Thums Up

Let's begin with this post with a short history lesson, because the history of Thums Up is about more than just soda. But everyone I meet from India seems to light up when I ask them about Thums Up. I learned about the history of Thums Up several years ago, but wasn't able to get my hands on any until more recently.

India gained independence in 1947, which looked like a big opportunity to Coca-Cola for post-WWII global expansion. Coca-Cola India began in 1950 as a subsidiary of parent company of Coca-Cola. While Coca-Cola was digging in, India was still building its government and recovering from the divide from the British, led by their first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The Indian government was focused on developing it's own industries and promoting business from within. Coca-Cola wanted to blitz the country so heavily that the government would feel powerless in the face of their market dominance and financial importance. Pepsi could not achieve the same since they arrived late to the game, just two years after Coca-Cola, in 1952, the Indian government by then was successful in preventing Pepsi from ever gaining much traction to establish a "beach head" within the country. Pepsi would end up leaving India just 10 years later. 

Indira Gandhi would serve as Prime Minister of India twice, the first time coming in 1971. In 1973, the Indian government passed the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. Under this act, subsidiaries of foreign companies were required to limit foreign equity share to 40% or less and convert themselves to Indian companies with at least 60% ownership by Indian interests. While this was going on, a national emergency took place over accusations of corrupt election practices, against Indira Gandhi, which the courts upheld. Morarji Desai would emerge as the new Prime Minister of India. George Mathew Fernandes served as the Union Minister for Industries under Desai and claimed companies such as Coca-Cola were violating the laws imposed by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. Fernandes demanded that Coca-Cola India give 60% of its share to Indian interests, but that they also divulge their secret recipe to its Indian shareholders. Recall from my post on the World of Coca-Cola about the vault where the recipe is stored. Coca-Cola considers the recipe a trade secret and they along with several other companies decided to simply leave India altogether in 1977.

After Coca-Cola's departure, the government took control of more than twenty of Coca-Cola's bottling facilities. Coca-Cola left a huge gap in the market and government controlled companies produced Double Seven cola to fill this gap. Double Seven was also known as Sarkari Cola and Sattatar, which was a play on the year 1977, which they removed Coca-Cola from India. Double Seven would be a failed product and Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1979. While other startup cola brands were launched, such as Campa Cola, the most popular of these was Thums Up. After previously finding success with Limca and Gold Spot sodas, brothers Prakash Chauhan and Ramesh Chauhan, from Mumbai and owners of the Parle company, launched Thums Up in 1977. Thums Up proved popular and they snapped up most of the cola market in India through the 1980's. 

By the end of the 1980's India's economy was stagnant. Pepsi was permitted to return if they "Indianized" their name. They became Lehar Pepsi in a joint venture with a government owned company until 1994 when they simply became Pepsi again. Pepsi was then battling cola-wars on two fronts, against Coca-Cola in North America and against Thums Up in India. In 1993, Coca-Cola was able to return to India without having to reveal their secret recipe. The franchise bottling system used by Thums Up meant that their bottlers chose to sell out to Coca-Cola. This meant Coca-Cola now owned the Thums Up, Limca, and Gold Spot brands. Coca-Cola ceased production of Gold Spot despite a loyal fan base, opting to replace the orange soda with their Fanta brand. Siddhartha Khosla would name his L.A. based band, Goldspot, after the drink. Coca-Cola attempted to shift Thums Up drinkers to the Coca-Cola brand, in an effort that failed because the branding and tastes were not alike. So today, Thums Up is still a market leader for cola in India, even though it is now owned by Coca-Cola. 

With that little history lesson provided, I can get on with the drinking. I've managed to get my hands on a glass bottle of Thums Up from a local Indian market. This bottle has seen better days and that's because it is a deposit bottle, with thicker glass, they are designed to be returned to be washed and reused again and again. I've also found a canned sample from a nearby middle-eastern market. 

