Cola is a sweetened, carbonated soft drink, derived from drinks that contain caffeine from the kola nut and non-cocaine derivatives from coca leaves, flavored with vanilla and other ingredients. Most colas now use other flavoring (and caffeinating) ingredients with a similar taste. Colas became popular worldwide after pharmacist John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886. His non-alcoholic recipe was inspired by the coca wine of pharmacist Angelo Mariani, created in 1863.
Modern colas usually contain caramel color, caffeine, and sweeteners such as sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.
Flavorings
Despite the name, the primary modern flavoring ingredients in a cola drink are sugar, citrus oils (from oranges, limes, or lemon fruit peel), cinnamon, vanilla, and an acidic flavorant. Manufacturers of cola drinks add trace ingredients to create distinctively different tastes for each brand. Trace flavorings may include nutmeg and a wide variety of ingredients, but the base flavorings that most people identify with a cola taste remain vanilla and cinnamon. Acidity is often provided by phosphoric acid, sometimes accompanied by citric or other isolated acids. Coca-Cola's recipe is maintained as a corporate trade secret.
A variety of different sweeteners may be added to cola, often partly dependent on local agricultural policy. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is predominantly used in the United States and Canada due to the lower cost of government-subsidized corn. In Europe, however, HFCS is subject to production quotas designed to encourage the production of sugar; sugar is thus typically used to sweeten sodas. In addition, stevia or an artificial sweetener may be used; "sugar-free" or "diet" colas typically contain artificial sweeteners only.
Cola can be manufactured with sugar as in Mexican Coca-Cola. Kosher for Passover Coca-Cola sold in the U.S. around the Jewish holiday also uses sucrose rather than HFCS and is also highly sought after by people who prefer the original taste. In addition, PepsiCo has recently been marketing versions of its Pepsi and Mountain Dew sodas that are sweetened with sugar instead of HFCS. These are marketed under the name Throwback and became permanent products.
Clear cola
In the 1940s, Coca-Cola produced White Coke at the request of Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov.
Clear colas were again produced during the Clear Craze of the early 1990s. Brands included Crystal Pepsi; Tab Clear; 7 Up Ice Cola. Crystal Pepsi was re-introduced during late 2016.
Health effects
A 2007 study found that consumption of colas, both those with natural sweetening and those with artificial sweetening, was associated with increased risk of chronic kidney disease. The phosphoric acid used in colas was thought to be a possible cause.
Studies indicate "soda and sweetened drinks are the main source of calories in [the] American diet", so most nutritionists advise that Coca-Cola and other soft drinks can be harmful if consumed excessively, particularly to young children whose soft drink consumption competes with, rather than complements, a balanced diet. Studies have shown that regular soft drink users have a lower intake of calcium, magnesium, ascorbic acid, riboflavin, and vitamin A.
The drink has also aroused criticism for its use of caffeine, which can cause physical dependence (caffeine addiction). A link has been shown between long-term regular cola intake and osteoporosis in older women (but not men). This was thought to be due to the presence of phosphoric acid, and the risk was found to be the same for caffeinated and noncaffeinated colas, as well as the same for diet and sugared colas.
Many soft drinks are sweetened mostly or entirely with high-fructose corn syrup, rather than sugar. Some nutritionists caution against consumption of corn syrup because it may aggravate obesity and type-2 diabetes more than cane sugar.
Regional brands
Asia
- Hay Cola, bottled by "Union" Ltd. in Armenia, produces original Cola and other fruit-flavored sodas.
- ROYAL KIK Cola, popular in South India.
- MyCola, sold in Malaysia by Arqam
- Amrat Cola, popular in Pakistan.
- Campa Cola was India's most popular brand prior to the introduction of Coca-Cola and Pepsi to the Indian market in 1991.
- B Cola, a local brand in Saudi Arabia.
- Alsi Cola, another local brand in Saudi Arabia.
- Future Cola, a local brand in China.
- Laoshan Cola, a local brand in China.
- Est Cola, a local brand in Thailand.
