A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich - Canned Soda vs. Fountain Soda

Episode Date: September 16, 2020

What's truly the best way to enjoy an ice cold cola? 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. Whether you're cracking open a fresh can or slurping it through a straw, everyone knows that familiar sensation of sugary carbonated goodness crackling on the tongue. What's truly the best way to enjoy an ice cold cola? This is a hot dog is 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. 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 Hendizadeh. And today we are discussing what's better, canned or fountain soda?

Whoa, big, big hard-hitting topic. Yeah. This, to me, we're coming up on election season, right? Yes. To me, I think they should be asking this question at every presidential debate. I want to know Kamala Harris' take on canned soda. Everyone talked about, you know, back in the Bush days, like, I want a president I can enjoy a beer with. No, I want a president I can enjoy either a canned or fountain soda with, depending on their preferences.

Well, what's your preference? What's your preference? Well, you think I could be president. I never said that. I have never said that before. You cannot hold office in any capacity. No, I would be so terrible on like a school board on anything. My problem is I over promise and then under deliver.

Anyone who works at Mythical Entertainment can tell you that. You know, I got these big grandiose ideas. None of them come to fruition. But that said, I like Fountain Soda. I am a huge Fountain Soda fan for many reasons. But one is a recent development in the Fountain Soda game. You asked me this, what is it, 11 years ago. I may have a different answer for you.

But 2009, the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines came out. Oh, yeah. And full disclosure, I once did a sponsored post for Jack in the Box in congruence with Coca-Cola Freestyle Machines came out. Oh, yeah. And full disclosure, I once did a sponsored post for Jack in the Box in congruence with Coca-Cola Freestyle. That has not tainted my opinions at all. I am a huge fan. Coca-Cola Freestyle Machines, they're the fountain soda where you can add any combination of flavor syrup and soda, adding up to over 164 different combinations in there.

And to me alone, that makes it infinitely more customizable than cans. For many reasons we'll get into later, fountain sodas are the way to go. Remember when I took those pictures of you at Jack in the Box? Oh yeah, I forgot. I paid you like- You literally said,

hey, Nicole, you wanna make $20? I'm like, yeah, I have nothing to do. And then you're like, you wanna come to Jack in the Box with me? I'm like, yeah, whatever. And then you wore a Christmas, red Christmas sweater. Well, I'm supposed to wear a red Christmas sweater,

but I forgot that that was like in the thing. And so I just had a random cutoff sweatshirt that kind of looked vaguely Christmassy. I got it at Goodwill for $4. I remember that very vividly. And I just took like 25 million. You took thirst trap photos. It was sleeveless. It was a sleeveless sweatshirt. I like wore it to a rave and also the gym sometimes. You're welcome. God, that was a fun day. But on the subject of fountain versus canned, I love canned sodas because i'm a woman who knows what she wants you should be the official spokesperson for canned soda like if there's a female empowerment drive for say i don't know cactus

cooler oh you know me so well yeah oh god i love cactus cooler that is another thing though that we got to bring up because i'm a huge fountain soda fan and the Coca-Cola Freestyle. Okay. Have you used Coca-Cola Freestyle machines? Of course I have. And they're so much fun. And I love the fact that I can get like Seagram's ginger ale with a hint of lime. And then in the middle of it, I'm like, you know what?

Screw it. I'm going to do a Fanta berry. Yeah. Do you have go-to's on that? No, I don't. Because I'm a purist. Listen, I'm a purist when it comes to my sodas. I love a good Sprite. I love a good Coke. I love a good Perrier. Did time. Listen, I'm a purist when it comes to my sodas. I love a good Sprite. I love a good Coke.

I love a good Perrier. Did you know that? I'm a Perrier girl. Why don't you drink more Perriers in the office? I drink so many Perriers in the office. Oh, you're the reason we're all out of Perriers in the office. Yes, me and Lucas. That makes sense.

Lucas and I. All right, so we talked about this a little bit with the cookie podcast last week where I talked about how much diversity of experience means to me and how I'm always chasing this high to find the best combination of things. And so for me, Coca-Cola, freestyle machines, literally like a kid in a candy store. So I keep trying them, but I've come down to a couple of favorites. Diet Barks, beer with vanilla. I only drink diet soda. That must factor into the equation here. Oh, you do? Yeah. I like never drink regular soda. That sucks. Ever since I was like a 14 year old and like lost a bunch of weight playing basketball, I've never drink regular soda. That sucks. Ever since I was like a 14-year-old and like lost a bunch of weight playing basketball,

I've only drank diet soda since then. So the conversation is slightly tainted from that. From your weight loss journey. From my weight loss journey as a 14-year-old portly teen. I used to drink a 20-ounce diet Pepsi from a bottle. Not even in this discussion, but we can get into bottles later. We should talk about bottles. Every time we did conditioning and basketball, I drink a 20 ounce diet pepsi before conditioning and then a 64

ounce diet pepsi after conditioning oh my gosh i don't my body is just running purely on chemicals i have a theory that i'm never gonna die i know you're saying i really hope you don't i hope i don't either we're gonna be doing this podcast for the next, I don't know, 200 years. I can't wait. Until the thermonuclear apocalypse happens. Apocalypse? Apocalypse. Apocalypse. We're in Apocalypse. But anyways, I've drank so many preservatives through Diet Pepsi over the years that I think

I'm just going to kind of be a living mummy of sorts, just like a preserved head. Yeah? Maybe. What was I talking about? Coca-Cola Freestyle Machines. They're cool. I've experienced them and they're awesome. But it's like, it's almost like Pandora's box. Like theCola Freestyle Machine. They're cool. I've experienced them and they're awesome. But it's like, it's almost like Pandora's box.

