Coke Freestyle

Recently, I was coerced into driving across town to Moe's Southwest Grill. I love Moe's and normally don't really need a reason to go. This time, however, I was on an adventure to try out the new Coca-Cola Freestyle drink dispenser. Yes, my friends forced me to drive across town to, well, have a Coke. Apparently, I wasn't sufficiently excited about the prospect because I was chastised the whole way over there. "But...there are 106 different combinations," they said. Wait for it...they even had a print out of the options: Raspberry Sprite, Grape Vault, Caffeine-free Diet Cherry Vanilla Coke, Minute Maid Orange Lemonade, Powerade ION4 Lime, just to name a few. "You should decide what you're going to get before we get there," they pressured. "I'll probably just get Diet Coke with Lime." Oh no I didn't! "But you can get that anywhere!!"

= THE DEVIL, clearly

Now before you think my friends are nutso, I have to admit it was pretty awesome although I do have a few complaints about it. Firstly though, let me explain what it is just in case you haven't experienced one. Coke Freestyle is Coca-Cola's new fountain dispenser that uses micro-dosing technology to dispense more than 100 sparkling and still beverage brands from a single freestanding unit. What that means is that you can dynamically change what you're drinking. Say you have a 16oz cup and you want a drink that is 1/2 Hi-C Fruit Punch, mixed with 3/8 Raspberry Sprite, topped off with a shot of Dr. Pepper. You can easily do that with this machine. It uses flavor cartridges to blend concentrated ingredients with water and sweeteners at the point the drink is dispensed instead of using the usual syrup bags and carbonated water. It also has the same micro-dosing technology that was developed for pharmaceutical dispensing. The most important inner workings, however, and why I'm sure Coke decided to implement this machine, is that it uses cell phone technology to transmit user data back to Atlanta headquarters. Without a doubt this is high-tech food service. With ever declining soda sales, Coke needs all the resources they can find to figure out how to keep making money.

OK, now for the bitch fest. The first thing negative that I noticed was the wait. There is only one fountain dispenser so the line can back up pretty far, especially with newbs like me who don't know how to work it. I had to wait for 5 people (maybe 10 minutes) to fill up before I got my turn, which is a long time when you just want to sit down and eat. Secondly, maybe this particular machine just receives a lot of use but the touch screen was not very responsive. You kind of had to touch and hold your finger on the screen for a second before it would register your choice. One of my friends said that he had visited another restaurant in town with one of these and it didn't have that problem. This brings up the question, is it a defect of the machine or of the users? Thirdly, I seriously question the economics behind this. Due to the fact that there are more options available most people will tend towards drinking more so that they can try different combos. Myself, I had 3 refills (well one initial and 2 refills) whereas I would normally only fill up my cup once at a standard fountain. All of my friends also admitted to drinking more than they would have normally. I can't help but feel like restaurants will have to pass this additional cost onto the customer at some point. All things considered though it's a refreshing take on fountain drinks and was a fun experience. Currently the machines are in just over 1000 locations nationwide so look for one near you and let me know what you think.

Just in case you're wondering my favorite combination was half Hi-C Orange, half Raspberry Sprite Zero which tasted somehow tropical. All of the Sprites were good. Be warned; the Dasani Sensations are nasty unless you like tonic.