- Mecca Cola, sold in the Middle East, North Africa, as well as parts of Europe.
- Pakola, popular in Pakistan.
- Parsi Cola, popular in Iran.
- Red Bull Cola, popular in Thailand.
- Thums Up, popular in India.
- Topsia Cola, popular in Iran.
- Zamzam Cola, popular in Iran and parts of the Arab world.
- Big Cola, popular in Indonesia.
- Bovonto, popular in South India.
- Pop Cola, popular in the Philippines.
- My Cola, popular in Sri Lanka.
- KIK Cola, popular in Sri Lanka.
- Mojo, sold in Bangladesh by Akij Group
Europe
- Afri-Cola, a German brand, had a higher caffeine content (about 250Â mg/L) until the product was relaunched with a new formulation in 1999. It was relaunched a second time in April 2006 with the original formulation with the higher caffeine content.
- Barr Cola made by A.G. Barr (the makers of the popular Irn Bru drink) in the United Kingdom.
- Breizh Cola is a local brand from Brittany (France).
- Brisa Cola is a local brand from Madeira, Portugal and produced by Empresa de Cervejas da Madeira.
- Baladin is an italian brand that makes soft drinks, including an organic cola, fair trade, as the company says.
- Cadet Cola is a local brand from Ireland, produced by Gleeson Soft Drinks in Tipperary, Ireland.
- Cola Nova â€" is a local brand from Kiev, Ukraine and produced by Obolon.
- Cockta is a local brand from former Yugoslavia, originally produced by Slovenijavino company from Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia). A couple of years ago it was bought by Droga Kolinska, a Slovenian company owned by the Croatian Atlantic Grupa. It is still popular in former Yugoslav republics, especially in Slovenia and Croatia. It does not contain any caffeine or phosphoric acid.
- Corsica Cola is a regional cola distributed by the Corsican brewery Pietra.
- Cuba Cola is the native cola of Sweden.
Cult Cola a cola made in Denmark, with a high concentration of caffeine.
- Green Cola is one of the native colas of Greece, it is made from Stevia.
- Evoca Cola is a premium cola made with mineral water made by Evoca Drinks.
- Curiosity Cola, is an upmarket botanically brewed cola produced by Fentimans, from the UK.
- Freeway Cola a Lidl brand sold across Europe.
- Fritz-Kola is a cola soft drink from Hamburg, Germany. It uses the highest possible concentration of caffeine for beverages allowed by German law (250Â mg/L) and is available in most of Germany, as well as parts of western and central Europe.
- Galicola, is a cola soft drink from Galicia, Spain.
- Harboe Cola is a cola soft drink produced by Harboes Bryggeri in Denmark.
- haji cola, a local brand in Germany.
- Золотой орех (Golden nut), a cola-flavored beverage produced in Russia since the end of 1990s by the OST Group company based in Chernogolovka town.
- Irish Cola is a local brand in Ireland.
- In Denmark, the native Jolly Cola was more popular than Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola during the 1960s and 1970s.
- Karma Cola, fair trade cola from the UK.
- Kletta Gos Cola â€" Iceland
- Kofola is especially popular in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where it is the primary rival to American Colas (Coca-Cola and Pepsi). It is also exported to a limited extent to other countries, including Poland and Hungary. It does not contain phosphoric acid.
- Loux Cola is one of the colas made in Greece and it is produced by the Greek company Loux
- Miss Cola is an independent brand in the UK.
- Mole Cola is an independent brand in Italy
- Planet Cola, a brand sold at Auchan.
- Polo-Cockta, a Polish brand.
- Red Bull Cola has been available throughout Europe since 2008.
- River Cola, a Aldi brand sold across Europe
- Sky Cola, a Bosnian brand since 2002 made by watter-bottling company Sarajevski kiseljak
- Sky Cola, a Croatian brand since 2002 made by watter-bottling company Jamnica.
- Ubuntu Cola is a fairtrade cola from the United Kingdom available in parts of Western Europe.
- Virgin Cola was popular in South Africa and Western Europe in the 1990s but has waned in availability.