Like the options are just overwhelming. It's like whenever I would go to San Francisco on vacation and I would drive through the streets of San Francisco, I'd be like, whoa, there's too many restaurants. Like that's how I feel whenever I'm at the Coca-Cola Freestyle Zero machine. Like it's like, oh my gosh, there's so many options. I can't handle it. And I just faint on the floor. I feel that. I feel it. And there are certainly drawbacks to it. freestyle zero machine like it's like oh my gosh there's so many options i can't handle it and i

just faint on the floor i feel that i feel it and there are certainly drawbacks to it i also feel like half the time they are out of like almost every flavor syrup exactly and they're just like well you can get vanilla in your mellow yellow or like diet grape in your root beer and that's all we got today and like come on someone needs to maintain this but how many places have those machines not enough not enough not enough but they're also do you know pepsi came out with a competitor no i didn't that which is kind of a metaphor for the coke pepsi debate like hey do you hear pepsi did this you're like i certainly did not unless it's uh you know kendall jenner solving america's racial hatred issue with the pepsi or whatever that deal was what was going on with that society spawned a fantastic generation of memes

yeah good memes but no, with cans though, we have shared a love of cactus cooler. Deep love. If no one knows what cactus cooler is, it is, I believe, a regional soda, right? I think so. I don't know if it has nationwide distribution. It's kind of like Mellow Yellow.

Mellow Yellow didn't come out to the West Coast until relatively recently, thanks in part, in my opinion, to the Coca-Cola Freestyle Machines. Mellow Yellow is better than Mountain Dew. I firmly believe that. But cactus cooler is an orange pineapple flavored soda that to me has that kind of vanillin pheromonic taste to it.

Yeah. And I grew up drinking that at college football tailgates mixed with vodka. We called it the college screwdriver. And so like things like that, you can only get those sodas in cans. And so I do respect that. You know, that like cans- You can get it in bottles. No, you can get it in bottles. Yeah, you can get it in bottles. Like cans and so i do respect that you know that like cans you can

get in bottles no you can get in yeah like certain vending machines and whatnot yeah but as far as an actual soda delivery mechanism there are differentiators between fountain and cans right so like cans to me can get tainted by the heat really yeah i feel like cans are more consistent than fountain machines because fountain machines have a lot of technical issues with it. Sometimes the fizzy maker and fizzy make it. The fizzy booblack. Oh, no, the fizzy booblack. The fizzy maker and fizzy booblack.

Sometimes the soda spurter ain't spurting. Sometimes, you know, I feel like if I get a can of soda, I know what I'm drinking. I know what I'm getting every single time. Have you ever had an expired can of soda? No know what I'm drinking. I know what I'm getting every single time. Have you ever had an expired can of soda? No, because I love myself. Okay. I agree with that. But this is, so my grandma, right? God bless her. She moved out of her, she was in this like big retirement community and they had a big old apartment. Shout out to Leisure World in Laguna Woods, California. Lovely place. But she was moving out and me and my

brother were cleaning out her pantry and we found straight up like cans of you know pickled beets that actually expired like 25 years ago but they'll stay forever those yeah they're pickled for a reason like botulism

you know whatever if granny wants to eat those canned beets she's gonna eat those canned beets she's lived like 97 years on this earth she deserves the damn canned beets

knock on wood every time we come over she'll have like a caffeine free diet coke that she'll offer like a caffeine free um diet coke that she'll offer the gold cans the gold cans that no one under the age of 70 has ever bought i know all about those gold the gold cans they sells them at costco but every single time she will like invite us over and then she'll be like i have josh josh have a cola because that's how

my grandma sounds she's adorable um but I remember cracking it open and drinking it. And it just tasted like pure fermented salty seltzer water. And then I looked at it. And of course, it expired in 2005. But I have that taste memory locked up. And that has happened three or four times to me where I will taste a canned soda. And then I'll look at it and just be like, something's off. And sure enough, it'll be expired.

So cans do have a shelf life on them. I see what you're saying about the consistency issue. So do fountain machines though. If you don't have upkeep with your fountain drink machine, you're in trouble. You're going to have gunk. And a lot of places don't. You're going to have gunk.

You got the gunk. You're going to have scum. You're going to have, what is it? Ginger vitis? Gunk. You're going to have ginger vitis. Nausea, upset stomach, heartburn, diarrhea. You're going to have all of that.

No, I know what you're saying, though, with the fountain sodas. A lot of people say, I never used to buy into this hype when people would say, like, oh, McDonald's has the best fountain soda. And there's all the memes about McDonald's Sprite, like, cutting up your tongue. It's spicy. Yeah, it's spicy. McDonald's Sprite is spicy. And I think there's actually a reason for McDonald's Sprite being spicy. Apparently, so Coca-Cola, when they give certain restaurants these machines,

they have guidelines on the ratio of syrup to carbonation that they're supposed to do. And I think it's typically a five to one carbonated water to syrup solution. But you can tinker with that. McDonald's says they don't tinker with the ratios. But what they do, one, they use filtered water to keep everything more consistent. Great. So by region, it doesn't change based on the tap. But then two, they chill their syrups which to me that is what is keeping it their sprite as spicy as it is interesting because if you've ever like poured carbonated soda into anything warm

it fizzes like crazy and anytime you see that fizz happening that's carbonation leaving the system yeah by chilling the syrup they're keeping it extra spicy and extra crackling on your tongue. Wow. Right? How interesting. And so for me, it's like these little like scientific marvels that can cause fountain soda to be the best.

But I agree with you that it can also go poorly. Have you ever gone to a fast food restaurant and gotten a fountain soda and you know the syrup's low, but you like really wanted a Dr. Pepper? Yes. That is one of the few times in life that I will complain to like a manager.

