Slate has the answer.
Learn how to make your own sugar skulls for Dia De Los Muertos. Naturally, sugar skull-making supplies may be bought from MexicanSugarSkull.com. [via Boing Boing]
The New York Times investigates whether brown sugar is healthier than white sugar. Conclusion: in the category of sugar, brown-ness doesn't entail health benefits. The main differences between brown and white sugar are the taste and effect on baked goods; nutritionally, they're similar.
Remember last week's story about Costco selling Mexican Coke? This morning, because we love soda with real sugar—and you, too—an update:
alaina: mexican coke sighting at napa wal-mart
lia: link please!
lia: or did you see?
alaina: no link, i saw it myself!
lia: no photo???
alaina: it's a coke bottle
alaina: no
lia: also i did not think "napa" and "wal-mart" were allowed to be in the same sentence
alaina: me neither
(Alaina is in Napa attending Taste3, the annual conference sponsored by Robert Mondavi Winery that "aims to push the exploration and marriage of wine, food and art.")
If you like the Real Thing better made with real sugar and you happen to live near a Costco, you'll be happy to know that they're selling Mexican Coke: $17.99 for a case of 24 twelve ounce bottles, which comes out to 75c each. How'd Costco manage that, you ask? According to SFist, they've "conformed to CA and U.S. rules, such as CRV (the sort-of deposit you pay for the bottle) and "nutrition" labeling, so everything appears to be nice and legal."
Coca-Cola Corporate in Atlanta says there is "no perceptible taste difference" between Mexican Coke made with real sugar and US Coke made with high-fructose corn syrup, but as anyone who's ever had the two can tell you, that's wishful thinking—drinks made with real sugar have a clean sweetness and light mouthfeel to them, while those made with corn syrup have heavy mouthfeel and a cloying sweetness.
Well, I did my Equal vs. Splenda A-B test on a bowl of corn flakes yesterday. Splenda, as most of you Serious Eaters predicted, was the clear winner. I guess the courts are going to decide if the Splenda folks can make the advertising claim that it's made from sugar.
From my vantage point, Splenda actually tasted like sugar going down. Equal was just as sweet but had a slightly odd aftertaste. Not like that awful Sweet 'N Low aftertaste that could cut through Limburger cheese, just an odd metallic aftertaste that was none too pleasant.
From now on our household is going to be Equal-free and Splenda-filled.
"Each year, Coca-Cola makes Coke with sugar for observant US Jews to drink during Passover. And the rest of us get to go along for the ride. This is a boon for those who don't like Coke with high fructose corn syrup and who have to seek out the superior sugared Coke in small Mexican restaurants and grocery stores." BuzzFeed's post on Sweet Sweet Passover Coke has the ten best links to what is, as a non-Jew, my favorite Passover treat!
Jones Soda spent over $1M retrofitting their equipment to use pure cane sugar in their drinks instead of the industry standard, high-fructose corn syrup. "A Pepsi spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that Jones' claim that pure cane sugar is more healthful "just isn't true. Marketing a myth for a competitive advantage is irresponsible and short-sighted." Then Jones got a letter from the Corn Refiners Association, which doesn't like Jones' claims about sweeteners, either."
So why did Jones Soda make the switch? CEO Peter Van Stolk says customers have been asking them to switch from HFCS to sugar for years; "They want sugar, he said, "because it tastes better and they feel better about it because it's pure; it's sugar. They know what it is." Government corn subsidies keep corn sugar cheap but cane sugar tastes SO much better, regardless of whether or not it's better or just as bad for you as HFCS. If you're in the US, try picking up a bottle of Mexican Coke and do a taste test. Coke made with cane sugar has a crisp, cleaner taste and better mouthfeel, the difference will amaze you.
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