I drive the delivery truck for McDonald’s products, the coke and just the coke syrup for about 90% of restaurants are pumped via hose from the 75 gallon tank into the restaurants tank. The hose and tanks are sanitized between every fill. I think that has to do with the flavor also since it’s usually freshly made straight from the source.
There's actually a video already that explains the whole thing... ua-cam.com/video/SrDEtSlqJC4/v-deo.htmlsi=zk-Cl0DKy-knZhGi It's a big conspiracy between the people who make the machines and McDonald's. It's a great watch.
@@rionthemagnificent2971they actually do break all the time. Employees are left in the dark with the error codes on purpose so they HAVE to call the repair guy who actually works for the people who make the machine. Which costs the store even more money. Watch the video I linked in another comment.
@@reposed I know all about it, my mom has worked at several McDonalds on and off her career. She worked at one in Virginia which was in a stadium.. She seen so many bands from the 80s, she even got a wave and a smile by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. (My mom and aunt are big aerosmith fans. so yea she fangirl'd. lol)
I have to say one thing, glass is ultimate storage container for food products. At least compared to other conventional materials, it's least porus and imparts least taste and is overall least reactive to anything it touches. And it's easy to recycle, I mean it takes energy, but it's easy. Only bad part is that it can break with hard impacts and it's heavy.
I agree for the most part, and this is why I pour my work beverage into a former glass beer long neck. It still doesn't make sense though. I'd argue that Coka Cola still tastes better from Mc Donalds, vs how it tastes out of glass bottles.
Glass is heavy. A glass bottle far outweighs a can or plastic bottle, and when shipping costs get involved, low weight items win. And the bottom line is money.
@@baddriversofthenorcalarea500 While that's true, the upfront cost for a McDonald's filtering system is HUGE! I saw the bill for a new one that was barely built and started equipping itself, and holy goddamn Jesus. One of those reverse osmosis double filtration systems costs a TON. You could maybe open a full restaurant for the price of one ^^' And most restaurants cba making the initial investment. Either you're a brand new fast food joint, and you'd need to sell a fuckton of $3 profit coca colas to finally cover those initial costs... Or you're an established franchise, and overhauling all your restaurants to integrate those systems would have crazy costs in both time, contractors, and equipment. :x
I went to my local McDonald's one day to get a Coke. When the girl at the counter gave me my drink cup she told me that the fountain wasn't working quite right and the Coke might taste funny. Well, I'm the adventurous sort, so I decided to try the Coke anyway. I filled the cup partway up and with the first sip I thought I had died and gone to Coke lover's heaven. It was far and away the best Coke I have ever had before or since. The malfunction in the machine was that it wasn't putting enough carbonated water into the drink, so I was probably getting Coke twice as rich in Coke syrup as it's supposed to be. I went back for three refills and loved every moment of drinking it all. It made me wonder what drinking straight Coke syrup would taste like. That would probably be too overpowering, but the ratio I got that day was to die for.
It never occurred to me that when I worked at McDonald's as my first job, we never ever had to change out soda syrups ourselves. Then when I worked at Taco Bell a year or two later, I was changing out super heavy and almost always sticky/leaking warm soda syrup bags in the back of the store every day. No wonder the soda at Taco Bell is so hit-or-miss.
UK McDonald's worker here - the Coca Cola comes in a big plastic tank that we wheel and lock into a separate system, but the other drinks come as BIB (bag in box), which we have to screw into nozzles in the back. These leak a bit and you end up getting syrup on your hands.
Haven't been in a taco bell in over a decade. After Pepsi bought them I noticed a serious decline in quality. The meat felt more like bean paste last time I was there, with a healthy side of oil leakage... At least the beef @ del taco looks similar to home made taco meat. No pizza hut No KFC No taco bell All marketing devices for Pepsi sales.
@@brandonhoffman4712 even after working at Taco Bell and seeing how the food is made, I still love to eat there every now and then lol. You gotta get specific things that are good, and some stuff is mega overpriced, but that value menu stuff usually hits hard. KFC and Pizza Hut have always been extremely sub par to me, never liked them. I thought Yum brand owned these places? Does PepsiCo own Yum brand now?
As someone who has been drinking Mexican Coke for a long time and has also had his fair share of McDonald's Coke, I would definitely agree with this statement.
Cane sugar mexican coke, is now an export product specifically to the US. Internally in Mexico they use HFCS now. Weirdly outside of north America almost everyone uses Cane sugar or a combination of Cane sugar and sweeteners, depending on local regulations. (Singapore for example was transitioning between full sugar and reduced sugar regular coke while I was there) @@norwegianblue2017
When I was a kid I disovered I could increase the sugar content of fountain drinks by strategically placing the cup so the water stream missing going in the cup and just went down the drain.
Here in Canada, I've found that most McDs don't clean their ice dispensers as often as needed. The soda drinks taste 'moldy' at times. It's a shame because they do have the best tasting Coke.
Agreed, a moldy ice machine will make any drink taste like dirt a little. I don't get ice in my fountain drinks for a few reasons: more beverage, don't have to worry about dirty ice, and sensitive teeth. 😊
you know that america is the only country that tell you their ice machine is broken? also i dont even understand it they have huge margines on these way overpriced ice creams. They used to make big mcflurrys for 1euro - 1,25. What is it now almost 4euro and they made the flurry almost the size of a sundea. NEVER getting their ice cream ever again. i would say your demographic is such a mixed mess that you experience the most stupid things ever. hopefully we will never get to that point in europe but we are getting close with all these immigrants.
All the soda at my local McDonald's does taste different than anywhere else. It tastes like they wash the nozzles in the deep fryer and it's been like this for years and years. I call shenanigans on them ever standards enforced in a meaningful way.
