A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich - Can You Tell The Difference Between Coke and Pepsi?

Episode Date: May 19, 2021

Today, Josh and Nicole are doing a blind taste test to find out: can you really tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This, this, this, this is Mythical. In his book Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, fellow podcaster Malcolm Gladwell says, Pepsi is sweeter than Coke, so right away it has a big advantage in a sip test. I don't know if that's true. So today, Nicole and I are doing a blind taste test to find out, can you really tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke? This is a hot dog as a sandwich. Ketchup is a smoothie. Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? That makes no sense. A

hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is a sandwich. What? Welcome to our podcast, A Hot Dog is a Sandwich, the show where we break down the world's biggest food debates. I'm your host, Josh Scherer. And I'm your host, Nicole Handizadeh. And Nicole, today we are solving an age-old debate. Okay uh let's just go ahead and throw in a wild card RC Cola. We can't we already bought the Pepsi's and Cokes we don't have any RC Cola. RC Cola that's any any drink that has the price of it printed on the label. Shasta. Like Shasta does that RC Cola does that it'll be like 99 cents it's like man they are not planning for inflation on this. Of course not. arizona iced tea they've made an entire just brand i was never in arizona you

were never never no this is the first time our upbringings have like really no i hate i'm not a big fan of like sugary drinks oh give me the mucho mango so i'm not a big fan of like sugary iced teas they did a good one where it's half unsweetened iced tea and then half just like corn syrup liquid. So it only had half the sugar. But they call it like passion fruit tea. But anyways, the point is. What are we doing today?

Okay, we are doing a blind taste test between Pepsi and Coke because you think you can tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke blind. Of course I can. Of course you do. Why are you so confident? I am a super taster, which actually doesn't mean anything, let's be honest. People say like super tasters have like 25% more flavor receptors on their taste buds. That's one of those useless stats. I don't believe in that at all.

I just think, I don't know, I think I have a very experienced palate and I can taste nuances in things and I just, I think I can. And now I'm going to see if it's actually true or not. What nuances do you think you can taste? Like give me your logic behind why you think you can taste the difference I well I think Pepsi has a little bit of a sweet metallic taste while Coke has more of a of a just like Coke is like I can taste Coke I know it's Coke because it's the standard yeah Coke is a standard Pepsi has that sweet metallic a little bit little bit acidic flavor that like I'm just like, this is off.

Interesting. Yeah. Interesting. So I don't believe that I can tell the difference. But that said, I've always had a fear of being put through blind taste tests because I'm afraid that I'll get exposed as a fraud. Oh, no. I don't think, listen, we need to go into this with like confidence and understanding that like this isn't going to discredit us as amazing culinary professionals. If we say this isn't going to discredit us before we do anything stupid, then we can never be discredited.

That's such a brilliant hack, Nicole. Thank you for thinking of that. No problem. I do that all the time. I always cover my bases beforehand. But we did do this one thing that gave me some confidence in my tasting ability. It was an episode I did with Shane Topp from Smosh. It was like a GMM more where it was a blindfolded ice cube taste. Or it wasn't blindfolded, but it was an an episode i did with shane top from smosh it was like a gmm more where

it was a blindfolded ice cube taste or it wasn't blindfolded it was an ice cube taste that was like my first week here and like you weren't allowed to know anything and i'm like i don't know what i'm doing but okay and i smoked it yeah i was calling out the specific flavors of gatorade i called prune juice i called whist to share and so i'm a little bit confident in this so you mentioned pepsi has a more acidic taste. I do believe that to be true. And that kind of goes back into the history and lore of Pepsi. So Pepsi was started like seven years after Coke started, essentially.

It seemed like they were kind of biting off the same. They were biting off the Coke wave. Does it have to do with like Pepsi or like using your tummy or something? So all of these drinks back then, right? These are just all medicines. they're all tonics i knew they were they were medicines but i was wondering like what sort of like was it an analgesic analgesic analgesic analgesic how do i say that we got a bleep anal and analgesic analgesic pain reliever or like was it like an antidepressant was it like for stomach pain like what was it used an antidepressant? Was it like for stomach pain? Like what was it used for? So it was just advertised as like generic like make you feel good drink.

But you hit it on the head with Pepsi is short for pepsin, which is an enzyme in your stomach that helps reduce food. However, there was never any pepsin in it. So this dude, what's the guy? We have the info here. Caleb Davis Bradham. Bradham. Bradham. Caleb Davis Bradhamham so he started

this in 1893 uh coke famously comes out in 1886 and by that time there were a ton of different you know tonics sodas being sold like i mean dr pepper right he's literally advertising himself as a doctor and then john pemberton was an actual medical doctor who found a coca-cola but income incomes caleb dav Davis Bradham, who has this drink that he's calling Brad's Drink that was actually, there was no cola in it at the time. It was just sugar, water, caramel, lemon oil, nutmeg, and like some other natural flavorings. But apparently there was never any pepsin in it, even though that's what he was sort

of advertising on the name. But back then they were like, you couldn't advertise a soda without putting the name of a drug, illegal, or medical in it. Yeah. My question is, you know, it looks like John Pember't advertise a soda without putting the name of a drug, illegal or medical in it. Yeah, my question is, you know, it looks like John Pemberton was a pharmacist. Now my question is, are these like the old-timey pharmacies that had like soda jerks and stuff like that? Or is that like before that time?

I'm pretty sure they did. Like all this stuff was sort of linked together. Like you'd go to the pharmacy to get your medical grade cocaine back in 1890. Get your egg creams, kids, come get your egg creams kids come get your egg cream get your egg creams and cocaine down to the pharmacy so you meet your best gal so why why do people say that there were coca leaves there were in the original coca-cola like that literally so coca-cola was a uh and basically a headache cure right it was an analgesic okay and

um stimulants cure headaches so they used extract from the coca plant which obviously cocaine is is based off of and that is a stimulant if i am remembering my sixth grade drug classifications correctly that we learned about what is a barbiturate i have no idea we learned about it i think it's a downer i was like 11 years old yeah barbiturates are down they're like people will offer you barbiturates. And I was like, I don't know. But anyways, and the kola nut, which has natural caffeine in it from Africa and also has a really delightful flavor to it. Coca-Cola? Yeah, it's literally like. Oh my God.

