Stop Making These Mistakes With Coca-Cola Freestyle Machines

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Who among us hasn't gotten overwhelmed in the presence of a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine? It's one of the best ways to drink a Coca-Cola, served by a benevolent robot dispensing sugary affection that we can customize into our ideal love language. The downside of this automated soda jerk is that there's no one standing behind a counter to advise you on how best to create your beverage. You're either on your own, tapping the screen and hoping you don't miss out on a golden opportunity, or sticking with the most straightforward (code for "boring") version of the Freestyle experience.

Nobody wants to botch a chance to play bartender and mix up a mind-blowing carbonated concoction, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of mistakes you can make with a soda machine. Considering the nearly incalculable combinations, odds are you've been Freestyling at least a little wrong every time you step up to the screen. Unless you head into the process with a little preparation, you'll never tap its full potential. So, in the interest of helping everyone make the most of their moments in front of a Coca-Cola Freestyle beverage station, here's a comprehensive rundown of common mistakes and easy fixes to get the good times bubbling in the right way.

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Most likely, the restaurant where you find a Coca-Cola freestyle machine allows you free refills, since it's a self-service dispenser on the customer side of the counter. If you can return for seconds and thirds, why would you ever spend more on a larger size beverage when you could save money with a small? It may be less than a dollar difference between the smallest cup and the largest cup, but it still means you're getting the better end of the deal, since you can return for unlimited fill-ups.

More than saving money, you can also expand your freestyle experience by quickly draining one combination and running back to try another one. With a larger cup, you'd either have to drink through the whole thing or dump half of it out before starting over again. With a smaller cup, you can also tinker with groovy blends until you find one you like best, then re-create it a few more times during the same visit.

Contrary to popular belief among less seasoned Freestyle users, there is definitely a right way and a wrong way to combine flavors (fountain drinks actually taste slightly different from canned and bottled beverages, so this is also worth bearing in mind when choosing your favorites). With more variants than a Taylor Swift album, the machine can easily overwhelm your soda sensibilities, resulting in a mix of Coke, Hi-C, and Peace Tea that should never occur in nature.

This is a process that requires logic as well as instinct; you know fruit flavors don't always mix nicely with colas, and tea is probably best served uncarbonated. To avoid simple mistakes, stick with blends that sound sensible, so you'll be assured a successful mix.

By the same token, it's your soda, so don't be afraid to take some risks. The worst that happens is that you pour it out and start again.

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It's not like you have a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine at home, so how are you supposed to know how much flavoring to use when making your incredible drink? The easiest answer is to give it the ol' college try and see how it goes. But there's only so much you can do to control what comes through the dispenser. If the machine is low on flavoring, it doesn't matter how exciting your recipe is.

The helpful Freestyle user guide available on the website points out that the flavoring cartridges are separate from the sweetener; a high fructose corn syrup supply blends with water and flavoring as the drink is dispensed. If the drink you've selected doesn't have enough flavoring in the cartridge, your recipe is doomed from the start.

Your only recourse in this situation is to alert staff and let them know that the machine is Pibb-less or the Sprite is less than sprightly. After that, it's a matter of mixing something else to see if you can find options that deliver the flavors you want. 

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In case you haven't thought about the mechanism inside the shiny red case, there's only one spout on the Freestyle machine, which means every flavor passes through the same tube. This makes it super important to let a little liquid wash through before you start your carbonated art project. Imagine getting the remnants of someone's Peace Tea mixed in with your super-duper razzmatazz strawberry Pibb vanilla Coke twist. It's a rookie mistake that's easily resolved with a water rinse for a tastier Freestyle drink.

Cleaning the nozzle is a whole process for the establishment, one which should be performed every day. But if you happen to be using a Freestyle at lunch time, there's bound to be residue from previous orders lingering in the pipe. Letting a little liquid flow through before mixing your drink can provide a stopgap in case workers haven't had a chance to give it a thorough cleaning. Get into the habit, and you'll end up with faithful flavors every time instead of a mash-up of everyone else's leftovers.

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There's no denying you want to get your money's worth out of a cola-filled carnival ride as wild as the Freestyle machine. But it takes precision and restraint to make sure you don't put too much in your cup at one time. The challenge is to keep control and tread lightly with the nozzle so you don't overfill your cup while you layer your flavors. Remember to let the suds settle from one flavor before adding a blast of the next. This opens up space in the cup for more soda while allowing you to see how much room there is for additional liquid.

If it's a matter of making sure you get enough of the flavors you love, be ready to make another pass at the machine. No need to flood the system when a refill can do the trick neatly and more efficiently.

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In case you've never thought about it, there's a right way and a wrong way to add ice to your freestyle fabrication. The wrong way? Jumping straight into the soda mixing and dropping in your ice afterward. This is a surefire path to splashing yourself and the machine with syrupy soda as the ice falls in. Also, how do you know how much ice will fit in the cup if you've already loaded it with liquid? There's always someone at the machine pouring out the excess so they can make room for ice, which means a bit of a mess in the drain tray and a big waste of soda.

As with any properly constructed cocktail, the cup should be filled with ice before the pour begins. Adding enough ice to fill the bottom third of the cup will give you a solid start, enough to chill your creation without watering it down too much as it melts. If you find you need a bit more, it's best to stop halfway through and assess your ice situation, then add a few more pieces before you finish mixing your beverage.

Think about how nasty the buttons on an elevator are, with everyone mindlessly pushing their floor without sanitizing their hands before ... or after. Now apply that same image to a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine and you'll be haunted by visions of gunk and grime lurking on the touchscreen just waiting to hitch a ride on your fingers. The fact that you'll be handling food and drinks when you're finished should be enough to inspire you to wash your hands once your mad soda science experiment is complete. You can also adopt the knuckle approach, where you use your bent finger to knock out your selections instead of tapping with your fingertips. This technique still calls for handwashing, but at least you'll have less icky stuff on your cup after you've carried it to your table.