Not even complain to like a manager. Not even complain to be like, hey, the syrup needs to be changed. No, you know what it is? You know what it is? You don't really grind my fountain soda beers. What grinds your fountain soda?

Okay, you know whenever I'm trying to get a free soda by just asking for a water cup? No, you do that? Of course. Josh. That's a crime. Josh, I am a dangerous woman.

I am femme fatale. I will steal your Dr. Pepper. I live dangerously. But you know how like you go and like, let me finish. And you know what really pisses me off in the fountain soda whenever I'm just trying to steal a soda? Like... I love how you're treating

that as if it's your God-given right. Yeah. What do you mean? It's a multi-dozen dollar corporation. If I want a high C, I'm going to get a high C. You're stealing from McDonald's, but you're not stealing from a mom and pop shop. No, of course. I would never do that. I would never do that.

If there was a mom and pop soda shop, chances are I'm getting something from the fridge. Because they call it a fridge. But, you know, the water is always with the lemonade. Or the juice. And nothing pisses me off more when I just want a cup of water. Or a Sprite. juice and nothing pisses me off more when i just want a cup of water or a spray and i push the button and then it's like that like milky yellowy reddish color that is like flavored water i hate that about fountain drink machines i hate that that is one you get cross contamination yeah because i'll come out of the same spigot yeah Yeah, I don't... Change your spigots, clean your spigots.

Speaking of spigotry, that's what I'm talking about. The Coca-Cola Freestyle Machine. Okay, so it was... Why are you so obsessed with this machine? I'm obsessed with this because, to me, it's like the most innovative fountain drink technology. You know what's innovative? These are the things that keep me up at night.

This is the spice of life. You know what's innovative? Putting something fizzy in a can. I don't disagree that it's not innovative. Hey, do you ever drink Tab? No. You ain't never drank no Tab. Josh, who drinks Tab?

Okay, another point for canned sodas is the fact that I love obscure sodas, especially old ones. Yeah, sounds like it. So Tab was like the original Diet Cola that came out. It was a Diet Cola that came out before they had the technology to make Diet Colas not just taste like complete poison. Like now it's only half poison flavor. Okay. You know, which is good. But Tab is just like this weird sour kind of

poison and it's pink because of course it was like the 70s or 80s and they were marketing it to women. It was like the Virginia Slim cigarettes of the soda world. Oh yeah, sure. I know about it. I just never cracked one open. Dude, we gotta go down to the pavilions and get us a 12 pack of Tab because they still sell them in cans. They still exist? Oh, they. Of the soda world. I know about it. I just never cracked one open. Dude, we got to go down to the pavilions and get us a 12-pack of Tab because they still sell them in cans. They still exist?

Oh, they sure do. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Also, other sodas that you can only get in cans. Peach Fresca. Peach Fresca fire. I am the world's biggest Fresca supporter. Another OG diet soda that gets disrespected.

Did you know that in soda fountains, some of them contain fecal bacteria? Studies have shown. If you think that there is not fecal bacteria in every single inch of our kitchen, you're playing yourself, Nicole. There's poo everywhere. That's another thing. Are you pooping in the sink again? Okay, so someone, there was once

like a fifth grader, he was a child, I don't know, but he did, some anonymous child, he did a child i don't know but he did some anonymous child he did a science experiment for his class where he measured the bacterial contamination levels at a taco bell ice machine and toilet wow and found that there was like 30 times more fecal bacteria in the ice than there was in the toilet water and i was like but i just shuddered i will ask you a question nicole you and the rest of the listeners out there. How much fecal bacteria is too much to consume?

I don't know. I think someone would say like a little bit. 30 times the toilet seat, maybe. Yeah, but what if they're both very low numbers? What I'm saying is we don't have the information to really suss that out yet. What? I'm just like, you know, okay, so if you're... I eat in the bathroom a lot. Why?

Well, every single day before senior year of high school, I would enjoy a bowl of Special K red berries mixed with protein powder sitting on the toilet. And to me, there's nothing wrong with that because it's like a closed loop system, you know? Food in, food out, you're being efficient about it. But everyone's like, there's poo air in a bathroom, that seems bad.

And like, I don't disagree, but I just, I don't know. To me, it's like if there's not physical chunks of poo. I'm laughing at pu-erh because it's a type of tea. Puerh. It's a type of... Puerh.

I was... You know, there's pu-erh tea floating around everywhere. But I was talking about the Coca-Cola freestyle machine, right? So you got like

165 different soda cones. It was designed by Italian automotive design firm Pininfarina, who is responsible for designing every single model of Ferrari, except for two dating back to like 1973. They use micro-dispensing pure pour technology, both of which were originally designed to dispense proper dosage of pharmaceuticals. They also use radio frequency identification to track flavor concentrate levels.

So we've discussed there's consistency issues with soda fountains, however. But there are Italian sexy, sexy sports car makers, Nicole, who are trying to solve this. They understand that fountain soda is the best because, one, you can get it in giant quantities. I always get the large fountain soda, and then I fill it all the way up to the top with ice, and then I let all the soda trickle down the ice, and i drink it without a straw and i chug it down and then

refill it nine or ten times why no straw so this is a bit of a what's wrong with this straw there's nothing wrong with you just drink like lip it you just lip it yeah i like to let the ice press up against my lips and teeth and then i go and I suck the soda through that. Oh my gosh, I hate that. You're getting the coldest soda possible. I'm a straw girl. But no, I don't drink sodas out of a straw because I often talk about the deleterious effects of toxic masculinity on the male psyche on this show. Maybe not often, but it comes up a lot.

