I recently got this pop-up style "warning" while browsing the Pirate Bay.

Click to enlarge

Something looks fishy here. I don't think its legit.

As you might remember from my last post, I've tried to cut high fructose corn syrup out my diet and this means cutting out almost all of my soda intake. This was a big change, as I drank a lot of it.

I tried diet sodas for a while, but there is just something about a sip of aspartame that bites the inside of my mouth like a scorpion-filled swig of whiskey. I didn't care for it.

That was when I discovered the wide array of sodas made with cane sugar, IMHO, taste better and are marginally better for you than soda's with HFCS. They also cost more, sometimes twice as much, but its worth it. After tasting a few, I thought would share my findings.

Jones Soda's Cola

Jones Soda Co. is a small soda maker (at least when compared to Coca-Cola or Pepsi) based in Seattle. They are known for their wide variety of soda flavors, ranging from classics like root beer and cream soda to weirder ones like strawberry kiwi and thanksgiving dinner. I've always been a fan of their green apple flavor, but for the sake of comparison, I tried their good old-fashion cola flavor.

Its an unconventional taste. It reminds me of RC Cola, or maybe Safeway Select. It has a somewhat musty flavor, as though it had been aged in a wooden barrel (or maybe it just had too much syrup!). Overall, it was ok. I think I will stick with Jones's other flavors.

Pepsi Natural

This is a new gourmet soda from Pepsi. It takes the Pepsi formula and replaces it with certain natural ingredients.

It doesn't really taste like Pepsi. Have you ever had one of those candies shaped like coke bottles that taste sort-of like a soda? Imagine mixing a bunch of those into a Pepsi, and that is what this tastes like.

But that isn't a bad thing. It tastes great! It also has a fruity aftertaste, which lets you nurse it over time and enjoy it longer.

Mexican Coke

This is Coca-Cola bottled in Mexico. Since Mexico doesn't have ridiculous subsidies for corn, they make their Coke with sugar instead of HFCS. Aside from that, its pretty much the same drink as its US counterpart. It tastes a little sweeter and maybe less fizzy, but its just as refreshing and addictive. In one way it is the antithesis of Pepsi Natural, in that the flavor feels somewhat empty. You want to chug it instead of nursing it. I've heard some baby boomers drink it because it tastes like Coke did before they switched to the HFCS sweetener in the 1980's.

It's a charming drink overall. It comes in a 12-ounce glass bottle with the same footprint as the old 8-ounce Coke bottle, but taller. All the writing on it is in Spanish except for an ingredients and nutrition facts sticker stuck on the top (Mexico must have different laws regarding nutrition labels).

The biggest problem with this drink is finding it. It's the Big Foot of sodas. There are a lot of stories and myths across the internet regarding where you can find it. Some say you can find it in Costco, but you need ask for it. Some say you need to go to Mexican grocery stores. I buy mine from a Bartells' Drug store near where I work, where it is hidden in a far corner of the Coke fridge in the back of the store.

That's all I have to say for now. Enjoy your drinks! And stay away from HFCS!