I love it with bourbon but don’t want to support genocide… Tried pepsi zero, not the same and they work with sodastream…
don’t go for similar - nothing will taste close to your favorite.
find something new that you love.
asparthame is the zero-cal sweetener that tastes the best to us, so try Clear American flavored waters at Walmart
Sucralose tastes better and is healthier. SAMs club colas are pretty good
Healthier how? Every independent study comparing sugar substitutes I’ve ever read puts aspartame as the healthiest/safest.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sucralose-vs-aspartame#bottom-line
Citations state they came from PubMed.
Sure, of course it’s better with people who have a phenylalanine allergy, lol. That’s like saying peanut free candy is better for people with a peanut allergy.
The kidney thing, I’ll note that your source says it “may be” better, but it’s also worth noting that aspartame has had 50yrs of studies against it, and in huge volumes (largely driven by the sugar lobby in the 80s and 90s). It’s the most studied food additive in the history of the FDA and has never been meaningfully linked to any sort of major negative health issues.
The acceptable level of intake for aspartame is 50mg/kg vs 5mg/kg for sucralose, and the list of potential side effects is shorter, with sucralose including “diarrhea” and “muscle aches” in the list.
I know. The FDA says it is safe. Aspartame is bad for those with schizophrenia or any mental health in the fact that it can interfere with some SSRIs and antipsychotics. Caffeine is also a thing they say to limit for those taking them. The studies on some are still limited in either case. Nothing super definitive otherwise the FDA would ban it. And if it really matters, and really this will contradict my initial point, but I don’t think people are really aiming for “good nutrition” anyway because soda being a junk food, lol. If people are concerned they wouldn’t be drinking it, even diet because of the sodium, which is probably the worst thing, since sugar is no longer an issue.
Almost all soda is produced by a corporation run by psychopaths. Your best bet is to stop drinking soda.
While it is a fair point that there’s no ethical consumerism under capitalism and soda is bad for you, I still want a drink and bourbon goes quite well with coke. I just hope to not support a company actively supporting genocide. I’d hope that’s a low bar for companies but you’re right it may not be.
I guess to be fair, there are some local places around me that make sodas, which probably are reasonable ethical businesses. Depending on how many bourbon colas you’re drinking, it might be worth paying extra for an locally made soda if possible. If you don’t have someone that makes soda locally (which is probably likely), maybe consider buying from “gourmet soda” brands like Hank’s.
Water
isn’t that just flat favourless tonic for poor people?
You should see some of the filtration systems I’ve seen mounted on the sides of rich houses I work around
On the one hand, that’s excessive. On the other hand, if I had the money, sure why not – you can’t trust the regulators anymore
No water is for rich people coke is for poor people. There are parts of world where you can easily get coke but not water.
Water and bourbon doesn’t sound like the best cocktail tbh
A little bit of water releases the burbon flavors and males it taste better. Also, ice waters it down after a while and tastes lile shit.
Oh true actually. I know scotch bars will give you a little dropper of water to activate the flavour. I was imagining a ratio of 9-1 water/bourbon though lol
Find some local alternatives. There’s so many craft sodas out there these days.
My favorites around here are Northern Sodas, Lift Bridge, and 1919 Root Beer. Holy shit, pony kegs of 1919 are the best thing ever.
Edit: I forgot about Sprecher Soda somehow. Their Green River is. The. Best. Soft. Drink.
Most smaller brands don’t have the excess funds to lobby, etc.
85% of products you buy of literally anything in some form benefits towards those who do fucked up shit. You can’t avoid it.
Not all products have an organised boycott movement behind them. The number of large-scale organised boycotts is quite small and easy to participate in.
Does your local grocery store have store brand softdrinks? They can taste similar. Our local store has good quality store brand products that are sometimes better than their name brand counterparts. Obviously if you only have Walmart, then that’s not a model corporation and you’re out of luck.
Yes! Is there one you could recommend?
Cheerwine Zero exists. It is a black cherry flavored soda. Idk if it is available outside of the SE USA, where I live. Wikipedia says “It has been produced since 1917, claiming to be ‘the oldest continuing soft drink company still operated by the same family.’” So, maybe less evil? I do know it tastes quite good.
Make the spice syrup at home and mix that directly into your bourbon then carbonate the results and add water as needed.
It will be a million times better and you’ll only need to make new syrup a few times a year.
An example recipe is here https://www.flavorlab.xyz/recipes/cola
Try a Old Fashioned.
Very good as well but I love the fizz
I guess I could carbonate one lol
Haha. I haven’t tried it myself, but I’ve heard carbonated oaked spirits are not that good.
If you after carbonated go a whiskey highball.
Having said this an old fashioned is my go-to as i am a neat scotch drinker typically and this fits well (especially while i am out somewhere and dont want to pay “bar prices” for scotch).
And since the old fashioned is a bit flexible i migrate from rye to bourbon to scotch and loop back again, it keeps it interesting and its super simple if you want to drink it at home.
All you need is bourbon/scotch/rye, bitters, cherry or orange peel & simple syrup (make your own with sugar+water).Too sweet? Use less simple syrup or use rye whiskey.
More flavour? Use more bitters.
Like smokey? Squeeze the orange peel zest over a lighter flame
non-sweetened grapefruit sparking water is a good mixer for ryes and bourbons imo
Fritz Kola super zero
Lime and Soda, raspberry lemonade
If you cant find anything i would like to point out that to contribute doesnt have to be an all or nothing affair. It’s basically impossible to exist in the imperial cores economy without your money going to something horrific. What you can do though is reduce your impact. Buy things when theyre on sale only, and try not to use them as often for example. In general just reducing the amount of money you spend reduces how much you contribute to bad things. Reduce consumption overall. Learn to make things yourself, grow a garden, herbs, etc. Repair old clothes instead of replacing them. There are hand sewing tutorials on youtube, and i find it relaxing personally.
When you do shop maybe try going to local places, if theres a farmers market near you check them out this spring, and avoid big name stores. Its not just the products that support bad things, but the stores too. I don’t drink soft drinks so i can’t tell you an alternative tho. But don’t want you to fail to find one, and just give up on the idea. Even reducing helps.
Shoplift coke
Based
Ice