Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Open Cola

en.wikipedia.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 67 posts

Re: Open Cola

#51

Post by teslabox »

linsomniac wrote: post #37

I made Open Cola years and years ago, and here's the thing that surprised me most: You won't drink it and say "Hey, this tastes just like Coke!" It tasted good, it had some of the same sorts of flavor things going on that Coke does (sweet/tangy, neroli finish), but you would never mistake it for another cola. The basic set of oils costs around $75 (most of that the neroli, IIRC), the carbonation setup I was able to d…

> You won't drink it and say "Hey, this tastes just like Coke!"

The Coca-Cola company has a monopoly on coca leaf extract [1], so nothing tastes 'just like a Coke'. ;)

[1] https://mises.org/blog/coca-cola-cronyism-and-war-drugs

Re: Open Cola

#52

Post by mcguire »

abritinthebay wrote: post #38
raving-richard wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ecigarettes are actually better for you than real ones, and not only that, they basically make it easier to quit using nicotine altogether (according to reports I've seen).

They are better in terms of addiction- but in terms of cancer risk it's a wash. Due to how poorly regulated the liquids are it has the potential to be worse as well.

What specific cancer risks are you referring to? The only serious reports I've run across are

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/vaping%E2%80%99s-toxic-v...

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1413069

which reports increased levels of aldehydes (formaldehyde, for example) from the breakdown of the propylene glycol and glycerin.

Re: Open Cola

#53

Post by Question1101 »

linsomniac wrote: post #37

I made Open Cola years and years ago, and here's the thing that surprised me most: You won't drink it and say "Hey, this tastes just like Coke!" It tasted good, it had some of the same sorts of flavor things going on that Coke does (sweet/tangy, neroli finish), but you would never mistake it for another cola. The basic set of oils costs around $75 (most of that the neroli, IIRC), the carbonation setup I was able to d…

Did you try the Red Bull Cola? Did it taste like it?

Re: Open Cola

#54

Post by kbutler »

lgbr wrote: post #6
dspillett wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it seems like making soda at home is really catching on ... but the availability of syrups is presenting some serious supplier risk. Wouldn't the answer there be to try making your own of those too? I'd bet good money that a "plain" syrup isn't difficult to make and that relevant flavouring agents are easy to come by.

> Wouldn't the answer there be to try making your own of those too? The difference with carbonation is that I can get CO2 and carbonation equipment really easily, and in different forms from different suppliers. I could even get some yeast from my local store and make it. Carbonating water takes less time and effort than making a cup of coffee. The problem with syrups is that, as you can see from the recipe here on O…

We have a little snow cone maker (ice shaver) that the kids love. We also do Italian sodas periodically.

We buy just-add-water punch mix by the gallon in various flavors at our local grocery store. Should work for home-mixed sodas.

The Torani flavors in the italian sodas are a good option, but probably expensive for mass soda production?

Re: Open Cola

#55

Post by kbutler »

wodenokoto wrote: post #34
apatters wrote: post #19

This is such a cool idea. Since distribution is the real secret behind the success of Coca Cola and the beverage giants, I bet this would pair well with a Dollar Shave Club type of business model. Deliver a crate of Open Cola to people every month. Undercut the outrageous markups the big guys apply to fizzy sugar water in order to maintain their distribution monopoly. Pass the savings along to the customer. Heavy col…

If you shake a bottle and let it rest, it will "unshake" itself. So that is not really the problem. The problem is people are religious about their Cola and basically nobody has managed to convince consumers that theirs taste as good as the big brand. There are plenty of very cheap store brand cokes available in stores, none of them have managed to compete with Coca Cola.

Even Coca Cola couldn't compete with Coca Cola...

Re: Open Cola

#56

Post by dragonwriter »

lgbr wrote: post #6
dspillett wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it seems like making soda at home is really catching on ... but the availability of syrups is presenting some serious supplier risk. Wouldn't the answer there be to try making your own of those too? I'd bet good money that a "plain" syrup isn't difficult to make and that relevant flavouring agents are easy to come by.

> Wouldn't the answer there be to try making your own of those too? The difference with carbonation is that I can get CO2 and carbonation equipment really easily, and in different forms from different suppliers. I could even get some yeast from my local store and make it. Carbonating water takes less time and effort than making a cup of coffee. The problem with syrups is that, as you can see from the recipe here on O…

> Cola, lemon lime, orange, or other syrups don't have this kind of availability

Cola and lemon-lime as a mix, maybe; orange, as well as lemon and lime individually -- and also raspberry, vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut, and others -- are very commonly available flavoring syrups in most grocery stores I've seen.

