Coca-Cola has always had a place near to my heart. Growing up in Atlanta you switch from a milk bottle to a Coke bottle at a very early age. I have frequented the Coke museum and cannot tell you how many Cokes from around the world I have tasted. When I want a soda, I ask for a Coke and that's it. You better not bring me a Pepsi unless it's to pee in. I like polar bears more than Britney Spears, at least after the whole K-Fed thing. So when I saw Coke try to usher in the future of vending I just had to tell all y'all about it. Read on...
So in 2009 Coca-Cola decided to create the bombshell of vending machines. It is called "The Freestyle", when it debuted it was titled "The Fountain of the Future". If I were to wind the clock back to 1990 and envision what my dream Coke machine would look like, I would come up with something pretty darn close to what you see below. Enjoy!
Now, many of you might have seen these things already, but here in good old Charleston we are a little behind. Atlanta, NY, and around California you may have been enjoying these for a couple of years now. What makes these things unique is the nice touchscreen LCD embedded in the fountains shell. Also, it can pack up to 106 different flavors of soda. Did I type that right? 1 0 6 FLAVORS OF SODA!!! Much better I think, eat that Baskin Robbins.
There are actually 3 sections that mix when it pours your sweet beverage. The core ingredients of your choice, the carbonated water, and the sweetener. Much like in the old days when you stepped up to the counter you could order your Coke and then tell him what flavor you wanted added to the beverage. Enjoy from raspberry, cherry, peach, vanilla, orange, strawberry, etc. It's all good, and available with many different Coke products like Fanta and Sprite. Want to lower the calories? There are 60 diet and zero calorie drinks available. Oh joy!
I found the touch screen to be easy to use, and never had to double tap. If they are out of a flavor the icon for it just grays out. Also, you can find custom sodas for the vendor you are visiting. For instance, I found my first Freestyle at Firehouse Subs. They have a unique cherry lime soda filled with sugar that just so happened to be displayed in the fountain's menu.
I absolutely loved seeing it in the shop and wanted to spend a few minutes just looking at all the flavors. Just a hint the raspberry Coke Zero was not a hit. Here's to creating suicides again just like when I was a kid at McDonald's. Look below for Coke's representative showing off the sweet machine.
