Cola is a sweet
carbonated drink, usually with
caramel coloring and containing
caffeine.
Originally invented by the druggist
John Stith Pemberton it has become popular worldwide. Today,
Coca-Cola,
Pepsi, and
RC Cola have become the major international brands, leading to the drink often being seen as a symbol of the west.
During the
Cold War it was perceived in many countries as symbols of the American power and culture. As a result, communist and anti-American countries created their own national versions of the cola drinks, such as the Czech and Slovak
Kofola or Polish
Polo-Cockta. These days
Mecca-Cola is marketed as an alternative to U.S. brands such as
Coca-Cola and
Pepsi-Cola to pro-Muslim consumers.
Brands
The three most successful and the only truly international brands of cola are
Coca-Cola,
Pepsi, and
RC Cola. There are too many local brands to list, made by small regional producers but certain countries and continents have variants produced on a mass scale for large populations. Many generic manufacturers of cola around the world now exist. Though there may be some conjecture on the subject, Dr. Pepper is not a cola brand as it contains prune juice extract or artificial prune juice flavoring.
Europe
In the United Kingdom, South Africa and western European countries Virgin Cola was popular in the 1990s but has waned in availability.
German brand Afri-Cola had a higher caffeine content (about 250 mg/L) until the product was relaunched with a new formulation in 1999, and has it again since a second relaunch with the original formulation in April 2006.
Czech and Slovak Kofola is the third best selling soft-drink in their markets behind Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Cuba Cola is the native cola of Sweden.
Americas
Inca Kola is another brand that is marketed in many countries by the Coca Cola group; it is the major cola in some South American countries.
There is also an open source recipe for a cola drink, OpenCola.
tuKola and Tropicola are brands from Cuba (also sold widely in Italy)
Royal Crown (RC Cola) is widely available in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Chemical reactions
Being carbonated, colas are acidic (
carbonic acid is formed when
carbon dioxide dissolves in water), and so can react violently with
basic chemicals, such as
baking soda. Many colas also contain
phosphoric acid and/or
citric acid, which further increases the acidity.
The
Diet Coke and Mentos eruption is an experiment that became popular at the start of the 21st century.
Mentos candies and crystalline powders such as sugar and salt when added to cola (usually diet coke), cause fizzing by providing many
micronucleation points for the carbon dioxide to leave solution.
Another experiment involved adding
Dry ice, providing additional carbon dioxide and can force some of the carbon dioxide present in the drink out of solution, creating an explosion, destroying the bottle. Thus, making, as some call it, a "Dry Ice Bomb".
In either case, mixing these substances with cola (or any other carbonated drink) causes the drink to bubble, creating foam and greatly increasing the pressure in the bottle, resulting in either the bottle or the cap giving way.
Etymology
The word
cola may have been introduced into the mainstream by the major producer Coca-Cola, as they saw their trademark slipping into common use, like other
genericized trademarks. They successfully defended the exclusive use of their name and its diminutive form "
Coke" by suggesting the alternative of "cola drink" as a generic name for similar types of carbonated soft drinks. The word cola as part of the Coca-Cola trademark may have originated from the
kola nuts that were originally used as the source of caffeine, or from when the original recipe contained coca (from which cocaine is derived).