“It’s like a liquid cola lollipop, with a sour aftertaste” – We flew to Kofola

As a Hungarian who was born in Slovakia but has lived in Budapest for a long time, I am quite used to it when the favorite flavors of my childhood suddenly appear in Hungarian stores. I was very happy when I found Treská (cod salad with mayonnaise) in a Tesco store years ago, and I loved it when my childhood favorite wafer slice, Horalky, also appeared on the Hungarian market, albeit under the name Moments, which is perhaps better consumed here.

Of course, I spotted it immediately when I recently saw the two-liter bottles stacked on pallets in Lidl. The memories immediately came to mind when my friends and I went to the pub in the stadium after the football game, a pint – the half-liter pint of pints is coolness itself – was tapped on tap, as well as when I sometimes stood at the counter at my mother’s buffet during the summer holidays, and then it was my job to change it. the fifty-liter keg, if it just ran out.

Then came the news that a place in the capital had added kofola on tap, and then it was finally decided: I have to write about this soft drink, which is undeservedly looked down upon in Hungary and unfortunately little known. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, it is almost considered a national treasure, but on the Hungarian side, they think of it more or less like the cheapened, looked down upon, own-brand colas of the department stores and just drinkable.

Kofola is not cola

Let’s start with a piece of information of general interest:

It is a fact that it was created so that there would be a product to replace cola in the socialist bloc, if you had to wait a long time for the real Coca-Cola, but this also led to the creation of a soft drink that is so different, reminiscent of the real cola primarily only in its appearance and carbonation content, which is practically an independent island in a sea of ​​soft drinks.

After some research, it turned out that thanks to Penny and the Metro, Kofola arrived in the country not now, but some time ago. This is definitely good news, but it doesn’t hurt to know how

It is a good indication that my Slovak Kofola-loving friends never have a glass version in the fridge at home, but they bought the bottled version as soon as the summer came.

The VIII. Gólya Presszó in the district advertised itself in April by saying that those who would like to try the authentic kofola on tap do not have to travel to Slovakia: they include it as a permanent product in the offer. It was written that the product sold so well at the event that there was not enough merchandise, but I would have gone to try it days later, and it still wasn’t available. Let’s hope that it will really be on tap soon, and not just a barrel every now and then.

What is Kofola?

I don’t want to become a Wikipedia entry, so I will only write about the Kofola story that its origin can be traced back to 1959. At the Czechoslovak Medicinal Plant Research Institute, they wanted to utilize the caffeine produced during coffee roasting. A syrup called Kofo was produced from it, and the soft drink named Kofola was born from this in 1960. Its special taste comes from its 14 natural ingredients: it contains apple, cherry and currant extracts, sugar, caramel and herbal extracts. In the 1960s, the drink became so popular in the Czech Republic that some of the herbs used as raw materials practically ran out in the country and had to be bought from abroad.

The popularity of Kofola has largely remained within the borders of Czechoslovakia, Hungarians usually try it during their skiing in Slovakia, so that the majority remember the experience with horror. Although the regime change and the arrival of real colas slightly dented its popularity in its home country, the balance was later restored, and Kofola is considered a worthy competitor of Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is available in several flavored versions and packages, but true Kofola fans swear by the original, and those who want a real Kofola experience should definitely try it.

The tasting

When I found out that there are only a few people in the editorial staff of nlc who like the name Kofola, and even fewer people who have ever tasted it, I felt that I had to change that. Since I couldn’t get the draft version, I sat down with nine nlc colleagues equipped with a glass version to taste the favorite soft drink of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Since many people really see it as a cheap cola imitation, I brought with me a bottle each of Gyöngy Cola, which belongs to this category, and Spar’s own brand cola, which is the be fresh! His name is Cola.

Half of the nine-person test team had already heard of Kofola, and three of them had even tasted it before. Betti remembered her from her old vacations, so she lived in it as a pleasant memory, but it can be said that I did not find a single Kofola fan in the team.

The first test subject was Andi, who said it tasted like spoiled cola.

Gabi first associated it with herbal syrup, and although she didn’t like the first sip, she managed to come to terms with it after the second. Niki was one of those who had drunk kofola before, although by his own admission he was not sober at the time.

Vivi thought it important to point out that Kofola smells like vomit, and she will mostly remember the sour aftertaste. The taste reminded Verus of cola gum, and it showed that he had not become a perverted Kofola fan.

Peti was one of the two people from the tasting team who could imagine himself buying Kofola later: “It’s a funny drink. I like that it’s sour”. And the taste reminded Ádám of herbal liqueurs, and he cannot imagine that he would consume anything that reminds him of herbal liqueurs as a soft drink.

And compared to cheap colas, what can you do?

The nlc team tastes Kofola with Gyöngy Cola, as well as Spar be fresh! You could wash it down with Coke. Of the two, the latter was clearly less popular. Many people complained that it only contains trace amounts of fragrance and flavor. According to Betti, the experience was like when the water contains only traces of cola.

According to Verus, it’s like tasting cola that’s been out in the sun for a week. And Ádám remembered that the drink is like pouring a glass of cola with a liter of water.

Gyöngy Cola, on the other hand, achieved the desired cola effect even by smell, and many people saw it as an acceptable cola substitute, especially those who prefer the Zero version from Coca-Cola. Several people pointed out that the sweetener was overdone.

Betti got the point. According to Verus, it’s the closest thing to real cola, but that doesn’t make it good. “It doesn’t quench your thirst because it’s too sweet.” Niki complained about the aftertaste, and Peti found it downright nauseating, but you should know that he swears by real sugar and is at war with all sweeteners. However, Orsi, Andi, Gabi and Vivi found it quite acceptable and could imagine themselves drinking Gyöngy Cola.

What was immediately apparent from the impromptu test was that Kofola was met with reluctance by most people, and there were only two of the nine-person test team who would even try it outside of a test to quench their thirst. The cola copies were not a great success either, Spar’s cola received even worse reactions than Kofola, but Gyöngy Cola, with its carbonation and super-sweet taste, was so reminiscent of the taste of Zero Cola that many people found it an acceptable substitute. However, everyone agreed that, unlike cola copies, Kofola at least has a distinctive aroma and taste that cannot be confused with any cola.

Verus had the most negative experience of the test team. After tasting the Kofola and the two cola variants, he became ill and did not need much to empty his stomach orally. The conclusion? Maybe it’s that you shouldn’t mix it either.