Did you never know that? Oh my God. Are you pulling my leg right now? I had no idea. I found out right now that coca plant, cola nut, coca cola. But you knew of those two things individually. You never put it together. Yes, of course.

I knew both of those things existed. I just had no idea that that's the name of the drink that contains those two. Because we just know coca cola is the thing that everyone drinks all the time. It's a trademark. I never thought of it as like having like a purpose, like the name having a purpose. Yeah, so that's what it was. So they're too stupid. Like if you think about Excedrin, right?

The headache reliever drug, it's literally just like some sort of pain reliever and then caffeine in it. Wow. Because caffeine cures headaches. And so that's what all this stuff was about. So Pepsi had added cola to the name in 1898, about a decade after Coca-Cola blew up.

But the things that they left in there, he had lemon oil in that original drink. So if you look at the label on Coke and Pepsi, the only real difference is that Coke has phosphoric acid. Pepsi has phosphoric acid and citric acid. Interesting. So that's the acid that we taste. That, yeah. So you say, yeah, you taste an extra lemony bite. Oh, my gosh.

This is the first time I've looked at the label, like, ever. But also to counter that acid, in Coke, have high fructose corn syrup, and then in Pepsi you have high fructose corn syrup and extra sugar added. Correct. Who knows how that actually plays out in taste? You're saying- See, I told you I can taste that it's sweeter and I can taste that it's more acidic. And I didn't even know that. Do you think most people can though? No, I'm'm special i'm the special one i told you this already you are special you're very special the reason i really

wanted to do this and to see if i could do it is because so many people you'll ask what the difference is and they'll go like pepsi's less fizzy and it's like that all depends on the level of fizz at the soda machine at the cracker barrel that has nothing to do they're all like that's not a real thing yeah um but that said it could be the extra sugar that's making it be perceived as totally so there are slight slight differences i don't think most people can taste them but do you want to do this thing right now do you want to do it right now i don't know do you have a blindfold what do you have a blindfold i was gonna have you close your eyes i don't think oh man what do you want a blindfold we have like a cactus over there do you want to hold that over your eyes just put them in my eye okay okay okay i can do it yeah

i can close my well we have here nicole's eyes are closed i have three cups in front of me and i have various amounts of pepsi and coca-cola i'm going to put two of one of the drinks into two of the cups and then one of the other drink nicole i will shift them around. I will keep track of them in my mind and you will taste them and tell me what your answer is. Okay, just so you know, we're surrounded by a lot of equipment. So just be careful and don't spill any liquids. Oh God.

Do not spill any liquids. Hold on, Nicole, I'm pouring, I'm pouring, I'm pouring. I'm so nervous. I'm scared. But I think I'm gonna do great. You're gonna do good. Why would I be scared? I'm gonna do so nervous. I'm scared. Don't be scared. You're going to do good. Why would I be scared? I'm going to do so good.

I contain multitudes. Maggie, did you know that? Okay. Okay, my hands are here. Nicole, I have put the first drink in your hand. Okay. Do I drink it? Smell it, drink it, do whatever you want to do. She is. Okay. Do I drink it? Yeah, smell it, drink it,

do whatever you want to do. She's smelling the glass. I drink? She's kind of like, you drink it? Yeah, what are you waiting for? Okay. May I have the other one, please?

Oh, actually, can I have a palate cleanser? Oh, yeah, we have water. Do you want me to put your water in your hands? Yeah, I'll take the water. Do you have any initial thoughts on what that might have been?

Nope, I do not. Josh, do not. Josh, do not. Josh, put it here. Put it here. What do you mean? And let me grasp it. You put it on top of my hand. The last day they let us record eating food.

You put it on top of my darn hand. Be an athlete. You don't have any guesses on what that is. You're establishing a baseline right now. No, yes. I mean, I had an idea when I smelled it. I smelled it and I'm like, this is Pepsi. But I don't know if that's true.

You know what I mean? Okay, okay. I'm ready for the next one. Do you see how my hand is in the cup? I see how your hand, I'm bumping your microphone. Meg, your sound level is still good. It's going horribly. We didn't even tell like Meg, your producer, that we were doing this.

You should have just fed me. I just walk in and go, Meg, I need six cups. Okay, they both smell the same. Okay. How do they both taste like cola your eyes closed just taking alternate chugs back and forth from cola in the morning is hilarious to me what time is it i have no idea i don't know hold on wait okay give me like give me like a few minutes you have one more to taste by the way just to be clear to be clear oh god you gotta you gotta brush your teeth later that's getting into the gums You have one more to taste, by the way, just to be clear. Oh, God.

You got to brush your teeth later. That's getting into the gums. She just gargled it and swished it around. Okay. You ever watch one of those really grotesque wine tasters? Yeah, that was me. They're just like snorting with the wine in the mouth and they spit it. I am a grotesque wine drinker.

You don't hear me sip my coffee. I'm like, I'm a slurper. Okay, this is what I think. The first cup you gave me. I'm not going to reveal the answer until you have the third one. Okay, what's the third one? There's a third one.

There's a third one? Yeah, we have three cups. Two of them are one of the drinks. Take this, sir. One of them is the other. What? What? There's a third cup?

If it was just one versus one, that wouldn't be... Josh, I had no idea. Nicole, you said you were special. I am. I am, she weeps. Okay, so what am I supposed to do now? Guess which ones were...

This is number three and this is number one. Correct. Okay, number one is Pepsi. Number two is Coke. Number three is Coke. Nicole, number one was Pepsi. Number two is Coke. Number three is Coke. Nicole, number one was Pepsi. Okay. Nicole, number three was Coke.

Okay. Nicole, number two was Pepsi and not Coke. You're a fraud. You can't taste it. I did good. I did. No, I got two out of three. That's confounding.

