PROCESS 04: Pop

The original snap and the hiss

You can’t have fish and chips without a can of dandelion and burdock. You know that, right? And you can’t have a British childhood without chugging Shandy Bass and pretending you’re pissed.

Fizzy pop is everywhere, all around us all the time. It sponsors some of the largest events in the world, and covers our Anthropocene landscape in branded marketing. Go to the top of Everest, there will be a can of coke. I truly believe that there will be a bidding war between Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar to become the first item of litter on the Mars human habitat.

When I started tasting wine to revise for my WSET L2 exam, I spent a lot of time tasting Diet Coke to try, once and for all, to figure out what it tastes of. It’s not something anyone really asks questions about. We just drink Coca Cola and it tastes like Coca Cola. Cinnamon is what I get from it. Vanilla and cinnamon, and other woody spices, and maybe some weak botanicals. I prefer Diet Coke to regular Coke (and I hate when it’s called “full fat coke” for some reason,