They might not be clearing the lines properly after they're sanitizing. The sanitizer is supposed to be flushed through the lines regularly, and if not properly purged afterward will make the soda taste nasty. There was one franchise near me that got in hot water with corporate after people complained about the soda tasting bad.
The coke at any mcdonalds near me tastes (and looks) so watered down it's undrinkable. It's better other places, but any time I get a soda in my city it tastes awful. Just give me a can.
@@dmitripogosian5084 The worst part about that is I remember when a fountain drinks were really good. Now I literally avoid restaurants entirely or just avoid eating inside because the drink choices are so bad.
I know this is a reupload, but I'm curious what had to be re-edited from the original one. Still a good video regardless. I noticed as a kid the Coca Cola at always tasted different and always said that. Nice to see how they do it.
Yeah, reupload probably due to copyright issues. I saw one short clip in this version that they used without permission/payment from a friend of mine, so I told him. Version #3 coming soon?? Or maybe they'll send a check to my friend to keep his clip.
I saw the orginal video, but it's nice to see a re-do. I would love to see more videos on McDonald's like their ice cream machines, and/or the Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald VHS tapes
Holy crap--that Panera Bread/purse thief hamburglar mascot joke was unexpectedly brutal but funny @4:16 You're a funny guy, Mr. Weird History Narrator. :)
When I worked at McDonalds in the early 00's, they definitely used bagged syrup for their drink fountains. Also, very few McDonald's have playplaces any more.
Thank you for this video! I've been telling people for years that Coke from McDonalds is far superior to any other Coke I can buy. I didn't know the science behind it but I figured it was partly based on the settings of syrup and carbonated water. When I was in high school I worked for Dairy Queen and the owner was adamant about ensuring the fountain drink machines were set perfectly and our Coke was always great.
When I lived in Germany I always drank McDonald’s Coke Light because it tasted so good. I later found out that it was because of Cyclamates sweetener. They are outlawed in America.
Even though the studies were done on RATS. You have to add up the scale needed for enough consumption to stimulate the toxicity in humans. Using rats is a dumb idea, while we have prisons full of S.O.'s and lifers. For example twinkies, they're banned in the EU for containing the toxic red dye. They tested the stuff on rats that gave the rats cancer. to adjust the amount given for a human to get similar results, you'd probably have to eat about 200,000-1 million twinkies.. EVERY DAY for a month.
Outlawed for totally stupid reasons - totally flawed research in the late 1960s found it was a "cancer risk". They then found the same to be true of saccharin, but this didn't get banned because it was the only low-calorie sweetener left.
No-ice is the way to go. Mcdonalds employees will fill your whole cup with ice and you will get hardly any coke but with no ice you will actually get what you are paying for. also the coke comes out of the machine cold so unless you are waiting an hour or 2 to drink your coke it will not be warm.
McDonald's employees don't fill your cup with ice at all. The drinks are made with a machine called the automated beverage system and all they do is put the lid on. You can see the machine in the first 5 seconds of this video.
"Both glass and aluminum containers are slightly porous, which means carbon dioxide can escape through small imperfections in the material. Plastic, on the other hand, is not nearly as porous and traps the gas more efficiently." Not sure who wrote this, but this is incredibly @ss-backwards. Glass and metals are far better at containing gases than plastics. That is why they overcarbonate plastic bottles of soda. The gas transmission rates of plastics are far higher as plastics are not really solid like glass or metal, but are polymerized molecule chains almost like nets, and between the material are large gaps through which gas and vapor are able to escape more easily. That is why the best packaging is lined with foil layers such as coffee pods are.
You mentioned them having standards on the water used for their fountain drinks…I remember the first time I was in St. Lucia (Caribbean), I noticed how the fountain drinks tasted notably different there. That was 2005.
If they did now, you can assume it's lab grown or human meat. A warning has gone out, again. Do not eat fast or processed food as there are 100,000's of homeless people missing. It is suspected McDonalds does it. I hope you heard what Rabbi Finklestein said is in the burgers and sausage long ago. It is horrifying. Do not eat.
I've always thought fountain sodas taste watered down compared to the stuff you buy at the store. Also glass bottles are the best for most drinks, not just soda imho
Most all chain restaurants that have a Coca-Cola fountain have a contract with Coca-Cola to test and service the fountains. The local distributor will have a technician that comes periodically to check the levels of syrup. They have a special nozzle that twists on to the fountain where the syrup is mixed with the carbonated water that separates the syrup from the water and they measure that ratio to ensure it is correct for the franchise requirements. I used to manage a Subway before they went to Pepsi and we always called the service technician "The Pop Doctor". As I recall he would clean and sanitize the whole fountain and ice maker, test the water, change the water filters and test the carbonation levels. There is a lot of work in making that soda consistent.
Huge soda guy, even if I’ve layed off it for health reasons. But I always notice Macdonald’s tasted more carbonated and fresher as well. It actually burns ya throat if you haven’t drank soda in a bit.
That's the way Coke used to taste in general, I think New Coke (a sweeter more Pepsi-like Coke formulation) has actually taken over in the US (except McDonald's, I think they're the last hold-out)
Based on my knowledge of McDonald's I can confirm that is VERY ray Kroc. He went through the greatest lengths to ensure that consistency was identical across the board.
I was thinking that the title is ironic because where I live McDonald’s has a horrible cola, 0 fiziness in a mushy paper container that gets visibly soaked all the way through pretty fast. Lately I prefer to just buy the food and get the cola from somewhere else even it I am thirsty. Not to mention it’s $2.0 for 500ml (17floz).
5:37 Grimace's birthday meal was released on June 12, 2023. Legendary basketball coach Phil Jackson won TWO NBA championships on that day with two different teams! I suppose y'all have heard of the Chicago Bulls and the L.A. Lakers...
