Sour Taste

There was a six-pack of Coca-Cola in our refrigerator when the company announced that it was changing the taste of the drink. The six cans are still there. We’re not drinking them. Someday in the future, on a special occasion with special guests, we’ll open those cans and enjoy the real Real Thing.

In a month it will be hard to find Old Coke, the company says. A few people apparently are buying it by the case and laying it down beside the Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, but so far there hasn’t been a run on Coke. We’d like to buy a few more six-packs, but it may not be wise. The Wall Street Journal reports that Coke in the can will lose its flavor in three months and be flat in a year. As a drink Coke is fine, but as a collectible it leaves something to be desired.

Then again, when an oenophile opens a 100-year-old bottle of wine, he’s never sure what he’s getting. At least Coke won’t be vinegar.