I'm starting with the glass bottle and it provides a smell like that of Pepsi. Oh, I can definitely taste the difference and understand why there would be market differentiation among drinkers in India. The cola flavor is like that of Pepsi, but with a big difference... it's got a herbal quality to it, a bit leafy like tea and maybe cumin and cardamom. I find often that those sodas with herbal notes are a little off putting to me, but this one isn't. I quite like it. Opening the can, the herbal aroma is stronger than I found from the bottle. I also find that herbal flavoring is stronger from the can and I don't care for it as much as from the bottle. I'm not sure if this is due to inconsistent bottling, age of the drink when bottled/canned, or from light affecting the bottle through the clear glass, but I know I prefer the bottled version. I'd certainly recommend giving it a try if you come across it. 

Limca

Limca is a lemon-lime soda created by what was then known as Parle Bisleri, headed by Ramesh Chauhan. The story has it that Chauhan asked for the recipe for Duke's Lemonade from Duke and Sons, a well-established Indian beverage company. When Duke and Sons turned him down, Chauhan had Parle Bisleri introduce their Limca brand in 1977. In 1992, Limca was later bought by Coca-Cola in a story, I'll discuss in my next post. 

The scent from this can is very much like a cleaning product while the color is best described as an icy or cloudy white. I'm definitely picking up the lemon and lime flavors, but I find them muted. A friend said this would have a strong flavor but I'm not getting that. There is a strong forward flavor but it isn't lemon or lime. It's almost herb-like at the beginning and for some reason reminds me of the smell of the bottom of a woman's purse. And the taste you pick up from candy your grandmother pulled out of her purse. It's such a unique profile, but nothing like the lemon-lime sodas I'm used to. 

Hajoori Kashmira Jeera Masala

Before I go into the drink itself, I thought I'd take a look at the Hajoori brand that bottles, this beverage. The history of the brand is a little bit confusing, but the story goes that Abba Hajoori invented a carbonated juice drink he called Socio. The dates vary between 1923 and 1927. Supposedly this was a local beverage intended to compete with Vimto, a UK beverage sold in India flavored with blackcurrants, grapes, raspberries, and spices. Socio was derived from Latin, for member or friend. The drink was introduced to in the Gujarat region where people referred to it as Sosyo in their regional dialect. By 1953, they officially changed the name of beverage to Sosyo and the company became known as Sosyo Hajoori. Sosyo Hajoori Beverages Pvt. Ltd is a leading beverage maker in India, akin to a Coca-Cola or Pepsi in that they have a plethora of beverages under their corporate umbrella. 

Kashmira is the brand label that falls under the Hajoori company. Masala Jeera is the type or flavor of the drink. My Indian friends that brought me this beverage tell me that this is a common drink hand mixed by many street vendors there. I think of this as sort of analogous to soda fountains in the US that mixed sodas, that were also eventually sold by various bottlers that ended up putting the old fashioned soda jerks out of business. The drink is described as a cumin flavored with a blend of other spices. Much like some of the traditional Western sodas that began as "digestive aids" or "energy tonics", this drink is supposed to be beneficial to digestion as well, but I have no idea what to expect from a cumin flavored soda. 

The smell from the can is very strong, and reminds me of the overwhelming spices, mostly paprika, used in Spanish rice. It has a slightly thick consistency, as if it were a little oily and the color is a translucent amber-brown like cola. The taste is strong at first, then quickly dissipates to a milder aftertaste. I don't quite know what to make of it. It's practically savory, which is not something I tend to look for in a soda. I find it quite bitter on the tip of my tongue and want to swallow it quickly to get it off of those particular taste buds. I think this particular drink does not suit me no matter how much I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt. It's got to be some sort of acquired taste. 

W.T. Heck Waffles & Syrup

So here's a strange one. W.T. Heck sodas come from the Blue Sun Bottling company out of Spring Lake, Minnesota. They also make the State Fair sodas, as previously mentioned in State Fair Mini Doughnut. I didn't find anything on when they started making the W.T. Heck labeled drinks, but it's an odd flavored lineup, including flavors such as Spaghetti, Blue Cheese Dressing, and Dill Pickle. Those sound sickening, but waffles and syrup sound like it could be half decent. So let's give it a shot. 