6:00 I’ve worked at McDonald’s, and when one of the drinks run out we used to change the syrup and run the fountain for a little bit until it came out and then we would give it to the customer, so I think they also use some kind of flash freezing system too.
Hey hey! I’m in this video! That’s me in the Pickler and Ben segment. I was doing a segment on craft soda. It aired around Halloween, so I showed them how to make a candy corn soda (basically just honey and vanilla with a pinch of turmeric for color).
Yeah mcdonald coke has always been my favorite because it seemed less sugary and more refreshing, good to know I wasn't crazy, I live in europe btw. One thing I don't agree with is that the straw is better, it's enjoyable sure but it's so much better to drink directly from the cup to get the super cold part in contact with ice.
The fries are nothing like they used to be! They removed the tallow to make the militant vegans happy and now the fries taste not much better than tasteless cardboard if you don't eat them right away. McDonald's used to be so much better! I'm sure they will mess up the coke too eventually.
I have to admit, I've always thought McD's Coke tasted better than any other - but always assumed it was simply because of syrup-to-water ratios. Thanks for the deep dive! Keep up the good work.......
I wired a beverage bottling line in a plant once I learned that if you chill the pop to 35.5 degrees it will not foam. The canning equipment ran 1200 cans a minute not a bit of foam in the cans.
When I was in my teens, a guy who owned a vending company would give me dimes painted red. He told me to buy drinks from his machines which were cup dispensers and then taste the different sodas. If I found one that was "not right" to call him and he would come fix it. I could taste test Coke, Orange, Root Beer and several others and knew instantly when the syrup to water ratio was off or they were under carbonated. I did this all through high school. Never bought a coke out of my own pocket.
I have to disagree about glass vs plastic. Glass is LESS porous than plastic. That's why there's a metallic liner inside potato chips bag so they stay fresh. That's why your 2L bottle of soda gets flat if stored for too long at room temperature (gas gets out). Honey in glass jar will take longer to turn in to sugar than in plastic jars, because plastic lets the water vapor out. I also don't think that plastic or paper cups or glass cups will make a difference when the drink is consumed within half an hour.
I got thinking about my favorite fountain pops at restaurants around town and I noticed a common factor... all the best restaurant fountain pops are places that serve pepsi instead of coke.
I've noticed that Coke at McDonald's doesn't taste the same as it use to a few years ago. These days it seems watered down, and the coloring is very light compared to the past. The Coke at Carl's Jr./Hardee's, In N Out, 'Raising Cain's', etc. taste much better than McDonald's Coke these days.
To start off once you introduce ice, its going to be water down compared to can for bottle. But ya i drink a lot at Mcdondalds and it does taste water down. They never make anything to be super great no mater the cost. They make things to be cheap as possible. Anything that may taste different is because they went the cost effective way.
...unfortunately real cane sugar is not an ingredient. Like almost all most commercial soft drinks whether pre packaged or fountain served, McDonald's Coca-Cola uses High Fructose Corn Syrup as the sweetener, not cane sugar. Coca-Cola produced and bottled in the iconic traditional glass containers in Mexico still uses Cane Sugar and there is a difference in taste.
Whoever was in charge of calibrating the soda machines at Royals stadium in the 1970s was definitely a master-class Coke sommelier. Coke there (and at Worlds of Fun) was head and shoulders above even McDonald's.
What impact (if any) has occurred from moving to paper straws instead of plastic. I certainly noticed the difference. If I purchase a takeaway meal, I’ll tip the drink into a glass when at home. What about the change in flavour when Coke moved from sugar cane to sugar extract from corn (several years ago) - I’ve talked about this difference for years. The coke of old has gone, it has less bubbles and is far more watered down than the viscous syrup feel / taste it once had. Finally what about the ice. As you travel the world you find many travel guides tell you not to add ice to you drink as this is made form local waters (& you could become sick). But depending on the water source, treatment and additives (like fluoride) doesn’t this also impact the flavour?
If you can, obtain a Coke "Hecho en Mexico". It is decidedly different and better than "Made in USA". I'm not a Coke or Pepsi fan. But, I prefer the MX Coke, by far.
While most fast food restaurants have their Coca-Cola syrup delivered to them in plastic bags, McDonald's gets their syrup specially delivered in stainless steel tanks. The special tanks keep the syrup fresh and protect it from light, temperature, air, and anything else that might take away from its delicious flavor.
They also invest millions into R and D, focus groups, professional chefs, they even hire scientists to invent new ways to make their food taste better and stays fresh longer, all the kitchen equipment they use is proprietary meaning they invent their own kitchen equipment. They even invented their own soda machine that automatically fills a cup with ice and soda by pressing one button.
This is very interesting. I have always liked McDonald’s Cokes better than other places. I think a lot of my friends think it’s just my imagination. I tell them I don’t know why but it’s just different and I like it better. It is subtle, but there is a difference. Now I know! Good presentation!
@@kenday7942 🤣 I wouldn't have any idea today. I haven't been in a McNasty in better than 15 years. I discovered first hand that it wasn't food in any of that and it almost caused a hospitalization from weight loss because there's no actual nutritional value in it. Never again. Long before that the fries changed to suck mode and it really wasn't appealing regardless but it will fill you up. With material useless to your body. Oh and it still has to try and create the final deposit from there... good luck with that one too. Stay the hell away from it. The place is no good for you. At all.
@@MadScientist267 thank you so very much for caring about my health and well-being. And I appreciate your sage advice - Being a ‘mad scientist’ you must have a lot of street cred.
