After many insisted the Coca-Cola served at McDonald’s tastes better than at other restaurants, the fast-food chain admits it takes drastic measures to make sure the Coke customers get is the Coke customers want.
Long Story
It’s no coincidence that when you knock back a Coke at McDonalds, it tastes like you’re getting the real thing. That’s not always the case when you drink Coca-Cola at a restaurant.
McDonald’s says on its website, the goal is to make the drink taste like it’s right out of the bottle. Mission pretty much accomplished; but a lot of factors come into play in order to give McDonald’s Coke that little extra pop.
Let’s start with temperature. When soda water is sufficiently chilled, CO2 levels are maximized, which enhances and prolongs carbonation, taking “drink fizz” up a notch.
To make certain the soda water is at its ideal temperature, somewhere between 33 to 38 degrees, McDonald’s keeps it circulating through insulated tubing. The tubing goes wherever the soda water is required, stretching from the restaurant refrigeration unit to the front counter and the drive-thru.
The cold is a big part of Coca-Cola taste with McDonald’s pointing out, “The water and Coca-Cola syrup are pre-chilled before entering our fountain dispensers with the ratio of syrup set up to allow for ice to melt.”
Contrary to what some customers might suspect, McDonald’s doesn’t cheat on syrup content to boost taste; it follows Coca-Cola guidelines, no more, no less.
While syrup proportion is in accordance with guidelines, syrup quality may be raised ever so slightly because Coca-Cola delivers syrup to McDonald’s in stainless steel containers. Most other restaurants have Coke syrup delivered in plastic bags. The stainless steel does a slightly better job of preserving ingredients and maintaining freshness.
See, it’s not your imagination playing tricks on you; there’s a reason McDonald’s Coke tastes better.
Here’s more proof McDonald’s is not going soft on Coca-Cola. The restaurant chain shells out a little more for top of the line water filtration systems, explaining, “In order to ensure our drinks are always meeting a gold standard, we have proper filtration methods in place.”
McDonald’s doesn’t want some tiny, laser-like stream of Coke landing on a small cluster of taste buds, so when it comes to straws, size matters. The restaurant’s wider straw simultaneously splashes all your taste buds with Coca-Cola taste, which also helps lift your refreshment experience to the next level.
The Coca Cola brand is worth an estimated $74 billion, more than Pepsi, Starbucks, Red Bull and Budweiser combined.
With McDonald’s doing its part to maintain product integrity, Coca-Cola popularity is not about to fizzle any time soon, plus, if things really do go better with Coke, McDonalds is only helping its own cause.
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Why don't more restaurants put this kind of effort into their sodas?
