‘Old Coke’ Booster Can’t Taste the Difference

SEATTLE (AP) _ Gay Mullins had denounced the new Coca-Cola formula as sweeter, flatter, and lacking in ″that old zing,″ but in a taste test he couldn’t tell which Coke was it. He picked Royal Crown.

Mullins, 57, formed the Old Cola Drinkers of America and says he has sunk $45,000 into his campaign to bring back the old Coke.

Coke announced a new formula for its sugar-sweetened drink on April 23.

The cola crusader was given six, then three, then two colas in a test conducted by The Seattle Times, which reported the results Friday.

Each time he failed to distinguish the old Coke from the new Coke and colas by Pepsi, Royal Crown, Cragmont and Shasta. In a two-cola showdown between old and new Coke, Mullins still got it wrong.

Mullins blamed his performance on the number of colas tasted and ice which diluted the drinks. From now on, he says he will insist on no more than three colas at a uniform temperature, with a salted cracker between sips.