For the most hygienic dispensing method of all, load up the Freestyle Mobile Pour app for a completely touch-free experience. The technology was implemented during COVID lockdowns but remains in place to keep the soda machine experience clean and pristine. It's an obvious choice for soda fans who want to avoid unnecessary contact with germs.

Naturally, you're going to be drawn to the carbonated concoctions at a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine; it's the foundation upon which the soda slot machine was built. But did you know there are uncarbonated drinks waiting to be unleashed in the dispenser as well? Familiar options like Hi-C and Powerade coexist with Coca-Cola's best-known bubbly brews.

If you're a fan of a fruit-forward flat beverage, Minute Maid lemonades and aqua frescas (fruit waters) in flavors like pineapple and strawberry limon are available to take the fizz out of the equation entirely. Peace Tea may be on hand for a more natural option to quench your thirst. And the fitness fiends looking for a still sip can tap into Vitamin Water in a variety of juicy fruit flavors.

Should your tastes tend somewhere between sparkling and still, try adding AHA sparkling water to one of the uncarbonated options. This gives you the opportunity to adjust the dial on the crispness and sweetness until it's just right.

Cycling through different beverage possibilities is what allows Freestyling restaurants to attract a broader crowd of Coca-Cola fans. Even if you've gotten used to making your own blend of butterscotch root beer ripple, you might still be missing out on additional elements that let you expand your recipe into mouthwatering new territory. Return visits to your preferred location every once in a while can clue you in on flavor line-up expansions.

Currently, there are more than 100 options available, giving vendors a world of choice when stocking their machines. You can explore what's on the list through the app or by checking out the Freestyle website and clicking on each brand icon to see the sub-selections. Expanding the basic Coca-Cola menu alone reveals nine flavor variations beyond the original formula. Imagine how much you might be missing by presuming that there's no room for more brands and flavors in the collection. 

Depending on the plan each establishment signs up for, there may be a list of required products based on the size and style of the machine. Don't let that stop you from asking an attendant if there are new selections coming soon, though.

Everything flowing through the tubes may be a Coca-Cola product, but that doesn't mean every location is required to stock its freestyle machine with exactly the same options. Back when Five Guys was the first fast food chain with a Freestyle machine, your choices may have been limited. But now that these glossy dispensers are found in convenience stores, movie theaters, and eateries all around the U.S., it's practically your duty to seek out as many as you can find to see what unique selections each one might be serving. 

It's easier than you might think to search your vicinity for the available freestyle machines near you. Head over to the Freestyle app and drop in your ZIP Code or address to discover which establishments nearby keep a self-serve soda dispenser on the premises. Once you know where you're headed, it's just a matter of alternating visits to different establishments to see what their respective menus provide. Call it a carbonated treasure hunt and bring a few friends along to share the adventure.

Settling into a groove with your Freestyle habits is totally understandable. Why would you take a chance on creating something you won't enjoy and waste a perfectly good carbonated beverage? On the other hand, Coca-Cola puts the power of stepping behind the restaurant counter into your hands times 10, queuing up almost every flat and fizzy beverage in the company's catalog all in one place. With so much possibility bubbling under the surface, why wouldn't you go for something unique and potentially mind-blowing every time you encounter the machine?

To make sure you keep track of your most successful formulas, use the Freestyle app to dial everything up, in the right amounts. You'll have a handy record of what works best and a custom QR code that lets you recreate your favorites perfectly. You can also share prime creations with friends to make sure everyone knows about your prodigious soda-mixing powers.

You can use the futuristic soda robot in its most straightforward form and get plenty of enjoyment. But as with any highfalutin technological gizmo, there are hacks that can unlock the full potential of a Freestyle machine and take you further into the future of soft drinks than you might have imagined possible.

What hacks are available to enhance your Freestyle experience? One seen in a YouTube video involves pressing the Coca-Cola buttons in a triangle pattern to access the service menu, which lets you know the current quantities of each flavor. Another shown on Instagram reveals that you can get a quicker fill by tapping the screen for the flavor you want before pushing the dispenser button.

Do a little online digging every so often to see if other Freestylers have come up with new hacks. You may even discover a few tips of your own to share with the soda-serving community.

It's all fun and games playing soda roulette until you end up with something that tastes like you dipped your cup into a bucket full of mop water. It's much easier to create a fizzy sensation based on formulas that have already proven successful. 

How do you find drink recipes to make your Freestyle fountain drink foolproof? Consult Reddit to learn about exciting mixes like grape Sprite and cherry Mello Yello. One commenter even shared an extensive menu of Fortnite-themed concoctions that gives each combination a kicky soda cocktail name and provides recipes for every creation.

As with everything on the internet, the more you dig, the more you find, so be sure to search regularly for new ideas. And, if you feel like sharing your most successful Freestyle inventions, there are bound to be users out there who'll happily benefit from your carbonated creativity.

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You already know you're not getting nutrient-dense green juice when you hit the buttons on the Freestyle machine. But aren't you even a little bit curious about how much sugar you're letting into your cup? Coca-Cola company readily informs you of the nutrition facts with a nutrition breakdown on the Freestyle website and a calorie counter display option. This information can also be gleaned from the app, so you can keep your macros in mind ahead of your visit.

Like most manual soda fountains, the automated Freestyle format features low-cal, no-cal, and reduced-sugar selections as part of the standard inventory. Caffeine-free possibilities are also on hand for anyone who'd rather avoid a nerve-jangling buzz. If you have a more particular palate, AHA sparkling waters let you fill your cup with seltzer instead of soda. And you thought it was all just syrup and bubbly water coming out of the spout.