66%. I know that's a D, but D's get degrees. Okay. Wait, hold on. Can you take these cups out of my hand? Can I say something about- Can I open my eyes? Can I say something about D's getting degrees? It turns out D's do not get degrees, okay? Wait, hold on. Can you take these cups out of my hand? Can I say something about... Can I open my eyes?

Can I say something about D's getting degrees? It turns out D's do not get degrees because I got... Hold on. Turns out in the UCLA Spanish system... Yeah, let's talk about this right now. A 73% did not get me the degree. Well... I thought... I just assumed.

You need a 74% to pass and get the credit. What kind of crap is that? Well, I went to culinary school, so... And so we did the seal. thought i just assumed you need a 74 to pass and get the credit what kind of crap is that well i went to culinary school so grades didn't really matter as long as you just like sweet talk to your chef so whatever uh no but i did pretty good you did pretty good you you seem to get pepsi right off the bat i got pepsi right at the bat just by the smell of it i smelled it and i knew it was pepsi yeah but what happened in drink number two then because that was pepsi too what it was i didn't ask for a palate cleanser i didn't

you did between one and two you asked for a palate cleanser but which one did i get right wait you got number two wrong i got number two wrong you initially said it smells like pepsi but then you panicked and you went back to coke so i got two out of three i got one out of three well you got two out of three depending on how you view success i got two out of three i think i did good i don't care well i'm still special That's not bad. You did guess it correctly and I think that's better than a lot of people do. I've done this taste test with other people who made the same bold claim and I just walked. This is when

I was working in a magazine. I walked into their office with Pepsi and Coke and I had like eight cups. You've done this before? Yeah. And I failed but I want to do it with you. Did I pass or did I fail? I say you failed because you got it wrong. I got two out of three. Okay.

I consider that a pass. And I'm curious to see how I'm going to do. Nicole, I need you to engineer the same test for myself. I didn't even see you do it, though. What? I didn't see you do it, though. What do you mean? I'm having anxiety. Do you know what?

Can I have an empty cup, please? Okay. Close your eyes. Okay. My eyes are closed. So the rules are it's two of one and one of another. Yes, obviously. Well, no, I don't want you to trick me into doing three Cokes.

I mean, duh. My initial thought was like, I'm going to do three straight Coke, and then I'm going to watch you go, oh, this one's definitely Pepsi. And then I go, Nicole, you're wrong. This is such a high-pressure situation for me. I didn't know I was going to be talking and pouring at the same time. Yeah, I know. I'm wondering how this is going to come through in the edit.

Yeah, it's okay. Okay, are you ready for your first cup? Where is it? Okay, give me your hand. I only drink diet. I have not had regular Kool-Aid beers. Oh, really? Oh, okay.

Okay, I'm trying to think back to my memories. Also, I get dizzy when I close my eyes. I'm trying to think back to my memories. Also, I get dizzy when I close my eyes. I'm trying to think back to my memories of my grandma's house. And she would have caffeine-free Diet Coke. I used to do a lot of caffeine-free. It smells like that. Uh-huh. Okay.

I'm literally trying to smell. But I'm getting such a familiar, like, it's crazy the flood of memories that come back to me when you just smell a cola. I just hit the mic with the fizzle, and I don't know. Are you going to belch it? It smells like the Sizzler Buffet to me, because I would always just get a bunch of cola at the Sizzler Buffet. Are you ready for number two, or would you like some water? That has a bit of a lemony taste to me. Okay.

So my first instinct would be to say Pepsi. Okay. Wait, where's the cup? Hold on, can you put your hand like this? Grab it. I got it. I'm drinking them all from the bottom. to say Pepsi.

Okay. Wait, where's the cup? Hold on. Can you put your hand like this? Grab it. I got it. I'm drinking them all from the bottom. This one smells... I could be completely off here,

but it smells a little bit stronger of cola. I'm not holding it anymore. Oh, man. Oh, man, this is tough. Isn't it? Okay. Let me know when you want to hand it off to me. Wait, give me number one back.

Okay. Okay, so I'm also tasting... I mean, there's citric acid in both of these. There's citric acid in Coke? No, sorry, phosphoric acid. But there's extra acid in both of these. This is interesting. Okay, so number two has more acid in it. Okay.

Which could be a function of two things, though. What am I grabbing? Am I grabbing the microphone? Just keep your hand out. It's okay. So number two definitely had more acid, more acidic flavor at least in it. So that could be the additional acid in Pepsi, or it could be me tasting the phosphoric acid in Coke because there's less sugar.

Okay. I don't know what that means. This is number three, okay? Okay. This is number two that you're drinking right now. I can't got it with my mouth. This is number two. Okay. Okay. This is number two that you're drinking right now. I can't bite it with my mouth! This is number two. Okay, okay, number two. Oh, boy.

Are you gonna burp after this? No. Oh, God. Wait, give me number one. Give me number one again. Give me number one again. Because now I'm trying to track the acid levels. That's what I think the key is. I'm trying to track the acid levels in the back of my palate. Number one. You're just trying to drink free Coke. You're just trying to drink free Coke. It's nice. I'm going to get a sugar rush. Oh, God. Oh, God. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Okay. Number two and three, I was tasting similar acid levels. One, I think,

had a little bit less acid. However, I'm going to say that one is Coke and two and three were Pepsi. Because I taste... Wait. No, no. I'm saying the opposite sorry i'm saying number one is pepsi number two and three were coke that's my official answer one is pepsi two and three were coke okay number one was pepsi yeah number two was coke and number three was pepsi no way yeah isn't that weird that's so funny so what did you get we got the same score and we not only that we did the same thing oh. Where we accurately identified two of them off the bat, but then the third that was the same, we both flubbed.

Yeah, I think it's because once you have the colas in your mouth, it just kind of like confuses you. Yeah. Because your mouth is still tingling. Like my upper gums are still tingling. Well, that's because I swished it. I'm all tingly. But that said, to me, that says you can't really tell the difference.

