Craft Cola started life as a bit of personal obsession…..could I make a really amazing artisan cola that tasted fantastic, yet contained none of the nasty E numbers which most Cola’s contain?  A few of my friends said I was a bit mad…I mean there’s a big red brand out there, and a big blue brand…..and between them they pretty much have the Cola market sewn up. But small business owners aren’t always deterred by the bigger guys – otherwise no small business would ever start life!

Most Colas [including many ‘artisan’ ones] get their taste from two E numbers:

E150d – Sulphite Ammonia Caramel – which basically gives a brown-ish colour to the Cola

E338 – Phospheric Acid – which is used to give a sour/tangy taste to the Cola

So my challenge was to try and produce not just a great but an amazing Cola which didn’t use either of these E numbers.  It was no mean feat, and took lots of research, talking to folk in the know, and experimentation with recipes…..but I got there! [Yipeeeee]

Out goes E150d, and in came all natural malt extract, which gives the my Craft Cola a lovely brown colour, with with no chemistry lab sounding ingredients. The resulting colour might be a little lighter than some bigger brands, but that’s  a good trade offto me!

Out goes Phospheric Acid, and in came natural lemon juice ….a lovely deep sour taste to off set all the other Cola ingredients, but with no E numbers in place.

…and the Craft Cola finally was ready earlier this Summer.  And when the Guild of Fine Food awarded it a Great Taste 1 Star this year that was just the icing on the cake! Judges said: ‘this is a refreshing light drink with well balanced ingredients….Its is a very moreish product’ and ‘A good cola nut aroma…a very clean and refreshing cola drink, not overly sweet, demonstrating good balance’

All in all – really lovely feedback and worth all those hours behind the scenes!