[Lap Counter]

Back in the day, (here in the USA) your mid-afternoon Coca Cola was typically a small 8 ounce bottles, not some “Big Gulp” three times that size. Coke was a treat and sugar-rush, not what people drank to stay hydrated.

As Torchwatch described, when Coke replaced sugar with High Fructose Corn Syrup, the dynamic changed. HFCS is bad stuff which encourages drinkers to consume more sweetened beverages. I can’t claim I could tell the difference in taste, but I pretty much quit drinking sweetened soft drinks when my 20s “Adonis Bod” started turning into a 30s “Dad Bod”. I never missed it.

Eventually Mexican Coke developed an underground cult following because it still uses real sugar. You could only find it at Mercados catering to immigrants, a few Mexican restaurants, and strangely enough - at Home Depot. I found I liked the taste and actively hunted it down.

Then Costco started selling Mexican Coke by the case! Salvation for fans and a chink in Coca Cola’s ability to only provide customers with the corn syrup version. I don’t know if Costco sells Mexican coke nationwide, but if you want to try it, it’s generally along one side wall in 24 bottle plain cardboard cases.