BOGOTA, Colombia – A new soft drink made in Colombia may not be cola, but it’s definitely coca.
A Nasa Indian company in southern Colombia has created a golden, carbonated drink made from coca leaf extract, and they plan to market it as an alternative to Coca-Cola.
Coca Sek goes on sale this week in parts of Colombia, but its makers say they probably won’t be able to export to the U.S. or most other countries because of rules blocking the entry of raw coca, the plant from which cocaine is refined.
“Six years ago we took on the job of trying to re-establish the good name of the coca leaf, which is a plant with enormous medicinal properties,” said David Curtidor, a Nasa who heads the community company that produces the drink in the tiny southwestern town of Calderas.
The soda looks like apple cider, has a tealike fragrance and tastes vaguely like a cross between 7-Up and ginger ale. The physical effect of drinking it – even after several bottles – is minimal.
“It’s an energizing drink,” Curtidor said. “It’s like coffee, since it is lightly stimulating.”
As for its own ingredients, Coca-Cola is tight-lipped. “Cocaine has never been an ingredient,” Coca-Cola spokeswoman Kirsten Watt said, though she declined to say whether cocaine-free coca extract is part of the drink’s secret recipe, as has been widely reported. “We just can’t talk about the ingredients, the specific flavor composition.”
Coca Sek’s makers say raw coca leaf extract is a key ingredient in their soda.
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