Re: Open Cola

#57

Post by Vendan »

agentgt wrote: post #44
sjwright wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My advice is to learn to enjoy plain soda water – it's my absolute favourite beverage for fine dining as it's fundamentally refreshing and cleanses the palate. It means you enjoy the food more without getting weighed down by liquid sugar or alcohol. If it's not to your taste, one way to make unsweetened soda water substantially more palatable is to add lemon juice. A particularly convenient way to do this is to use b…

I agree. While in Paris and Nice France I noticed many diners would order sparkling water. In the US I'm one of the few that will order it at a meal when I go out. I drink an enormous amount of plain soda water (aka sparkling water aka seltzer aka club soda). Like 64oz to 96oz a day. My intake has gone up even more now that I fast most of the day, have a soda stream, and vacuumed seal stainless steel tumbler (yeti, r…

It's a bit expensive, but you can get adapter kits that let you hook a sodastream machine up to a standard CGA 320 CO2 tank, and then you can hook up a 5 or 10 pound CO2 tank. You'd probably be looking at $10~30 for a refill on one of those, which is GREAT considering the standard sodastream tank is only a 1 pounder.

Edit: also, forgot to mention. While your average sports shop paintball gun CO2 refill is dirty as crap, it's really common to have someplace around that has beverage quality CO2 (check breweries, they usually capture the excess from the brewing), and surprise surprise even though the beverage companies make a big fuss about their CO2, your average industrial CO2 supplier is giving you the same CO2 you'd get for food grade. Also look for kegerator suppliers, as they'd be another place to get CO2.

Re: Open Cola

#58

Post by beefield »

abritinthebay wrote: post #39
beefield wrote: post #24

I think there should be some kind of open source licence for branding stuff like this. So that anyone would be allowed to sell a drink under Open Cola brand as long as it is produced as defined in the specifications, and especially face legal penalties if someone tries to sell something else as Open Cola. Then we would need an app that tells where is the closest place to get open burger with cheese and fries to compe…

Basically Open Source Franchises? An interesting idea...

Yes, but not only foodstuff and restaurants, but also clothes, tools etc.

Re: Open Cola

#59

Post by toomanybeersies »

Vendan wrote: post #57
agentgt wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. While in Paris and Nice France I noticed many diners would order sparkling water. In the US I'm one of the few that will order it at a meal when I go out. I drink an enormous amount of plain soda water (aka sparkling water aka seltzer aka club soda). Like 64oz to 96oz a day. My intake has gone up even more now that I fast most of the day, have a soda stream, and vacuumed seal stainless steel tumbler (yeti, r…

It's a bit expensive, but you can get adapter kits that let you hook a sodastream machine up to a standard CGA 320 CO2 tank, and then you can hook up a 5 or 10 pound CO2 tank. You'd probably be looking at $10~30 for a refill on one of those, which is GREAT considering the standard sodastream tank is only a 1 pounder. Edit: also, forgot to mention. While your average sports shop paintball gun CO2 refill is dirty as cr…

When I used to have a keg setup, I just filled it at the industrial CO2 supplier.

I never had any issues with dirty CO2, neither did the dozen or so other people I know who also kegged. Carbon dioxide is carbon dioxide as far as I'm concerned.

Re: Open Cola

#60

Post by Vendan »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #59
Vendan wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit expensive, but you can get adapter kits that let you hook a sodastream machine up to a standard CGA 320 CO2 tank, and then you can hook up a 5 or 10 pound CO2 tank. You'd probably be looking at $10~30 for a refill on one of those, which is GREAT considering the standard sodastream tank is only a 1 pounder. Edit: also, forgot to mention. While your average sports shop paintball gun CO2 refill is dirty as cr…

When I used to have a keg setup, I just filled it at the industrial CO2 supplier. I never had any issues with dirty CO2, neither did the dozen or so other people I know who also kegged. Carbon dioxide is carbon dioxide as far as I'm concerned.

Absolutely. I can't find the source, but I remember reading somewhere that the beverage companies put together a "CO2 Purity Requirements" thing, and it turned out industrial CO2 was already way more pure. Surprise!
Post reply on HN