- Vita-Cola is a German cola brand with a distinct citrus flavor; nowadays it is mostly sold in eastern Germany.
- Vive Cola is a UK cola sold in Aldi
- XL Cola was a Swedish cola brand introduced in 1985 and sold for about twenty years. The trademark is still valid but the drink is not at the market anymore.
- Cola Turka is a local brand in Turkey.
North America
- Coca-Cola, produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, often referred to simply as Coke. Most popular cola brand in North America and one of the most popular in the world.
- Pepsi-Cola, produced and manufactured by PepsiCo. Main competitor of Coca-Cola.
- Royal Crown Cola (aka RC Cola), produced by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
- Shasta Cola, produced by Shasta (soft drink)
- Big Cola, made by Peruvian transnational Ajegroup, sold in the northern parts of Mexico.
- Jarritos Cola is a brand of cola from Mexico, popular and native to Mexico and widely distributed to Latino residents of the United States.
- Lulú Cola, produced by Pascual S.C.L. from Mexico
- Chiva Cola, produced by Grupo Omnilife of C.D. Guadalajara from Mexico
- Cott produces many house brand beverages as well as its own line of products, most notably its Black Cherry cola.
- The Double Cola Company, Double Cola
- TuKola and Tropicola are brands from Cuba (also sold widely in Italy).
- Fentimans Curiosity Cola, originating from the United Kingdom in 1905, now sold across Europe and North America.
- Jones Soda also makes a cola using cane sugar.
- Jolt Cola is sold by Wet Planet Beverages of Rochester, New York. Originally, the slogan was "All the sugar and twice the caffeine." It dropped the slogan when it switched from cane sugar to high-fructose corn syrup.
- Johnnie Ryan is a regional cola bottled in Niagara Falls, New York, established in 1935, made with 100% cane sugar, also sells 22 other flavors.
- Polar Beverages of Worcester, MA produces its own brand of cola under the Polar name.
- Red Bull Cola was available in the United States from 2008-2011.
- Faygo Cola is pop distributed in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Central Southern regions of the United States. Faygo can be found in some regions of Canada, Cola being one of more than fifty flavors.
- Top Pop Cola is a soft drink family-owned regional pop, cola being one of several flavors that is made with pure cane sugar.
- Zevia Cola is a zero calorie soft drink that is sweetened with Stevia combined with Monk Fruit and Erythritol. Cola is one of more than fifteen flavors produced by the company.
Africa
- Hamoud-Boualem: Famous in Algeria, with different flavours; also sold in Europe and US.
South America
- Big Cola: a cola produced by Peruvian company Ajegroup which operates in 14 countries in Latin America.
- Perú Cola: created by Peruvian bottler Embotelladora Don Jorge S.A.C. to compete with Coca-Cola and Kola. Real.
- Schin Cola is a local variety of cola produced in Brazil by Primo Schincariol.
- Ship: produced and marketed by Colombian bottler Embotelladora Latinoamericana S.A. (ELSA)
- Manaos is produced in Argentina by Refresnow.
Oceania
- Kiwi Cola is a cola produced under the WAI-KAWA brand in New Zealand, and contains a Kawakawa leaf infusion.
- Bickford's Old Style Original Kola is produced by Bickford's Australia in Adelaide. It is not readily available outside South Australia.
- LA Ice Cola is an Australian cola owned by P&N Beverages. It is similar to Coca-Cola and Pepsi, which are its rivals.
- Taxi-Cola is a popular local brand in Samoa since 2012.
TV
- "NCIS" featured Caf-Pow as consumed in large quantity by character Abby Sciuto
See also
- Cola chicken
- Cola wars
- Open source colas â€" soft drinks whose recipe is open sourced
- Champagne cola, a similar category of soft drinks
- List of brand name soft drinks products
- List of soft drink flavors
- List of soft drink producers
- List of soft drinks by country
References
External links
- Cola and Mentos mints trick
- OpenCola recipe (originally published by Cory Doctorow)
- Straight Dope article about caffeine levels on soft drinks
