There’s a niché for vegan cola. . . once you’ve acquired the taste

IT ISN’T easy trying to break the habit of drinking fizzy drinks.

Alternatives to your favourite soft drink may not exist and even if they do it’s tricky because you might end up drinking something that has even more sugar and kilojoules in it than the cola you’re trying to avoid.

The team at Cape Cola have created a fizzy drink that was recommended to me as an alternative to Coca-cola. It’s also vegan friendly, which is great if you’ve recently changed your entire diet but battle to kick the cola habit.

Cape Cola failed to live up to a few expectations, mainly because it has no added sugar and high caffeine content.

But, if you’re looking for a local vegan cola flavoured carbonated soft drink, then this is a good place to start.

According to the Cape Cola website, the key ingredients in the drink are lime, honeybush, ginger, mate and kola nut. They say just “five ingredients are part of the unique flavour of Cape Cola. Fresh from local suppliers into the bottle”.

These are all 100% natural ingredients. They do use xylitol syrup and 15mg/100ml of caffeine to get that cola taste though.

When I tasted it, the initial taste was as a bit medicinal and I was expecting a bit more sweetness. Sharing the drink with my colleagues the responses were quite telling.

“It tastes like a diluted Iron Brew and “it’s like they added beetroot to this”.

If you’re not sold on the taste though, the causes that the brand supports are notable. They want to make a positive impact with their cola and say on their website: “We want to give opportunities to those who are usually called ‘undesirable’ for the labour market. Furthermore, our vision is that we want to support others, to follow their visions and passions, to achieve their goals. Our plan is, with each bottle sold, we will donate a percentage to a good cause.”

Overall though, there is a place for Cape Cola on the shelves but it is a taste you need to get accustomed to.

I was quite keen to use it as a mixer, possibly with a rum, even though I’m well aware that the spirit might just ruin the intention of the soft drink makers.