I mean, we could tell the difference initially, but I think once our palates got blown out by all the bubbles and stuff and the sugar, I think that's whenever our bodies were like, hmm, it's really, really hard to decipher. But our first guesses were correct for the two out of the three. Yeah. Did you learn anything from that experience of drinking them blind and just trying to focus on the flavor in your mouth? A little bit. Like, I can just tell the smell of Pepsi is very distinct versus the smell of Coke.

The Pepsi has that, like, that acidic, like, acrid scent. And then Coke is a little bit more muted. I was going to burp. You asked if I was going to burp. And there it is.

And there it is. I'm sorry. We're done. We're done now. We're done with the burping. You were saying, Nicole, you were giving it a student analysis.

Please go on. Go on, Nicole. Be a pro. Be a professional. I feel like this is like a college experience for me as someone who went to like not real college. This is like a very college. This is a very fratty experience for me.

So thank you. Yeah. I mean, what was I saying? Something about acid levels? You were talking about how you can smell the acid in. Yeah. I can definitely smell the acid in Pepsi and Coke has a little bit of a... You smell acid or you smell lemon?

I don't... Well, they're the same thing almost. Well, but I mean... Lemon is acidic. But think about the smell of lemon zest versus the smell of lemon juice. They're like pretty different. Lemon zest, you get that like actual lemon balm. Well, no, it's perfumey.

Yeah. It's not a perfumey. But you're saying you can smell actual like acid. I can. Interesting. I can, yes. That is true. I believe you. I'm not acid. I can. Interesting. I can. Yes, that is true. I believe you.

I'm not trying to say you don't. They used lemon oil back in the day. Yeah. They don't use it now though. Well, so we don't know what they use. So there's a lot of stuff. BuzzFeed did this article that was like, this is the one ingredient difference between Pepsi and Coke.

And that's the stuff we were talking about with the citric acid and the additional sugar. However, if you know anything, how the FDA works works which you don't buzzfeed it's that you can couch thousands of ingredients under the term natural flavors yep and so there's obviously going to be some differences in that so they could be using lemon extract they could be using whatever that you are legally allowed to put in natural flavors and don't have to disclose nicole stifled a burp nicole had to burp but she didn't let it out i tried to put it to the microphone so you could hear it. You know, I just wanted to be like a part of the crew. Nicole, you'll be initiated into the frat one day.

Yay! Frat! Yeah, that's what they do in frats. They go, frat. I was not in a frat, by the way. People think that I was. Fraternity! I didn't even enjoy the frat parties.

They were the worst. UCLA had the best frats. No, they didn't. Oh my, what'd you go to ZBT? Well, that's for someone who like literally doesn't go anywhere. So one time I went to the UCLA ZBT party. What's ZBT? It's the historically Jewish frat.

Oh no, it's A.E. Pi. That's there too. A.E. Pi is more Jewish than ZBT. ZBT just kind of has Jewish roots. But anyways, I went there and I made everyone deep fried mac and cheese chimichangas

at the frat party and they were all very excited about that well who would it be? but anyways back to Pepsi vs Coke the thing that I was getting and that I was trying to track was even though people say Pepsi has a more refreshing acidity or lemoniness to it I get more acid off of Coke

and again that can transmit through the phosphoric acid, which is, I mean, any acid, right, is going to taste sour. Bases taste bitter, acids taste sour. That's just cooking science. Yeah, but aren't there like different forms of acid? Like tartaric acid is different than malic acid, is different than citric acid, is different than phosphoric acid. Exactly.

And citric acid is going to have like a similar, citric acid is basically lemon juice powder. Like if you really kind of taste it like it's sort of the most uh essence of fruity sourness yeah it's fruity sourness whereas some of the other ones like tartaric acid malic acid we've we've tasted those in our like like the back of my like my glands are starting to like like jiggle it's a chemical acidity that you almost don't associate with food warheads warhead yeah warheads oh my tongue just started watering did you grow up those urban legends about kids burning holes in their tongues

with warheads yeah yeah me too that's why i was afraid of them i did it anyways yeah dangerously but the thing i was tracking on the coke was or at least that i thought it was until i got number three wrong was like on the back of the palate there's more of an acidic sort of like twang. Which one tastes better to you? Coke. Yeah, Coke tastes so much better. Coke tastes so much better to you, right? Well, on its own, but I mean you're not drinking Coke by itself. You're drinking it with food, typically.

No, that's true. Who drinks Coke on their own? Yeah, I do. I'll drink soda as like a dessert. What? I'll finish. Okay, so I eat so much spicy meals. Yeah. And after a big spicy meal, I need something sweet to calm it down. Yeah.

And you know, that can be like, Nicole, you bought me my tray of Josh's special cookies so I can have my little cookies after my meal. Yeah. That's the real thing. I don't know if we've broached that on the podcast yet, but Nicole got me a Costco variety pack of kind of like fancy chocolate covered cookies. Because every day he would go to me, hey, can we just buy some like snack cakes? I would like a small

I wouldn't say can we buy them. I'd say, do we have any? Single bite snack cakes. He used the word single bite snack cakes. So I said, you know what? I'm just going to get this guy a tray of freaking Costco cookies. And he loves them. He watches them all the time. Oh, I have the best time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have the best time. I am an easily manipulable

child. Yeah. And you're going to such a great uh manipulative mother one day i don't say that no in a good way you gotta manipulate kids i don't want to manipulate this is parenting with nicole and josh false i want my kids to flourish and be free and do whatever and i want to supplement that with love care and attention no anytime can I criticize all the parents that listen to our podcast right now? Anytime, anytime parents are like, my kid doesn't want to eat vegetables. They don't like them. I'm like, you're an adult.

They're a stupid child. You trick them. No, no, you have to trick them. You have to trick them. That's manipulation. Yeah. Oh, you want to know something crazy? My niece and nephew are like obsessed with Coke.

They like love Coke. They go, hey, Nicole, can I have a Coke? And I say, no. Like, please. I got a B on my like this. So I did really good in my spelling test. I said, I don't care. And then one time I gave my niece Pepsi and she knew that she's six.