Out of all those things, only 2 have any actual effect on the taste. 1. The syrup to carbonation ratio. 2. The stainless steel tanks instead of the plastic bags. And this one is the biggest. Plastic leeches into the syrup, whereas stainless steel does not. So the syrup at McDonald's is less polluted than any other restaurant, gas station, etc.
It’s def the best. I sensed that for years, and now it’s confirmed. Also, what ever happened to Vernor’s Ginger-ale? Used to be super good in the 70’s then, what, big corporation bought and then changed the formula to corn syrup and reduced the ginger? Anyway, nice videos. Thanks.
When i worked there in 1993 I was told the reason it tastes different was because it uses sugar and not the high fructose corn syrup. That it basically is Mexican coke with a higher carbonation rate than traditional coke.
It’s odd, cuz I always hear about the Macdonald’s ice cream machine not working. But I regularly get ice cream there, and it’s only been not working a maybe 2wice in 3 years. Guess it depends on the thousands of locations they have all around the world lol
@@krissanders987 The ice cream machine is a scam that MacDonalds and the machine makers have on the franchise owners, forcing them to have repairmen at 400-500 a pop to "Fix machines". Its always down because during cleaning process the machine throws a error code, only a train tech can fix. There is a lawsuit against MacDonalds on this. Wendys have the exact machines and they are never down.
Hi all - No, you're not going crazy, we had to do a re-edit of this video, and is now back live! Enjoy
I thought it was some weird mandela affect tbh
@@Lesleybrady-wb6vcmandela affect? What did mandela do to affect you?
Yeah I do believe so. But hey, listening to his funny way of narrating never gets old. So I'm up for a rerun, so to speak. 😁
Glad the video is back! Hoping for Dairy Queen or Hardee's video one day.
I think I'll watch something that hasn't been covered a million times already. Yikes.......
I drive the delivery truck for McDonald’s products, the coke and just the coke syrup for about 90% of restaurants are pumped via hose from the 75 gallon tank into the restaurants tank. The hose and tanks are sanitized between every fill. I think that has to do with the flavor also since it’s usually freshly made straight from the source.
Moving coke syrup like oil lol
Its cheaper to sanitize than risk lawsuits.
Even though nothing really could survive the sugar and preservatives
Great video, Weird History! Hoping you'll do the infamous Mcdonald's ice cream machines next.
They're not broke, they're just dirty. The employees HATE cleaning them.. even though they're getting paid more than EMTs.
There's actually a video already that explains the whole thing... ua-cam.com/video/SrDEtSlqJC4/v-deo.htmlsi=zk-Cl0DKy-knZhGi
It's a big conspiracy between the people who make the machines and McDonald's. It's a great watch.
@@rionthemagnificent2971they actually do break all the time. Employees are left in the dark with the error codes on purpose so they HAVE to call the repair guy who actually works for the people who make the machine. Which costs the store even more money. Watch the video I linked in another comment.
@@reposed I know all about it, my mom has worked at several McDonalds on and off her career. She worked at one in Virginia which was in a stadium.. She seen so many bands from the 80s, she even got a wave and a smile by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. (My mom and aunt are big aerosmith fans. so yea she fangirl'd. lol)
@@rionthemagnificent2971Half true: ua-cam.com/video/SrDEtSlqJC4/v-deo.htmlsi=sKIwsfNldTLlzah0
I have to say one thing, glass is ultimate storage container for food products. At least compared to other conventional materials, it's least porus and imparts least taste and is overall least reactive to anything it touches.
And it's easy to recycle, I mean it takes energy, but it's easy. Only bad part is that it can break with hard impacts and it's heavy.
True and doesn't affect taste....much
I agree for the most part, and this is why I pour my work beverage into a former glass beer long neck. It still doesn't make sense though. I'd argue that Coka Cola still tastes better from Mc Donalds, vs how it tastes out of glass bottles.
@@coxxycabeebecause mcdonalds one is syrup + nice carbonated water mixed on the spot, while bottled one isnt
also for glass, pyrex glass is pretty strong
Glass is heavy. A glass bottle far outweighs a can or plastic bottle, and when shipping costs get involved, low weight items win.
And the bottom line is money.
"have their managers taken out to a field and clubbed by the Fry Guys" made me legit belly laugh xD
Saw the original but it still blows my mind other restaurants don’t follow Coke’s procedure like McDonalds for better drinks
It would be expensive and probably not make enough of a difference for them to justify the cost/profit.
Sodas cost less than a penny to make but are sold for upwards of $3. It’s all profit
One wonders how many patents are involved. No one wants a McDonald's or Coke lawsuit.
@@baddriversofthenorcalarea500 While that's true, the upfront cost for a McDonald's filtering system is HUGE! I saw the bill for a new one that was barely built and started equipping itself, and holy goddamn Jesus. One of those reverse osmosis double filtration systems costs a TON. You could maybe open a full restaurant for the price of one ^^' And most restaurants cba making the initial investment. Either you're a brand new fast food joint, and you'd need to sell a fuckton of $3 profit coca colas to finally cover those initial costs... Or you're an established franchise, and overhauling all your restaurants to integrate those systems would have crazy costs in both time, contractors, and equipment. :x
It’s weird that we’re being served canned diabetes at all.
I went to my local McDonald's one day to get a Coke. When the girl at the counter gave me my drink cup she told me that the fountain wasn't working quite right and the Coke might taste funny. Well, I'm the adventurous sort, so I decided to try the Coke anyway. I filled the cup partway up and with the first sip I thought I had died and gone to Coke lover's heaven. It was far and away the best Coke I have ever had before or since. The malfunction in the machine was that it wasn't putting enough carbonated water into the drink, so I was probably getting Coke twice as rich in Coke syrup as it's supposed to be. I went back for three refills and loved every moment of drinking it all. It made me wonder what drinking straight Coke syrup would taste like. That would probably be too overpowering, but the ratio I got that day was to die for.
