd season being set in 1985, the same year as the release of New Coke, it was a nice tie in. I hate that it took a TV show to make it happen, but at least it happened, if only as a limited promotion.
I had ordered the product the day it became available — not the cheapest set, but for what I would get I felt it worth it; it was buy this set, or just not get any of the product. As a refresher, the package contained: One 8 ounce bottle of the normal Coke formula, one 8 ounce bottle of Coke Zero, an two 8 ounce cans of New Coke!
The other weekend I got some emails regarding a FedEx shipment coming from Atlanta, Georgia. This was a clue that the product was on the move, much quicker than I expected it to be! When I awoke last Tuesday I checked my email and saw that the product had just been delivered! I opened the front door to see the little box sitting there, Stranger Things branding on it with the product “Nutrition Facts” boxes for the 3 products contained within – one for Coca-Cola, one for Coke Zero and one for New Coke, in the 1985 font for added bonus. As you can imagine, I was incredibly happy with this!
So, you would think I would have just torn into the box and began chugging the two cans of New Coke, right? Wrong. As excited as I was, I took my time. For one, I had just woken up, so I knew my sense of taste wasn’t quite right. I wanted to experience the drink in the “best” way I could, so I waited, snacking on a bit of bread, to cleanse my pallet while I got ready to enjoy the drinks.
A little while later, after setting up my camera to document the event, I was ready. I kept the bread with me while I did the taste test — as mentioned above, it’s a way to cleanse the pallet and “reset” ones taste. I took part in some soda taste testing back in 2003 and they gave us crackers for the very same reason, and have always done this when taste testing anything else.
I started off with the regular Coke. It’s been a while since I’ve drank any, and I wanted to refresh myself on the flavor. Sure enough, it was the usual “syrupy” taste I was used to (and kind of don’t like, honestly.) It’s not a bad drink, I just prefer my soda with a little more, pun not intended, pop to them.
That’s actually why I was a Pepsi person for a while — I enjoyed the sweeter taste compared to Coke, but over time grew to find it “too much” and went back to Dr. Pepper, of all drinks, being my preferred soda. It’s funny I should say this, since Pepsi gaining market share, partially due to its sweeter taste, was a key reason to the development of New Coke.
Right, at this point I had tasted the classic stuff and knew what it was like again. Cool. The time had come to finally try New Coke. I ate a bit of bread and then opened the can.
The first thing I did was smell the drink. Why? To get an idea ahead of time. Taste and smell are effectively the same “sense” applied in a different way and often times the first thing that happens before you taste something is you smell it – it affects how you taste it and I wanted to get that experience in intentionally. I also, of course, just wanted to tease myself that bit more before I finally drank it.
Then came time to try it out. I put the can to my mouth and gave it a drink. The moment had come, and I was happy as I could be. I was drinking New Coke, and it was good!
The taste is certainly interesting in how exactly how absolutely normal it is. By that I mean it isn’t some exotic flavor, like you would think — it’s a normal soft drink. Many others said, thinking back, that it tasted like “watered down Pepsi” and they have kind of the right idea, but phrased it wrong.
New Coke tastes like a form of the traditional formula where the “syrup” flavor of Coca-Cola is masked by a perky sweetness. It tastes like a more diluted form of Pepsi, if it was made with the Coke formula as its core. That’s really the best way I can phrase it — it’s definitely Coca-Cola but it’s sweeter in just the right way.
I actually loved it. Really, I did. Granted that was just a taste test and test groups back in the 80’s also approved of the new formula, only for it to be hated over time, but I loved it and could see myself drinking it regularly.
This, however, is considering that I’m not a heavy Coke drinker as is – the hatred for New Coke seemed to be more about the fact that the old formula was taken off of the market, rather than a hatred for the drink itself, and for people like me, had I been around in 85 and not really liked Pepsi or Coke, as I stand now, I probably would have found New Coke perfect.
Ah well, such is life. I’m extremely happy that I was able to drink some, as I really thought this random drink that I wanted to experience for myself would be lost to time, relegated to history. I, alongside so many others, did get to experience it.
The best part is I still have the second can waiting. I’ll be saving it, maybe for new years or maybe for my birthday next year. I don’t know when, but I know I will drink it, and hopefully enjoy it as much as I did the first can.
While it’s not likely to happen, I’d love for Coke to re-release it in full form, not just for me to get to buy some but for others to get their own chance to experience it if they wish. I feel the market could support it, at least for a little while on curiosity alone, and who knows – maybe this time around it will find the proper audience (people like me) it couldn’t find in 85.
More to come, as always.
P.S. The video I recorded of the taste testing? Yeah, that’s not going on YouTube for obvious reasons…