I was told when I was eight years old that drinking through a straw makes you gay. Because, of course, back then there was that. I'm so sorry. Yeah. Oh, it's like 80 percent of childhood as a young male in the 90s was like trying to avoid being called gay because that was just the thing. Like it was so bad that Hilary Duff had to come out with a PSA commercial. Did you ever see this?

Of course I did. Where she's like at a mall or something and someone goes like, don't buy that top. That's gay. And Hilary Duff comes out and goes like hey you don't say that yeah i know that's not cool what a great ad it's a great ad honestly and it's something that i'm like very glad that as a culture we've moved away from you know at least you know a certain degree it's fantastic but anyways i'm eight years old and i'm like i don't even know what being gay is but all i know is you're saying this in a bad tone of voice, meaning that I shouldn't do this. And so it's the same with like black coffee,

like sugar and coffee are gay. Oh, no. Yeah, that was like 100%. You should do whatever you want. Oh, I fully agree now. Of course. Can we get you to start using straws now? But your patterns are so set.

I should like try and wean myself off of that toxic, you know, commentary as a child and try using straws again because maybe I'm missing out a lot. But I've gotten so accustomed to drinking without a straw that I seem to enjoy it more now. Same as black coffee. Well, there you go. Well, I think you should do whatever you want. And if you want to drink a straw with your soda, that does not define your sexuality. And even if it does, then it's okay.

What are we talking about you know what i think we're both losers in this debate because there is no better soda than bottled soda have you ever had a bottled soda sir i've never had a bottle okay you're crazy so out of a bottle they can do that now yeah it's crazy technology better than ferrari um they do they do uh glass bottles and they do paraffin plastic. Paraffin wax? You know when you're a Civil War field general and you're sending a letter to your sweetheart? I meant to say plastic. You seal it with paraffin wax?

Paraffin? Gosh, what's wrong with me? I think I was thinking of polyurethane. Yeah, that makes sense. But yeah, I love bottled soda more than both of our sodas. Why did we do canned versus found? I don't know. Why should we have done bottled?

Someone just wrote it down and we're like, yeah, we can talk about that. No, I think bottled soda is better than all of the sodas we've said, all of the delivery mechanisms. Why cum? Why cum is that? I like glass bottled because it's cold and it's reminiscent of a time in which I don't know. When I drink a glass of soda, I feel like I'm at a sock hop. You're in a sock hop with your best sweetheart. We're going steady.

You're not going to work. You're going to stay home with the kids. Yeah, great. I'm going to work as a janitor and we're still going to afford a four bedroom house. No, glass bottles have had a huge resurgence in especially the hipster restaurant realm recently because somehow when everyone found out that mexican coke sold in the glass bottles is made with real cane sugar it became this like very kind of gentrified phenomenon sure where you get you know some food truck that's selling i don't know uh belgian fusion cuisine and they're like

we have haritos and mex Coke for $5 a bottle that's been a thing and it's kind of like just annoyed me enough to where I don't want to buy it from them those seem to be the places that actually sell it I do enjoy favorite La Ramadita in North Hollywood you get an extra spicy torta ahogada

and then you get the Mexican Coke with it in the glass bottle there's something about that fiery chile de arbol it's getting quenched with this ice cold glass oh yeah mexican coke big time i totally love that but to me there are actual advantages to a can versus a bottle tell us what in a way i don't know if i necessarily enjoy it but i think the science behind it makes sense so it's the airflow coming out of the can. There's, you know, the little like, like the way you can kind of suck down.

Yeah. A can of soda like that. Like this, like this. What you're drinking is a whole nother thing. That's a can of, no one can see this on account of this is a whatever internet radio. Nicole's drinking a liquid death water that comes in a can.

And I got stuff to say about that as well. Cause I didn't think I enjoyed cans as much as I did until we had liquid death water it's good water it is someone once described it speaking of toxic masculinity as uh if toxic masculinity were drinkable this is very aggressively branded can with like yeah it's got like a skull on it right oh my god and she'll spill liquid death on her laptop let's talk about liquid death of your company issued macbook man But the point is, it's this very, it's like if Ed Hardy

made a can of water, but somehow, like, I almost never drink plain water. I'm constantly drinking Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet Red Bulls. Nicole, is your computer okay?

I need a towel. Help! Towel! Wait, take my headband. No. I'm not using your... It's dirty, but take it. Oh, my gosh. Use my headband I'm not using it it's dirty but take it use my headband to sop up the water in your laptop

yeah that's good I'm gonna drink from my can of diet red bull this is so sorry Ryan where are you oh this is so us this is so us I'm never drinking a liquid ever again. I'm just going to consume solids until the day I die.

What were we talking about? Water? Liquid death is a whole other situation. It has been described. Where's my headband? I want it back. Give it. I don't feel right without it.

Did you actually use it to soak up the water? Now I'm just putting a wet headband back on. Doesn't that feel cooling, though, on your scalp? Oh, God, it's so nice, honestly. Yeah, you're welcome. What I was talking about with the liquid death water, I almost never drink plain water because I'm always drinking something more flavorful.

Plain water tastes like sand. I love plain water. Plain water is gross. They put it in toilets. Why would you put it in your body? You're talking about fecal bacteria. You're drinking the same stuff they put in toilets. You know what?

It ain't even got electrolytes in it. It's not even. I was going to say, that sounds like something out of Idiocracy, sir. I was directly quoting Idiocracy. Yes, yes. Go away, baiting, is to me one of the greatest lines in movie history.

