Brits work to replicate Coke flavor

Bristol, England — The volunteers who run the Cube Microplex, a popular alternative film venue, don’t agree on everything. But there’s one issue that has total support: the anti-Coca-Cola movement.

Opposed to Coca-Cola for what they regard as the company’s “dodgy” business and environmental practices, the operators of the Cube have never served Coke.

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Photo courtesy of Cube Microplex

Kayle Brandon (left) and Kate Rich work to perfect their recipe for Cube Cola.

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But that hasn’t kept customers from asking for it.

So in an effort to placate them, two intrepid bar managers, Kate Rich and Kayle Brandon, spent years trying to replicate Coke with their own cola product. The result? A product the pair claims is very similar to Coke but tastier and healthier than the real thing.

“It has its own taste but is quite comparable to other colas,” Brandon said, who has brown bottles, funnels, bags of white powder and a pestle and mortar strewn out on a table in front of her. The duo hopes to expand their soft-drink enterprise, selling to other cinemas, bars and businesses.

“Many people like it more than Coke, but a few like it less,” she added.

From a rundown building in this city about 120 miles west of London, Rich and Branson spent two years, starting in 2004, assembling the ingredients. Cola, a sweet carbonated drink, typically includes caramel coloring and contains caffeine, sugar and citric acid.

Coca-Cola’s recipe for its world-famous brand has been a closely guarded secret ever since John Pemberton, a druggist in Atlanta, wrote it out in 1886.

Company officials say attempts to imitate their famous beverage are a sincere form of flattery. “Cola’s basic ingredients are well-known; what makes Coke special is the unique blend of ingredients from natural sources and how they come together to create the one and only Coca-Cola taste,” a spokesperson said.

Rich said that Cube Cola isn’t trying to challenge Coca-Cola’s hegemony but that their effort focuses on making homemade products. Consumers today are more interested in what ingredients are in their food and drink and where they come from, she said.

“We’d really like to start making our own crisps next,” she said, referring to the snack Americans call potato chips.

Rich started the cola-making endeavor by finding a recipe for OpenCola, a soft drink recipe developed by a Canadian software company.

A mass solicitation for help to everyone on the Cube’s mailing list brought assistance from Peter Barham, an English physicist and adviser to three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck restaurant outside London. He told them they were using the wrong kind of gum arabic, the emulsifier used in many soft drinks.

He also told them that they needed to boost their mixing power, so they went from using hand whisks to hammer drills.

Finally, after seemingly endless taste tests, they felt they got the formula right.

“We’ve become faster and faster so that now we can get enough concentrate to make 50 liters of cola after working just two hours,” Brandon said.

Today, the two women sell concentrate kits to other small bars and businesses as well as to individual customers around the world via their Web site. The relatively small profits so far have gone back into buying ingredients and equipment.

A small bottle of concentrate, along with instructions for making the cola, costs about $10 and produces nine liters of cola. A large bottle of concentrate costs $20 and produces 18 liters of cola.

“We have lots of orders from the United States because people don’t like the corn syrup in Coke and want to add their own sugar,” Rich said.

Cola-Cola launched a marketing campaign in Britain in July aimed at its increasingly health-conscious customer base. Coke has placed a tagline on all cans and bottles of Coke that says “no added preservatives or artificial flavors.”

The company also has set up a Web site, www.letsgettogether.co.uk, where it answers questions about the product’s ingredients.

Cathryn Sleight, marketing director at Coca-Cola Great Britain, said the campaign “reminds people of the uniqueness of Coke’s taste, ingredients, and iconic heritage.”

The move may be in response to a new premium cola, Pepsi Raw, which was introduced in Britain in February. PepsiCo says the product is made from naturally sourced ingredients and that it has reduced the product’s calorie content by replacing corn syrup with cane sugar.

The product — the first new formulation added to Pepsi’s line in more than 10 years — is so far only available in Britain.

Analysts say that the UK cola market is worth about $12 billion a year and is dominated by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

For Rich and Brandon, they’re just thrilled their product is catching on among the locals who frequent the Cube, which shows indie films and showcases musical acts.

“If the product hadn’t been so hard to make it all wouldn’t mean so much,” Rich said. “It’s great that people now come up to the bar and ask specifically for a Cube Cola.”