December 1: The Freestyle

I'm a Pepsi man. I always have been and I always will be. After all, Pepsi is the maker of my main squeeze, Mountain Dew. Without Pepsi, I could never enjoy the occasional Mountain Dew and without those moments, I would not be the Brandon you know and love. I don't, however, discriminate against Coca-Cola products.

I rarely drink dark colas to begin with because I'm afraid they'll stain my teeth, but if I'm in the mood for a Pepsi and the establishment I'm in at the time carries Coke, I will still drink it. The first question out of some people's mouths is sometimes about whether or not the place serves their preference. If it doesn't, many patrons will drink water and nothing else. If this sounds crazy, it is; but it happens all the time. I am not one of these people.

With that being said, I also happen to be a pizza buffet man. I first discovered the pizza buffet at a Pizza Hut while on a vacation to Palm Springs, CA with my family many years ago. Most families that take vacations to Palm Springs dine out at fancy restaurants, but we prefer the more humble establishments. Pay seven or eight dollars, get a soft drink and all the pizza, pasta, and salad you can eat. Plus, you can go in your board shorts and a t-shirt. It doesn't get any better than that!

The Pizza Hut buffet was the only pizza buffet I ever visited and it was only with my family on our annual trips to the desert, but when I moved to Pennsylvania in March of 2009, I was introduced to Cici's Pizza. It is by far the worst pizza in the world, but it's only six bucks and it officially got me hooked on the pizza buffet as a place to visit by myself. Since moving to Austin, I've asked around, sampled various buffets, and even considered settling down with Double Dave's Pizza. It wasn't until yesterday, that I officially claimed Double Dave's as my pizza buffet of choice; and it wasn't even because of the pies!

It's called a Coca-Cola Freestyle, and it is the coolest piece of technology since the introduction of the iPod in 2001. It is simply a soda dispenser that is virtually the same size as any standard soda fountain, but it is so much more. How many times have you purchased a soft drink only to find that your choices are extremely limited. Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, some sort of lemonade, Dr. Pepper, and maybe a root beer. Occasionally you'll find a machine that carries Vanilla Coke, but no Dr. Pepper or maybe a Powerade instead of the root beer. Up until the release of the Freestyle, the consumer had been limited to an average of six choices at each establishment. What if you had one hundred and six options from a machine that doesn't take up any more space than before?

That's exactly what the Coca-Cola Freestyle offers. One. Hundred. Six. Oh, yeah. And they all pour from one fountain and the selections are made via a touch screen menu. Double Dave's has one and it is amazing! The consumer places his/her cup beneath the dispenser, selects a main soft drink (Coke, Sprite, Hi-C, Dr. Pepper, Dasani, Powerade, etc.) and then selects a sub-category to that brand (Vanilla Coke, Cherry Coke, Coke with lime, Raspberry Coke, and Orange Coke). And that's just the Coke sub-category!

Instead of dispensing syrup from the back of the building to the machine, Coke has revolutionized the way eateries can store more brands and flavors in the same amount of space. They now use concentrated ingredients from cartridges and mix them with water and sweetener within the freestanding unit. The amazing thing is that the flavors never contaminate one another through the single dispenser.

I've always been a Pepsi man. I can't get enough Mountain Dew and I have Pepsi to thank for that. I prefer the taste of Pepsi to Coke too, but after experiencing the Coca-Cola Freestyle, I have gained a new appreciation and respect for what the Coca-Cola Company has achieved. If you've never seen one of these machines, I suggest doing some research and finding out where the units are located and visiting as soon as you're done reading this post. Which is now. Go!