And she goes, this isn't Coke. And I said, look at the color. That's Coke. She goes, no, it's different. And I'm like, girl, you're crazy. I love her. Kids have more attuned palettes. I don't know do they uh they're more sensitive at least they are which is why kids tend to i mean at least this is what i haven't done the studies myself i haven't

swabbed some children um but kids they say prefer sweet to bitter and they love sour candies because their palates are more easily excitable and sensitive and as you get older your your taste buds just kind of get dull. Like, oh my God, eating with my 99-year-old grandma is hilarious. She'll be like, Granny, do you like the pizza at BJ's restaurant and brew house? And she'll just go like, I don't taste anything anymore. And you'll be like, that's great, Grandma. Yeah, one time I was hanging out with my grandma, and I'm like, hey, do you taste it?

I'm like, hey, doesn't that taste a little salty? She goes, honey, I haven't tasted anything since I was 74. And I said, what? She's like, yeah, the older you get, you lose your sense of taste and sense of smell. And I'm like, what? I hope that never happens to me, because that's my whole life.

It might be a beautiful release, though, right? Like the fact that we spend our entire lives chasing new tastes. You almost touched my shoulder. But I didn't. I was gesturing. will never touch a co-worker that's the job no that was not a that was just me gesturing into the wide world no no no okay keep going but i think you know at some point like we need to be released from our prison of chasing down new tastes.

You think, like, you mean like as culinary professionals or just like as humans? Well, but I think you and I both would have, even if we didn't do this as a job, we would constantly be looking for the best new restaurant, trying to find a better version of this dish, trying to cook a better version of this dish. Yeah, always. Imagine one day just being released from that. Wow, that sounds so great. You could just enjoy all your other hobbies. You don't have to cook anymore. You just boil zucchini.

It's a prison of my own design. I know. It's a beautiful prison that I love. I asked for this. Okay, so Coke versus Pepsi. I think we both established there are differences, but we both did struggle amid drinking them side by side. I think we both nailed the two differences right off the bat.

Yeah. And from slightly different angles, which is interesting. So there definitely is a difference, and people can taste the the difference in a truly blind taste test scenario though i don't think a majority of like americans probably not yeah wasn't there a test that didn't literally coke and pepsi do this exact same thing like in the 80s or something or like the 90s there was like a huge ad campaign where they would have people like lined up outside and they'd be like hey taste this now taste this Now taste this. Really? Yes. I didn't know about this. You're kidding me. You know everything.

I know. You'd think so. Josh, you know everything. No, I know they did like the, what was it? The new Coke. Coke did a full like flavor and can redesign in the 80s. No, let me. I was really mad about it.

In 1975, they did, Pepsi did something called the Pepsi Challenge, a blind taste test showing more people preferred Pepsi over Coke. It was a huge ad campaign. I'm surprised you didn't know about this. No, that's really interesting. So that was actually what led to um we're googling it now that is actually what led to coke doing the redesign into new coke yeah uh which was like one of the biggest flops in history a fun fact i do know uh independently on my own about coca-cola and why i mean one of the reasons they're such a transformative company they invented the freaking coupon what it is the first documented use of a coupon in like two years after the drink came out

uh john pemberton was just like in magazine or in what the newsies the cereals the nickelodeons the talkies whatever they called like newspapers local newsletters and stuff he just put in a thing that just said like redeem this for one glass of Coke. That's amazing. God bless him. And that is how, I mean, now that transforms into... Extreme couponing.

My lovely girlfriend walking into the Bed Bath & Beyond with a gallon Ziploc just full of coupons. Your girlfriend and I do the same exact thing. It's like a huge stack. You just go, there you go. There you go. There you go. And I'm always embarrassed about it until...

You should never be embarrassed. No, because the cashiers are, like, in on it. They get excited about coupons. They love it. They, like, try and find you more. Yeah,'m always embarrassed about it until... You should never be embarrassed. No, because the cashiers are like in on it. They get excited about coupons. They love it. They like try and find you more. Yeah, they go, I have some. They're just like, give me a whole stack, honey. Yeah, I know.

Yeah, that's incredible. You should embrace the coupon lifestyle. When I was little, I used to clip them all the time. I used to. I mean, I still keep the Carl's Jr. coupons. Oh, we have so many El Pollo Loco ones in my house. Oh, two for $3 on the Western Bacon Cheeseburger? Yeah.

With a nice glass of Coke and not Pepsi? Yeah, Coke and not Pepsi. Okay, right. Like you still, even knowing they're very similar and knowing that you got flubbed and I did too on the last taste test, you go into a restaurant and they say, is Pepsi okay? What do you say? Because I love and care about restaurant workers, I'll always say yes. But in my core, I'm like, no. Yeah. But I don't mind. You know, I understand why they choose Pepsi. I mean, I don't understand.

I don't know why. Maybe it's cheaper. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, that's all a weird business decision with contracts and stuff. Like McDonald's uses Coke, you know, Taco Bell. I mean, like Mountain Dew is an independently bottled thing. Yeah. And so is Dr. Pepper.

But they do Pepsi because PepsiCo has some sort of relationship to Frito-Lay which has some sort of you know all that stuff is really complicated but you go to like an independent restaurant

and you go like can I have a Coke or a Diet Coke and they say is Pepsi okay you always gotta say yeah don't make life complicated no no no

I go actually can I get an unsweetened iced tea well that's my flip because I do prefer I mean the branding of Coke I prefer everything about it the look

the feel the feelings that it inspires in me. It could be because there was like a LeBron James Coca-Cola commercial in 2006 or something that I remember. But all of that, you know, knowing that they're very, very similar, I did find Coke a little bit more enjoyable. But I mean, when you're reaching for a soft drink, it's not all about taste. It's about the branding. It's about all the memories that you have built up. It's about the bubbles. It's all about the bubble that you have built up. It's about the bubbles.

It's about, it's all about the bubble, Jimmins. Yeah, you gotta help with the digestion. No, but my question is, when are we doing Sprite versus 7-Up?

Sprite versus 7-Up, find out next week on A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Nicole. It's still, I thought they were gone, but they're back. They're back. They're back.