Shout out to Dax Shepard, actor of a generation. But what I'm talking about is liquid death. I almost never drink plain water, except if it's liquid death, because I will go to the office fridge and I'll open it, and we are a canned, carbonated beverage company. Big time time LaCroix Red Bull Diet Red Bull Coke Diet Coke sometimes we'll get a ginger ale in there when we got diet ginger ale that was huge for the kitchen oh my god that was a huge what a moment freaking jackals we're all like running to the fridge yeah

we're hoarding the diet ginger ale but liquid death water occasionally I will choose it over a canned soda beverage which is good which I would never do with a bottle. So to me, there must be some psychological implication that I do enjoy cans more than I think. When I really think about it, I think maybe my life is just oversaturated with cans by the amount of, I would call them millennial offices that I've worked in that have free beverages. Probably. Because I've worked in a non-millennial office. Nicole, it ain't like this. What's it like?

It was, okay, one, it was like yellow lighting everywhere, cubicles. They had that kind of, oh, it was absolutely depressing. We won't name the company. Let's call it like a magazine in Los Angeles, like Los Angeles Magazine or something. But no, it was a great place to work. But it was like, you know, in a typical office building that hadn't been renovated. Like were the cubicles fuzzy? You know yeah yeah like the fuzzy yeah throwing up yeah and oh it was wild working in a cubicle was like a crazy experience for me but anyways like no

free drinks anywhere like they had like a donation cup for coffee if you poured yourself a cup of coffee you'd like put a dollar in the thing what yeah dude this is it and also they had a vending machine where for 65 cents only exact change change, you could get a Diet Coke. This must be a very revealing conversation for a lot of people because a lot of people are probably like, yeah, this is a normal job. But then when you're working in a creative industry, you work at all these like, you know, studios or whatever, that their perk is like, we have a giant fridge full of LaCroix and Diet Coke.

And you're like, cool. Oh my gosh, this is like next level. I never knew that was like a vending machine in the office. Oh, straight up. Yeah. That like wouldn't get restocked. And so everyone buys the Diet Cokes immediately. And then you're just like, God, do I drink a normal Coke right now?

So I think my life has been so saturated with cans of soda from like working in offices and also being a person who needs to consume constantly just anything. I just need to put things in my body. Someone asked me about one word that sums up my personality is and I just said consumptive unsatiable unsatiable unsatiable unsatiable yeah and so maybe i'm i'm being bogged down by that and for me is the soda fountain feels like a treat you know like i'm going to a restaurant i'm going to the movies this is special okay whereas a can for me is utility really i think i like it more because it's more utility i like a can because it's more useful and you can like you can take the little top of a can

and you can like say like abcd until like you meet your soulmate you ever did that did you meet your soulmate uh yeah but it that has nothing to do with the can but yeah it's like a game do you believe in soulmates of course i do i have multiple soulmates that i don't have just one but then what's your concept of a soulmate someone who's a mate of your soul but like like you can have multiple soulmates and like sure you can if you like move to a different region do you think you because my theory is that like i like the idea of a soulmate that you can colloquialize this idea that there is one person out there who's more compatible with you i think you kind of break it all down to compatibility ratings yeah i don't think there's one person that's like more or less compatible. I think I

have different soulmates because there's different parts of my personality that certain people adhere to and make better. That makes sense. Yeah. Canned sodas. Yes. The mouth on a canned soda that you can slurp out of. There are features of that that actually make the soda taste more like soda. And that's because you're juxtaposing airflow against it when you drink it which is maybe a reason that i like to sip other than the whole uh homophobic toxic masculinity garbage that i and a lot of people seem to have grown up with in the 90s uh you know an advantage to actually drinking the soda without a straw is because you're getting airflow into it so you're actually tasting it more but i like that we kind of took this talk in a different way of just thinking what emotionally a canned soda

and a fountain soda means to us because i think you can get bogged down in the science you can talk about the polyurethane coating on cans and bottles and all that and like the ergonometric shape of things when you clutch them all you want but this comes down to just like your own experiences and what has led you to kind of equate these things together i think i think you live your life in a very uh this is a treat this is a treat this is a treat way yes and i think i'm more of a person who like appreciates the the uh utility and uh ergonomic way something makes my life more efficient i am a completely a treat based person you are i'm I'm like a seal. You're like a puppy. Yeah, I'll do whatever it takes to take that treat.

Yeah. Very easy to manipulate. No. No. Yeah. You've never done that. No, you're not easy to manipulate. What I'm going to say is that fountain drinks are great.

Not as great as a soda. No offense. Because canned sodas have this sort of utilitarian. Exactly. Something that you drink every single day and you're grateful for this everyday appeal that you have. I mean, I don't drink soda every day, but like, you know, when I want a soda and it's there, easy peasy lemon squeezy, there's no syrup machine is out. There's no,

the ice machine isn't working. It's none that it's just easy you get a can you drink it as someone who's constantly chasing the dragon like i'm always nicole i'm out there i'm looking for my soulmate you know i i'm actively searching the greater los angeles area no i've found my soulmate i love her death she's great um i'm searching for my soul soda you know i want that perfect combination of diet grape syrup and diet mellow yellow syrup combining with this italian ferrari engine design radio frequency distribution blah blah blah to come together perfectly over a large mountain of ice chugged while watching the previews for some god-awful movie that i'm watching at the regal cinemas and then i can refill it before i go back in

to me that is the ultimate treat and i want to chase down that ultimate treat soda god i'm all jacked up i'm thirsty you know what's weird you had this machine at your disposal but you still haven't found your perfect soul soda yet and maybe i never will maybe that's not the point yeah you know yeah i think you know we're all just in this crazy life trying to find some soda that makes us whole cactus cooler oh god i want toactus Cooler right now. Cheese and rice. Do they sell them at the gas station down the street? I think so.

We should go. I'm going to get a Cactus Cooler. Yeah, let's go. Yeah, bottles are better. Yeah. Nicole, we've heard what you and I have to say. Let's 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. for a segment we call Opinions Are Like Casseroles. In my notes in the script, I wrote blah, blah, blah, blah, blah in all caps and highlighted green. And that is a very accurate representation of what this podcast is. That sounds about right.

