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I don't like bourbon & coke but you might want to ask this on !cocktails@lemmy.world , someone who does might be able to suggest another drink you'd like based on your preference.
Bourbon and pineapple juice or pineapple tepache is amazing if you want to go in a different direction.
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
isn't that just flat favourless tonic for poor people?
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.
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.
Are you looking for cola specifically or something like cola adjacent? And do you like it sweet or are you not super particular?
The flavor of Coke Zero with preferably no sugar but doesnβt have to be that way
What you could do is get some store brand soda water / club soda / seltzer or a non-sodastream water carbonator. Then get like a cola syrup online. I know some ones that do use sugar are 1883 and Torani, they both have a cola flavour. I also havent seen a lot but I saw one brand called Zerup that has a zero sugar cola syrup. You could try that.
That's a great idea! I do have a carbonator!
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 thereβs 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. Iβd hope thatβs a low bar for companies but youβre 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.
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.
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.
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
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 thatβs not a model corporation and youβre out of luck.
Ice
Fritz Kola super zero
Lime and Soda, raspberry lemonade
Go sober like the people of Gaza and make your own cola at home, lots of recipes online and it will definitely taste better
Honestly, the best you can do is try a bunch of stuff and research the company if you like it. It also really depends on how you define an ethical company. Even if you remove capitalism from it, if you look into deeply enough you're going to find that every company has done something unethical or works with an unethical party within their supply chain.
Kombucha can scratch that soda itch for me. Humm makes some good ones and is not on the boycott list.
There are also Italian sodas you can make with syrup and sparkling water, let's you choose the strength of the sweetness too
would doctor pepper work. not sure about near you but they are constantly on loss leader here. it was sorta funny. they were cheap then they got second place in colas and the sales went away. I bet their sales dropped because after a few months they came roaring back. It has a nice taste like a cherry cola but lighter.
non-sweetened grapefruit sparking water is a good mixer for ryes and bourbons imo
I wonder how similar opencola is