It never occurred to me that when I worked at McDonald's as my first job, we never ever had to change out soda syrups ourselves. Then when I worked at Taco Bell a year or two later, I was changing out super heavy and almost always sticky/leaking warm soda syrup bags in the back of the store every day. No wonder the soda at Taco Bell is so hit-or-miss.
UK McDonald's worker here - the Coca Cola comes in a big plastic tank that we wheel and lock into a separate system, but the other drinks come as BIB (bag in box), which we have to screw into nozzles in the back. These leak a bit and you end up getting syrup on your hands.
Haven't been in a taco bell in over a decade. After Pepsi bought them I noticed a serious decline in quality.
The meat felt more like bean paste last time I was there, with a healthy side of oil leakage...
At least the beef @ del taco looks similar to home made taco meat.
No pizza hut
No KFC
No taco bell
All marketing devices for Pepsi sales.
@@brandonhoffman4712 even after working at Taco Bell and seeing how the food is made, I still love to eat there every now and then lol. You gotta get specific things that are good, and some stuff is mega overpriced, but that value menu stuff usually hits hard. KFC and Pizza Hut have always been extremely sub par to me, never liked them. I thought Yum brand owned these places? Does PepsiCo own Yum brand now?
@@brandonhoffman4712tf u talking about. Taco Bell Pepsi is the best Pepsi on the planet. And McDonald’s has the best coke
@@chrisgreenwood8188 you gotta get out more.
There's a whole world out there beyond your boot barn.
I actually work for Coke in the retail setting and I’m sure the ingredients come very close to the Mexican version of the drink.
As someone who has been drinking Mexican Coke for a long time and has also had his fair share of McDonald's Coke, I would definitely agree with this statement.
Except the probably cane sugar part of it.
I read that a lot of Mexican Coke plants now use HFCS.
all the ingredients have remained mostly unchanged except for HFCS
Cane sugar mexican coke, is now an export product specifically to the US. Internally in Mexico they use HFCS now. Weirdly outside of north America almost everyone uses Cane sugar or a combination of Cane sugar and sweeteners, depending on local regulations. (Singapore for example was transitioning between full sugar and reduced sugar regular coke while I was there) @@norwegianblue2017
When I was a kid I disovered I could increase the sugar content of fountain drinks by strategically placing the cup so the water stream missing going in the cup and just went down the drain.
Here in Canada, I've found that most McDs don't clean their ice dispensers as often as needed. The soda drinks taste 'moldy' at times. It's a shame because they do have the best tasting Coke.
Just don’t get ice. It’s way better since you get more bang for your buck.
Dont get ice, its still cold and you get 1/3 more coke
Taste the mold?!? Now that’s weird
@@Mr_Hertz_Donut yeah mold has like an earthy dirty taste to it. The fact that you can't taste that is weird.
Agreed, a moldy ice machine will make any drink taste like dirt a little. I don't get ice in my fountain drinks for a few reasons: more beverage, don't have to worry about dirty ice, and sensitive teeth. 😊
I just realized that I never heard the sentence "sorry our drink fountain is broken" ever.
They make a lot of profits out of fountain drinks. They don't let it break.
you know that america is the only country that tell you their ice machine is broken? also i dont even understand it they have huge margines on these way overpriced ice creams. They used to make big mcflurrys for 1euro - 1,25. What is it now almost 4euro and they made the flurry almost the size of a sundea. NEVER getting their ice cream ever again. i would say your demographic is such a mixed mess that you experience the most stupid things ever. hopefully we will never get to that point in europe but we are getting close with all these immigrants.
While watching this I was thinking, no wonder the milkshake machine is always broken.
All the soda at my local McDonald's does taste different than anywhere else. It tastes like they wash the nozzles in the deep fryer and it's been like this for years and years. I call shenanigans on them ever standards enforced in a meaningful way.
They might not be clearing the lines properly after they're sanitizing. The sanitizer is supposed to be flushed through the lines regularly, and if not properly purged afterward will make the soda taste nasty. There was one franchise near me that got in hot water with corporate after people complained about the soda tasting bad.
Complain to corporate.
The coke at any mcdonalds near me tastes (and looks) so watered down it's undrinkable. It's better other places, but any time I get a soda in my city it tastes awful. Just give me a can.
@@SixOThree Macdonalds or not, almost everywhere around me fountain soda feels watered down. Can from a supermarket is a way to go
@@dmitripogosian5084 The worst part about that is I remember when a fountain drinks were really good. Now I literally avoid restaurants entirely or just avoid eating inside because the drink choices are so bad.
I know this is a reupload, but I'm curious what had to be re-edited from the original one.
Still a good video regardless.
I noticed as a kid the Coca Cola at always tasted different and always said that.
Nice to see how they do it.
Usually when a video is re-uploaded, it's usually due to the accidental use of copyrighted background music.
Yeah, reupload probably due to copyright issues. I saw one short clip in this version that they used without permission/payment from a friend of mine, so I told him. Version #3 coming soon?? Or maybe they'll send a check to my friend to keep his clip.
@@Dhalin or footage.
but yeah I remember watching the original months ago. ^_^
I saw the orginal video, but it's nice to see a re-do. I would love to see more videos on McDonald's like their ice cream machines, and/or the Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald VHS tapes
Holy crap--that Panera Bread/purse thief hamburglar mascot joke was unexpectedly brutal but funny @4:16
You're a funny guy, Mr. Weird History Narrator. :)
The time and effort they put into a cup of coke is crazy. They literally made it a science.
I had to pause to laugh at "Like a penguin with a gambling debt." Very clever.