You want to take it off? You want to take it off? You want to start? Yeah, I'll start'll start okay at wowie 10 hard seltzer is not alcohol it's carbonated alcohol essence uh you tell that to me on the beach nine hard seltzers deep harassing children to let me play volleyball with them you tell me that it's just alcohol essence because oh my gosh i believe that you do that let me play with you kids i'm i swear i'm not as good as i look and they just cream them so mean no you know what i love spike ball i am

spike ball it's the sport that's going to sweep the nation in 2021 invest all your money in spike ball nets all i want to do is go to the beach and play spike yeah my friend tried to make a sport happen in the united states i think she's still trying. What sport? I don't know. We'll talk about it later. What? Hard seltzer's delicious. Honestly. I love hard seltzer.

I also really enjoy hard kombucha. Oh, yeah. Hard seltzer and hard kombucha. I think it's really funny because speaking of toxic masculinity, it keeps rearing its head. Like, you know, you're taught that Mike's hard lemonades are girly

and that a real man drinks Miller Lite. Like, that's an idea you grew up with. You know, we're like 16 sneaking our first beers and we're like, this tastes really good. Now everyone is finally realizing like, yo, this stuff just tastes like pee pee water. You know, like hard seltzer is absolutely delicious. Me and like all my college buddies, we, you know, a couple of months, not a couple months ago now, Jesus, like a year ago, time passes weirdly these days days uh you know we're all like pre-gaming for a party and we got a couple

30 racks of light beer and then you know two 12 packs of white claw just in case 24 white claws were drank before the first light beer was drank there you go and then we just went out and bought more wet claws yep you know if you're going like drink by drink if you're trying to drink a four percent alcohol something hard seltzer man it's delicious i wasn't a believer at first and now i fully am yeah i had six white clauses this weekend they're just so easy to drink in like in like four hours it was great oh hard also i do love beer just you know like if you're drinking to drink osman alonzo says latino food is ultra is ultra underrated not talking talking Mexican, talking Latin America.

I think that's correct. But because I live in LA, there's such a saturated market of Mexican food, which I'm not complaining about. I love Mexican food. It's wonderful. It's diverse. It's delicious. It's fantastic. I've recently realized that there's a lot of Argentinian food popping up and a lot of Peruvian food popping up, which is wonderful because those flavors are so unique and so fantastic that more people need to try them.

I can really agree. Yeah. Like Salvadoran food is also huge in LA. There's a huge Salvadoran population. Huge population. And I love me some pupusas. Oh, big time. I love, what is that beef and radish salad that I really like?

I don't know what it's called. Sorry. I can't remember. But like even like pan con pollo, like Salvadoran food is absolutely dope so good um yeah we were just talking about this so there's a lot of misconceptions that like all food from latin america is spicy absolutely then you go to like argentina like brazil certainly has its peppers but like you know it's not chili pepper based there's wide diversity of cuisines but like i ain't never had bolivian food i ain't never had ecuadorian food that'd be really cool uruguay uruguay has this sandwich called a chivito i believe okay that's like a goat sandwich

that looks absolutely incredible and i would like love to try all these foods so i totally agree with you i think that you know i would love to see more you know diverse south american food representation i agree if you find one that you like that's just randomly in your Yelp, go eat there. Like, do yourself a favor. Peruvian chili pepper culture, dope. Ahi Amarillo, ricotto peppers. Oh my god. Ahi Amarillo, I literally dip my chicken nuggets in Ahi Amarillo. Dude, there's a new, shout out to Pablito's Tacos in Burbank, ultimate Peruvian Mexican fusion taco spot. But they just opened this Nikkei style sushi restaurant. Okay.

Downtown. So Nikkei apparently is like a Peruvian term referring to just like the general dispersion of Japanese culture throughout Peru. Yeah, tons. Oh, big time. Yeah. And so they're doing this like kind of Peruvian Japanese Nikkei style spot that I really want to go to.

Cool. We'll go. Yeah. You're absolutely right, Osman. At Julia G. Rockwell, the best way to dress up boxed mac and cheese is with ranch dressing and sweet barbecue sauce. Yes, sir. Absolutely. Ranch and barbecue sauce on mac and cheese is a combination as old time.

That's like a slice of American cheese on apple pie. I like mine with a little buffalo sauce. Yeah, that's the safe bet. You get, you know, the nice spice playing off the cheese, but no, no, no. Give me the mayonnaise and the sugar sauce. That's what I want on the mac. Mayonnaise sauce and sugar sauce. We recently had a glut

of Jack in the Box curly fries left over. Oh, that was great. And Nicole just squirted ranch on one side of just like a paper bag and ketchup on the other side and then we kind of

gradually mixed them together to create crunch with the fries. Yeah, it was a beautiful salmon pink. Oh, lovely. Millennial pink. Liracn123. Chicken nuggets are best dipped in ketchup and vinegar.

Nope. Ahi Amarillo just said that. Ketchup and vinegar is also just called ketchup. You're just making a more vinegary ketchup. Yeah, exactly. Which is kind of like an Australian tomato sauce. Tomato sauce? Tomato sauce.

Remember when we talked about tomato sauce? You got a sausage roll with the tomato sauce. Do you see how good my Australian accent has gotten? It's getting pretty good, mate. The more I do it. The more I do it. The better I get. The best chicken nugget dip.

Honey Musty. Honey Musty, yeah. McDonald's honey mustard on chicken nuggets. I was going to say barbecue, but it's almost a little too robust. I don't want the chicken to shine. Ranch is better with chicken tenders than the processed nugget. 100%.

