Technobubbles: Coca-Cola Freestyle Hits the Spot!

By Cassaundra Brooks

Coca-Cola has reinvented the soda fountain, and Phoenix is one of the lucky few getting the first taste—or, rather, 106 tastes. The Coca-Cola Freestyle, which the company labels a “fountain of the future,” is a slick high-tech machine that dispenses over one hundred drinks. Up to fifty diet beverages, sparkling waters, and sports drinks are available in addition to exclusive flavors that you won’t find anywhere else—products like Orange Coke, Peach Sprite, and Hi-C Raspberry. Sample tastes that have never been released in the United States!

But this exciting new machine is about more than its plentiful assortment of fizzing flavors. It uses microdosing technology, by which it creates its branded beverages by “blending concentrated ingredients with water and sweetener at the point where the beverage is dispensed via proprietary PurePour Technology™.” In other words, it does not use the traditional syrup, but rather concentrated ingredients, which are stored in cartridges inside the dispenser.

This shiny new toy for the taste buds has a touch-screen interface and sleek design. It debuted last month at Pei Wei Asian Diner (701 W. McDowell Rd., Phoenix), and by the start of the new year, Phoenix will sport fifteen more of these specialty soda fountains.

For a list of beverages, visit facebook.com/cocacolafreestyle.