Coca-Cola® Brands with Meals takes great meals to the next level. By simply pairing menu items with the right
Coca-Cola beverages, you can further enhance the flavor of your selections, as well as your guests' dining experiences.

The Coca-Cola Company partnered with experts at The Culinary Institute of America to analyze flavor profiles and develop enticing food and beverage pairings. We've transformed this knowledge into a powerful, easy-to-use, web-based tool. Discover the ideal complement from the Coca-Cola portfolio for your cuisine with a few clicks of a mouse. Select by brand or type of meal, as well as primary ingredients in specialty beverages, and you can gain insights into key flavor principles and pairing rationales.

Coca-Cola® Brands with Meals helps you drive incidence and profits in creative, refreshing ways, while meeting consumer desire for more flavor and variety. Get started now to create the perfect matches for your menu.

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF TASTE AND FLAVOR

Great food offers a pleasurable sensory experience. To enhance the appeal of a meal, it helps to understand the science behind taste and flavor.

Taste Plus Aroma Equals Flavor

• Primary tastes include sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami
• Aroma is a pleasant and distinctive smell, which helps determine taste

The Flavor Factor

A food's flavor reflects its texture, aroma, temperature, color, sound and taste

Principles of Good Taste

Complementary flavors

• Feature the same flavors used in different forms, such as a dessert incorporating apple juice, apple slices and dried apples
• May include flavors within similar families, such as cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice
• Produce a subtle taste profile that fits within most consumers' comfort zones

Contrasting flavors

• Juxtapose each other (sweet and salty; sweet and sour)
• Create bold flavor contrasts for more adventuresome diners
• Produce food with big personality; the WOW factor

CLASSIC FOOD AFFINITIES

Classic food pairings work because the complementary or contrasting flavors strike a favorable note on the palate as experienced with:

• Figs + Blue Cheese
• Prosciutto + Melon
• Apples + Cinnamon
• Lamb + Rosemary
• Hot Fudge + Ice Cream
• Soup + Crackers
• Sausage + Maple Syrup

BEVERAGE DESCRIPTORS

Beverage descriptors provide clues as to how they can be best matched with food. Many have flavor profiles much like those used for certain types of wine: grapefruit, berry, spicy, acid, bitter, caramel, floral, fruity or sweet.
Because of these similarities, beverages can complement food just as wine does:

• Sprite® and Minute Maid® juice and juice drinks work well with lighter foods, as would white wines, such as a sauvignon blanc
• Coca-Cola® and Gold Peak® Tea enhance moderately flavored foods, as would mild red wines, such as a pinot noir and zinfandel
• Pibb Xtra® and Barq's® Root Beer pair nicely with intense, deep-flavored foods, as do heavier red wines, such as a cabernet