soda snobs

The other day Miss Calah and I were discussing the need for a refill on our fountain drinks when prices came up. The Gas-N-Go by the office offers 90₵ refills (and they have 50₵ Wednesdays so with tax your 44 oz. of awesome is only 53₵ with tax). 7-Eleven offers 95₵ refills with no known Day of Greatness (Wednesdays, duh!) while Maverik’s refills are $1.06 and Sinclair’s are about $1.10.

So, by far, the Gas-N-Go is the best deal around. PLUS if you happen upon a Wednesday (which you will do every seven days) then you are even luckier because you get a 53₵ drink AND 53₵ day-old bread from Jimmy John’s (now what could possibly top that??)

During mine and Miss Calah’s discussion I realized that it might be kind of sad that we know all these prices. But do we care? Not really. Because we love our fountain drinks.

And for that matter, we’re rather particular about our soda too. Generally whoever has the best soda mix is where we’ll go until another gas station steps it up (who wants to pay for icky soda?) 

You may wonder, “how on earth can the sodas be different? If it’s Dr Pepper then it’s Dr Pepper, if it’s Mt. Dew then it’s Mt. Dew”. But you would be wrong. Here’s why.

While every gas station and restaurant are all provided with the same ingredients (syrup and carbonated stuff) they don’t always MIX them the same. The perfect soda is a very delicate ratio of syrup to carbonation. Too much syrup and your soda tastes flat, too little syrup and there’s no flavor whatsoever.

And then there’s the Christiansen Mix: 1/3 Dr Pepper, 2/3 Diet Coke. If you’re drinking this (which you should because it’s delicious) then you now have TWO soda ratios to worry about. Not to mention if the syrup goes out completely. Those are always the saddest drink runs because you then have to alert an employee, wait for them to change the syrup, and then run the soda nozzle to get the air bubbles out. It’s a whole process.

Now, you’re probably thinking that we’re completely crazy (and you might be right. Most likely you are). The truth is we’ve always been like this. Back in high school I had the list of what was the best Dr Pepper (I was “purest” back then). Chick-Fil-A always ALWAYS had the best DP ($1.79 with tax until they raised their prices). Then Wendy’s could be counted on to be a good second place although their drinks are way overpriced. McDonald’s snuck up to second place when they came out with $1 any size drinks. Then it was Sonic (I just loved their ice at the time but their service is slower as all get out) and lastly you could depend on a bottle of DP before a can.

Back then I also didn’t frequent the gas stations hardly ever. I have no idea why. But Misses Calah and Shannee have taught me their ways of greatness and for that I am ever so grateful.