American woman sparks debate after adding lemon to her Coca-Cola

A woman has turned to TikTok to share a discovery she made while abroad in Italy.

TikTok user Andoeni recently shared a 14-second video on the platform, where she revealed the memorable hack she learned on her trip. “One of my favourite things I learned while in Italy,” the text across the screen began. “Squeeze a lemon into a cup of ice, mix it with Coca-Cola.”

She prepared the drink in her video, squeezing the lemon onto the ice before adding the Coca-Cola. “It’s literally so refreshing, adds a nice touch to it,” she added.

“I never knew lemon with Coke would be such a good mix,” the TikToker captioned her video.

Since it was first posted on 28 June, her video has been viewed more than 13 million times with over 6,000 comments. However, many people questioned how Andoeni had gone as long as she had without ever picking up on the trend.

“This has been a thing since at least the 70s,” one commenter wrote.

Another person agreed, writing: “Ok but who didn’t know this.”

“The other day I put salt on my food. It was incredible,” another commenter joked. “Try salt next. Game changer.”

Other commenters defended Adoeni, explaining how they were also unaware of the trend. “She said something she LEARNED while in Italy, not that she just invented this herself,” one commenter pointed out. “Most people in America don’t know about this.”

Another person said they’ve seen the trend in the US, but it’s not present everywhere. “I’ve only seen it in the midwest and I haven’t seen it since,” they wrote.

“I literally didn’t know this, nor have I ever heard of this lol,” said someone else.

“I don’t understand the negativity of the comment section,” wrote one user, while another said: “You guys have to chill likeeeeee is it a big deal that she just discovered it.”

In an interview with Today, Adoeni revealed that she actually discovered the trend back in 2021. “I started going to Italy in 2021 and that’s when I learned about it,” she told the outlet.

The TikToker explained that spends a few months out of every year in Italy because that is where her boyfriend lives. “I’d be served a lemon wedge with Coca-Cola over there, and that actually has never happened personally to me in the US,” she said.

She admitted that she was surprised to see her video go viral because she only filmed it after running out of ideas. “I post once a day and I think that day specifically, I didn’t have anything to post,” she told Today. “It literally took me, like, 30 seconds to record and upload it and I just kind of forgot about it.”

Adoeni continued: “This is the first time [a video of mine went] super viral and got such haters like that. At first my instinct was, like, I wanted to respond to each of them. I was like: ‘What the hell? You guys don’t even know me.’

“After a while, I honestly had to take a break from my phone because it was too much. People, Europeans were being so rude, just being a**holes, honestly.”

The Independent has contacted Adoeni for comment.