Well Done🙌 Awesome👍💙
💙Mc Donald’s…Magical fries & Coke❣️
Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.
I love the fountain drinks at McDonalds. I sometimes go there just to buy a coca cola, then go elsewhere for food. lol
soda is fucking gross
I don't really go to McDonald's anymore.
@@Sandman2007 i wont go to one anymore since i found a used condom in my Big Mac 6 months ago
@@mattalan6618 Damn!
@@mattalan6618 plz tell me you sued them lol
When I worked at McDonalds in the early 00's, they definitely used bagged syrup for their drink fountains. Also, very few McDonald's have playplaces any more.
They still use bags you fool. Just not for Coke.
Same experience! They used bagged syrup when I worked there in the late 00's
❤ McDonald's restaurants used to have a playground, now they have a play room for kids
Thank you for this video! I've been telling people for years that Coke from McDonalds is far superior to any other Coke I can buy. I didn't know the science behind it but I figured it was partly based on the settings of syrup and carbonated water. When I was in high school I worked for Dairy Queen and the owner was adamant about ensuring the fountain drink machines were set perfectly and our Coke was always great.
When I lived in Germany I always drank McDonald’s Coke Light because it tasted so good. I later found out that it was because of Cyclamates sweetener. They are outlawed in America.
Even though the studies were done on RATS. You have to add up the scale needed for enough consumption to stimulate the toxicity in humans. Using rats is a dumb idea, while we have prisons full of S.O.'s and lifers.
For example twinkies, they're banned in the EU for containing the toxic red dye. They tested the stuff on rats that gave the rats cancer. to adjust the amount given for a human to get similar results, you'd probably have to eat about 200,000-1 million twinkies.. EVERY DAY for a month.
Outlawed for totally stupid reasons - totally flawed research in the late 1960s found it was a "cancer risk". They then found the same to be true of saccharin, but this didn't get banned because it was the only low-calorie sweetener left.
Yes, Burger King and Dairy Queen confirm that fast food franchises are indeed monarchies.
A+ video!
Even great the second time around!
The Sprite at McDonald's is ridiculously good like amazing like so refreshing
Mickey Dees Sprite is basically some sort of magical tonic/elixer
No-ice is the way to go. Mcdonalds employees will fill your whole cup with ice and you will get hardly any coke but with no ice you will actually get what you are paying for. also the coke comes out of the machine cold so unless you are waiting an hour or 2 to drink your coke it will not be warm.
small amount of ice for a little bit dilution is nice
McDonald's employees don't fill your cup with ice at all. The drinks are made with a machine called the automated beverage system and all they do is put the lid on. You can see the machine in the first 5 seconds of this video.
Andrew McCarthy and Elizabeth Shue in the same commercial
"Both glass and aluminum containers are slightly porous, which means carbon dioxide can escape through small imperfections in the material. Plastic, on the other hand, is not nearly as porous and traps the gas more efficiently."
Not sure who wrote this, but this is incredibly @ss-backwards. Glass and metals are far better at containing gases than plastics. That is why they overcarbonate plastic bottles of soda. The gas transmission rates of plastics are far higher as plastics are not really solid like glass or metal, but are polymerized molecule chains almost like nets, and between the material are large gaps through which gas and vapor are able to escape more easily. That is why the best packaging is lined with foil layers such as coffee pods are.
Thanx for the education... I never thought there was so much science behind my McDonald's Coke. 😮
Ill give you a second thumbs up for the reupload 😂
You mentioned them having standards on the water used for their fountain drinks…I remember the first time I was in St. Lucia (Caribbean), I noticed how the fountain drinks tasted notably different there. That was 2005.
Now they need to use science to bring back the damn dollar menu.
To invent a time machine before 20 years of inflation could take hold?
Don't blame McDonalds, blame the government.
"Here here you are, sir. Please enjoy your chicken nugget." 😂
If they did now, you can assume it's lab grown or human meat. A warning has gone out, again. Do not eat fast or processed food as there are 100,000's of homeless people missing. It is suspected McDonalds does it. I hope you heard what Rabbi Finklestein said is in the burgers and sausage long ago. It is horrifying. Do not eat.
@@Meton2526, McDonalds, Coca Cola, KFC, and more run the government. You hadn't noticed the corporate takeover of the world?
best thing was that on the dollar menu you had even $0,50 items
I've always thought fountain sodas taste watered down compared to the stuff you buy at the store. Also glass bottles are the best for most drinks, not just soda imho
I used to say the same thing when I was younger but now that I am older I prefer fountain pop over store bought bottles and cans.
True on both counts. 🙂🇨🇦
This is why I only drink water from glass
Most all chain restaurants that have a Coca-Cola fountain have a contract with Coca-Cola to test and service the fountains. The local distributor will have a technician that comes periodically to check the levels of syrup. They have a special nozzle that twists on to the fountain where the syrup is mixed with the carbonated water that separates the syrup from the water and they measure that ratio to ensure it is correct for the franchise requirements. I used to manage a Subway before they went to Pepsi and we always called the service technician "The Pop Doctor". As I recall he would clean and sanitize the whole fountain and ice maker, test the water, change the water filters and test the carbonation levels. There is a lot of work in making that soda consistent.
Very well explained, thank you for the vid!
Wasn’t this same video released and taken down last summer? Either way, a very informative and well done piece.
Huge soda guy, even if I’ve layed off it for health reasons. But I always notice Macdonald’s tasted more carbonated and fresher as well. It actually burns ya throat if you haven’t drank soda in a bit.
That's the way Coke used to taste in general, I think New Coke (a sweeter more Pepsi-like Coke formulation) has actually taken over in the US (except McDonald's, I think they're the last hold-out)
Wow, did not know this..... I always prefer fountain sodas over store bought,,, an Mac D's is my favorite hmmm now I why. Thanks
Jiminy crickets.