Oh my gosh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we get each other. Yeah, like even like dipping chicken nuggets in buffalo sauce does not feel right to me. Yeah, I don't like doing that either. Too much.

I do that with chicken strips. Yeah, agreed. Yeah. Honey mussy. Honey mussy is the way to go. 100%. All right. At Charlie Carey.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Pickles are gross. Mayo is overrated. Wrong and wrong. You're gross and overrated. Shots fired. Pickles are gross. Mayo is overrated. Wrong and wrong. You're gross and overrated. Shots fired. Pickles are like literally important in the evolutionary history of humans becoming a species. I agree.

Yeah, like you get, it's just a way to get like fermented foods are a way to get probiotics in your diet. It's a way to preserve vegetables and nutrients for a long amount of time. And they're just freaking delicious. Yeah, like you should eat something fermented almost every day. I think it's important because it's probiotic. It's delicious. It helps you poop. It's good for you.

I eat about a cup and a half of Greek yogurt every day. Yeah. I take a probiotic every morning. It has 30 raw probiotics in it. It's really, really good. And if you can't do that, just eat a pickle because the fermentation is good for your soul. So I need you to eat a pickle once in a while it doesn't even need to be a pickled cucumber it can be a pickled radish it can be kimchi it can be anything just don't be a baby also mayo is great

you're just a hater you never tell you about the time i was at the farmer's market and someone was making a beet kvass yes and you had so much probiotic you're like this has six million and you're like oh six million probiotics in it. That's too many, man. You could have told me it was eight probiotics. And I would have been like, that's a lot, I think. I don't know. Anything more than two seems like a lot of probiotics for me.

Six million, get the heck out of here. RocketP2 says, tomatoes only taste good cooked. Okay, I used to be the same way as you. And then I took a tomato and I dumped a bunch of salt on it, like a bunch. And then I ate it and it was really good. So you need to try raw tomatoes with a little bit of salt on them. If you want, let the moisture even kind of drip out of them and just have your tomato with a little bit of salt and it'll change the way you eat tomatoes. Bad tomatoes only taste good cooked.

Great tomatoes. Not even great tomatoes. Just like a normal tomato that has been like ripened. Yeah. I used to think I didn't like tomatoes because I had only eaten them inside of a Whopper sandwich. Oh my gosh. Ew. Yeah.

I mean, I don't know. Those are bad tomatoes. Yeah, those are bad tomatoes. So yeah, you just got to get a good tomato. But you know, a lot of people have issues with the texture and seeds and all that. At AJ Averbeck, sugary cereals are way overrated. True. Yeah, that's one of the things that I never thought would happen as an adult.

Because so many people, so many adults I would hear as I was a kid, they're just like, I lost my taste for Captain Crunch. Now I prefer, you know, I don't know. Weetabix. Prain Raisin Bran. Prain? Prain Raisin Bran. Prain Raisin Bran.

And now I'm just like, I have actively chosen a bowl of Special K Red Berries. Just some lightly sweetened bran flakes. I 100% agree. Oh my God, I'm crunching. I want to taste the grain. It's too, okay, I hate, I love geriatric cereals. I say this all the time because it's true. I love me some Grape Nuts.

I love me some Weedabix. And I love me some Special K. Because those, it gives me the energy I need throughout the day without all the stuff. Let me talk. It gives me the energy I need from the wheat and barley and the milled goodness. Let me speak.

I'm wheat. Go ahead. And then the sugar, you know, it's just a crash. After you have a bowl of Fruity Pebbles, you just crash. Like, it's not the same. But I will say Cinnamon Toast Crunch, it kind of goes through uh goes through the lines like it goes it's past that stuff it's so good yeah i i still i still get down with some tricks and fruit loops you like tricks i still get down with that like but it's like a dessert like it's a nice treat it's a dessert like what do we

have we have the birthday cake from fruit loops the other day yeah like i enjoyed eating those it tastes like poison in a good way okay belly dal Belly Daylin says, my dinner is a farro, boiled brats, canned beans, mushrooms, cheese, and leftovers all in one pot. Okay. Do you want to- Is this an opinion? Do you want a medal? Like, I'm proud of you. I'm happy that your meal is so diverse, but like, pat's on the back.

Farro's the thing that people should be eating more of. Yeah, people need to eat more farro. People need to eat more amaranth. People need to eat more quinoa. Quinoa. Because people always talk about how not all people find rice difficult to cook. Many people seem to find rice difficult to cook. Farro is a thing that you almost can't overcook because it's got all that nice hull and chaff on it.

And so I literally just toss some farro in the pot. The hull and chaff on it and so like i literally just like toss some farro and chaff the whole chaff that's the part the difference between brown rice and white rice is that the brown rice still has the hull and chaff intact and so it makes it a sturdier grain uh yeah farro is like a grain that's really hard to screw up but uh not really an opinion more just a dinner but i'm proud of you at kira jj.mp4, breakfast food sucks. Only cereal and fruit taste good. I'm guessing they're an egg hater. Yeah. Because for me, I'm such an egg lover. Egg lover.

I love eggs. I love eggs. I could eat two eggs every day. I absolutely could do. But to me, it's not just a breakfast thing. Like, I love to eat eggs at any time of day. True. And so I understand if you're an egg hater or if you're someone who does not like processed meats how you would not like the american conception of breakfast food but i do

agree cereal and fruit tastes good i found myself craving more sweet things in the morning than i used to i don't like fruit in the morning i just don't like fruit i need to eat more fruit you know what my mom does i already told you she brings me a plate of fruit cut up whenever i'm like really stressed out and like sad so like she started doing that again recently. So I've been having a lot of fruits at home. Do you want to talk about it? No, not right now. She brings like a plate of peaches and like some cut up cucumbers and stuff. She goes, here you go eat.

