sprite

I have written about Sprite in these pages before. But just recently, I found some Mexican Sprite in my local grocery store, alongside a few other Mexican sodas. And it made me think: this is the perfect opportunity to do side-by-side comparisons of high fructose cane sugar Sprite and cane sugar Sprite, along with the inevitable bottle cap comparisons.

First, the taste: It is amazing when you taste these two sodas side-by-side. American Sprite, with its high fructose corn syrup, tastes metallic and flat. There is a sharp aftertaste, not necessarily sweet but more chemical-like. Mexican Sprite, on the other hand, tastes sweet and smooth and coats your throat with a sugary, but not too sweet, aftertaste.

The bottle caps?  Both pretty cool!  The American bottle cap is green, with Sprite in big, bold white letters. The Mexican bottle cap is blue with white letters. Not as bold as the American, but still clean and bright. Both "I"s are dotted with lemon/limes.

I also wanted to bring up the interesting contrast between a few other Sprite crowns that I have:

The white one is from South America--Santiago, specifically--and is a Sprite Zero, just for the record. It is difficult to read, and has the ingredients right on the crown. Not the best design, to be honest. It pairs well, though, with this blue Sprite crown that I have, which is sort of an "in-between" crown -- that is, on a design chart, it falls somewhere between the South American and the Mexican. It is blue, has Sprite across the top, but also has the lemon/lime i dot, as well as the ingredients. You can almost see the evolution!

I also have this really old Sprite crown: pre-lemon-lime i dot, and it includes the ingredients. The crown also has a crazy-looking font, as if Sprite is still searching for its identity.

All in all, an interesting range. The caps evolved nicely into the clean-looking design we have today, but the taste....well, clearly, Sprite would have been bettered served if it had stuck with cane sugar.

coke, diet coke and sprite

I figure you can't have a blog about bottle caps and not have a post on one of the most universally recognized brands in the world: Coca-Cola. There have been literally thousands of different types of Coke bottle caps over the years. Since I have only just started collecting, I'm well aware that I don't have the knowledge that my dedicated readers might have. This sampling is simply from around my neighborhood, which has a nice variety nonetheless.

 

It's been a while since I've actually had a Coke or a Diet Coke, and it's been even longer since I've had one out of a glass bottle.  I recall a few years ago when I took a trip to Israel, my sister and I, after a long day of walking around in the heat, took a break and had Diet Cokes in a plaza. There might even be photo documentation, but I'm not sure where it is!  Another memory was from a much earlier trip to Israel, when my whole family was sitting in a rug shop.  The owner of the shop was a friend of the family, and the boy who worked for him brought us four bottles of Coca Cola on a beautiful copper tray.  I think I was more excited about the tray at the time. Now I would have been excited about the Israeli bottle cap.

It is funny.  I recently listened to an episode of This American Life about the (possible) discovery of the original recipe for Coca Cola. One of the topics discussed was how taste-tests of Coke brings back so many childhood memories.  My experience is no different.  People really do associate Coca Cola with childhood....

These older Coke and Sprite caps were purchased in bulk via ebay. Always a good place to help further your collection.  My one complaint was that there were quite a few duplicates in the lot, so I didn't get as many originals as I would have liked.  It just means I'll have to keep scouring for additional caps!

International versions (from Chile!):

I would like to make a side note about bodegas today.  It has been brought to my attention that NYC bodegas are a dying breed. Many of my more unusual bottle caps (as well as your standard Cokes and Sprites) are purchased in bodegas across the city. Please support your local bodega!