Quality production. I am so edified.
Subbed. 👍
I'm so glad this guy is back. I will start watching again!
Fountain drink's always will taste different and being in a bag in a box doesn't help lol
Based on my knowledge of McDonald's I can confirm that is VERY ray Kroc. He went through the greatest lengths to ensure that consistency was identical across the board.
You are hilarious! Subscribed!
I was thinking that the title is ironic because where I live McDonald’s has a horrible cola, 0 fiziness in a mushy paper container that gets visibly soaked all the way through pretty fast. Lately I prefer to just buy the food and get the cola from somewhere else even it I am thirsty. Not to mention it’s $2.0 for 500ml (17floz).
Same here in my city.
The fizziness is low, the syrup is almost tasteless.
It's like coloured water.
Canned versions are better in my city.
A&W has to have a similar science focus. Their fountain root beer vs canned/bottled tastes like like a completely different drink
Can coke is better than fountain coke. You’re wrong for comparing it to fresh and frozen fish.
5:37 Grimace's birthday meal was released on June 12, 2023.
Legendary basketball coach Phil Jackson won TWO NBA championships on that day with two different teams!
I suppose y'all have heard of the Chicago Bulls and the L.A. Lakers...
Why did I watch a video I already watched? Either way I'm still entertained lol
6:00 I’ve worked at McDonald’s, and when one of the drinks run out we used to change the syrup and run the fountain for a little bit until it came out and then we would give it to the customer, so I think they also use some kind of flash freezing system too.
1:07 Wow, the Big Mac used to actually be big! It has much smaller patties today.
Hey hey! I’m in this video! That’s me in the Pickler and Ben segment. I was doing a segment on craft soda. It aired around Halloween, so I showed them how to make a candy corn soda (basically just honey and vanilla with a pinch of turmeric for color).
0:27 "But bufow we get started"
Such a good video! I'm gonna use that penguin joke during the holidays.
Thanks (again) for this! 🥤
If only Marriott can run hotels like McDonald’s run restaurant franchises
Now that you mention it, I feel like coke at McDonald's tastes milder than coke from a can or bottle.
Yeah mcdonald coke has always been my favorite because it seemed less sugary and more refreshing, good to know I wasn't crazy, I live in europe btw.
One thing I don't agree with is that the straw is better, it's enjoyable sure but it's so much better to drink directly from the cup to get the super cold part in contact with ice.
"Like a penguin....with a gambling debt." 😂
8:45 There is a Mean Girls musical film that is coming out on January 12, 2024.
it took me five minutes to realize that this was a reupload, lol. Still entertaining the 2nd time around!
It's a shame their fries 🍟 and burgers 🍔 don't have the same level of standards.
Their fries are actually nice
Their burgers suck though.
The fries are nothing like they used to be! They removed the tallow to make the militant vegans happy and now the fries taste not much better than tasteless cardboard if you don't eat them right away. McDonald's used to be so much better! I'm sure they will mess up the coke too eventually.
@@TheWBWoman I would have liked to try their food back when they first opened.
@TheWBWoman same thing with BK fries.
Because food isn’t regulated how the soda is.
McCoke lol! good one
But now we need McOrangeDrink to come back!!!!!!
good video
I have to admit, I've always thought McD's Coke tasted better than any other - but always assumed it was simply because of syrup-to-water ratios. Thanks for the deep dive! Keep up the good work.......
Huh, I honestly always found fountain sodas to taste worse than the canned or even bottled varieties.
I wired a beverage bottling line in a plant once I learned that if you chill the pop to 35.5 degrees it will not foam. The canning equipment ran 1200 cans a minute not a bit of foam in the cans.
When I was in my teens, a guy who owned a vending company would give me dimes painted red. He told me to buy drinks from his machines which were cup dispensers and then taste the different sodas. If I found one that was "not right" to call him and he would come fix it. I could taste test Coke, Orange, Root Beer and several others and knew instantly when the syrup to water ratio was off or they were under carbonated. I did this all through high school. Never bought a coke out of my own pocket.
technically child labor
Hahaha! Strict guide lines! Funny!
Wasn't this video posted a few months ago? If so, why was it reuploaded? Was there something in the video that had copyright issues?
I have to disagree about glass vs plastic. Glass is LESS porous than plastic. That's why there's a metallic liner inside potato chips bag so they stay fresh. That's why your 2L bottle of soda gets flat if stored for too long at room temperature (gas gets out). Honey in glass jar will take longer to turn in to sugar than in plastic jars, because plastic lets the water vapor out. I also don't think that plastic or paper cups or glass cups will make a difference when the drink is consumed within half an hour.
I got thinking about my favorite fountain pops at restaurants around town and I noticed a common factor... all the best restaurant fountain pops are places that serve pepsi instead of coke.
I've noticed that Coke at McDonald's doesn't taste the same as it use to a few years ago. These days it seems watered down, and the coloring is very light compared to the past. The Coke at Carl's Jr./Hardee's, In N Out, 'Raising Cain's', etc. taste much better than McDonald's Coke these days.
To start off once you introduce ice, its going to be water down compared to can for bottle. But ya i drink a lot at Mcdondalds and it does taste water down. They never make anything to be super great no mater the cost. They make things to be cheap as possible. Anything that may taste different is because they went the cost effective way.
@8:10 "must be kept at a low pressure and under a high pressure, like a penguin with a gambling debt". Now that's funny.
Every fountain soda tastes better because there's more carbonation
Since when did Panera Bread sell Coke? They’ve been selling Pepsi products for as long as I can remember.
That was pretty cool science there. I have always preferred fountain drinks over cans and some shops fountains over others.