Strangely, in addition to the smell of maple syrup as I give it a good sniff, my brain is painting a picture of a diner with coffee in the air in addition to waffles and syrup. That mix of coffee with the other scents is such a mind meld because I doubt they included anything meant for that to happen but smells are strange in how they can link to memories. It's not very carbonated at all. I wonder if it wasn't well capped and the gasses leaked because it's not an old bottle. It's pretty dead on in terms of matching the taste of syrup covered waffles. Not a rich quality made syrup mind you, but nonetheless this company has impressed me with their ability to match flavor profiles to non-beverage foods. It's still bizarre to taste in a drink though, which is what will make this remain a curiosity. It's worth a taste if you come across a bottle. 

Shirakiku Ramune Yuzu

Its been some time since I had ramune, particularly from Shirakiku. Frankly, I think Shirakiku makes the best ramune drinks. This is a new flavor I haven't seen from them previously. Yuzu is a yellow citrus fruit that resembles a very bumpy, rotund lemon that is popular in Japan. Supposedly, it has floral notes in addition to the tart citrus flavor. 

After the gratifying pop of the marble-closed opening of the Codd-neck bottle, it has a wonderful lemon scent. Strong like a lemon-scented cleaner, but sweet. The taste is pretty unique. It's citrus alright, but very distinct from plain lemon and lime. It has notes of grapefruit and even the slightest tinge of melon. This would make a good pairing with breakfast due to the citrus nature of it. 

Jones Soda Orange Chocolate

A new bottle appeared at the grocery store yesterday. I've reviewed plenty of flavors from Jones Soda, some okay and others appalling. Of course I had to pick up a new flavor, but I'm not looking forward to tasting it. I think I have some PTSD from some of the horrendous chocolate sodas I've had before. 

Upon opening it, the smell of chocolate powder is overwhelming. When drinking, I pick up orange notes first, followed by chocolate, but then a sort of sourness in the finish. The chocolate tastes as a cheaper powder you'd expect from inexpensive candies, not like that of a rich cocoa powder. It's not abhorrent, but I remain unconvinced that anyone should be putting chocolate flavor in a carbonated beverage, let alone mixed with orange. Yes, it's novel, but I'd give it a skip. 

7 Up Tropical

Everyone is releasing the flavor varietals these days, whether they are limited editions or permanent, including 7 Up. This bottle gave a nice crack of gas upon opening and the aroma of peaches. I wouldn't normally consider something "tropical" peachy. When I think of "tropical" I think of citrus or melon. I guess that slice on the label is supposed to be a slice of peach. This drink does taste peach-like, but not as strong of a peach flavor as those drinks I've had actually labeled as a peach soda. I'm picking up no lemon-lime, which begs the question I've been asking for decades... at what point does it become a different product? As an example, once you start putting pretzels in an M&M, is it really still an M&M? So I'd ask, in what way is this 7 Up? It's a decent soda. No real wow factor to speak of, but nice enough to drink. It would probably be nicer on a hot summer day though. 

Reading Draft Honey Pear

This is the first Reading Draft I'll have had since the first one back in 2014, you can find here. Honey Pear is a more unique flavor, so I've been looking forward to trying this one. I'm not picking up much in the way of a pear scent from the bottle. Instead it smells a bit like a fresh or crisp cough syrup. My first impression was underwhelming, but that's because the initial sip was on the end of my tongue. Once it hit the rear sides I got a tart punch of flavor. I like pears and I have to say I think this soda is pretty faithful to the flavor of a honey pear. It's fresh, sweet, and just a touch sharp all at once. I really like this drink.  