Okay, Nicole, if you and I have to say, now it's time to find out what other wacky ideas are rattling out there in the Twitterverse. It's time for a segment we call Opinions Are Like Casseroles. What was that? Where were you on that? Hello, Whitney Houston. Wow. What range?

Okay, okay. First up, first up. Wait, first up. Do you think that there's something wrong with my body, the way that it produces gases? No. Okay, that's just normal. But I do burp like more than, I think what it is, I start my day with a lot of yogurt. I'm talking about 12 to 16 ounces of yogurt. I don't need to know this information and i think it's the dairy kind of thanks for

sharing i don't want to know neither does do the fans i think the dairy kind of okay anyways first up we got at c bench 15 margarine is nasty um this is polarizing i taste margarine it's like the way that i i love eating fresh cherries, right? A good fresh rainier or Bing cherry or Morello. Ugh, delicious. I also love the flavor of cherry-flavored candy. To me, they're different. Margarine is like fake butter-flavored spread.

Yeah. Which is still delicious to me. Yeah. Margarine has its uses. I don't love it. I don't want to eat margarine. I glazed a steak and we had a bunch of margarine in the fridge in the Mythical Kitchen. I was like, I want to use it up.

And so I glazed a steak and margarine and that was great. It tastes like movie theater popcorn. It tastes like movie theater popcorn to me. Yeah. I don't have an issue with margarine. Again, always use butter when you can. But like if you have like a recipe that's like vegan or like if you're doing kosher cooking, like that's fine.

Yeah. Also margarine, cheap is all hell. Che hell cheap very cheap uh and so definitely a great money-saving thing and man i like it on toast that's great chow mania says biscoff cookies and string cheese are the perfect pairing you're welcome okay i mean this is this sounds doable to me biscoff cookies are absolute god tier. Biscoff is good with anything. It's good with anything. It's pretty much good with anything. I don't think this pairing, I don't think the pairing is what I'm after with the string cheese in Biscoff. I would like them separately. I would like to eat a nice savory meal of string cheese.

Like in your lunchbox. Yeah, yeah. You finish with the string cheese. It's like coursing out a seven course, you know, French fine dining meal. That's all lunchboxes are. They're seven course dining meals just in a box. You start with your little crudités, right? You get the carrot, you get the celery in there,

and then you move on to the entree. Maybe there's a little appetizer. I don't know. What do kids eat? Potato salad? No. Chips? If you're giving your kids potato salad in 2021,

please reevaluate your life choices. My kid's going to come to school slopping with a lunchbox full of potato salad. No, no, your kid's gonna come with like monkey hand rolls and stuff. Yeah, because I love them. Yeah, wasabi peas like artisanal jams. I made my own confiture. Yeah. And then you get your

frito-misto with potato chips. And then you move on to the entree. Frito-misto, like a mixed fried platter that you might get at the beginning of a meal. What does that have to do with a kid's lunchbox? And then you move on to the entree. Frito Misto. Like a mixed fried platter that you might get at the beginning of a meal. Your calamari. What does that have to do with a kid's lunchbox? We're talking about how it's like a full coursed out meal. Who is putting?

You get your crudite, your Frito Misto with the potato chips. It's just like a nice little fried app. Oh, the Frito Misto is the potato chips. Yeah, or if you get the munchies with the sun chips and the Doritos, that's a true Misto. That's a little bit more Misto for me. Yeah, that's a little bit Misto. And then you got your entree with the sandwich. Yeah, we got a ham and cheese. Beautiful. Yeah, it's kind of like of misto and then you got your entree with the sandwich yeah we got a ham and cheese

beautiful yeah it's kind of like a deconstructed croque monsieur mustard on the side yeah and then and then you go onto your cheese

course you know the kids probably drinking a little wine because it's lunch you mean a pouch of capri sun or something

yeah and then you get to the real dessert which is a nice biscoff cookie so to me they're not a pairing but they're a

progression you're so funny that was one of the dumbest conversations I've ever had on here the real dessert, which is a nice Biscoff cookie. So to me, they're not a pairing, but they're a progression. You're so funny. That was one of the dumbest conversations I've ever had on here. At CandyVicky13, I like dipping bread and butter in cornmeal. Sue me, do you think they mean cooked cornmeal or raw cornmeal? Well, it's obviously raw cornmeal.

Cooked cornmeal turns into polenta and or grits. They're scooping up polenta with bread and butter. No, no, no. They literally just go, yoink, and they throw it in there. I mean scooping up Palenta with bread and butter. No, no, no. They just take the, they literally just go yoink and they throw it in there. I mean, eating raw cornmeal on bread, the closest thing I can equate this to

is a Chicago deep dish pizza. Okay. Think about it. Huh. Because you get, you're probably oil in the pan, you put the cornmeal on the bottom so it doesn't stick,

there's probably cornmeal in the crust and you get, I can see this just adding like a nice texture and if you leave the cornmeal in your mouth long enough it turns to polenta candy vicky you can send me your lawyer's information and we can talk about the what arbitration process was that good was that good that was good yeah arbitration that's a word i i read a lot of john grisham

books when i was a child a lot of upsetting themes in them too that were too upsetting for my young child brain. But arbitration is a legal word. Okay. See you in court. Yes, yes, yes. Okay. Georgian U Jr. says, what defines a Philly cheesesteak? The Philly? The cheese?

The steak? The bun slash vessel? I think it's all encompassing. A Philly cheesesteak must contain, in my opinion, meat, bread, and a long roll. It's got to be a long roll, right? It's got to be long. And, you know, some people don't like cheese, but I think it needs cheese. Yeah, because, I mean, you can't order, like, a plain steak,

and I think you could still say, like, hey, you want to get some cheese steaks, even if you are ordering a plain steak. Yeah. I think it's just got to be thinly shaved beef, some sort of thinly shaved beef. That said, these places will also likely do chicken steaks. They do? I don't get it. I don't want that.

