Comments on: What happenend to Vanilla Coke/Pepsi Vanilla?

Question: What happenend to Vanilla Coke/Pepsi Vanilla?

deansfurniture5 — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:39:49 -0800

What happened to Vanilla Coke/Pepsi Vanilla? I can't seem to find it anywhere any more, and I'm really missing my Cola Vanilla fix! (I live in Massachusetts, if that's important)

By: tastybrains

tastybrains — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:43:18 -0800

On November 3, 2005, the Cola-Cola Company announced that Vanilla Coke and its diet counterpart would be discontinued in the United Kingdom by early 2006. A day later it was announced that it would be phased out in North America by the end of 2005.

All is not lost, you can buy some vanilla flavor syrup (DaVinci's is one tasty brand) and make your own vanilla coke. Personally, I think this tastes even better than Coke's version.

By: stevis23

stevis23 — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:44:15 -0800

Go to someplace that sells coffee syrups (e.g., World Market) and buy some Vanilla flavor. Add it to cola to recreate the experience in your own home.

By: These Premises Are Alarmed

These Premises Are Alarmed — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:51:30 -0800

Or use vanilla Stoli.

By: crickets

crickets — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:54:37 -0800

So YOU'RE the one...

Anyway: the canned product was simply a recreation of a classic drug store concoction from the 50s.

I'm betting the canned version was a bit sweeter than what you'd get by just adding vanilla, but it'll likely fit the bill.

By: smashingstars

smashingstars — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:27:02 -0800

Vanilla Coke had a strange sweetness that made it different from a "home made" vanilla Coke. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was strong juju. I'm surprised it was discontinued, I saw people drinking it relatively often.

Vanilla extract -- the real stuff, not imitation -- that you find in the grocery store baking aisle is what I always made my vanilla Cokes with. You can also get flavored syrups. I prefer Torani brand, and you can find these syrups in the coffee aisle of your local grocery.

By: tastybrains

tastybrains — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:31:20 -0800

I wonder if Vanilla Coke as made by Coca-Cola was more like Coke w/ vanilla extract than vanilla syrup. I admit that I never really cared for Coke's version, because I've had the soda shop version (lots of 50's style restaurants still serve them, and they make them with a sweetened syrup + Coca Cola), and, well, I like things very sweet.

You might want to try it both ways, with pure vanilla extract & vanilla syrup to find out which you prefer. For me, it's syrup all the way baby. Yum. :-)

By: adipocere

adipocere — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:45:00 -0800

You never know with the Coka-Cola folks. They're pushing that awful "Blak" stuff, when what people really want is "kosher Coke," made with cane sugar.

By: a.

a. — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 15:00:52 -0800

We still have it in Australia. Mmmm.

By: typewriter

typewriter — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 15:50:48 -0800

We still have Vanilla Coke in Canada too.

By: tomble

tomble — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 16:00:53 -0800

I read about Vanilla Coke a few years before it came on the market in Australia, tried it out at home, then took to asking for it when I was out. I had to explain it to the guy mixing the drinks, but once they tried it they all liked it too.
'
I agree that doing it yourself using a good quality vanilla essence is the way to go. I even considered getting a vanilla bean and putting it in the bottle for a while, but never quite got around to it.

By: Meagan

Meagan — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 16:15:24 -0800

Are you sure it's still in Canada? Last time I went to Loblaws they had neither cans nor bottles. And all this talk about it makes me want to have some right now...

By: Deep Dish

Deep Dish — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 16:47:30 -0800

I've seen the cherry/vanilla stuff in Canada but it has been a while since I've seen just plain Vanilla. I loved it too....

By: Cricket

Cricket — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 17:30:45 -0800

Coke went to the Black Cherry + Vanilla flavor instead. Pepsi Vanilla still has a website, and I buy Vanilla Diet Pepsi regularly--it's fairly widely available, as I have an easier time finding the vanilla flavor than the cherry.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 18:02:01 -0800

You can still get vanilla flavored mouth happiness here in China. Strangely, it is one of the few things you can find with vanilla.

By: Spoonman

Spoonman — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 19:30:02 -0800

Pepsi Vanilla is no longer be produced in North America, apparently. You can go to Pepsi.com and request the info. Funny you should ask though as just last month I stopped in my local Quik-E-Mart to find a row of Pepsi Vanilla (my fave) just sitting there, albeit a little dusty. I'd recently found out it was off the market, so I bought all 16 of their remaining bottles. Better yet, they were selling them 2/$1. Sorry, folks. I've had about one a week, and I've got two left. All mine. I have them in my winerack. :)

By: sbuffy

sbuffy — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 22:59:34 -0800

Huh, that's strange.

I was at a Rubio's in Southern California not more than a month ago, and they had Vanilla Coke as one of their fountain drinks.

I thought, "hey! Vanilla Coke! Haven't seen that in a while" and got that as my beverage. It had the Vanilla Coke logo on the tap and tasted like the Coca-cola brand Vanilla Coke I remembered, so I honestly think it was the real stuff. It was not the black cherry vanilla variety, either.

Maybe Coke just axed the store-bought bottled variety?

By: citysquirrel

citysquirrel — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 23:29:32 -0800

Make that two devotees of Vanilla Stoli. And btw, it makes a pretty good Vanilla Coke With a Buzz.

By: Memo

Memo — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 11:05:03 -0800

I have never tasted Vanilla Coke and now I'm curious. How do I make a home-brewed version?
Coke + Vanilla extract? Nothing else?

By: twistofrhyme

twistofrhyme — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 11:28:57 -0800

Memo, in my opinion, coke + sweetened vanilla syrup is the best. the thickness and slight caramelization of the syrup makes the whole thing nice and rich- it's sort of like the difference between lemonade made with boiled sugar syrup versus granulated sugar.

you can get torani brand syrup at the second cup coffee chain.

if you live in canada, a burger joint called LICK'S serves vanilla cola too, and they use syrup to flavour it.