There’s something strange going on at McDonald’s: You walk through those ageless golden arches (or just the front door) and you’re immersed in a world where, if you have a few dollars, you can gorge on double cheeseburgers or even an Egg McMuffin at three in the afternoon (that’s not the appropriate time for breakfast, but who cares?). That’s all well and good, but there’s something feels different.
At Mickey D’s, something is different about the most popular beverage on the planet. The Coca-Cola tastes way better in the shadow of Ronald McDonald than it should. And it definitely tastes better than it does when it’s poured out of a humble can at home. At least it seems like it does. Are we crazy or what?
Does it really taste better or is it just your mind playing tricks on you? According to Spoon University, You’re not losing your marbles yet. Coke really does taste better at McDonald’s and it’s not just because anything tastes better when paired with the McRib. Apparently, McDonald’s takes Coke very seriously.
It all starts with the delivery: Instead of shipping the delicious, brown soda in plastic bags like the other fast food chumps, McDonald’s opts for stainless steel containers. This guarantees freshness and likely (based on no evidence) makes it so it doesn’t taste like the inside of a plastic bag.
Another reason it tastes better is because of the filtration process. McDonald’s takes great pride in guaranteeing that they have the freshest filtered water. The better the filtration, the less strange flavors will be added to the mix. That’s a good thing because all we want to taste is sweet, sassy Coke. Not old, stinky water.
To keep Coke as fresh as possible, McDonald’s even runs the beloved soda through insulated pipes to the drive-thru window’s soda fountain. They realized that to create the perfect version of Coke, the temperature must be just slightly over freezing. The Big Mac overlords also chill the syrup before mixing everything together. Oh yeah, and the straw is extra big to let in all of that goodness. Just tossing that in there.
Who knew that McDonald’s had such an elaborate system for guaranteeing the freshest possible Coca-Cola? Now, if they could only figure out how to keep our drive-thru French fries from becoming ice cold by the time we get home.
