Coca-Cola Life

One of my friends sent a picture to me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I had that can.  What can was it?  I'd never seen one like it before.  It was a Coca-Cola Life can.  A what?

I said, "I don't have it!  Save it for me!"

When I got the can, I looked it over.  CC Life is sweetened with cane sugar and Stevia, the middle ground between real sugar and HFCS.  I didn't get to try it, but I would guess the taste is better than Diet Coke but not as good as delicious Mexican Coca-Cola.  And you get better taste (I'm assuming) at only 90 calories compared to regular Coca-Cola's 140 calories.

But the elephant in the room is the color of the can.  Is it "green" because its ingredients are more natural (somewhat)?  Is the competition green with envy?  Is it just another cash-grab for the company?  Green means go, so go get some Coca-Cola?  Or does that color stand out on the shelf at the grocery store?  YEP.

This is such an unusual color, especially for a Coca-Cola can, that I immediately wanted it regardless of what the contents of the can were or what the label said.  And just like the black Coke Zero cans, these cans will definitely stand out in the walls of red Coca-Cola can displays.  

What I Got Out of Training

I spent the last two days in training at work.  During one of the "get out of your seat and mingle" exercises today I spied this can sitting on a nearby table.  I immediately knew I didn't have it because it looked totally unfamiliar.  My next task: watch to see whose it was.

A few minutes later when we returned to our seats, I saw who the owner was.  Fortunately it was someone I have worked with in the past, so I might not seem like a total loon when I asked him for can when he was finished with it.

At the next break I took a deep breath and did what I've actually become rather accustomed to doing... I asked if I could have his can when it was empty.  I got the typical "This?  Why?" look, but I explained about my collection and then he understood (or at least he said he understood).  Either way, I had a new can.

He said his girlfriend had bought this Dasani apple flavored water.  His review was not so good.  He named a few other brands he'd rather have, which led to a short discussion on flavored water.

And THAT is what I got out of my leadership training.  I call it a success.

Kickstart Valentine's Day

The third set of Mtn Dew Kickstart flavors recently came out.  These are slim 12oz cans whereas the first two sets were 16oz cans.  The red can is strawberry kiwi and the yellow can is pineapple orange mango.  These hydrating boost drinks are both made with coconut water, something I've not been a fan of in the past, but with flavors like those I'll still give them a shot.  Who knows?  They could become a new love of my life...

Happy Valentine's Day

Trashed Cans

I watch for cans to add to my collection while the kids watch for cans to recycle.  A few people at church heard we collect cans, so I made sure they understood the difference in the two types of "collecting."  Once in a while someone at church will bring me a can and ask if I have it yet.  Others will bring a trash bag of cans for the kids to recycle.  But I always go through the bags first to look for cans I need.

And so was the case today at church.  Someone gave this bag to me for the kids.  Of course Dad gets first dibs, so I went through the bag and only found one can I didn't have yet:

But a collection gets bigger even one piece at a time, right?  Keep the bags coming...

The Newest Coca-Cola Can

The Coca-Cola 2014 holiday can featured Santa in front of a horizontal logo.  Now that the holidays are over, Santa has disappeared from the can and now there's just the logo.

The new design matches the horizontal logo Diet Coke switched to late last year.

I was at a friend's house last night and noticed they had the new can so I snagged one for my collection.

Canbot

What is this crazy thing?

This is one of the gifts my kids got me for Christmas.  After I put it together, I slid a can through the two rings and had Canbot!

With a couple of AAA batteries, the thing vibrates and scoots around on any hard surface.  

This is definitely a novelty item that I'll be proud to display in my can collection.

My Latest Trade

I made a recent 12-can trade with a fellow collector in Canada. 

 

Among the cans I received is a Scottish carbonated soft drink (Irn Bru), a Pepsi Light from China, the Canadian 2013 Mtn Dew Dewmocracy winner (Voltage) and many more. 

My trading has slowed down this year but I still like receiving an occasional box of cans that I can't get in my area. 

Thanks, Ryan!

