Taste-tester argues that pricier soda yields better flavor

Fast food is great to most, in moderation of course. Fast food restaurants are where you go to hang out with friends and eat greasy cheeseburgers, pizza and crunchy tacos. Other than food, soda is another basic principle of any food joint. Soda is important for customer satisfaction. Customers who pay extra for soft drinks expect quality in every sip.

Fast food sodas come down to whether customers are willing to purchase them; or to simply order the healthy and free alternative, water. In my experiences with fast food, the more you pay for your soda the better quality it is. This is not true in all circumstances, but in most this is true. I am willing to spend an extra dollar for a soda and have assurance in its ability to quench my thirst.

An employee at North Willow Me-n-Eds, Arthur, works as a delivery driver and works with the fountain soda machine. Arthur explains how he changes the bags of soda and also how carbonation works in the sodas.

“To change the soda in the fountain, I unscrew the bags that contain the soda and plug them in to the machine,” Arthur said. “Then I let the soda run for two minutes to let the carbonation circulate through the soda. Every soda has their own carbonation level set in the back room. Every soda is automatically set to where it needs to be by Pepsi Co., so all we have to do is change the soda when the machine runs out.”

To ensure fairness in my reviews, I used canned soda as a control for the different sodas I tried at fast food locations. Canned soda will represent a ten, and the fountain soda’s taste will be reviewed to it’s canned counterpart.

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King of the fast food crunchy tacos, Taco bell is a favorite fast food restaurant among many teenagers. Taco Bell offers a variety a Pepsi products at their soda fountains. These variations include the standard Pepsi and Diet Pepsi, teas, and an assortment of different kinds of Mountain Dew.

The N. Willow Ave. location had decent Pepsi. The Pepsi had a good level of carbonation but lacked enough syrup. It was not watered down at all, but the carbonation overpowered the syrup in the Pepsi. However, the drink still managed to quench my thirst and was enjoyable and tasteful to some degree. My biggest gripe was the price, almost two dollars for a soda that could have been just as good at a McDonalds for one dollar.

Jonathan Penberthy is a FC physical education coach, and the high school varsity boys basketball coach. Penberthy does drink soda himself, but agrees that too much can be detrimental to one’s health.

In excess, soda is very bad for you. Diet sodas are the worst soda for you because they contain Aspartame which is linked to causing cancer. There probably aren’t many benefits to drinking soda and there aren’t any good sodas for you. I drink about 12-16 ounces of soda a day. — Jonathan Penberthy

“In excess, soda is very bad for you,” Penberthy said. “Diet sodas are the worst soda for you because they contain Aspartame which is linked to causing cancer. There probably isn’t many benefits to drinking soda and there aren’t any good sodas for you. I drink about 12-16 ounces of soda a day.”

Dominating the fast food industry for decades, Mc Donald’s never fails to provide greasy cheeseburgers for a low price. Mc Donald’s carries Coca-Cola products with the staple soda being Coca-Cola.

The north Willow installment had absolutely awful Coca-Cola. The soda was watered down and there was barely a hint of any carbonation actually in the drink. The coke had no taste and very little syrup. This was overall an awful soda to drink and I am planning to order water at this McDonalds the next time I go there.

On the other hand, my taste buds were satisfied when I tried a soda from the north Cedar McDonalds. The soda I purchased from this particular McDonalds tasted almost exactly like canned Coca-Cola. The carbonation and syrup were blended beautifully together to create a very tasteful experience. This soda only set me back one dollar, which is much better than some the other prices fast food restaurants charge for sodas.

One lesson I have learned from doing this review is not to judge the quality of the soda by how much it costs. Soda is a hit or miss at fast food restaurants. The quality all depends on how good of a job the manufacturer did on calibrating the soda machine to deliver quality drinks to the consumer.

This writer can be reached via Twitter @_Samuel_Cross_ and via email: Samuel Cross.

To read another food review read, Rocket Dogs grills up gourmet brats and brews