Didn't you already do this one?
MatPat did on Food Theory.
nobody cares who matpat is@@edwardleemiller-eo8jp
The description says, "Yes, you've seen this video before, we had to do a re-edit, so here it is again for all to enjoy!". Please try harder.
@@timthegemPretty much. I looked at the description when I saw the video.
It's just a remaster!
...unfortunately real cane sugar is not an ingredient. Like almost all most commercial soft drinks whether pre packaged or fountain served, McDonald's Coca-Cola uses High Fructose Corn Syrup as the sweetener, not cane sugar.
Coca-Cola produced and bottled in the iconic traditional glass containers in Mexico still uses Cane Sugar and there is a difference in taste.
Whoever was in charge of calibrating the soda machines at Royals stadium in the 1970s was definitely a master-class Coke sommelier. Coke there (and at Worlds of Fun) was head and shoulders above even McDonald's.
What impact (if any) has occurred from moving to paper straws instead of plastic. I certainly noticed the difference. If I purchase a takeaway meal, I’ll tip the drink into a glass when at home. What about the change in flavour when Coke moved from sugar cane to sugar extract from corn (several years ago) - I’ve talked about this difference for years. The coke of old has gone, it has less bubbles and is far more watered down than the viscous syrup feel / taste it once had. Finally what about the ice. As you travel the world you find many travel guides tell you not to add ice to you drink as this is made form local waters (& you could become sick). But depending on the water source, treatment and additives (like fluoride) doesn’t this also impact the flavour?
If you can, obtain a Coke "Hecho en Mexico". It is decidedly different and better than "Made in USA". I'm not a Coke or Pepsi fan. But, I prefer the MX Coke, by far.
While most fast food restaurants have their Coca-Cola syrup delivered to them in plastic bags, McDonald's gets their syrup specially delivered in stainless steel tanks. The special tanks keep the syrup fresh and protect it from light, temperature, air, and anything else that might take away from its delicious flavor.
Haven't eaten at McDonald's in a long time but I will stop by and grab a sprite from there. Burns so goooooood
Crazy how much effort they put into their coke, and how little they put into their food.
McDonalds do put that much on their food, it might not be fancy but it's consistent and you know exactly what you'll get when you go there.
They also invest millions into R and D, focus groups, professional chefs, they even hire scientists to invent new ways to make their food taste better and stays fresh longer, all the kitchen equipment they use is proprietary meaning they invent their own kitchen equipment. They even invented their own soda machine that automatically fills a cup with ice and soda by pressing one button.
I first noticed the difference in the taste of Diet Coke when I had McDonald's a couple weeks ago. I first thought it had like a vanilla taste to it
This is very interesting. I have always liked McDonald’s Cokes better than other places. I think a lot of my friends think it’s just my imagination. I tell them I don’t know why but it’s just different and I like it better. It is subtle, but there is a difference. Now I know! Good presentation!
I had always just assumed someone had either never cleaned the machines or were urinating in them
@@MadScientist267 to each his own
@@kenday7942 🤣
I wouldn't have any idea today. I haven't been in a McNasty in better than 15 years.
I discovered first hand that it wasn't food in any of that and it almost caused a hospitalization from weight loss because there's no actual nutritional value in it.
Never again. Long before that the fries changed to suck mode and it really wasn't appealing regardless but it will fill you up. With material useless to your body. Oh and it still has to try and create the final deposit from there... good luck with that one too.
Stay the hell away from it. The place is no good for you. At all.
@@MadScientist267 thank you so very much for caring about my health and well-being. And I appreciate your sage advice - Being a ‘mad scientist’ you must have a lot of street cred.
Out of all those things, only 2 have any actual effect on the taste.
1. The syrup to carbonation ratio.
2. The stainless steel tanks instead of the plastic bags. And this one is the biggest. Plastic leeches into the syrup, whereas stainless steel does not. So the syrup at McDonald's is less polluted than any other restaurant, gas station, etc.
So I wasn't going crazy. I was just searching for this a couple of weeks ago to re-watch it, and it didn't exist. Haha
Thanks for this upload, story suggestion: Why did A&W Restaurants stop selling its burgers in foil wraps??
Please do The History of Ice Cream & The Ice Cream Machine from McDonald's
What does a Fry Guy hold his club with? @2:57
My local franchise waters it down and is 3/4 ice. He owns several in the area and now overcharges on top of it. I never get drinks anymore.
I'm lovin' this.
I now appreciate McDonald's in a whole new light, thank you McDonald's for caring about our beverages like a precious child...
Hey, the male narrator is back! ❤
It’s def the best. I sensed that for years, and now it’s confirmed. Also, what ever happened to Vernor’s Ginger-ale? Used to be super good in the 70’s then, what, big corporation bought and then changed the formula to corn syrup and reduced the ginger? Anyway, nice videos. Thanks.
When i worked there in 1993 I was told the reason it tastes different was because it uses sugar and not the high fructose corn syrup. That it basically is Mexican coke with a higher carbonation rate than traditional coke.
I was the first view. And I love the channel thank you so much
If they only put this much effort into their ice cream machine, life would be all good.
It’s odd, cuz I always hear about the Macdonald’s ice cream machine not working. But I regularly get ice cream there, and it’s only been not working a maybe 2wice in 3 years. Guess it depends on the thousands of locations they have all around the world lol
@@krissanders987 The ice cream machine is a scam that MacDonalds and the machine makers have on the franchise owners, forcing them to have repairmen at 400-500 a pop to "Fix machines". Its always down because during cleaning process the machine throws a error code, only a train tech can fix. There is a lawsuit against MacDonalds on this. Wendys have the exact machines and they are never down.
it would be sweet if you made a business channel about how businesses got started