A taste of Brazil: How guaraná soda became a national icon
notevenpast.org
notevenpast.org
It’s part of the touristic attraction of many small towns to taste a local guaraná soda.
http://flavorsofbrazil.blogspot.com/2010/10/guarana-pureza-m...
Think ginger ale with a kick.
You can find it in many Latin grocery sections in CA, FL, and TX.
It is also called "Brazilian champagne" [1], has as much caffeine as Coke, but much less sugar even though it tastes as sweet due to the Guaraná taste.
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaran%C3%A1_Antarctica [1] https://sodapopcraft.com/what-is-guarana-soda/
Anecdotal [0]: The federal government has attempted in the 40s to require that Guaraná sodas had at least 0.5% of it's contents in Guaraná seeds, however even that was already too much caffeine so it didn't happen!
edit: Found a source for this, Guarana Antarticá has around 1/10 of the caffeine in Coca-Cola [1].
[0]: https://pt.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaran%C3%A1_Antarctica (in portuguese, try translating with DeepL or Google Translate)
[1]: https://www.mundoboaforma.com.br/lista-de-20-alimentos-que-c... (in portuguese, try translating with DeepL or Google Translate)
[1] https://www.mundoboaforma.com.br/lista-de-20-alimentos-que-c...
Meanwhile Coca-Cola has made their own version of Guaraná called Kuat [0], but it's mehh at best, I seriously hope it doesn't mess with outsider's perception of the drink. They then created yet _another_ soft drink with Guaraná under the Fanta brand [1], that one is better IMO but a lot of people don't like it too. Wonder what's so different between those recipes.
It's pink, tastes like bubblegum and sweeter than other Guaraná sodas I've tasted
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaran%C3%A1_Jesus
Edit: the can depicted in the Wikipedia picture is not the design I like and am familiar with:
If anyone is interested in other sodas I recently had the chance to try Materva, a yerba mate soda, and I would recommend it if you can find the sugar free variety or have room in your life for a sugary treat.
https://www.actiononsugar.org/media/actiononsugar/news-centr...
Only place I've ever been where it's considered perfectly normal to add sugar to your orange juice in the morning.
Guaraná is definitely just as sweet as American sodas. I personally find it too sweet because it doesn't have as much acid balancing it that Coke does.
But yes our sodas have the same amount of sugar as the US ones.
Our beloved brigadeiros are easy to make at home. But Americans often find it too sweet to bear. While it's actually the most delicious treat in the world.
Guaraná is just as sweet as Coca-Cola. No difference there, they both have about 20 g of sugar per can.
Obviously guaraná and lemon-lime taste different, but you don't really need both in the same market. Just one main fruity non-cola.
(I'm speaking from the perspective of product lines of course. I totally realize individual consumers may prefer guaraná over lemon-lime or vice-versa.)
In the US if you go to an event and there are two sugary sodas they'll probably be Coke and Sprite. In Brazil they'll be Coke and Guaraná.
And Guaraná is a lighter fruit flavor. As is lemon-lime. Coke is not -- it's a harsher, more intense flavor.
Crush has been made by the Keurig Dr. Pepper / Pepsico groups for several decades now.
> Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. Crush competes with Coca-Cola's Fanta.
> It is distributed by various Pepsi bottlers, the biggest being the Pepsi Bottling Group United States... In contrast, in some countries of Latin America the Crush brand is distributed by The Coca-Cola Company, using the same colours and bottles as Fanta.
Seems to be unambiguously false. It's such a bizarrely false thing to claim that it's difficult to tell if the author genuinely believes it.
The reverse is true as well. Some popular soft drinks in the USA are unknown in Brazil -- such as root beer, Dr Pepper, and cream soda.[1]
I think guaraná would be a success in the US and root beer could be a success in Brazil too. My assumption is that nobody wants to spend the money to create the market in a new country unless they're going to have a monopoly for at least awhile. But nobody own the flavors of guaraná and root beer, or even those names. After you've spent all the money to educate the public, some established domestic company would swoop in and take the market away from you.
[1] http://brazilsense.com/index.php?title=Common_in_the_USA_and...
You can actually buy root beer in larger supermarkets here but there isn't a guarantee that its in stock always and I am sure its a low sales volume item).
So IMHO root beer has its market share in the US because it got popular at a time when there wasn't such a great variety in sugary drinks, kind of a founder effect, and that is not replicated in a different market, as competition is hire so people don't get to drink the 3-4 cans of root beer that I guess are necessary to get hooked.
Weirdly, a mate-based soda is super popular in Germany, but when we had a (different) mate-based soda in Argentina it came and went very quickly.
Fanta is trying to compete with Antarctica (that is from AmBev).
I'm buying Fanta because it's cheaper than Antarctica.
2L pet bottle is here: R$ 3.99 Kuat R$ 5.99 Fanta Guaraná R$ 7.99 Antarctica
In US$ it's about 0.79 1.20 1.60
edit: ok so it seems that is the case for the brand (guarana antarctica) I know of (and the only one I saw sold/advertised where I come from)
Some truckers use it all the time, under the tongue, to avoid controlled meds as well.
I'll try to mix with my mate, never tried. :)
They were blue bottles of glass, with kind of a bumpy texture of a surface. Looks like these bottles look about the same, or even exactly the same, still, judging from results on Google Images.
I think I've had it once or twice, but nothing memorable. The real tragedy is that I haven't been able to find Stewarts Key Lime locally in the better part of a decade.
https://www.amazon.com/Guarana-Antarctica-Guaraná-Flavoured-...
Beware that it can have a lot of caffeine. (Personally, I now minimize caffeine intake, for health reasons.) If you want caffeine, hopefully you can get an accurate ballpark of how much a particular soda will contain, and work it into your intake budget.
I'm fortunate to be energetic and enthusiastic by default, and don't need to be caffeine-powered on top of that.
The whole coffee aesthetic experience is neat (including nursing one in a cafe, a warm mug cupped hands on a lazy weekend morning, or the image of carrying one as walking to the office on a crisp morning with purpose), but I can find other experiences, and the cravings for the taste of it subside within a couple months of quitting.
The one regional soda I'd like to see become more popular is Mineirinho, which I've only ever seen sold in Rio de Janeiro (the state). It's such a peculiar/interesting taste, have not had it in years now.
Rio also has a regional guaraná called Guaravita, but it's not really a soda as it's not carbonated. It's more like a juice (and it's marketed as "natural guaraná"). It's pretty good too!
Damn, this conversation made me thirsty lol
And when it's on the weekend, you can also put a little bit of vodka
Interesting fact: Uruguay is a heavy consumer of Mate, but doesn't produce any.