I had a coke in Italy a few times, and it was amazing. They also sell them in glass bottles. It is really neat. I used to go through 1 L glass bottles of coke per day. It has such a rich taste. You literally taste the pepper and cane sugar in it. It is hard to explain. I have no clue why American coke is so bad, but it sucks.
P.S. I love Root Beer with my cigars