So like I eat more fruits at night personally. That makes sense. I'm a morning fruit guy. Yeah. Gets things moving. Okay. Fiona underscore chug. Raisins are disgusting.

No, they're not. Raisins are disgusting. No, they're not. Raisins are delicious. What are you talking about? Yeah, prunes are better though. Here's the thing. I love prunes. Prunes, there is no more maligned food for young people. Prunes have been maligned.

They have been pigeonholed to being only for making old people poop. But no, they are also for making young people's mouths happy because prunes are a fantastic dried fruit. It's just a dried plum. They need to get away from the word prune. I love prunes. I think they're good. They're good for you. They're a secret ingredient in a lot of foods that I like to put in.

Nice Jewish Ashkenaz braised brisket with prunes. I swear. Apricots and prunes in your brisket. It'll completely change the way that you enjoy food. I love it. But yeah, raisins are good too. Someone brought up raisins. We're just like, I'm looking to talk about prunes.

Let me switch. Let me hit the switch because I want to yell about prunes right now. But no, dried fruit. What a lovely treat. I love, I think Americans need to enjoy more dried fruit. We do. I think they don't. We don't have a big dried fruit and nut culture.

My mom goes to me whenever we were younger, we didn't have candy bars. And then she pulls out a handful of nuts and seeds and dried fruit she goes these was my candy bar like okay what an immigrant parent thing to say so funny at joe anderson 707 green peppers belong on a philly cheesesteak this caused a bit of controversy me too i would like to apologize to the greater uh lehigh valley tri-city area that's bethlehementown, and whatever the other city is. Because I made a claim that Allentown-style cheesesteaks have cream cheese on them. This is not true at all. Oh, yeah, you hurt some people's feelings.

I just say things out loud that need to be fact-checked, and then no one fact-checks them, and then it just goes there. But this is the thing. I remember my dad bringing up the phrase Allentown style cheesesteak. He was an Allentown, Pennsylvania native. And I was like, what's different about an Allentown cheesesteak? And he's not a food person at all. He doesn't know anything.

He just goes like, I think they put cream cheese on or something. Yeah. And I've like internalized that as a fact, which is not true. But it turns out there is a Lehigh Valley style cheesesteak where they put marinara sauce and pickles on it. So I misspoke and several Lehigh Valley experts reached out to me on the subject of green peppers on cheesesteaks. I said, I don't feel they belong on there.

I didn't say they were necessarily inauthentic because like most cheesesteak places will offer onions, mushrooms, and green peppers, but the mushrooms and the green peppers are kind of like to weed out the narcs. You know, it's like they're on the menu, but you don't get them. Oh, really? Not necessarily. Like people can enjoy it however they want. I just prefer the purity.

Occasionally I'll get a mushroom and white American steak. I think it's a really nice combo. I love green peppers in my cheese steaks. Oh my gosh. I've just had so many bad like diner cheese steaks, like a Denny's cheese steak. You know, it's just like gross kind of chopped up sirloin and then just like some raw green peppers. No, that's good i just love the the vegetal like green pepper flavor with all that fatty fat mcfatterson fatty fats

mcfatterson i'm from the mcfatterson clan i think it i i enjoy the little pop of freshness yeah it kind of cuts but that's just me for me the cheesesteak is almost the perfect food that i don't want anything to cut it i want to embrace just the fatty of the beef, the silkeness of the cheese, and just that little bit of sweetness from the onions. Lisa Mogram, jam in diner packets is better than the same brand in the jar. I took Smuckers up on this. Okay, this is so funny because this is the same concept as perfume samples. Whenever you try a perfume on in the sample, it stays like for so long. You smell it on your shirt. You're like, oh, my God, this is the same concept as perfume samples. Whenever you try a perfume on in the sample,

it stays like for so long, you smell it on your shirt. You're like, oh my God, this is so amazing. I can't wait to try it. And then I go to the store and I buy the perfume and it's not the same. I think you're right. I think they make the samples of whatever they're making a little bit better so you buy it. And it's similar to the first time you try it with that sample.

So I agree with you, Lisa, Mo, Graham. the first time you try it with that sample so i agree with you lisa mo gram i like when you get the little smokers package at denny's and it's it's like been sitting in the sun by a window seat and then they kind of sweat it's good and then you get jam sweat yeah it's good that's all i have to say about that at phil ray a non prosciutto mozzarella and garlic mayo sandwich rules yeah phil Phil, you want to come hang out? Yeah, it does. This sounds delicious. Like, next level.

Oh, yeah. No, you're a good person. Like, let's come to the kitchen, man. Yeah. Just make us some garlic naan sandwiches with prosciutto and mozz. Man. Please do. God, I'm hungry.

I'm hungry. We got to leave. I did not eat breakfast. Yeah, no. I had my protein goo. Oh, yeah, but you had to. Yeah, we should stop this stupid podcast so we can go eat some food. Let's go do it.

And on that note, thank you for listening to A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. We got new episodes for you every Wednesday. If you want to be featured on Opinions Are Like Casseroles, you can hit us up on Twitter at MythicalChef or nhendizadeh 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, hit us up 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 hit us up on Instagram at Mythical Kitchen. See you next time. Let's go get a soda. I'm so thirsty. Let's go get a cactus cola.

I can smell your perfume. Sorry. It's gross. What did you eat? What does it smell like? I ate pretzels. I ate creatine and protein powder. I ate a lot of yogurt.

I had some nut butter. I had some oats. I know what you mean, though, because it tastes like eggs when I burp, but I ain't eating any eggs. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, well, I ate that whole thing sitting dinner last night. And, you know,

what are you gonna do?