I don't know if you're trying to not eat red meat and you just get a bunch of thinly shaved chicken meat with American cheese steamed and onions. It's still a pretty tasty meal, but it doesn't feel right. Thinly shaved beef doesn't necessarily have to have cheese to be a cheesesteak in my opinion. It doesn't feel right. No, it doesn't feel right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think thinly shaved beef doesn't necessarily have to have cheese to be a cheesesteak, in my opinion. I agree.

Yeah. It doesn't need cheese. It needs the long bun and the thinly shaved meat. Yeah, that is cooked on a flat top because there's a lot of other sandwiches that do something similar, like, you know, the Chicago beef sandwich. I've never had it. Baltimore pit beef sandwich. Never had that.

A French dip maybe on an oblong roll. A lot of that. Yeah, but I think it needs to be raw steak that's cooked on a flat top. And then doesn't need onions necessarily because you obviously

get it plain, but I think the long roll is the key. Like if you put that in focaccia, I don't believe that's a cheesesteak anymore. That's a steak sandwich.

Yeah. Yeah. God, I want a cheesesteak. Oh my God. Can we order from Philly's Best? I don't know why we don't. Dude, Philly's Best does really good work.

I don't know why we don't. Man, we should make some calls. At MJ McD, Cold baked sweet potatoes Are superior to Hot baked sweet potatoes Yes This is a really good video

This is a really good I was just thinking about this Because someone wrote An article It was It might have been Eater And it was like This is the real

Best summer treat And it was like A frozen sweet potato I think people freeze them And then they bake them From frozen I think that's what Oh really Yeah I think that's what No but this article Is just saying like a frozen sweet potato. I think people freeze them and then they bake them from frozen. I think that's what I said. Oh, really?

Yeah, I think that's what I said. Well, no, but this article is just saying like roast a sweet potato, pop it in the freezer, eat it like a frozen banana. Oh, interesting. And I think it'd be really good. And I was doing, this is when I was on a weird, not bodybuilding kick, but I was like, you know, I had the hernia. Let's talk about my medical history and my bowels again.

Yeah, yeah, go ahead. When I had the hernia and I like came out of that and I couldn't work out for a year and I got back into working out, I was trying to be that person who would eat Greek yogurt and sweet potatoes all the time. Oh, wow. And that did not last very quickly. That's hard. That's a hard lifestyle.

Yeah, it's brutal. But it was a nice, it was a fun month to kickstart the fitness journey back. But what I would do is I would roast a sweet potato for just like a long time in the skin, in the jacket, but like poke holes in it. So you're releasing the steam and it gets so just fudgy and sweet and delicious. And I'd put that in the fridge and just eat this ice cold. It's like ice cream.

It's like ice cream. It's like pudding. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I would, I think there need to be more sweet potato based desserts. I love sweet potato. Big fan.

Love sweet potato fries. I love baked sweet potatoes. I have sweet potato mash. Yeah. Sweet potato casserole with the- Marshmallows. marshmallows marshmallows i'm not a big marshmallows person i love the marshmallows what accent is this marshmallow i don't know but i'm estonia i guess i made it a lot of times though but like i'd prefer not to eat it yeah you kind of make it out of obligation i what i don't like are sweet potatoes in dishes that like aren't sweet typically

like what if like you're having a stew with sweet potato chunks? I like typically- Sweet potato soup? I've never had sweet potato soup. Don't like that. I do love though like, you'll put like kabocha in a lot of like Japanese soups,

getting that one little bite. But if it's like an every bite thing, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, but this is a great opinion. Good job, MJ McD. Yeah, we love you. Our guy nine,

M&M's and Skittles eaten together are amazing. It's like eating chocolate fruit. This literally is a meme where someone says, have you seen the meme when someone's like, I have a bag of M&M's and a bag of Skittles and then pours them both and says, let the chaos begin. So I've actually had them together

and I'm just not a big fan because Skittles are really acidic. So I just don't like these two together at all. But I think it's funny how like you, like this person likes to do this for themselves. Like the chaotic knowledge, like they love chaos themselves. I love that.

Yeah, they're engineering their own chaos for their lives. Just make things more interesting. Engineering chaos, yeah. That's really beautiful. No, the thought of this is nightmarish to me mostly because I have soft teeth and eating Skittles scares me

that I'm going to pull out a filling. Yeah. And if I'm jumping in thinking like you're going to have some delightful chocolate in your mouth. And then it's some freaking lime Skittles. Woo, I'm going to pull out a filling. Yeah. And if I'm jumping in thinking, like, you're going to have some delightful chocolate in your mouth. And then it's some freaking lime Skittles. Woo, get out of here with that. I'm not a fan, but I love that you found something that you really enjoy. That's important.

Keep doing that. At Frank LaMarca, ketchup on potato chips is good. Yeah, it is, Frank. It is good. I agree. I like it, too. I'm a big fan. I've done this before more than once.

Yeah, I have. I'll say it. I mean, I'll. I've done this before more than once. Yeah, I'll say it. I mean, I'll just make toast and dip it in ketchup sometimes because all I want is a starch as a vessel for ketchup. Well. You don't have to agree with it. You don't have to agree with it. Yeah, I don't. One psycho to another says Loft House cookies are the superior cookie.

Okay, let's talk about Loft House cookies. Explain Loft House Cookies. Explain Loft House Cookies for those who don't know. They are the cookies that you see at the store that are kind of like white tan and then they have a beautiful pink sprinkle circle. Was that pretty good?

Is that a good way to describe everybody? That tracks for me. Okay, and some people, they are very polarizing. Some people are obsessed with them. They think they're the best cookie ever. Some people think

they are nasty and disgusting. I actually really, really like them. I love the texture of them. I think they're nice and sweet. They're a cute little treat and. I love the texture of them. I think they're nice and sweet. They're a cute little treat. And they just, they're a nostalgic, beautiful little thing. And they're easy. They're accessible.

I don't really see them as a problem at all. Are people seeing them as a problem? The plague, the blight of Lofthouse cookies. Some people hate them. I can see that. When you were a child, Nicole, you were in a school, an elementary school per se. What did kids bring in if it was their birthday? Did they bring in treats to share with the class?