2014 Holiday Cans

It's that time of year again; time to hunt down and collect the new batch of holiday cans.  I've seen the Coca-Cola cans in stores for a couple of weeks and I finally got my hands on a couple of them.

As more find their way to my collection I'll update this post to keep track of what I have from the 2014 holiday season.

Christmas Shopping

My family went Christmas shopping yesterday.  And I found a few things for myself :)

We went to Target.  A quick walk down the soda aisle revealed a new logo for Sierra Mist.  I wasn't prepared to buy two 12-packs just to get a regular and a diet can.  They'll come to me eventually.  But I did find a leftover Dr Pepper/Snapple Group Halloween can I didn't have yet.

A few more stops, a few more disappointments.  And then we went to the glorious Big Lots.  I walked out of there with six new cans, all priced from $.50 to $.75 each.

 

I also have my eye on the new Coca-Cola holiday can design.  But I had to leave something to look forward to...

How Much Caffeine?

I saw a former co-worker last week for the first time in a few months and he brought this cool Mello Yello NHRA can to me.

I'd never seen it before.  You can't see it very well in the picture, but both sides of the logo have cool flaming tailpipes on it.  I've always liked the color-scheme of Mello Yello cans.

While checking out the can, I happened to notice the caffeine content:  69mg/16oz.  I've never paid attention to caffeine content before, so that made me wonder how Mello Yello compares to other major brands.  After looking at some other recent cans in my collection, this is what I found:

Coca-Cola = 34mg/12oz
Diet Coke = 46mg/12oz

Pepsi = 38mg/12oz
Diet Pepsi = 35mg/12oz

Dr Pepper = 41mg/12oz
Diet Dr Pepper = 41mg/12oz

Mtn Dew = 54mg/12oz
Diet Mtn Dew = 54mg/12oz
Mtn Dew Game Fuel = 73mg/12oz

Converting the 16oz Mello Yello to 12oz = 51.75mg/12oz

The data surprised me in a few ways.  I always thought Coca-Cola was the soda to drink to get the biggest caffeine buzz but it ranks lowest in the five major brands I checked out.  Diet Coke even has more caffeine than regular Coca-Cola.  And the Mtn Dew Game Fuel I recently bought has twice the caffeine of Coca-Cola.

By the way, the original flavor of Monster energy drink weighs in at a whopping 120mg/12oz.  But I think energy drinks are a whole other study and I'd probably be surprised by some of the numbers of those brands.

After all this research, I think it's time for a nap...

Beverage Fashion

Why haven't I come across these before now?  While shopping I saw these fashionable beverage shirts.  Of course I had to have them!

Now I've got something to wear when David Letterman asks me to come on his show to talk about my collection.
 

Did I really just take a couple of selfies? 

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

Yesterday my daughter went to her friend's birthday party in the park.  When her friend's mom brought my daughter home, I noticed a can in their truck's cup holder that didn't look familiar.  When I asked about it, she said it's Vernors, a favorite from when she lived in Michigan.

I mentioned my can collection and that I didn't have that can.  She reached in the truck and gave me a new one so I could try it.  She said it's the best ginger ale out there.  And the can says Vernors has been around since 1866!

I'm not much of a ginger ale drinker but I tried it and it was pretty good.  I have other Vernors cans in my collection but this is the first one I got to drink.

Sometimes it's embarrassing asking for cans, but when you're passionate about your hobby you shouldn't let anything get in the way.

By the way, this is the 300th post on this blog.  Cheers!

2014 Mtn Dew Game Fuel

I ran down to the local Dollar General early this morning for a birthday card and on my way out I saw two flavors of Mtn Dew I didn't have yet.  And I didn't buy them!

But after running a few more errands, I went back and grabbed a 12-pack of each.  I had the original flavor version of the can from work, so why wouldn't I buy the two flavored versions?

The cans look great and have bright colors.  The two flavors are lemonade and citrus cherry.  On the right is the original flavor can.

Tomb Raider Can #2

I was surprised to see a Tomb Raider edition of Kick energy drink at Walmart.

