I’m Sorry to Tell You That Tom Hanks’ “Diet Cokagne” Is Pretty Good.
“I met her at a club in Old Soho where they drink champagne and it tastes like cherry cola” isn’t Ray Davis’s favorite lyric, but it’s definitely catchy. I’ve never had a cherry cola sparkling wine, but now I have a drink that tastes like a Ray Davis lyric, and I owe it all to Tom Hanks.
About a week ago, Mr. Hanks went on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in order to promote his new movie and talk about his new favorite adult drink: Diet Kocan. Like me, Tom doesn’t drink as much alcohol, but he does drink a lot of Diet Coke and, on a particularly festive occasion, asked for a “shot” of sparkling wine to be added to his soda, creating a truly original drink. drink.
Of course I had to try it. I consider Diet Coke to be a fizzy drink champagne – both are great tasting effervescent cleansers that pair well with greasy, fatty foods and life’s special moments. In addition to being a big Diet Coke fan, I’m also a pretty big fan of wine and sodas, especially in the form of kalimotto , a combination of Coca-Cola Classic and red wine. However, I was skeptical that Cokagne (diet or otherwise) would not be disgusting. But it’s not disgusting. It’s actually amazing.
I made two versions of the drink – one with Coca-Cola Classic and one with my favorite drink, Diet Coke. For the bubbles, I used Trader Joe’s Blanc de Blancs, a seven dollar French sparkling wine that is very dry and tastes way better than it should be at this price point. (Hanks and Colbert chose Veuve Clicquot, but I don’t have any random money for Veuve Clicquot). bubbly, so we’re off to a great start.
As Tom promises, both Diet and regular Cokagnes were a beautiful amber color, but their flavor characteristics were completely different. Diet Cokagne was surprisingly fruity; From the first sip, I felt like I finally understood what Ray Davis was singing about. It had almost a Martinelli quality – a bit of apple flavor with a hint of cherry syrup. As someone with a daily habit of drinking three cans of Diet Coke, my taste is quite accustomed to aspartame, but the wine did seem to hide the coolness of the artificial sweetener. It is surprisingly easy to drink.
Cokagne made with Coke Classic tasted like a drier, brighter, slightly fruity cola, so damn good. If mixing champagne with Coke is too uncouth for you, you should at least try a champagne cocktail with cola bitters – but try the original, if only for the sake of novelty. Like Tom Hanks himself, the drink is utterly charming and approachable.