I don't remember because I've disassociated from that part of my life a lot. Oh. Yeah, I don't remember. Do you want to unpack your childhood traumas here right now? Okay, that's fair. No. At some point, there was a seismic shift where people were bringing in mini cupcakes to eat for their birthday. Yeah, people used to bring mini cupcakes and stuff all the time.

But I remember a distinct seismic shift between third and fourth grade. It switched from I swear to you this happened. It switched from mini cupcakes to loft house cookies. And then every kid was bringing loft house cookies. We didn't bring anything because we were poor. And my parents would say, it's your birthday. They should be giving you treats. And then I'd have

to tell that to my classmates. See? See? Your parents had a good point there. They had a good point there. I do enjoy, what I enjoy about it is that the cookie isn't sweet. It's just bread. Yeah. The cookie is just bread

and then it's got the sweet, the super sugary. It's like hydrogenated oil bread. Yeah, it's like, I remember Trevor who has a degree in pastry. We were trying to get him to sort of diagram out what Loft House is and he's like, it's kind of like a biscuit

if you just like blended the dough together but like also has a little bit of like a biscuit if you just like blended the dough together but like also has a little bit of like a short crust texture yeah he's right it's an undefined disc of barely sweetened hydrogenated oil filled dough and that compounding with the ultra sweet frosting it's a lovely experience for me yeah i don't know why it gets so much hate yeah pop in the microwave for 20 seconds and mash it with a spoon no no don no, don't have to do all of them. Why do you mash your food? I like paste. I like eating pastes. I love pâtés.

I love any sort of paste. Gruel. Big gruel guy trying to make gruel sexy again. You know, yeah, any sort of porridge I'm a big fan of. Yeah, you know, puddings, paste, porridge, gruels. That's the world that I like to live in. Nicole is verklempt go ahead did you eat glue as a kid no i did not eat glue i um i like nice tasting pastes glue is it's salty but i i didn't it's not what i was into but i had my best friend ate play-doh

how do you know it's salty oh because i ate i ate it. I tried it. I didn't like, of course, I tried glue when I was a kid. Yeah, yeah. So I guess your question, did you eat glue as a kid? Yeah. But I didn't eat it often. Like, I tried Play-Doh. I tried glue. I tried the glue stick.

I tried, like, the little glitter art things, you know? But I didn't, like, eat them consistently. They were all one and done for me. I was like, this isn't as nice as real food. I want to try everything. I want to try everything. You ever bite into a crayon? Yeah, of course.

Yeah. Yeah, of course. I was a big fan of that. Yeah, well, I like the texture of crayons, but the flavor is lacking. I would never eat it. I just like would bite them in half and then bite the other half in half. Like, I like the way it felt in my mouth, but I would never eat it. I would just snap it with my teeth.

I'm like a pincap che in my mouth, but I would never eat it. I would just snap it with my teeth. I'm a pen cap chewer. Oh, one time. That's the best food, pen caps. Wait, Josh. One time I was sucking on a pen, and then the ink came out and exploded in my mouth, and it was all blue. It was so embarrassing. One more.

Let's do one more. Let's get some actual cookery knowledge in here. At Kangat0989, onions can be sauteed in butter or oil, but mushrooms should only be sauteed in butter. So this is false. Mushroom cookery to me, I'm a huge fan of roasted mushrooms, like just in a pan. You kind of roast mushroom based sauces, all that. I believe the correct way to do this is mushrooms should be seared in a neutral oil at a super hot temp. Okay. Because to cook mushrooms properly, especially some bigger chunks, you need to hit it with super high heat. Otherwise,

the moisture is going to leach out and you're going to get steam. And butter can't handle, unless you're, I guess, using ultra clarified butter. Yeah. Butter has trouble handling high heat because it separates and burns and browns. If you want brown butter in there, that's cool, but I'm trying to taste the mushrooms, bro. So so no i think you should sear mushrooms in a super hot neutral oil and then as you're finishing them drop the butter in the pan for the last like 20 seconds that's a great idea too i like to combine the both i take a knob of butter and i put some neutral oil like some avocado oil and then i cook it like that so i get the flavor of the butter and i get the high heat of the neutral oil that's why i so many people do that in recipes and i just like never have been the person who combines butter and oil doing that you get the high heat of the neutral oil. That's why I, so many people do that in recipes and I've just like never have been the person

who combines butter and oil. I love doing that. You get the best of both worlds. That's my favorite way to cook. Also avocado oil, big fraud industry. Oh, well, I just said avocado oil

because everyone says it has a high smoke point, but I'm just using vegetable oil. Like you should just know that. What a low stakes thing to lie about. I don't know, man. I want to be like, I want to be like cool. Also don't,

children, if you're listening, please do not eat, uh, school supplies. Yeah, learn from what Nicole and I did. One shout-out to the listener who sent us a message that we shouldn't say the Earth is flat on the podcast because now the kid thinks the Earth is flat. When have we said that the Earth is flat? Uh, I don't think it was a we thing. I think it was more of a me thing, if I'm being honest.

I was joking! The Earth is obviously round. We shouldn't talk about the flat earth. All right. And on that note, thank you for listening to A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. If you want to hear more from us here in the Mythical Kitchen, we got new episodes for you every Wednesday. If you want to be featured on Opinions Like Casseroles, you can hit us up on Twitter at MythicalChef or and Hendy Zada with the hashtag OpinionCasserole. And for more Mythical Kitchen, check us out on YouTube where we launch new videos every week. And of course, if you want to share pictures of your dishes, you can hit us up on Instagram at Mythical Kitchen.

We'll see you next time. The earth is round. Are you B.O.B. now? What? B.O.B. thinks I'm... Yeah, B.O.B., Kyrie Irving, Shaq. Kyrie Irving? Yeah, they're all flat earthers.

Who is that? What do you mean who is Kyrie Irving? V has a huge crush on Kyrie Irving. I know who Kyrie Irving is. I was just trying to be funny.