Fanta ? Zero Sugar #WhatTheFanta

One more for the Fanta fans. All cards on the table, I picked up this bottle just before last Halloween, hence the label design, but had forgotten it in the fridge. I would hope that it would be a different flavor than the last 'Fanta ?' I reviewed, but they can pretty much color them however they like without affecting the taste so who knows. Regardless of the flavor, this one is different in that it is the zero sugar sort, so even if they've flavored them alike they'll probably be a difference simply because the sweeteners they use affect the taste too. Let's open it up and see what this one's all about then.

It has a faint blueberry-like smell and although it looks positively black, when I pour a bit out, it's a very, very dark blue. Still plenty of carbonation in it. It's easy to tell that it's a zero sugar drink due to that chemical-like change you get from the flavor. The same quality found in zero sugar Canada Dry Ginger Ale. This is the very reason I don't care for the drinks labeled "zero" or "zero sugar". I usually find drinks labeled "diet" more enjoyable. As for the berry flavoring, I'd describe it as a sort of mixed-berry flavor, but heavy on darker berries like blueberry and blackberry. If it used high-fructose corn syrup or cane sugar it would be more likeable in my opinion.

Coca-Cola Y3000

Here we go with another limited edition flavor variety from Coca-Cola. While I look forward to trying to flavors, I absolutely hate these abstract names they give them. Of course that's part of their marketing, an undescriptive name means almost anyone would be willing to try it because they don't know if the flavor is off-putting or not until they taste it. 

This bottle has a herb-like scent to it. I'm having trouble placing what it is. It reminds me of tea, it's both a bit woody and a bit flowery? Taking a swig, it's odd to me that a drink with the text "Futuristic Flavored" on the bottle the name Y3000, as if it were some sort of robot, has such an old-world taste. The more of it I drink, the more it conjures imagery of cedar. Regardless, I find it pleasing. I think this would actually be nice to have as a permanent flavor. I find Coca-Cola varietals are often too strong. This is nice enough that it still tastes like a cola and is nice to sip on without getting sickening, nor bored of it. 

Mountain Dew Baja Blast

One of Mountain Dew's earlier flavor varieties, Baja Blast was originally available only at Taco Bell as a brand tie in. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Baja Blast flavor which is spread into things besides drinks in over the last two decades. I once saw a shop with a Baja Blast flavored sorbet.

It has a citrusy-lime scent that also strangely reminds me of cheap cologne whenever I smell it. Depending on the way the light strikes, it may appear light green or with an unnatural teal tint. These sort of "lab-grown" flavors can always be difficult to describe. It's "tropical" like mixed drink you'd expect from a Caribbean resort with a bunch of fruit and umbrellas sticking out of the glass. I find in addition to a frosty-lime flavor I get hints of cucumber and watermelon at times. It's not a bad flavor, but isn't the kind of thing I normally seek out. When you taste it you understand why it quickly became a mixer for alcohol. 

Orangina

I always associate Orangina with Europe, mostly because it's rare to see it around the states. I haven't had it in some time, so when I came across a bottle in an international grocer I had to grab it. The dates on its origination seem to vary depending on where you look. Some places mention 1933, others 1935, or 1936. The official site of Orangina says it was introduced in 1935 at the Marseille Trade Fair. It was created by Austin Trigo and originally named Naranjina... a slight adaptation of the Spanish word for orange, Naranja. Just like Coca-Cola, they have a distinctive bottle shape that helps you identify it even far away, and just like Coke, it's evolved over time. Leon Beton, a frenchman bought the recipe prior to WWII stifling the brand until the war ended. After the war, the drink spread throughout Europe and North Africa. In 2000, Orangina was nearly sold to Coca-Cola, but the sale was blocked and instead wound up under the Cadbury Schweppes group.

One of the interesting things about Orangina is that is contains some orange pulp. In fact, the make a point of making sure you shake it before drinking, but you'll notice it creating a little orange ring in the bottle neck prior to shaking. Orangina also has a very light amount of carbonation for a soda. It carries such a fresh aroma when you open it, a mix of orange and lemon. The mix of citrus flavors is very close to a grapefruit juice and provides a tartness like a glass of squeezed juice. It accompanies breakfast nicely.