This Tomb Raider can was to promote the Tomb Raider video game reboot in 2013.  I have the game but haven't played it yet.  I've been too busy organizing cans.

My only other Tomb Raider can is this Korean can from 2001.  It promoted the first Tomb Raider movie starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft (the tomb raider). 

You know, maybe I'll slam that Kick energy drink and go fire up my PS3 and play some Tomb Raider this afternoon...  after a nap.

Football

I like when American football season rolls around, not because of the sport but because there are new cans waiting to be collected.  These are the 2014 designs I've acquired so far from other people saving cans for me.

Dr Pepper Ten - 7 UP

Coca-Cola

Dr Pepper - Diet Dr Pepper

I know there are more out there.  Maybe a trip to the store later...

Another Birthday

The kids did good again this year.  They saved a few cans and gave them to me today for my birthday.

I might already have the friend Coca-Cola cans, but the rest are new cans for me.

Also featured in the pic is the smoking dragon incense burner they got for me.  It was another good birthday :)

Halloween at Walmart

While grocery shopping yesterday at Walmart, I noticed these six packs of 8oz Halloween cans from Cott.  And I bought them.

Orange flavored "Bubbling Cauldron"

Grape flavored "Grapenstein"

As far as Halloween-themed cans go, now I need to find the rest of the Dr Pepper/Snapple cans, Jones soda cans, Fanta cans and who-knows-what others...

Cans from Antique Stores

Beer cans

Soda bottles

Followers of this blog know I occasionally check out antique stores for soda cans.  They also know I complain about there being so many more beer cans and soda bottles than soda cans.  So don't be surprised that I'm complaining again, hehe.

But after a few hours of wading through doilies and cookbooks, I found a Bubba Cola can.  I have a couple of the newer designs, so at $1.50 it was an easy sell for this older design.

 

The town I live in has a small grocery store, but the family-owned one I stopped in this afternoon in a small town on my drive had these 8oz A&W cans 2/$1.  So I picked up this year's Halloween A&W and the regular design which I didn't have in that size yet.

And to close out my hunting trip, I found this 3-can set of X-Men 2 Dr. Pepper cans for only $2.  What a deal!

I'll admit that I saw a few more soda cans but those were nothing special to me and went for $4, $8, and even higher per can.  So I passed on those.  I wish I could get $8 per can for my collection.  Then I could retire and have time to build a real collection!!!

The Cans Are Backing Up

It's been a while since I've posted, but that doesn't mean the flow of inbound cans has stopped.  With the kids' return to school, family reunions, birthdays, and other various excuses reasons, the cans have started to build up.  Here's a quick glimpse around the house this evening:

This is the staging area for cans that will end up in my collection once their contents have been drained or drunk.

These cans are lined up near the sink waiting to be cleaned.

And this is the closet where cleaned cans go until I can take their picture, add them to my collection website and log them into my master can list.  As you can see, they've been piling up recently.  One of these days I'll get them "processed" and into storage.

This bag of cans is my son's "collection," but he collects them to turn in for cash.  If we find a can that I already have in my collection AND I already have a double of (for trading), then he gets the can for recycling.

Normally these little "piles" aren't quite this bad, but as I said earlier, I've been busy recently.  And that's no reason to stop collecting!!

The Name Game

I couldn't stand it any longer.  I've been wondering what nicknames come in packs of Coca-Cola and Diet Coke.  Is each can different in a 12-pack?  Are they all the same?  Is it just a random sampling containing a few different names and the rest are doubles? 

I've acquired quite a few Coca-Cola nickname cans from various sources in the last couple of months, but I only had one Diet Coke can.  So today I bought a 12-pack of Diet Coke to see what names I'd get.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out half the cans were different.  I got BFF, Dad, Go-Getter, Mom, Pal and Mom.  And mine was a special batch because it's the 2014 Six Flags discount can.

Now I wonder if this was a good batch and it's normally only 2-3 different names or did I get a bad batch because half of them were doubles?  Haha, human beings really are hard to please.